Berlin - Friedrichstrasse

Friedrichstrasse in Berlin is some 3.5km/2.2mi long, extending from Oranienburger Tor in the north to the Hallesches Tor on Mehringplatz in the south. From 1961-89 the Berlin Wall crossed it at Zimmerstrasse, the site of the legendary crossing-point for foreigners, Checkpoint Charlie.

In the time of Frederick William I, Friedrichstrasse was used as the direct line of approach to the parade ground on Tempelhofer Feld, and under William II it was still used by the troops on their way back to the castle from maneuvers. It was in the Berlin of the Kaisers that Friedrichstrasse became the prime business and -- above all -- entertainment street in the city. Around the turn of the century it was the glittering main thoroughfare dividing the administrative quarter from that which housed the newspaper, banking and theatrical fraternity, with its fine hotels and bank buildings, operetta house, and revue theaters. After 1918, however, it had to take second place to the up-and-coming republican street of Kurfürstendamm and became the favorite haunt of rakes and wastrels. It was along Friedrichstrasse that the first electric trams ran in 1896. Following the foundation of the Prussian Empire 120 years ago, the local council experienced a "boom phase", when the famous Kaisergalerie and, later, the twice-as-large Friedrichstrassenpassage were built. Behrenstrasse, the first street to run crosswise behind the lime trees, developed during that period, reflecting the power of money. Here, for example, stood the parent offices of the Deutsche Bank (Ministry of the Interior of the GDR until 1990) and the Berlin branch of the Dresdner Bank (the State Bank of Berlin until 1990). During the great American air raid of Feb. 3, 1945, which destroyed the center of Berlin, scarcely a single building in Friedrichstrasse escaped damage. Subsequently, the division of Berlin meant that the area on both sides of the Wall suffered decay as a sort of no-man's land.

Friedrichstrasse was put under state control following the building of the Wall in 1961, and in accordance with the latest East German Five-Year Plan, the aim was to revamp it by means of buildings such as the Friedrichstadt Palace and the Grand Hotel, which opened in 1987, thus regaining the atmosphere of a boulevard in a cosmopolitan city.

After the changes that took place in 1989, Friedrichstrasse experienced a period of rapid commercial expansion following the influx of private investors interested in the mainly small parcels of real estate and the half-finished shells of buildings inherited from the Socialist era. The major new investments were in the field of hotels, restaurants, insurance companies, publishing houses, banks and luxury shops belonging to international chains. Urban sociologists forecast that by the year 2000 Friedrichstrasse will once again be one of the most expensive high streets in Germany.

To the south of the railroad station, Friedrichstrasse meets Unter den Linden, which during Berlin's heyday was one of the city's liveliest spots.