Dorotheenstadt

Coordinates: 52°31′13″N 13°23′0″E / 52.52028°N 13.38333°E / 52.52028; 13.38333
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Dorotheenstadt (5) within the locality of Mitte in central Berlin
Dorotheenstadt (E) within Berlin in 1688

Dorotheenstadtⓘ is a historic zone or neighbourhood (Stadtviertel) of central Berlin, Germany, which forms part of the locality (Ortsteil) of Mitte within the borough (Bezirk) also called Mitte. It contains several famous Berlin landmarks: the Brandenburg Gate, the Pariser Platz, and Unter den Linden.

Location

Dorotheenstadt is bordered in the west by the

Großer Tiergarten, in the north by the River Spree
, in the northeast by the Kupfergraben (part of the Spree canal system), in the east by Hinter dem Gießhaus and Oberwallstraße and in the south by the Behrenstraße.

History

In 1670, the "Great

Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, of the Cölln estate of Tiergarten, located between the wall surrounding Berlin and the Großer Tiergarten.[1] A new settlement, initially called Neustadt (New Town), was laid out according to a strict rectangular street grid[2] planned by Joachim Ernst Blesendorf, the Overseer of Fortifications and Construction,[3][4] between the Georgenstraße in the north and the Schadowstraße in the south. Neustadt received town privileges in 1674[5] and was renamed Dorotheenstadt in Sophie Dorothea's honour in 1681, although the term was in use earlier.[6]

The burnt out Dorotheenstadt Church on Neustädtische Kirchstraße in 1950 (removed in 1968)

In 1709, Dorotheenstadt was united with the two cities of Berlin and Cölln and the other two electoral 'new towns' of

Greater Berlin
, Dorotheenstadt was incorporated into the newly created borough of Mitte.

After extensive destruction in World War II and the incorporation of Mitte into the Soviet Sector of the divided Berlin, which became

German Democratic Republic. Since German reunification in 1990, the western part of Dorotheenstadt around the Pariser Platz
has also been rebuilt.

Major buildings and landmarks

Cultural mentions

  • Jens Gerlach, an East German poet, wrote a collection of poems called Dorotheenstädtische Monologe (Berlin: Aufbau, 1972)

References

  1. ISBN 3-412-10601-1, p. 1
    (in German)
  2. ISBN 0-85670-837-2, p. 29
    .
  3. ^ Schachinger, p. 2.
  4. ISBN 0-203-98402-1, p. 150
    points out that since the Electors owned the land in the new cities, they dictated not only their planning but the characteristics of the buildings.
  5. ^ Schachinger, p. 3.
  6. ISBN 3-11-015709-8, p. 54 (in German), Schachinger, p. 3, note 7
    .
  7. ^ Elkins, p. 9.
  8. ^ Elkins, p. 150.
  9. ^ Wagner, pp. 244, 422

Sources

  • Hermann Zech. Die Dorotheenstadt in Berlin-Mitte. Berlin: H. Zech, 2000.
    ISBN 3-9804914-2-0

52°31′13″N 13°23′0″E / 52.52028°N 13.38333°E / 52.52028; 13.38333

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