Founded about 1200, the (Nicholas' Quarter) of

Alt-Berlin Alt-Berlin ("Old Berlin"), also spelled ''Altberlin'', is a neighborhood (''Stadtviertel''), situated in the Berliner locality (''Ortsteil'') of Mitte, part of the homonymous borough. In the 13th century it was the sister town of the old Cöll ...

, together with nearby

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 we ...

, jointly make up the reconstructed historical heart of the

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 ...

capital of

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 ...

. It is located in

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzb ...

locality (in the homonymous district), five minutes away from

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 ...

Geography

Situated on the eastern shore of the river

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' ...

, it is bounded by the streets ''Rathausstraße'', ''Spandauer Straße'' and ''Mühlendamm''. The

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

itself is named for the eponymous deconsecrated Nikolaikirche ("

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

Church") at its heart, i.e. Berlin's oldest church.

History

The two settlements of Old Berlin as well as Cölln on the other side of the Spree originated along an old trade route, the ''Mühlendamm'' (Mills Dam), a

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

where the river could be easily crossed. The Nicholas' Church, originally a late Romanesque

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

, was erected about 1230. The area around the church with its

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

alleys in the main had been preserved throughout the centuries, until it was destroyed by the air raids and the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

during

World War II 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 ...

. At Berlin's 750th anniversary in 1987 the house-building was restored in a peculiar mixture of reconstructed historic houses and

concrete slab A concrete slab is a common structural element of modern buildings, consisting of a flat, horizontal surface made of cast concrete. Steel- reinforced slabs, typically between 100 and 500 mm thick, are most often used to construct floors and ...

Plattenbau (plural: , german: Platte + Bau, lit=panel/slab' + 'building/ construction) is a building constructed of large, prefabrication, prefabricated concrete slabs. The word is a compound of (in this context: panel) and (building). Such buildings ...

'' blocks, giving the area an unmistakable appearance. Today the small area is famous for its traditional

restaurants and bars.

Places of interest

Beside the Nicholas' Church, the best-known building of the quarter is the ''Ephraim-Palais'', built in 1766 for

Veitel-Heine Ephraim Veitel Heine Ephraim, 1703 – 16 May 1775 in Berlin) was jeweller to the Prussian Court, a silk entrepreneur in Potsdam, the chairman of the Jewish congregation in Berlin/Prussia, and since 1756 Mintmaster in Saxony and from 1758 also in Pruss ...

, the

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

of King Frederick II of

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 em ...

. The

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

at the intersection of ''Mühlendamm'' and ''Poststraße'' became famous as Berlin's "finest corner", until the house was demolished in 1936 for the laying out of the enlarged ''Mühlendamm'' street. Parts of the façade were stored in the western outskirts of Berlin,

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 ...

authorities delivered them to

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 ...

's magistrate in 1982 to support the reconstruction. The palace was rebuilt between 1983 and 1987, about away from its original site. Today, it serves as a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

. On the other side of the ''Poststraße'' is the ''Knoblauchhaus'' from 1760, with a neoclassical façade from the 19th century. One of the few preserved historic original buildings, it was the residence of the notable Knoblauch family with members like the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Eduard Knoblauch (Carl Heinrich) Eduard Knoblauch (born 25 September 1801 in Berlin; died 29 May 1865 in Berlin) was a Germans, German architect. Eduard Knoblauch was born in his family's house on Poststraße 23 in the Nikolaiviertel neighborhood in Berlin, Ge ...

or the

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

Karl-Hermann Knoblauch. It is home of a

Biedermeier The ''Biedermeier'' period was an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle class grew in number and the arts appealed to common sensibilities. It began with the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in ...

museum, the oldest civic museum of Berlin. On the banks of the Spree river stands the red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

''Kurfürstenhaus'' (

Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...

's House), erected in 1897 at the site of an older building, where Elector John Sigismund of Brandenburg died on December 23, 1619. As he believed a

White Lady A White Lady (or woman in white) is a type of female ghost. She has long straight hair, typically dressed in a white dress or similar garment, reportedly seen in rural areas and associated with local legends of tragedy. White Lady legends a ...

haunted the '' Stadtschloss'' (City Palace), he had fled to the home of his

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "vale ...

before dying therein.

References

External links

berlin-nikolaiviertel.com
{{Coord, 52, 31, 00, N, 13, 24, 26, E, region:DE-BE_type:landmark, display=title History of Berlin Mitte Rebuilt buildings and structures in Berlin Restaurant districts and streets in Germany Zones of Berlin

Geography

History

Places of interest

See also

References

External links