Mitte -- "middle" or "centre" -- forms the core of modern Berlin. Berlin started as twin towns, separated by the River Spree. Berlin itself grew up around the present day Spandauer Straße and the Nikolaikirche and Marienkirche, while Cölln occupied the southern half of Fischerinsel (Fisherman's Island) of which the buildings of Museum Island now occupy the northern part. The union of both towns occurred in 1307. So Mitte is the borough containing most of the historical survivals of old Berlin, as well as the majority of the famous buildings and streets that now make up the modern city.

No-one knows when Berlin was actually founded, but 1237 is regarded as an "official" date, when what became the city is first mentioned in written records. Little survives from the middle ages or much beyond. Here are a few pictures of "old Berlin" -- buildings and structures that still exist -- one way or another.
 

 

The Berlin Wall -- a fragment of the ancient one, in Littenstraße

 

Waisenstraße runs parallel to Littenstraße.

 

Below -- close to the wall are the preserved ruins of the Franziskaner Klosterkirche (Franciscan Monastery Church) that survived until it was destroyed by Allied bombing.
 


 Franziskaner Klosterkirche -- looking to the west (liturgical) door.

 

 

Franziskaner Klosterkirche -- looking to the north-west with the Television Tower.

 

 

Franziskaner Klosterkirche -- a window in the south (liturgical) wall.

 

The Parochialkirche in Klosterstraße, originally completed in 1714, and partially restored after bombing. 

 

Bauhofstraße runs north of, and parallel to, Unter den Linden. I liked the trees and old buildings existing within a few yards of the Humboldt University and the busy streets around Unter den Linden.

 

The Altes Stadthaus (1911) now dominates Grunerstraße. At one time it was hidden up a narrow side street, like so many large and important buildngs in Berlin!

 

Stadtgericht Berlin (Courts of Justice) -- another enormous building now partially exposed by urban redevelopment. Built between1896 and1905, it is a free mixture of neo-baroque and art nouveau. Much of the building is undergoing restoration. The west front of the Franziskaner Klosterkirche is on the right.

 

The Nikolaikirche (St Nicolas' Church) orginally dates from around 1220. The church was rebuilt after the severe bombing of the Second World War. The area around it (the Nikolaiviertel) was reconstructed in 1987 for the 750th anniversary of the official founding of the city. The buildings and streets are attractive to look at and pleasant to walk around -- but they are new! (The dome on the right is Berlin Cathedral.)

 

The main facade of the Nikolaikirche, at sunset.

The Nikolaiviertel from the Mühlendammbrücke.

On the other side of the road is the former Münze (Mint) built in 1936 .

 

The Marienkirche (St Mary's Church) is the other ancient church still surviving in the centre of Berlin. Originally dating from 1270, the top of the tower was built in 1790. The building on the left is the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall).

The Marienkirche and Fernsehturm, from a tram stop I used regularly after stopping for coffee and cake!

 


Maxim Gorki Theater. Lurking behind the Neue Wache, just to the north of Unter den Linden, this was once a singing school,
built in 1827.

 
The Bauakamie (School of Architecture) was built in Werderscher Markt by Karl Friedrich Schinkel between 1832 and 1836. After being severely damaged I World War II, it was demolished to make way for the DDR's Foreign Ministry Building. When that was in turn pulled down in 1995, one corner of the Bauakadamie was rebuilt, with the rest of the building's outer walls formed in plastic sheets. Part of the new Foreign Ministry building is on the left.

The utility company Vattenfall is backing the rebuilding of Schinkel's Bauakademie. There is now a display devoted to Schinkel's work on the ground floor. But the building is still only a hollow mass of scaffolding and temporary roofs and partitions.

Opposite the Bauakadamie is the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche, Berlin's first neo-gothic church, built by Schinkel in 1824-30.
Restored after bombing damage, it is now a museum devoted to sculpture from the 16th to 19th centuries.

 

A sunset view of the Deutscher Dom (German Cathedral) in the Gendarmenmarkt.

 

Pfarrhäuser -- "vicarages". These 18th century buildings are in Friedrichstadt (the suburb of the expanding Berlin built to the south of Unter den Linden) on the corner of Glinkastraße and Taubenstraße. Dating from 1739, they were built to house the clergy of Holy Trinity Church.

 

Pfarrhäuser

 

This building is on the southern edge of Friedrichstadt. Originally completed in 1740, it now forms a part of Daniel Libeskind's Jüdisches Museum (right).

 

Copyright (c) 2005 John Howard. All rights reserved.