Unter den Linden

(Back to Berlin - Weimar Republic)

(see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unter_den_Linden)  Unter den Linden Arguably Berlin's most well-known avenue, the boulevard called Unter den Linden (Under the Lime Trees) traverses the cultural heart of the city. The street's unusual name is derived from the now four rows of linden trees that run along much of the avenue's length. The first trees were planted in 1647 by the order of the Great Elector, Frederick William, back when the path linked the royal palace complex with the western hunting grounds beyond the city walls in what is today Tiergarten. Nowadays, the street provides access to both vehicular traffic and pedestrians (along a central mall in the latter case).

Like the old Hohenzollerns, the boulevard's glory days are behind it. In the words of travel writer Joseph Hergesheimer, it resembles "a discarded shell inhabited by parasites, empty of dignity... that belonged to the past, the world before the most recent war..." Yet it is still a popular draw for tourists who wish to see all the classic sights of Germany's capital. Many stay at the Hotel Adlon, located within a short walk of the Brandenburg Gate. The hotel itself is a mini-palace with all the amenities one might wish for and a parade of famous and infamous guests passing through its gilded lobby on a nightly basis.

All in all, the Linden proper only runs about a mile (less 1.6 km), starting at the world-famous Brandenburg Gate at the entrance of Tiergarten, it proceeds east to the Spree River. There, it turns into Kaiser-Wilhelm-Strasse and continues into Alt-Berlin, the ancient city center. But first the street must cross a wide island in the river, site of the former city of Colln. The northern half of this island is the zone known as Museum Island. Also, to the north of the street, are the Lustgarten (Pleasure Garden) and Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral).

The Lustgarten was once a parade ground; Prussian kings would watch their troops march past from the balcony of City Palace. Nowadays, the Enlightenment-era formal garden, framed by the eminent structures of the Cathedral and the Old Museum, and with its broad lawns and geometrically arranged promenades, serves as a public park and site for rabble-rousing political rallies - in its largest such gathering, the park overflows with 500,000 left-wing protesters in August 1921.

Although there has been a major church structure on the site of the Berlin Cathedral since 1451, the current building was completed in 1905. A massive dome rising to over 380 feet (more than 115 m) dominates the Renaissance/Baroque Revival basilica, an unusually ornate church for a Protestant faith.

Looking back down the Linden from Museum Island, we see the imposing Staatsoper (State Opera), the Neoclassical temple dome of St. Hedwig's Cathedral, the Prussian State Library, and the campus of Frederick William University (also simply called the University of Berlin). It is here that the famous rows of linden trees begin.

Proceeding up the stately boulevard, we see the Brandenburg Gate dominating the end of the street. Long ago, this was the location of the city gates; in 1791, with the completion of this neoclassical monument, Berlin first earned its nickname of "Athenson the Spree." A statue of Eirene, goddess of peace, surmounts the gate, which separates traffic into five paths amid its rows of Doric columns. Beyond the Gate, the Linden turns into Charlottenburger Chausse and runs on through the Tiergarten.

To the north of the Linden at its western end sits the Reichstag, seat of the national parliament, and the towering Siegessaule (Victory Column), called Goldelse ("Golden Lizzy") by the locals for the shining bronze sculpture of the goddess of victory that surmounts the 200 foot (61 m) high column. The monument commemorates Prussian victories over the Danes, Austrians, and French in the 1860's and 1870's, and is ringed along its entire height with captured cannon barrels from those countries.

From the area of the Gate, one may access two large public squares: Pariser Platz (where may be found the American and French embassies, as well as the grand Adlon) and the Platz der Republik (formerly the Konigsplatz), where may be found the Victory Column.

On the other side of Museum Island, the north bank of the Spree constitutes Old Berlin, the original site of the city. Here may be found the towered Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall), the densely populated area around the Marienkirche (St. Mary's Church), the Berlin Exchange, Neues Stadthaus (a new city administration building), and the pocket district of Nikolaiviertel. The latter is a preserved section of medieval Berlin centered on the 13th century Romanesque basilica of St. Nicholas Church. Claustrophobic alleyways and shadowed streets wind their way out from the church to the surrounding city. Yet here may also be found some of Berlin's finest residences: the Rococo splendor of the Ephraim-Palais (said to comprise "Berlin's finest corner") and the red sandstone riverside expanse of the Kurfurstenhaus (Prince-Elector's House), whence Elector John Sigismund of Brandenburg fled and subsequently died of fright after seeing a White Lady haunting the halls of the City Palace in 1619.