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57-479: The story concerns a murderer, Franz Biberkopf, fresh from prison. When his friend murders the prostitute on whom Biberkopf has been relying as an anchor, he realizes that he will be unable to extricate himself from the underworld into which he has sunk. He must deal with misery, lack of opportunities, crime and the imminent ascendency of Nazism. During his struggle to survive against all odds, life rewards him with an unsuspected surprise, but his happiness does not last as

114-644: A 14-part miniseries, it also has been shown theatrically. It runs for 15 hours (NTSC and film releases expand the runtime by a half hour). Upon its release in New York City, ticket holders were required to come to the theatre for three consecutive nights to see the entire film. Both films were released in November 2007 by the Criterion Collection in the US in a multi-disc DVD. A Region 2 edition of

171-516: A blending of first-person and third-person narrative)". The novel is told from multiple points of view, and uses sound effects, newspaper articles, songs, speeches, and other books to propel the plot. The novel was translated into English in 1931 by Eugene Jolas , a friend of James Joyce. The translation was not well received; it particularly was criticised for the way in which it rendered everyday working-class speech. A 2018 English translation by Michael Hofmann , published by New York Review Books ,

228-673: 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,

285-645: 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

342-461: 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

399-602: 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

456-535: 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

513-472: 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

570-441: 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

627-475: 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 the cattle market to the northeast towards Bernau . To the right stood the George chapel, an orphanage and

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684-672: A territorial redeployment by the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom that reshaped the borders of West Berlin 's British Sector in August 1945, the western part of Staaken became in effect as of 1 February 1951 an exclave of Mitte, then still a borough of East Berlin . This ended on 1 January 1961, when western Staaken was incorporated into then East German Falkensee , which had already been under its de facto administration since 1 June 1952. Between 1961 and 1990, Mitte, one of

741-523: 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

798-603: Is a central section ( Ortsteil ) of Berlin , Germany, in the eponymous borough ( Bezirk ) of Mitte . Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district. Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Old Berlin , with the medieval churches of St. Nicholas and St. Mary , the Museum Island , city buildings ( Rotes Rathaus and Altes Stadthaus ), the Fernsehturm , and the Brandenburg Gate , along

855-562: 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 is reputedly the most visited area of Berlin, beating Friedrichstrasse and City West . It

912-541: 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 the location of present-day Alexanderplatz since

969-551: 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

1026-581: 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

1083-713: 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

1140-455: 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

1197-686: 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

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1254-533: 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 was closed but the Georgian Gate remained open, making the Georgian Gate an even more important entrance to

1311-517: 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

1368-851: 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

1425-559: 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 the Teufels Lustgarten ('Devil's Pleasure Garden'). The George Gate became

1482-430: 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

1539-608: 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

1596-792: The Fassbinder version was released in the UK by Second Sight in October that year. Burhan Qurbani directed the most recent film adaptation, Berlin Alexanderplatz , which premiered at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in 2020. Qurbani's version recontextualised the lead role of Franz as Francis, an Afro-German refugee from Guinea-Bissau . Alexanderplatz Alexanderplatz ( German: [alɛkˈsandɐˌplats] , Alexander Square )

1653-458: 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,

1710-461: 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,

1767-492: 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

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1824-579: The central boulevard of Unter den Linden . For these reasons, Mitte is considered the "heart" of Berlin. Mitte comprises the historic center of Berlin ( Altberlin and Cölln ). Its history thus corresponds to the history of the entire city until the early 20th century, and with the Greater Berlin Act in 1920 it became the first district of the city. It was among the areas of the city most heavily damaged in World War II . Following

1881-610: 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 the square in front of the Gate. The area developed into a suburb – the Georgenvorstadt – which continued to flourish into

1938-555: 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

1995-409: 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. Mitte (locality) Mitte ( German pronunciation: [ˈmɪtə] ; German for "middle" or "center")

2052-476: 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

2109-527: 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 a building ban imposed in 1691, more than 600 houses existed in the area by 1700. At that time, the George Gate was

2166-812: The most important boroughs of East Berlin but close to all three western sectors of the city, was almost surrounded by the Berlin Wall . One of the most important border crossings was Checkpoint Charlie , near Kreuzberg . Situated in central Berlin and mostly in its old town, it is traversed by the river Spree . It borders the localities ( Ortsteile ) of Tiergarten , Moabit , Wedding , Gesundbrunnen (all in Mitte district), Prenzlauer Berg (in Pankow district), Friedrichshain , and Kreuzberg (both in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district). Mitte

2223-530: 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 was strengthened. From 1658 to 1683, a citywide fortress was constructed to plans by

2280-554: 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

2337-477: 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

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2394-649: 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

2451-526: 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

2508-509: 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

2565-504: 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

2622-477: 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

2679-556: The story continues. The novel is set in the working-class district near Alexanderplatz in 1920s Berlin . Although its narrative style is sometimes compared to that of James Joyce 's, critics such as Walter Benjamin have drawn a distinction between Ulysses ’ interior monologue and Berlin Alexanderplatz' s use of montage. Oliver Kamm , writing in the London Times , says Döblin's methods are more akin to Kafka in his use of " erlebte Rede (roughly, experienced speech —

2736-424: 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

2793-418: 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,

2850-462: 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

2907-425: 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

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2964-509: 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

3021-415: Was directed by Piel Jutzi . Döblin worked on the adaptation, along with Karlheinz Martin and Hans Wilhelm . The film starred Heinrich George , Maria Bard , Margarete Schlegel , Bernhard Minetti , Gerhard Bienert , Albert Florath and Paul Westermeier . The second adaptation, Berlin Alexanderplatz , was directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder . Produced for and shown on German television in 1980 as

3078-473: Was given a starred review from Kirkus Reviews , which called it "vigorous and fresh" and a "welcome refurbishing of a masterpiece of literary modernism". According to Oliver Kamm, "Dialogue is the most difficult thing to get right in translation" which Hofmann has rendered "in cockney dialect . It reads fluently, even at the risk of being possibly obscure to a non-British audience". The novel has been adapted three times for film. In 1931 Berlin-Alexanderplatz

3135-470: 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

3192-429: 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

3249-639: 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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