Straße Des 17. Juni
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The Straße des 17. Juni, or Strasse des 17. Juni (see ß; ; ), is a street in central
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, the capital of
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. Its name refers to the 17 June 1953 uprising in East Germany. The western continuation of the boulevard
Unter den Linden Unter den Linden (, "under the Tilia, linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte (locality), Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. Running from the Berlin Palace to the Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the Tilia, linden trees (known ...
, it runs east–west through the Tiergarten, a large park to the west of the city centre. At the eastern end of the street is the
Brandenburg Gate The Brandenburg Gate ( ) is an 18th-century Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical monument in Berlin. One of the best-known landmarks of Germany, it was erected on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin t ...
and the Platz des 18. März, it then passes the Soviet War Memorial before passing either side of the
Victory Column A victory column, or monumental column or triumphal column, is a monument in the form of a column, erected in memory of a heroic commemoration, including victorious battle, war, or revolution. The column typically stands on a base and is crowned ...
(''Siegessäule'') in the middle of the park, and out of the park through the Charlottenburg Gate, terminating about half a kilometre later at ''
Ernst-Reuter-Platz Ernst-Reuter-Platz is a town square in Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany. It is named after Ernst Reuter, mayor of West Berlin from 1948–1953. It is located at the end of Straße des 17. Juni, where it continues as Bismarckstraße, and Kaiserdamm ...
''. The street is a section of the main western thoroughfare radiating out from the centre of Berlin so the road continues to the west of ''Ernst-Reuter-Platz'', the first section of which is called ''Bismarckstraße''.


History

Before 1953, the street was called ''Charlottenburger Chaussee'', because it ran from the old city center (
Berlin-Mitte Mitte (; German for "middle" or "center") is a central section () of Berlin, Germany, in the eponymous Boroughs of Berlin, borough () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district. Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Old ...
) to the borough of
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 ...
through the Tiergarten (Zoo; literally "animal garden"). The 1953 name change was made in order to honor an East German uprising and its victims. Soon after
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's death many East Berliners began a strike against working conditions, centered on the building sites around today's Karl-Marx-Allee. This gained momentum and descended into rioting when faced with strong opposition from the East German authorities, largely on 17 June 1953. (Another street, in northwest Berlin, got the name Charlottenburger Chaussee instead.) It was made into a paved road in 1799, and owing to Berlin's rapid growth in the 19th century it became a major thoroughfare to the affluent western suburbs. At the outbreak of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in early August 1914, hundreds of thousands of Berliners cheered the military parade, which took place here. At the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, no such scenes were ever observed, according to the American journalist and historian William L. Shirer. Charlottenburger Chausee was a part of the ''Ost-West-Achse'' (East-West Axis), which during the Nazi period became a triumphal avenue lined with Nazi flags. During the
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
era, the boulevard was made broader and the Prussian-era
Victory Column A victory column, or monumental column or triumphal column, is a monument in the form of a column, erected in memory of a heroic commemoration, including victorious battle, war, or revolution. The column typically stands on a base and is crowned ...
was moved from in front of the Reichstag to the roundabout in the middle of the Tiergarten, where it has remained since 1938. The Charlottenburger Chaussee was to have formed one aspect of the remodelling of the city of Berlin into the renamed city called
Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...
, designed by Hitler,
Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 â€“ 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...
, and Paul Troost to be the capital of the Reich. In the last weeks of World War II, when Berlin's airports were unusable, it was used as a landing strip. In 1953, West Berlin renamed the street ''Straße des 17. Juni,'' to commemorate the People's uprising in East Berlin on 17 June 1953, when the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
and GDR
Volkspolizei The (DVP, German for "German People's Police"), commonly known as the or VoPo, was the national uniformed police force of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1945 to 1990. The Volkspolizei was a highly- centralized agency re ...
shot protesting workers. The street has in recent years been used for mega-events such as the Love Parade or
Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005 ...
. In 2006, the street was closed to vehicular traffic for six weeks for use as the ''Fanmeile'' (fan mile) during the
2006 Football World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams repres ...
. It also serves as the starting point for the Berlin Marathon. Every New Year's Eve, the street is also one of the gathering points in Berlin where usually over a million people gather to watch a stage show at the
Brandenburg Gate The Brandenburg Gate ( ) is an 18th-century Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical monument in Berlin. One of the best-known landmarks of Germany, it was erected on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin t ...
, party and see fireworks go off at midnight. It is the largest such party in Europe, if not the world.


References


External links


A photo of the street as it looked during the Nazi era as part of the Ost-West Achse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strasse Des 17. Juni Streets in Berlin Tiergarten (park)