Buildings - Unter den Linden, Friedrichstadt

Unter den Linden/Under the Linden Trees: Begun in 1647 as a ceremonial boulevard of linden trees extending from the electoral palace to the gates of the city by Friedrich Wilhelm. Centrally located on the east-west axis of Berlin, it became the major artery for political and cultural monuments. Starting with the Brandenburg Gate and ending with the Palace Schlossbrücke Bridge on the river Spree, it includes the Hotel Adlon, the Berlin State Library, the Berlin State Opera, Humboldt University, the Cathedral of St. Hedwig, the Kronprinzenpalais, the Neue Wache, the Zeughaus Berlin, the Berliner Dom, and statues of Frederick the Great and Alexander von Humboldt, amongst others. Destroyed during World War II, the trees were replanted in the 1950s.

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  Unter den Linden/ Friedrichstraße 1907 (Max Missmann)
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  Unter den Linden/ Friedrichstraße 1913 (Zander & Labisch)
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  Unter den Linden, during the 1920s
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  Unter den Linden, 1936

 

 

Lindenpassage/Linden Arcade: Famous 19th century Berlin arcade, first to be lit by electric lights, with cabarets (the Chat Noir), bars, stores, a hotel, a wax figure cabinet and the Kaiser Panorama.

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  Lindenpassage/ Linden Arcade, exterior, 1880
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  Lindenpassage/ Linden Arcade, interior 1881
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  Lindenpassage/ Linden Arcade, comparison
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  Panopticon Lindenpassage near Friedrichstrasse, 1890s

 

 

Section 3

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  Humboldt University
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  Friedrich-Wilhelm University, later Humboldt 1880
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  Staatsoper/State Opera House
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  Friedrichswerder Church


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  Berliner Dom/ Berlin Cathedral
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  Altes Museum/ Old Museum
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  Museuminsel/ Museum Island with Bode Museum
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  Pergamon Museum


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  Alte Nationalgalerie/ Old National Gallery

 

 

Berliner Schloss (or Stadtschloss)/Berlin City Palace: The City Palace was a royal palace in the center of Berlin, the principal residence of Prussian kings and German emperors up until the 20th century. In November 1918, the Spartacist leader, Karl Liebknecht, declared the German Socialist Republic from its balcony, ending more than 400 years of royal occupation of the building. That same year it became a museum. Damaged by Allied bombing in World War II, it was demolished in 1950 by the German Democratic Republic as an unacceptable reminder of the imperial past. In 2007 the Bundestag decided to rebuild the Palace with three replica façades and a modern interior, construction starting in 2010. Opponents of the project have long argued that the new building would be a pastiche of former architectural styles.

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  Schloss/ Palace, 1882 (photograph: F. Albert Schwartz)
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  Schloss/ Palace, 1903 (photograph: Waldemar Titzenthaler)
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  Schloss/ Palace, with Zeppelin, 1910
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  Schloss/ Palace, 1945


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  Schloss/ Palace, demolition, 1950
• Palast der Republik/ Palace of the Republic, 1976
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  Palast der Republik/ Palace of the Republic, early 1980s
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  Schloss/ Palace, mockup, 1990s


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  Neue Wache
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  Neue Wache, 1930

 

 

Gerdarmenmarkt: A historical square. As the older of the two cathedrals on Gedarmenmarkt, the Französischer Dom/French Dome was built by the Huguenot community in 1705 in a neoclassical style. Destroyed in World War II, re-built in 1988. The Schauspielhaus/State Theater was built on the Gendarmenmarkt plaza by Schinkel in 1821, one of his most important neoclassical buildings and currently home to the Konzerthaus Berlin orchestra.

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  Gendarmenmarkt, Französischer Dom/ French Dome
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  Gendarmenmarkt, Schauspielhaus/State Theater
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  Ludwig Hilberseimer, proposal for Friedrichstadt highrise city 1928

 

 

Friedrichstrasse: It is the traditional shopping street in central Berlin and the core of the Friedrichstadt neighborhood. Due to its north-southerly direction, it forms important junctions with the east-western axes, most notably with Leipziger Strasse and Unter den Linden. The U6 U-Bahn line runs underneath. During the Cold War it was bisected by the Berlin Wall and was the location of Checkpoint Charlie. In the 1920’s, it was a site for progressive architecture with Mendelsohn’s Herpich Furrier store (1926) and Mies van der Rohe’s glass skyscraper competition entry (1921). This continued after unification with a new development plan including Jean Nouvel’s Galeries Lafayette (1996).

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  Friedrichstrasse at Französische Straße
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  Galleries Lafayette department store
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  Friedrichstrasse /Behrenstrasse 1900 (photograph: Heinrich Zille)
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  Friedrichstrasse, Panopticon, 1890s


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  Friedrichstrasse, 1900 (photograph: Heinrich Zille)
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  Friedrichstrasse Train Station, 1885
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  Friedrichstrasse Train Station during the 1900s (photograph: Max Missmann)
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  Mies van der Rohe, submission for the 1923 Friedrichstrasse high rise competition
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  Friedrichstrasse, 1920s
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  Friedrichstrasse, Mendelsohn Herpich Furriers, 1926

 

 

Nikolaiviertel/ Nikolai district: Once the heart of 12th century Berlin, its medieval architecture and gothic Nikolaikirche were devastated by the destruction of World War II. After the war concrete socialist housing was built around the ruins. In 1987, a pseudo-reconstruction of the medieval core was built to celebrate the 750th anniversary of Berlin. A surreal historic simulacrum, it is nevertheless popular with tourists.

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  Nikolaiviertel/ Nikolai district
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  Spree River and Nikolai district
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  Nikolaiviertel/ Nikolai district, 1907
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  Rotes Rathaus/ Red City Hall