Mierendorffplatz is located in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

district at the intersection of ''Keplerstraße'' and ''Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee''. From the 9000 m² large area, Mierendorffstraße runs in the direction of Charlottenburg Castle and ''Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee'' in the direction of

Moabit Moabit () is an inner city locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. As of 2016, around 77,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the former industrial and working-class neighbourhood i ...

. It was named in 1950 after the social democratic politician, social scientist and writer Carlo Mierendorff. The

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

residential area around the square is also popularly known as the ''Mierendorff-Kiez''. The historical name of the place, ''Kalowswerder'', however, is hardly still common.

Location and connections

The square consists of two parts and is situated on the artificial island between the

Spree Spree may refer to: Geography * Spree (river), river in Germany Film and television * ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers' ...

and the

Charlottenburg Canal The Charlottenburg Canal, or Charlottenburger Verbindungskanal in German, is a canal in Berlin, Germany. With a former length of , the canal was built between 1848 and 1859, and originally connected the River Spree, in Charlottenburg, with the ...

and

Westhafen Canal The Westhafen Canal, or Westhafenkanal in German, is a canal in Berlin, Germany. The long canal connects with the Westhafen inland port and the Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal at its eastern end, and with the River Spree in Charlottenburg at its wes ...

: the rectangular northern jewelry square with fountain and the triangular southern square area, where a weekly market takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It is the busy connection point of a bus line with the line of the

Berlin U-Bahn The Berlin U-Bahn (; short for , "underground railway") is a rapid transit system in Berlin, the capital and largest city of Germany, and a major part of the city's public transport system. Together with the S-Bahn, a network of suburban train li ...

, whose underground station of the same name is located below the green area and was opened in 1980.

History

When planning the surrounding residential area for ordinary people, the square was already taken into account in 1887. It was originally named after King

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in connection with the Reformation quarter. It was not until 1912/1913 that the park was designed by the municipal horticultural director

Erwin Barth Erwin Barth (28 November 1880 – 10 July 1933) was a German landscape gardener and architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in ...

. In contrast to the magnificent and representative parks of the late 19th century, Mierendorffplatz is rather functional but at the same time sophisticated. The northern part of the square was again divided into two parts. In the eastern part a

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...

, in the west a flower garden was created, whose axis cross in the middle is supplemented by a

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...

. Inside the square,

roses A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be e ...

were mainly planted. The plant is surrounded by plane trees. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the square was initially used for allotments. In 1950/1951 it was converted into a green area, which was then named after ''Mierendorff''. After the construction of the

underground station A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase Train ticket, tickets, board trains, and Emergency eva ...

, which was built in the 1970s in an open construction method, the square could be reconstructed in close accordance with Barth's plans. Fountains, benches, gates and lamps were reproduced true to the original. The ''Gustav Meyer Prize'' (named after the landscape designer

Gustav Meyer Gustav Meyer (25 November 1850 – 28 August 1900) was a German linguist and Indo-European scholar, considered to be one of the most important Albanologists of his time, most importantly by proving that the Albanian language belongs to the Indo-Eu ...

) was awarded for the historical reconstruction in 2000. A

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

commemorates Barth.

Gallery

Charlottenburg Mierendorffplatz Brunnen-001.jpg, Mierendorffplatz-Eckhaus-Berlin-Charlottenburg-01-2018.jpg, MierendorffplatzNord.jpg, Gedenktafel Mierendorffplatz (Charl) Mierendorffplatz.jpg,

References

External links

* {{Authority control Charlottenburg Squares in Berlin