76-557: Alexanderplatz ( German: [alɛkˈsandɐˌplats] , Alexander Square ) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin . The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I , which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from Mollstraße in the north-east to Spandauer Straße and the Rotes Rathaus in the south-west. Alexanderplatz
152-745: A waste pond nearby for disposal of the dead. Fever sheds were built in several communities across Eastern Canada in 1847, to quarantine sick and dying Irish immigrants, who contracted typhus during the voyage to the New World during the Great Famine . In Montreal , between 3,500 and 6,000 Irish immigrants died in fever sheds in a quarantine area known as Windmill Point . Three sheds were initially constructed, 150 feet (46 m) long by 40 to 50 feet (15 m) wide. As thousands more sick immigrants landed, more sheds had to be erected. The number of sheds would grow to 22, with troops cordoning off
228-557: A "square" has a wider meaning. There are public squares of the type described above but the term is also used for formal open spaces surrounded by houses with private gardens at the centre, sometimes known as garden squares . Most of these were built in the 18th and 19th centuries. In some cases the gardens are now open to the public. See the Squares in London category. Additionally, many public squares were created in towns and cities across
304-488: A building ban imposed in 1691, more than 600 houses existed in the area by 1700. At that time, the George Gate was a rectangular gatehouse with a tower. Next to the tower stood a remaining tower from the original medieval city walls. The upper floors of the gatehouse served as the city jail. A drawbridge spanned the moat and the gate was locked at nightfall by the garrison using heavy oak planks. A highway ran through
380-672: A commercial space of 7,300 square metres (79,000 sq ft) and the longest department store façade in the world at 250 metres (820 ft) in length. For the construction of the Wertheim department store, by architects Heinrich Joseph Kayser [ de ] and Karl von Großheim , the Königskolonnaden were removed in 1910 and now stand in the Heinrich von Kleist Park in Schöneberg . In October 1908,
456-645: A department store for the Berlin people, whereas Wertheim modelled itself as a department store for the world. In October 1905, the first section of the Tietz department store opened to the public. It was designed by architects Wilhelm Albert Cremer and Richard Wolffenstein , who had already won second prize in the competition for the construction of the Reichstag building. The Tietz department store underwent further construction phases and, in 1911, had
532-460: A free press, the opening of the borders and their right to travel. Speakers were Christa Wolf , Stefan Heym , Friedrich Schorlemmer , Heiner Müller , Lothar Bisky , Christoph Hein and Steffie Spira . The protests continued and culminated in the unexpected Fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. Ever since German reunification , Alexanderplatz has undergone
608-602: A gradual process of change with many of the surrounding buildings being renovated. After the political turnaround in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall, socialist urban planning and architecture of the 1970s no longer corresponded to the current ideas of an inner-city square. Investors demanded planning security for their construction projects. After initial discussions with the public, the goal quickly arose to reinstate Alexanderplatz 's tram network for better connections to surrounding city quarters. In 1993, an urban planning ideas competition for architects took place to redesign
684-472: A huge brick building whose tower on the northern corner dominated the building. In 1890, a district court at Alexanderplatz was also established. In 1886, the local authorities built a central market hall west of the rail tracks, which replaced the weekly market on the Alexanderplatz in 1896. During the end of the 19th century, the emerging private traffic and the first horse bus lines dominated
760-683: A marketplace but were built in front of large palaces or public buildings to emphasise their grandeur, as well as to accommodate military parades and ceremonies, among others (for example the Place Royale in Brussels and the Koningsplein in Amsterdam ). Palace squares are usually more symmetrical than their older market counterparts. In Russia, central square ( Russian : центра́льная пло́щадь , romanised : tsentráĺnaya plóshchad́ )
836-692: A particle in a proper noun. Like the Italian piazza and the Portuguese praça , the plaza remains a center of community life that is only equaled by the market-place. A plaza de toros is a bullring . Shopping centers may incorporate 'plaza' into their names, and plaza comercial is used in some countries as a synonym for centro comercial i.e. "shopping center". In the United Kingdom, and especially in London and Edinburgh ,
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#1732765293575912-548: A pest house and quarantine station as far back as 1785. In 1847, with a large influx of Irish migrants, the typhus epidemic quickly filled the fever shed with sick and dying. By the 1847 typhus season, 2115 people had died in New Brunswick, with 1196 dying at Partridge Island and in Saint John. There are nine surviving pest houses, including: Deddington , Oxfordshire has a Pest House Field. Richmond, London has
988-441: A planned reconstruction of the entire Alexanderplatz could take place, all the war ruins needed to be demolished and cleared away. A popular black market emerged within the ruined area, which the police raided several times a day. One structure demolished after World War II was the 'Rote Burg', a red brick building with round arches, previously used as police and Gestapo headquarters. The huge construction project began in 1886 and
1064-479: A plaza can mean one of several things: Today's metropolitan landscapes often incorporate the plaza as a design element, or as an outcome of zoning regulations, building budgetary constraints, and the like. Sociologist William H. Whyte conducted an extensive study of plazas in New York City : his study humanized the way modern urban plazas are conceptualized, and helped usher in significant design changes in
1140-522: A traffic-oriented city was already based on considerations and plans by Ludwig Hilberseimer and Le Corbusier from the 1930s. Alexanderplatz has been subject to redevelopment several times in its history, most recently during the 1960s, when it was turned into a pedestrian zone and enlarged as part of the German Democratic Republic 's redevelopment of the city centre. It is surrounded by several notable structures including
1216-460: Is a back formation, since krásnaja (the term for "red") also means "beautiful" in archaic and poetic Russian, with many cities and towns throughout the region having locations with the name "Red Square." Gwanghwamun Plaza ( Korean : 광화문광장) also known as Gwanghwamun Square) is a public open space on Sejongno , Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It against the background of A Gwanghwamun Gate(Korean: 광화문). In 2009, Restoration of Gwanghwamun Gate made
1292-675: Is a cognate of Italian piazza and French place (which has also been borrowed into English). The term is used across Spanish-speaking territories in Spain and the Americas, as well as in the Philippines . In addition to smaller plazas, the Plaza Mayor (sometimes called in the Americas as Plaza de Armas , "armament square" where troops could be mustered) of each center of administration held three closely related institutions:
1368-470: Is a common term for an open area in the heart of the town . In a number of cities, the square has no individual name and is officially designated Central Square , for example Central Square (Tolyatti) . The most famous central square is the monumentally-proportioned Red Square which became a synecdoche for the Soviet Union during the 20th century; nevertheless, the association with "red communism"
1444-601: Is known in the Southwestern United States , is a common feature within the boundaries of the former provincial kingdom of Santa Fe de Nuevo México . They are a blend of Hispano and Pueblo design styles, several of which continue to be hubs for cities and towns in New Mexico , including Santa Fe Plaza , Old Town Albuquerque , Acoma Pueblo 's plaza, Taos Downtown Historic District , Mesilla Plaza , Mora , and Las Vegas Plaza . In U.S. English ,
1520-483: Is often a well , monument , statue or other feature. Those with fountains are sometimes called fountain squares . The term "town square" (especially via the term "public square") is synonymous with the politics of many cultures, and the names of a certain town squares, such as the Euromaidan or Red Square , have become symbolic of specific political events throughout history. The city centre of Adelaide and
1596-797: Is referred to as The Piazza. In the Low Countries , squares are often called "markets" because of their usage as marketplaces . Most towns and cities in Belgium and the southern part of the Netherlands have in their historical centre a Grote Markt (literally "Big Market") in Dutch or Grand-Place (literally "Grand Square") in French (for example the Grand-Place in Brussels and
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#17327652935751672-582: Is reputedly the most visited area of Berlin, beating Friedrichstrasse and City West . It is a popular starting point for tourists, with many attractions including the Fernsehturm (TV tower), the Nikolai Quarter and the Rotes Rathaus ('Red City Hall') situated nearby. Alexanderplatz is still one of Berlin's major commercial areas, housing various shopping malls , department stores and other large retail locations. A hospital stood at
1748-551: The Fernsehturm ('TV Tower'). During the Peaceful Revolution of 1989, the Alexanderplatz demonstration on 4 November 1989 was the largest demonstration in the history of the German Democratic Republic . Protests starting 15 October and peaked on 4 November with an estimated 200,000 participants who called on the government of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany to step down and demanded
1824-720: The Grote Markt in Antwerp ). The Grote Markt or Grand-Place is often the location of the town hall , hence also the political centre of the town. The Dutch word for square is plein , which is another common name for squares in Dutch-speaking regions (for example Het Plein in The Hague ). In the 17th and 18th centuries, another type of square emerged, the so-called royal square (French: Place royale , Dutch: Koningsplein ). Such squares did not serve as
1900-581: The Haus des Lehrers ('the teacher's house') was opened next to the Bunte Brettl at Alexanderstraße 41 . It was designed by Hans Toebelmann and Henry Gross. The building belonged to the Berliner Lehrererverein ('teachers’ association'), who rented space on the ground floor of the building out to a pastry shop and restaurant to raise funds for the association. The building housed
1976-591: The Teufels Lustgarten ('Devil's Pleasure Garden'). The George Gate became the most important of Berlin's city gates during the 16th century, being the main entry point for goods arriving along the roads to the north and north-east of the city, for example from Oderberg , Prenzlau and Bernau , and the big Hanseatic cities on the Baltic Sea . After the Thirty Years' War , the city wall
2052-713: The Vereinigungsparteitag (Unification Party Congress) of the Communist Party and the USPD . The First Ordinary Congress of the Communist Workers Party of Germany was held in the nearby Zum Prälaten restaurant, 1–4 August 1920. Alexanderplatz 's position as a main transport and traffic hub continued to fuel its development. In addition to the three U-Bahn underground lines, long-distance trains and S-Bahn trains ran along
2128-455: The Battle of Berlin , Red Army artillery bombarded the area around Alexanderplatz . The battles of the last days of the war destroyed considerable parts of the historic Königsstadt , as well as many of the buildings around Alexanderplatz . The Wehrmacht had entrenched itself within the tunnels of the underground system. Hours before fighting ended in Berlin on 2 May 1945, troops of
2204-686: The Berlin Customs Wall , which initially consisted of a ring of palisade fences, was reinforced and grew to encompass the old city and its suburbs, including Königsvorstadt . This resulted in the King's Gate losing importance as an entry point for goods into the city. The gate was finally demolished in 1746. By the end of the 18th century, the basic structure of the royal suburbs of the Königsvorstadt had been developed. It consisted of irregular-shaped blocks of buildings running along
2280-516: The Platz 's viaduct arches. Omnibuses, horse-drawn from 1877 and, after 1898, also electric-powered trams, ran out of Alexanderplatz in all directions in a star shape. The subway station was designed by Alfred Grenander and followed the colour-coded order of subway stations, which began with green at Leipziger Platz and ran through to dark red. In the Golden Twenties , Alexanderplatz
2356-850: The SS detonated explosives inside the north–south S-Bahn tunnel under the Landwehr Canal to slow the advance of the Red Army towards Berlin's city centre. The entire tunnel flooded , as well as large sections of the U-Bahn network via connecting passages at the Friedrichstraße underground station. Many of those seeking shelter in the tunnels were killed. Of the then 63.3 km (39.3 miles) of subway tunnel, around 19.8 km (12.3 mi) were flooded with more than one million cubic meters (260,000,000 US gal) of water. Before
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2432-449: The cathedral , the cantabile or administrative center, which might be incorporated in a wing of a governor's palace , and the audiencia or law court. The plaza might be large enough to serve as a military parade ground. At times of crisis or fiestas , it serves as the gathering space for large crowds. Diminutives of plaza include plazuela and the latter's double diminutive plazoleta , which can be occasionally used as
2508-580: The piazze of Italy are central to most towns and cities. Shops, businesses, metro stations, and bus stops are commonly found on piazzas, and in multiple locations also feature Roman Catholic Churches , such as in places known as the Piazza del Duomo , with the most famous perhaps being at Duomo di Milan , or government buildings, such as the Piazza del Quirinale adjacent from the Quirinal Palace of
2584-430: The 19th century, with three-storey developments already existing at the beginning of the century and fourth storeys being constructed from the middle of the century. By the end of the century, most of the buildings were already five storeys high. The large factories and military facilities gave way to housing developments (mainly rental housing for the factory workers who had just moved into the city) and trading houses. At
2660-607: The Big City ) at Alexanderplatz . One of Berlin's largest air-raid shelters during the Second World War was situated under Alexanderplatz . It was built between 1941 and 1943 for the Deutsche Reichsbahn by Philipp Holzmann . The war reached Alexanderplatz in early April 1945. The Berolina statue had already been removed in 1944 and probably melted down for use in arms production. During
2736-773: The Italian president. The Piazza San Marco in Venice and Piazza del Popolo in Rome are among the world's best known. The Italian piazzas historically played a major role in the political developments of Italy in both the Italian Medieval Era and the Italian Renaissance. For example, the Piazza della Signoria in Florence remains synonymous with the return of the Medici from their exile in 1530 as well as
2812-674: The Middle Ages to today. Squares located opposite a Palace or Castle ( German : Schloss ) are commonly named Schlossplatz . Prominent Plätze include the Alexanderplatz , Pariser Platz and Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Heldenplatz in Vienna, and the Königsplatz in Munich. A large open square common in villages, towns and cities of Indonesia is known as alun-alun . It is a Javanese term which in modern-day Indonesia refers to
2888-931: The UK as part of urban redevelopment following the Blitz . Squares can also be quite small and resemble courtyards, especially in the City of London . In some cities, especially in New England , the term "square" (as its Spanish equivalent, plaza ) is applied to a commercial area (like Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts ), usually formed around the intersection of three or more streets, and which originally consisted of some open area (many of which have been filled in with traffic islands and other traffic calming features). Many of these intersections are irregular rather than square. The placita (Spanish for "little plaza"), as it
2964-725: The United States, to refer to a verandah or front porch of a house or apartment, such as at George Washington's historic home Mount Vernon . Several countries, especially around the Mediterranean Sea, feature Italian-style town squares. In Gibraltar, one such town square just off Gibraltar 's Main Street , between the Parliament Building and the City Hall officially named John Mackintosh Square
3040-515: The adjacent suburb of North Adelaide , in South Australia, were planned by Colonel William Light in 1837. The city streets were laid out in a grid plan , with the city centre including a central public square, Victoria Square , and four public squares in the centre of each quarter of the city. North Adelaide has two public squares. The city was also designed to be surrounded by park lands , and all of these features still exist today, with
3116-469: The area so the sick could not escape. In Toronto , during the summer of 1847, 863 Irish immigrants died of typhus at fever sheds built by the Toronto Board of Health at the northwest corner of King and John Street . There were at least 12 sheds, 22 metres long by 7.5 metres wide. Partridge Island, New Brunswick , just outside the main harbour of Saint John , was chosen as the location for
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3192-408: The area, such as the 1799–1800 military parade grounds designed by David Gilly . At this time, the residents of the Platz were mostly craftsmen, petty-bourgeois, retired soldiers and manufacturing workers. The southern part of the later Alexanderplatz was separated from traffic by trees and served as a parade ground, whereas the northern half remained a market. Beginning in the mid-18th century,
3268-401: The beginning of the 1870s, the Berlin administration had the former moat filled to build the Berlin city railway, which was opened in 1882 along with Bahnhof Alexanderplatz (' Alexanderplatz Railway Station'). In 1883–1884, the Grand Hotel, a neo-Renaissance building with 185 rooms and shops beneath was constructed. From 1886 to 1890, Hermann Blankenstein built the police headquarters,
3344-424: The building's demolition in 1932. During these years, Alexanderplatz was populated by fish wives , water carriers , sand sellers, rag-and-bone men , knife sharpeners and day laborers . Because of its importance as a transport hub, horse-drawn buses ran every 15 minutes between Alexanderplatz and Potsdamer Platz in 1847. During the March Revolution of 1848, large-scale street fighting occurred on
3420-421: The burning at the stake of Savonarola during the Italian Inquisition . The Italian term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza , the French term place, the Portuguese praça, and the German Platz. Not to be confused, other countries use the phrase to refer to an unrelated feature of architectural or urban design, such as the "piazza" at King's Cross station in London or piazza as used by some in
3496-513: The cattle market to the northeast towards Bernau . To the right stood the George chapel, an orphanage and a hospital that was donated by the Elector Sophie Dorothea in 1672. Next to the chapel stood a dilapidated medieval plague house which was demolished in 1716. Behind it was a rifleman's field and an inn, later named the Stelzenkrug . By the end of the 17th century, 600 to 700 families lived in this area. They included butchers, cattle herders, shepherds and dairy farmers. The George chapel
3572-555: The first German cabaret, the Überbrettl , in the former Sezessionsbühne ('Secession stage') at Alexanderstraße 40 , initially under the name Bunte Brettl . It was announced as " Kabarett as upscale entertainment with artistic ambitions. Emperor-loyal and market-oriented stands the uncritical amusement in the foreground." The merchants Hermann Tietz , Georg Wertheim and Hahn opened large department stores on Alexanderplatz : Tietz (1904–1911), Wertheim (1910–1911) and Hahn (1911). Tietz marketed itself as
3648-413: The foundations for the development. The CUBIX multiplex cinema ( CineStar Cubix am Alexanderplatz, styled CUBIX), which opened in November 2000, joined the team of Berlin International Film Festival cinemas in 2007, and the festival shows films on three of its screens. Town square A town square (also a plaza , public square or urban square ) is an open public space commonly found in
3724-494: The gate's front space as a public plaza. The square has been renovated to modern style has new waterways & rest Areas, exhibition Hall for Excavated Cultural Assets in 2022 Aug. The Spanish-language term for a public square is plaza ( [ˈplasa] or [ˈplaθa] depending on the dialectal variety). It comes from Latin platea , with the meaning of 'broad street' or 'public square'. Ultimately coming from Greek πλατεῖα (ὁδός) plateia (hodos) , it
3800-569: The heart of a traditional town , and which is used for community gatherings. A square in a city may be called a city square . Related concepts are the civic center , the market square and the village green . Most squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets , concerts , political rallies, and other events that require firm ground. They are not necessarily a true geometric square . Being centrally located, town squares are usually surrounded by small shops such as bakeries, meat markets, cheese stores, and clothing stores. At their center
3876-422: The historic highways which once carried goods in various directions out of the gate. At this time, the area contained large factories (silk and wool), such as the Kurprinz (one of Berlin's first cloth factories, located in a former barn) and a workhouse established in 1758 for beggars and homeless people, where the inmates worked a man-powered treadmill to turn a mill. Soon, military facilities came to dominate
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#17327652935753952-410: The location of present-day Alexanderplatz since the 13th century. Named Heiliger Georg (St. George), the hospital gave its name to the nearby Georgentor (George Gate) of the Berlin city wall . Outside the city walls, this area was largely undeveloped until around 1400, when the first settlers began building thatched cottages . As a gallows was located close by, the area earned the nickname
4028-451: The making of plazas. They can be used to open spaces for low-income neighborhoods, and can also the overall aesthetic of the surrounding area boosting economic vitality, pedestrian mobility and safety for pedestrians. Most plazas are created out of a collaboration between local non-profit applicants and city officials which requires approval from the city. Throughout North America, words like place , square , or plaza frequently appear in
4104-441: The most important wool market in Germany was held in Alexanderplatz . Between 1752 and 1755, the writer Gotthold Ephraim Lessing lived in a house on Alexanderplatz. In 1771, a new stone bridge (the Königsbrücke ) was built over the moat and in 1777 a colonnade-lined row of shops ( Königskolonnaden ) was constructed by architect Carl von Gontard . Between 1783 and 1784, seven three-storey buildings were erected around
4180-411: The names of commercial developments such as shopping centers and hotels. Plague house A pest house , plague house , pesthouse or fever shed was a type of building used for persons afflicted with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis , cholera , smallpox or typhus . Often used for forcible quarantine , many towns and cities had one or more pesthouses accompanied by a cemetery or
4256-477: The northern part of the square, the southern part (the former parade ground) remained quiet, having green space elements added by garden director Hermann Mächtig in 1889. The northwest of the square contained a second, smaller green space where, in 1895, the 7.5-metre (25 ft) copper Berolina statue by sculptor Emil Hundrieser was erected. At the beginning of the 20th century, Alexanderplatz experienced its heyday. In 1901, Ernst von Wolzogen founded
4332-465: The renovation of the Alexanderhaus . In 1998, the first tram returned to Alexanderplatz , and in 1999, the town planning contracts for the implementation of Kollhoff and Timmermann 's plans were signed by the landowners and the investors. On 2 April 2000, the Senate finally fixed the development plan for Alexanderplatz . The purchase contracts between investors and the Senate Department for Urban Development were signed on 23 May 2002, thus laying
4408-408: The site of the May Fourth Movement , the Proclamation of the People's Republic of China , the 1976 Tiananmen Incident , the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests , and all Chinese National Day Parades . The German word for square is Platz , which also means "Place", and is a common term for central squares in German-speaking countries. These have been focal points of public life in towns and cities from
4484-455: The southeast of the square, the cloth factory buildings were converted into the Königstädter Theater by Carl Theodor Ottmer at a cost of 120,000 Taler . The foundation stone was laid on 31 August 1823 and the opening ceremony occurred on 4 August 1824. Sales were poor, forcing the theatre to close on 3 June 1851. Thereafter, the building was used for wool storage, then as a tenement building, and finally as an inn called Aschinger until
4560-457: The square and its surrounding area. In the first phase, there were 16 submissions, five of which were selected for the second phase of the competition. These five architects had to adapt their plans to detailed requirements. For example, the return of the Alex's trams was planned, with the implementation to be made in several stages. The winner, who was determined on 17 September 1993, was the Berlin architect Hans Kollhoff . Kollhoff 's plan
4636-429: The square by Georg Christian Unger , including the famous Gasthof zum Hirschen , where Karl Friedrich Schinkel lived as a permanent tenant and Heinrich von Kleist stayed in the days before his suicide . On 25 October 1805 the Russian Tsar Alexander I was welcomed to the city on the parade grounds in front of the old King's Gate. To mark this occasion, on 2 November, King Frederick William III ordered
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#17327652935754712-411: The square in front of the Gate. The area developed into a suburb – the Georgenvorstadt – which continued to flourish into the late 17th century. Unlike the southwestern suburbs ( Friedrichstadt , Dorotheenstadt ) which were strictly and geometrically planned, the suburbs in the northeast ( Georgenvorstadt , Spandauervorstadt and the Stralauer Vorstadt ) proliferated without plan. Despite
4788-400: The square to be renamed Alexanderplatz : His Royal Majesty, by means of the supreme Cabinet, orders on the 2nd of this month, those in the Königs-Vorstadt Sandgasse to take the name Kaiserstrasse , and the square in front of the workhouse in the newly-conceived suburb settles with the name of Alexander-Platz , this is hereby made known to the public for news and attention." In
4864-414: The squares maintained as mostly green spaces. In Mainland China, People's Square is a common designation for the central town square of modern Chinese cities, established as part of urban modernization within the last few decades. These squares are the site of government buildings, museums and other public buildings. One such square, Tiananmen Square , is a famous site in Chinese history due to it being
4940-423: The streets of Alexanderplatz , where revolutionaries used barricades to block the route from Alexanderplatz to the city. Novelist and poet Theodor Fontane , who worked in the vicinity in a nearby pharmacy, participated in the construction of barricades and later described how he used materials from the Königstädter Theater to barricade Neue Königstraße . The Königsstadt continued to grow throughout
5016-417: The teachers' library which survived two world wars, and today is integrated into the library for educational historical research. The rear of the property contained the association's administrative building, a hotel for members and an exhibition hall. Notable events that took place in the hall include the funeral services for Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg on 2 February 1919 and, on 4 December 1920,
5092-406: The term "maidan" across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including Ukraine, in which the term became well-known globally during the Euromaidan . A piazza ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjattsa] ) is a city square in Italy , Malta , along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. Possibly influenced by the centrality of the Forum (Roman) to ancient Mediterranean culture,
5168-564: The two large open squares of kraton compounds. It is typically located adjacent a mosque or a palace. It is a place for public spectacles, court celebrations and general non-court entertainments. In traditional Persian architecture, town squares are known as maydan or meydan. A maydan is considered one of the essential features in urban planning and they are often adjacent to bazaars, large mosques and other public buildings. Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan and Azadi Square in Tehran are examples of classic and modern squares. Several countries use
5244-402: Was based on Behrens’ design, provided a horseshoe-shaped area of seven- to eight-storey buildings and 150-metre (490 ft) high towers with 42 floors. The Alexanderhaus and the Berolinahaus – both listed buildings – would form the southwestern boundary. Second place went to the design by Daniel Libeskind and Bernd Faskel . The proposal of the architecture firm Kny & Weber, which
5320-425: Was characterized as " total manoli ". Writer Kurt Tucholsky wrote a poem referencing the advert, and the composer Rudolf Nelson made the legendary Revue Total manoli with the dancer Lucie Berber . The writer Alfred Döblin named his novel, Berlin Alexanderplatz , after the square, and Walter Ruttmann filmed parts of his 1927 film Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt ( Berlin: The Symphony of
5396-412: Was closed but the Georgian Gate remained open, making the Georgian Gate an even more important entrance to the city. In 1681, the trade of cattle and pig fattening was banned within the city. Frederick William, the Great Elector , granted cheaper plots of land, waiving the basic interest rate, in the area in front of the Georgian Gate. Settlements grew rapidly and a weekly cattle market was established on
5472-508: Was completed in 1890; it was one of Berlin's largest buildings. The 'castle' suffered extensive damage during 1944-45 and was demolished in 1957. The site on the southwest corner of Alexanderplatz remained largely unused as a carpark until the Alexa shopping centre opened in 2007. Reconstruction planning for post-war Berlin gave priority to the dedicated space to accommodate the rapidly growing motor traffic in inner-city thoroughfares. This idea of
5548-449: Was strengthened. From 1658 to 1683, a citywide fortress was constructed to plans by the Linz master builder, Johann Gregor Memhardt . The new fortress contained 13 bastions connected by ramparts and was preceded by a moat measuring up to 50 metres (160 ft) wide. Within the new fortress, many of the historic city wall gates were closed. For example, the southeastern Stralauer Gate
5624-469: Was strongly based on the horseshoe shape of Wagner, finally won the third place. The design by Kollhoff was chosen on 7 June 1994 by the Berlin Senate as a basis for the further transformation of Alexanderplatz . In 1993, architect Hans Kollhoff 's master plan for a major redevelopment including the construction of several skyscrapers was published. In 1995, Landesbank Berlin completed
5700-429: Was the epitome of the lively, pulsating cosmopolitan city of Berlin, rivalled in the city only by Potsdamer Platz . Many of the buildings and rail bridges surrounding the platz bore large billboards that illuminated the night. The Berlin cigarette company Manoli had a famous billboard at the time which contained a ring of neon tubes that constantly circled a black ball. The proverbial " Berliner Tempo " of those years
5776-692: Was upgraded to the George church and received its own preacher. After his coronation in Königsberg on 6 May 1701 the Prussian King Frederick I entered Berlin through the George Gate. This led to the gate being renamed the King's Gate , and the surrounding area became known in official documents as Königs Thor Platz (King's Gate Square). The Georgenvorstadt suburb was renamed Königsvorstadt (or 'royal suburbs' short). In 1734,
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