Mitte () is the first and most central

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

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 constitu ...

. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel,

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 ...

, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg) which were formerly divided between East Berlin and

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

. Mitte encompasses Berlin's historic core and includes some of the most important tourist sites of Berlin like the Reichstag and Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Checkpoint Charlie, Museum Island, the TV tower,

Brandenburg Gate The Brandenburg Gate (german: Brandenburger Tor ) is an 18th-century Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical monument in Berlin, built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II of Prussia, Frederick William II after Prussian invasion ...

, Unter den Linden,

Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corn ...

, Alexanderplatz, the latter six of which were in former East Berlin.

Geography

Mitte (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for "middle", "centre") is located in the central part of Berlin along 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 ...

River. It borders on

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf () is the fourth borough of Berlin, formed in an administrative reform with effect from 1 January 2001, by merging the former boroughs of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf. Overview Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf covers the ...

in the west, Reinickendorf in the north, Pankow in the east, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in the southeast, and

Tempelhof-Schöneberg Tempelhof-Schöneberg () is the seventh borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Tempelhof and Schöneberg. Situated in the south of the city it shares borders with the boroughs of Mitte and Friedrichshain-Kreuzber ...

in the southwest. In the middle of the Spree lies Museum Island (''Museumsinsel'') with its museums and Berlin Cathedral (''Berliner Dom''). The central square in Mitte is Alexanderplatz with the prominent Fernsehturm (TV tower), Germany's highest building, and the large railway station with connections to many subway ( U-Bahn), tramway ( Berlin trambahn), city trains (

S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

) and buses. There are some important streets which connect Mitte with the other boroughs, e.g. the boulevard Unter den Linden which connects Alexanderplatz to the west with Brandenburg Gate and runs further as Straße des 17. Juni to the Victory Column and the centre of former West Berlin in Charlottenburg, or Karl-Marx-Allee from Alexanderplatz to Friedrichshain and the eastern suburbs.

History

The former Mitte district had been established by the 1920

Greater Berlin Act The Greater Berlin Act (german: Groß-Berlin-Gesetz), officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin (german: Gesetz über die Bildung einer neuen Stadtgemeinde Berlin), was a law passed by the Prussian state government i ...

and comprised large parts of the historic city around Alt-Berlin and

Cölln Cölln () was the twin city of Old Berlin ( Altberlin) from the 13th century to the 18th century. Cölln was located on the Fisher Island section of Spree Island, opposite Altberlin on the western bank of the River Spree, until the cities ...

. Brandenburg Gate was the western exit at the Berlin city boundary until 1861. Between 1961 and 1990, the area's East Berlin portion was surrounded by the Berlin Wall on the north, south and west. There were some border control points, the most notable of which was Checkpoint Charlie between

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 h ...

and Mitte, which was operated by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

and was open to foreigners and diplomats. Two other checkpoints were at Heinrich-Heine-Straße/ Prinzenstraße east of Checkpoint Charlie, open to citizens of West Germany and West Berlin and on Invalidenstraße in the north on the border with the West Berlin Tiergarten district (the present-day

locality).

Regierungsviertel (Government District)

The government district is located in the locality of Tiergarten around the Reichstag Building. Most institutions of the German government have their seat at the Regierungsviertel *

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Comm ...

, the German parliament in the old

Reichstag Building The Reichstag (, ; officially: – ; en, Parliament) is a historic government building in Berlin which houses the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's parliament. It was constructed to house the Imperial Diet (german: Reichstag) of the ...

* Bellevue Palace, seat of the Federal President *

German Chancellery The German Chancellery (german: Bundeskanzleramt, , more faithfully translated as ''Federal Chancellery'' or ''Office of the Federal Chancellor'') is an agency serving the executive office of the chancellor of Germany, the head of the federal go ...

* Offices of the Abgeordneten, members of the parliament, in the ''Paul-Löbe-Haus'' and the ''Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus'' * Federal Ministry of the Interior Berlin reichstag west panorama.jpg, Reichstag Building 2006-09-19 Berlin Bellevue.jpg, Bellevue Palace Bundeskanzleramt Berlin 2010.jpg, German Chancellery Reichstagsgebäude und Paul-Löbe-Haus, Berlin-Mitte, 170327, ako.jpg, Paul-Löbe-Haus Berlin, Tiergarten, Otto-von-Bismarck-Allee, Botschaft Schweiz.jpg, Swiss Embassy

Botschaftsviertel (Embassy Quarter)

Many embassies and the Federal Ministry of Defence in the historic embassy quarter in the south of the

Tiergarten Park The Tiergarten ( en, Animal Garden; formal German name: ( en, Greater Animal Garden)) is Berlin’s most popular inner-city park, located completely in the district of the same name. The park is in size and is among the largest urban garde ...

. Italienische Botschaft - panoramio.jpg, Italian Embassy Tiergarten Japanische Botschaft-002.JPG, Japanese Embassy Spanische Botschaft Fornt.jpg, Spanish Embassy Tiergarten Indische Botschaft.JPG, Indian Embassy Be Embassy of UAE 03.jpg, Embassy of the United Arab Emirates

Tiergarten Park

Großer Tiergarten The Tiergarten ( en, Animal Garden; formal German name: ( en, Greater Animal Garden)) is Berlin’s most popular inner-city park, located completely in the district of the same name. The park is in size and is among the largest urban garde ...

is the name of the biggest urban park in Mitte, located in the same-named locality. Tiergarten Park was established as a hunting ground in the 16th century by the Prussian kings. Today it is enclosed by densely built-up areas by Hansaviertel and

in the north, the Government District in the east and the City West and the Embassy Quarter in the southwest. Many cultural monuments and memorials are located in the Tiergarten Park, like the Siegessäule, the Soviet War Memorial and a historic rose garden. The

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (german: Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas), also known as the Holocaust Memorial (German: ''Holocaust-Mahnmal''), is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, designed by arc ...

, the biggest victim group of the Nazi dictatorship, is located on the east side of the park, near the

and the place where Hitler's New Reich Chancellery once was. Siegessäule10.jpg, Siegessäule Siegessaeule Aussicht 10-13 img4 Tiergarten.jpg, View from the Siegessäule to Brandenburg Gate Berlin Großer Tiergarten Rosengarten.jpg, Rose Garden Memorial to Homosexuals persecuted under Nazism.jpg, Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europeabove.jpg, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Kulturforum

The Kulturforum was built in the 1950s and 1960s at the edge of

, after most of the once unified city's cultural assets had been lost behind the Berlin Wall. The Kulturforum is characterized by its innovative modernist architecture; several buildings are distinguished by the organic designs of Hans Scharoun, and the Neue Nationalgalerie was designed by Mies van der Rohe. Among the cultural institutions housed in and around the Kulturforum are: * Neue Nationalgalerie * Gemäldegalerie * Museum of Decorative Arts * Musical Instrument Museum * Kupferstichkabinett ( Print room) * Art Library *

Berliner Philharmonie The Berliner Philharmonie () is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany, and home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Philharmonie lies on the south edge of the city's Tiergarten and just west of the former Berlin Wall. The Philharmonie is o ...

* Chamber Music Hall * Berlin State Library * Ibero-American Institute * Wissenschaftszentrum * St. Matthäus-Kirche

In arts and literature

*''

Berlin Alexanderplatz ''Berlin Alexanderplatz'' () is a 1929 novel by Alfred Döblin. It is considered one of the most important and innovative works of the Weimar Republic. In a 2002 poll of 100 noted writers the book was named among the top 100 books of all time. ...

'', a 1929 novel by

Alfred Döblin Bruno Alfred Döblin (; 10 August 1878 – 26 June 1957) was a German novelist, essayist, and doctor, best known for his novel ''Berlin Alexanderplatz'' (1929). A prolific writer whose œuvre spans more than half a century and a wide variety of ...

*''

Mitte 1 ''Mitte 1'' Is the second episode of a comedy series of novels by German writer Albrecht Behmel. The eponymous “Mitte” (“downtown”) is the first and most central borough of Germany’s capital Berlin. The series depicts the author as an ...

'', a 2013 novel by

Albrecht Behmel Albrecht Behmel (; born 24 March 1971) is a German artist, novelist, historian, non-fiction writer and award-winning playwright. Surname and family history Son of geologist Hermann Behmel and grandson of architect Paul Behmel. The uncommon famil ...

* ''Berlin-Mitte'',

Norman Ohler Norman Ohler (born 4 February 1970) is a German ''New York Times'' bestselling author, novelist and screenwriter, best known for his book ''Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany'', which has been published in over 30 languages. Overview Ohler was bo ...

* ''Unter diesem Einfluss'', Henning Kober

Subdivision

The present-day borough of Mitte consists of six localities:

Demographics

, the district had a population of 322,919, of whom 144.000 (44.5%) had a migration background. In the former West Berlin areas of Wedding, Gesundbrunnen and Moabit, foreigners and Germans of foreign origin compose nearly 70% of the population, while in Mitte proper the share of migrants is relatively low. The immigrant community is quite diverse, however, Turks,

Africans African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

ans and

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

ns form the largest groups.

Politics

District council

The governing body of Mitte is the district council (''Bezirksverordnetenversammlung''). It has responsibility for passing laws and electing the city government, including the mayor. The most recent district council election was held on 26 September 2021, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Lead candidate ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , align=left, Laura Neugebauer , 44,653 , 28.5 , 4.6 , 18 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD) , align=left, Ephraim Gothe , 28,997 , 18.5 , 5.3 , 12 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (LINKE) , align=left, Christoph Keller , 26,256 , 16.8 , 1.1 , 10 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align=left, Carsten Spallek , 20,088 , 12.8 , 0.7 , 8 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , align=left, Bastian Roet , 10,419 , 6.7 , 0.6 , 4 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , align=left, Sabine Schüler , 7,565 , 4.8 , 5.1 , 3 , 2 , - , colspan=8 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Volt Germany , align=left, , 3,668 , 2.3 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Tierschutzpartei , align=left, , 3,410 , 2.2 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI , align=left, , 3,358 , 2.1 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, dieBasis , align=left, , 2,193 , 1.4 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Klimaliste , align=left, , 1,927 , 1.2 , New , 0 , New , - , , align=left, The Greys , align=left, , 1,112 , 0.7 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Pirate Party Germany , align=left, , 919 , 0.6 , 2.9 , 0 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Voters , align=left, , 903 , 0.6 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Humanists , align=left, , 602 , 0.4 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ecological Democratic Party , align=left, , 287 , 0.2 , New , 0 , New , - , , align=left, The Eligible , align=left, , 99 , 0.1 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 156,456 ! 99.1 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 1,384 ! 0.9 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 157,840 ! 100.0 ! ! 55 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 247,338 ! 63.8 ! 10.0 ! ! , - , colspan=8, Source
Elections Berlin

District government

The district mayor (''Bezirksbürgermeister'') is elected by the Bezirksverordnetenversammlung, and positions in the district government (Bezirksamt) are apportioned based on party strength. Stephan von Dassel of the Greens was elected mayor on 27 October 2016. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the district government is as follows:

Twin towns – sister cities

Mitte is twinned with: * Beyoğlu (Istanbul), Turkey (2008) * Bottrop, Germany (1983) * Central AO (Moscow), Russia (2006) * Chaoyang (Beijing), China (2004) * Chiyoda (Tokyo), Japan (1994) * Frogn, Norway (1990) * Higashiōsaka, Japan (1959) * Holon, Israel (1970) * Kassel, Germany (1979) * Petrogradsky (Saint Petersburg), Russia (1994) * Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Germany (1992) * Shinjuku (Tokyo), Japan (1994) *

Tourcoing Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubaix, ...

, France (1995) * Tsuwano, Shimane, Japan (1995)

Gallery

References

External links

Official homepage

Official homepage of Berlin
{{Authority control Districts of Berlin Central business districts 2001 establishments in Germany