Berlin-Mitte

Mitte (locality)

Mitte (locality)

Quarter of Berlin in Germany

Mitte (German pronunciation: [ˈmɪtə] ⓘ) (German for "middle" or "center") is a central section (Ortsteil) of Berlin, Germany, in the eponymous borough (Bezirk) of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district.

"Berlin-Mitte" and "Berlin Mitte" redirect here. For the borough, see Mitte. For the electoral district, see Berlin-Mitte (electoral district). For the talk show formerly known as Berlin Mitte, see Maybrit Illner (talk show).
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Zones of Mitte
Mitte on a city map of Berlin's center

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 the central boulevard of Unter den Linden. For these reasons, Mitte is considered the "heart" of Berlin.

History

Map of 1688
See also: Cölln and History 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 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 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.[2]

Geography

Position

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).

Subdivision

Mitte is subdivided into 13 zones or neighborhoods (Stadtviertel) (the numbers refer to the map above right):

Sister cities

Main sights

Buildings and structures

Places, squares and streets

Photogallery

  • Brandenburg Gate
  • Fernsehturm
  • Rotes Rathaus
  • Alexanderplatz
  • Unter den Linden
  • Humboldt University of Berlin
  • Museum für Naturkunde
  • Potsdamer Platz
  • Pergamon Museum
  • Berlin Cathedral and Karl-Liebknecht-Straße
  • Inside Berlin State Opera
  • Nikolaiviertel
  • Berlin Palace with the Humboldt Forum
  • Museum Island
  • St. Hedwig's Cathedral
  • Neue Synagoge
  • Gendarmenmarkt with Französischer Dom and Konzerthaus
  • Deutscher Dom
  • Kunsthaus Tacheles
  • Checkpoint Charlie on Friedrichstrasse
  • Sophie-Gips-Höfe

Transportation

Berlin Alexanderplatz railway station

Mitte is served by S-Bahn lines S5, S7, S75, S9 (both on Berlin Stadtbahn); S1, S2, S25, and U-Bahn lines U2, U5, U6 and U8, as well as numerous tram and bus lines.

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Einwohnerinnen und Einwohner im Land Berlin am 31. Dezember 2020" (PDF). Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg. February 2021.
  2. [2]
    (in German) Historical infos about Mitte
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Berlin/Mitte.

Media related to Berlin-Mitte at Wikimedia Commons
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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Berlin-Mitte, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.