Alexanderplatz

Alexanderplatz

Already in the Middle Ages, when it was known as Ochsenmarkt or "Market of the Ox", Alexanderplatz was considered the center of Berlin. Currently Alex, as many Berliners call it, continues to be one of the main meeting places of the capital.

In the 1960s, as part of its plan to reform its sector of the city, the German Democratic Republic expanded Alexanderplatz and made it pedestrian. To demonstrate the power of his government, in 1969 they erected the Berlin Television Tower (Fernsehturm), which today remains one of the tallest buildings in Europe.

The most important event in Alexanderplatz was the protests of November 4, 1989. On that day, half a million people demonstrated against the communist government. Five days later, on November 9, the government announced the freedom to cross the Berlin Wall.

Although when you get to the Television Tower from the center of Berlin you may think that the square where you are is Alexanderplatz, the truth is that the "original" square is behind the tower. Today everything is considered the same.

In the original square, in addition to some bars and the Kaufhof Gallery, a department store shopping center, you have to look at the World Clock, which shows the time of all cities in the world, and in the Source Of Friendship among Peoples. Both monuments were added in 1969.

In the garden square on the west side of the tower you can highlight three interesting monuments: the Marienkirche Church, built in 1380, the Fountain of Neptune and the Red Town Hall which, although used by the government, the name comes from the color of its brick.

From Alexanderplatz, the great avenues built during the communist era. It is worth mentioning the Karl-Marx-Allee, a wide avenue in which it is possible to appreciate the Soviet architecture.