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25-578: It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg ) which were formerly divided between East Berlin and West Berlin . Mitte encompasses Berlin's historic core and includes some of the most important tourist sites of Berlin like the Reichstag and Berlin Hauptbahnhof , Checkpoint Charlie , Museum Island , the TV tower , Brandenburg Gate , Unter den Linden , Potsdamer Platz , Alexanderplatz ,

50-477: A long history as a working-class neighborhood and was heavily damaged during World War II. After the war, the area became home to many immigrants, including Turkish and other migrants from the Middle East and Europe. In the 1970s and 1980s, Kreuzberg became a center of political activism and alternative culture, with a large youth and student population. Friedrichshain, on the other hand, has a more diverse history. It

75-424: A rich and complex history that reflects the city's changing political and cultural landscape over the past two centuries. Located in the heart of the city, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain were once separate neighborhoods that were united into a single district in 2001. The area is known for its diverse and vibrant cultural scene, as well as its history as a center of political activism and counterculture. Kreuzberg has

100-456: Is Alexanderplatz with the prominent Fernsehturm (TV tower), Germany's highest building, and the large railway station with connections to many subway ( U-Bahn ), tramway ( Berlin trambahn ), city trains ( S-Bahn ) and buses. There are some important streets which connect Mitte with the other boroughs, e.g. the boulevard Unter den Linden which connects Alexanderplatz to the west with Brandenburg Gate and runs further as Straße des 17. Juni to

125-452: Is an area in the western part of central Berlin . It is one of Berlin's main commercial areas , and was the commercial centre of former West Berlin when the city was divided by the Berlin Wall . The area stretches from the localities of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf in the west to Schöneberg and Tiergarten in the east. It is located southwest of the central Mitte locality and

150-418: Is divided into 2 localities, Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg . The governing body of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is the district council ( Bezirksverordnetenversammlung ). It has responsibility for passing laws and electing the city government, including the mayor. The most recent district council election was held on 26 September 2021, and the results were as follows: The district mayor ( Bezirksbürgermeister )

175-587: Is elected by the Bezirksverordnetenversammlung, and positions in the district government (Bezirksamt) are apportioned based on party strength. Clara Herrmann of the Greens was elected mayor on 6 December 2021. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the district government is as follows: Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is twinned with: City West City West (formerly known as Neuer Westen ("New West") or Zooviertel (" Zoo Quarter"))

200-466: Is elected by the borough assembly, and positions in the borough administration ( Bezirksamt ) are apportioned based on party strength. Stefanie Remlinger of the Greens was elected mayor on 20 October 2022. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the borough administration is as follows: Mitte is twinned with: Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg ( German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪçsˌhaɪn ˈkʁɔʏtsbɛʁk] )

225-695: Is the name of the biggest urban park in Mitte, located in the same-named locality . Tiergarten Park was established as a hunting ground in the 16th century by the Prussian kings. Today it is enclosed by densely built-up areas by Hansaviertel and Moabit in the north, the Government District in the east and the City West and the Embassy Quarter in the southwest. Many cultural monuments and memorials are located in

250-434: Is the second borough of Berlin , formed in 2001 by merging the former East Berlin borough of Friedrichshain and the former West Berlin borough of Kreuzberg . The historic Oberbaum Bridge , formerly a Berlin border crossing for pedestrians, links both districts across the river Spree as the new borough's landmark (as featured in the coat of arms). The counterculture tradition especially of Kreuzberg has led to

275-610: The Großer Tiergarten park, along Kurfürstendamm and Tauentzienstraße , two leading shopping streets meeting at Breitscheidplatz , where the landmark of the ruined Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church rises. The major part belongs to the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough, while the eastern half of Tauentzienstraße with the famous Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) department store on Wittenbergplatz belongs to Tempelhof-Schöneberg . The adjacent streets of Tiergarten in

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300-638: The Victory Column and the centre of former West Berlin in Charlottenburg , or Karl-Marx-Allee from Alexanderplatz to Friedrichshain and the eastern suburbs. The former Mitte district had been established by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act and comprised large parts of the historic city around Alt-Berlin and Cölln . Brandenburg Gate was the western exit at the Berlin city boundary until 1861. Between 1961 and 1990,

325-803: The Wertheim and Tietz department stores on Leipziger Straße in Mitte. Likewise, the Theater des Westens opened in 1896 or the Romanisches Café from 1916 were newly established cultural institutions. In the time of the Weimar Republic after World War I , the New West incorporated by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act became synonymous to the Golden Twenties . Large cinemas like the Ufa-Palast am Zoo opened, then

350-761: The Tiergarten Park, like the Siegessäule , the Soviet War Memorial and a historic rose garden. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe , the biggest victim group of the Nazi dictatorship, is located on the east side of the park, near the Brandenburg Gate and near the place where Hitler's New Reich Chancellery once was. The Kulturforum was built in the 1950s and 1960s at the edge of West Berlin , after most of

375-832: The area around the Zoologischer Garten railway station developed to the West Berlin city centre in the Cold War era. The process was reinforced by the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, followed by the opening of the Europa-Center high-rise on Breitscheidplatz two years later. After the German reunification in 1990, the central administrative functions of reunified Berlin are today again located in Mitte. Nevertheless, City West has struggled to maintain its status as "second centre" and one of

400-541: The area's East Berlin portion was surrounded by the Berlin Wall on the north, south and west. There were some border control points, the most notable of which was Checkpoint Charlie between Kreuzberg and Mitte, which was operated by the United States Army and was open to foreigners and diplomats. Two other checkpoints were at Heinrich-Heine-Straße/ Prinzenstraße east of Checkpoint Charlie, open to citizens of West Germany and West Berlin and on Invalidenstraße in

425-620: The borough being a stronghold for the Green Party . While Kreuzberg is characterised by a high number of immigrants, the share of non-German citizens in Friedrichshain is much lower and the average age is higher. The merger between the distinct quarters is celebrated by an annual anarchic "vegetable fight" on the Oberbaumbrücke. Both parts have to deal with the consequences of gentrification . The Berlin district of Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain has

450-421: The borough had a population of 322,919, of whom 144.000 (44.5%) had a migration background. In the former West Berlin areas of Wedding, Gesundbrunnen and Moabit, foreigners and Germans of foreign origin compose nearly 70% of the population, while in Mitte proper the share of migrants is relatively low. The immigrant community is quite diverse, however, Turks , Africans , Eastern Europeans and East Asians form

475-590: The largest groups. The governing body of Mitte is the borough assembly ( Bezirksverordnetenversammlung ). It has responsibility for passing laws and electing the borough administration, including the mayor. The most recent borough assembly election was held on 26 September 2021, and led to a coalition between the Greens and the social democrats. ( Zählgemeinschaft ) Stephan von Dassel (Greens, 2021-2022) 30/55 28/55 28/55 32/55 The 2021 results were as follows: The borough mayor ( Bezirksbürgermeister )

500-750: The latter six of which were in former East Berlin. Mitte ( German for "middle", "centre") is located in the central part of Berlin along the Spree River. It borders on Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in the west, Reinickendorf in the north, Pankow in the east, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in the southeast, and Tempelhof-Schöneberg in the southwest. In the middle of the Spree lies Museum Island ( Museumsinsel ) with its museums, Berlin Cathedral ( Berliner Dom ) and Berlin Palace ( Berliner Schloss ). The central square in Mitte

525-578: The main locations of German film , accompanied by a lively variety and Kabarett scene, while in 1928 Max Reinhardt took over the Kurfürstendamm theatres in the rooms of the former Berlin Secession . Shortly afterwards, first antisemitic encroachments occurred on Jewish residents and shopkeepers, culminating in the Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938. After World War II and the division of Germany

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550-789: The north on the border with the West Berlin Tiergarten district (the present-day Moabit locality). The government district is located in the locality of Tiergarten around the Reichstag Building. Most institutions of the German government have their seat at the Regierungsviertel Many embassies and the Federal Ministry of Defence in the historic embassy quarter in the south of the Tiergarten Park . Großer Tiergarten

575-595: The northeast since 2001 are part of the Mitte borough. City West started developing in the Wilhelmine era from about 1895 onwards as a commercial and entertainment centre of the German Empire 's capital, in addition to the historical centre in Mitte. At that time, Charlottenburg, Schöneberg and Wilmersdorf still were towns in their own right, rivalling with Berlin for locational advantages. The KaDeWe opened in 1907 competed with

600-702: The once unified city's cultural assets had been lost behind the Berlin Wall . The Kulturforum is characterized by its innovative modernist architecture; several buildings are distinguished by the organic designs of Hans Scharoun , and the Neue Nationalgalerie was designed by Mies van der Rohe , albeit originally as a private house. Among the cultural institutions housed in and around the Kulturforum are: The present-day borough of Mitte consists of six localities: (the former Mitte borough) (the former Tiergarten borough) (the former Wedding borough) As of 2010,

625-550: Was originally a working-class neighborhood, but was heavily bombed during World War II and then divided by the Berlin Wall after the war. After the fall of the Wall in 1989, Friedrichshain underwent a process of gentrification and became a popular neighborhood for artists, students, and young professionals. In recent years, both Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain have become popular tourist destinations, known for their lively streets, diverse cultural scene, and rich history. Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

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