Schloßplatz (

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 **Ger ...

for "Palace Square" or "Castle Square") is a square located on

Museum Island The Museum Island (german: Museumsinsel) is a museum complex on the northern part of the Spree Island in the historic heart of Berlin. It is one of the most visited sights of Germany's capital and one of the most important museum sites in Europ ...

(''Museumsinsel'') 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 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It measures about 225 m by 175 m, with its long side oriented on an axis approximately southwest/northeast. At its west corner is the

Schlossbrücke Schlossbrücke is a bridge in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. Built between 1821 and 1824 according to plans designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, it was named after the nearby City Palace (''Stadtschloss''). The bridge marks the ...

(Palace Bridge), from which Unter den Linden leads west to the

Brandenburg Gate The Brandenburg Gate (german: Brandenburger Tor ) is an 18th-century neoclassical monument in Berlin, built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II after restoring the Orangist power by suppressing the Dutch popular unrest. One ...

. From the same corner,

Karl-Liebknecht-Straße Karl-Liebknecht-Straße is a major street in the central Mitte district of the German capital Berlin. It is named after Karl Liebknecht (1871–1919), one of the founders of the Communist Party of Germany. The street connects the Unter den Linden ...

runs northeast alongside the square and on to

Alexanderplatz () ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...

. Until the early 20th century, only the square south of the palace was so named, the square north of it being the ''Lustgarten''. "Schloßplatz" is also a common name for

squares In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...

in many German-speaking countries. Other cities which have a Schloßplatz include

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

History

It was the site of the

Berliner Stadtschloss The Berlin Palace (german: Berliner Schloss), formally the Royal Palace (german: Königliches Schloss), on the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin, was the main residence of the House of Hohenzollern from 1443 to 1918. Expanded by order of ...

(Berlin City Palace). From 1949 to 1990 it was part of

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

, the capital of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. In 1950, the remains of the city palace were blown up, and in 1951 the square was renamed Marx-Engels-Platz (Marx-Engels Square) after

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Palast der Republik The Palace of the Republic (german: link=no, Palast der Republik) was a building in Berlin that hosted the ''Volkskammer'', the parliament of East Germany, from 1976 to 1990. The Palace of the Republic, also known as the "People's Palace", was ...

, the Council of State building, and the Foreign Ministry building. The Council of State building contains a

balcony A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony is ...

from the former city palace, where Karl Liebknecht proclaimed a

socialist republic Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ec ...

on November 9, 1918. The

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

's repression of the East German uprising of 1953 began on the square, when Soviet soldiers fired at East Germans trying to climb onto a T-34 tank. Following

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

in 1990, the name ''Schloßplatz'' was restored in 1994. BlnSch Brunnen

The

Palast der Republik The Palace of the Republic (german: link=no, Palast der Republik) was a building in Berlin that hosted the ''Volkskammer'', the parliament of East Germany, from 1976 to 1990. The Palace of the Republic, also known as the "People's Palace", was ...

was originally scheduled to be demolished in 2005-06, but this was delayed, and a series of conceptual and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

events were held in the Palast during the period of reprieve. Demolition of Palast der Republik was completed in 2008. A temporary exhibition venue Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin was then constructed on the western side of the Schloßplatz and held a number of contemporary art exhibitions over the following two years. Between 2012 and 2020 the palace was rebuilt with three replica façades on north, west and south, a replica courtyard, and a modern interior and eastern facade. It houses a conference centre and several museum collections of the Humboldt Forum, which opened online on 16 December 2020. The music video for the song ' Ich Will' (I Want) by the German band Rammstein was filmed in this location.

References

External links

Berlin Tourist Board: Schloßplatz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlossplatz (Berlin) Squares in Berlin Buildings and structures in Mitte

History

See also

References

External links