Mehringplatz is a round plaza (or circus)A circus is "circular open space at a street junction" at the southern tip of the Friedrichstadt neighborhood of

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it ha ...

district,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. It marks the southern end of

Friedrichstraße The Friedrichstraße () (lit. ''Frederick Street'') is a major culture and shopping street in central Berlin, forming the core of the Friedrichstadt neighborhood and giving the name to Berlin Friedrichstraße station. It runs from the northern pa ...

. Until 1970 both Lindenstraße and

Wilhelmstrasse Wilhelmstrasse (german: Wilhelmstraße, see ß) is a major thoroughfare in the central Mitte and Kreuzberg districts of Berlin, Germany. Until 1945, it was recognised as the centre of the government, first of the Kingdom of Prussia, later of t ...

led into it. In 1947 it was renamed after the publicist

Franz Mehring Franz Erdmann Mehring (27 February 1846 – 28 January 1919) was a German communist historian, literary critic, philosopher, and revolutionary socialist politician who was a senior member of the Spartacus League during the German Revolution of 191 ...

(1846–1919). Map de-be friedrichstadt

Mehringplatz is one of three prominent squares laid out about 1730 in the course of the city's Baroque extension under King Frederick William I of Prussia, along with

Pariser Platz Pariser Platz ( en, Paris Square) is a square in the historic center of Berlin, Germany, situated by the Brandenburg Gate at the end of the Unter den Linden. The square is named after the French capital of Paris to commemorate the anti-Napoleon A ...

(former ''Karree'') and

Leipziger Platz Leipziger Platz is an octagonal square in the center of Berlin. It is located along Leipziger Straße just east of and adjacent to the Potsdamer Platz. History Layout and original architecture The square with the shape of an octagon, initi ...

(''Octagon''). Due to its circular shape, Mehringplatz was initially named ''Rondell''; but on 22 October 1815, it was renamed ''Belle-Alliance-Platz'' after the ''Battle of

La Belle Alliance La Belle Alliance is an inn situated a few miles south of Brussels in Belgium, chiefly remembered for its significance in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815). There are two plaques on the building: one is "In memory of the F ...

'', an alternative name for the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

that was then popular in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. ''Rondell'' was the southern entrance to Berlin via ''Hallesches Tor'', a gate on the newer city wall on the outbound road to Halle. The circus was refurbished during the 1830s, including the erection of the ''Friedenssäule'' (" Peace Column") with a statue of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

by Christian Daniel Rauch in 1843. The area was completely devastated in World War Two, particularly in an air raid on 3 February 1945 and the Battle of Berlin which followed. In the 1960s, Mehringplatz was redeveloped as a

pedestrian zone Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

that would anchor a large social housing area according to the realization of a plan conceived by

Hans Scharoun Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (20 September 1893 – 25 November 1972) was a German architect best known for designing the Berliner Philharmonie (home to the Berlin Philharmonic) and the Schminke House in Löbau, Saxony. He was an important ...

, which was ultimately executed by the Berlin architect . During the 1990s, the installation of striking murals was used to decorate the lower walls of the courtyard areas of the housing blocks.

Footnotes

Squares in Berlin Buildings and structures in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg {{Berlin-struct-stub