Nikolaiviertel

In the Middle Ages , trade routes passed here. At the intersection of the road with the river, artisans and traders settled. Around 1200, the late Romanesque basilica appeared - the church of St. Nicholas. Berlin developed around two centers: in fact, Berlin - a larger village east of Spree and Cologne , located directly opposite it on the west bank of the river. Both villages were connected by the Muendamm bridge . The villages received city rights by 1230 .

The first surviving document mentioning Cologne dates from October 28, 1237 . The first written mention of Berlin dates back to 1244 . Since both cities quickly grew together, the birth year of Berlin was adopted in 1237. On March 20, 1307, both cities merged into the city of Berlin-Cologne, in 1486, Elector Johann Cicero declared it his permanent residence. By this time, the city had already turned into an important trading platform within the Hanseatic League .

Growing economic power and relative wealth allowed merchants to rebuild the church of St. Nicholas as early as 1264 in the Gothic hall church. The memorable asymmetric medieval facade of the church with a slender tower remained until the end of the 19th century, when in the 1870s it was replaced by two neo-Gothic towers. For all the time Nikolaivirtel escaped any major changes, mainly artisans still lived and worked on its narrow and curved streets.

In connection with the celebration in 1937 of the 700th anniversary of Nikolaiviertel, plans for his radical restructuring appeared. The dilapidated, worn out and unsuitable for housing buildings around Nikolaikirche were to be demolished, and the Starogradsky Forum was planned to be erected on the vacant place using the facades of Berlin residential buildings that had historical value and were to be demolished in accordance with the project for the creation of the “World Capital of Germany” . For the purposes of the forum, the seized by the state building of the Church of St. Nicholas was declared the "Musical Cathedral".

During the Second World War, from 1943 to 1945, the Nikolaivirtel was subjected to massive bombing and was destroyed during street battles. After the war, the ruins were demolished. For many decades, this territory was not taken into account in the urban plans of Berlin. The authorities of the capital of the GDR concentrated on residential construction and large representative projects such as the Stalinalee ( German Stalinallee - Stalin's Alley) (later Karl-Marx-Alley ). The 1959 plan even provided for the construction of a marina for recreational steamers along the Spree on the site of Nikolaivirtel.

The situation changed only with the approach of the 750th anniversary of Berlin, when it was decided to restore the historical center of the capital. Nikolaivirtel was restored on the anniversary year for Berlin in 1987 .

The restoration of the quarter consisted in the restoration of the few surviving buildings and the construction of new buildings, some of which were decorated with historicized facades, while others were adapted panel structures of a special kind - with pediments , ornaments and molded decorations on the outside and modern apartments inside.

The quarter of Nikolai, destroyed by the Second World War, was recreated in the form that it existed before the destruction. A number of small residential buildings, mainly around the church, were rebuilt in their historical forms. Bronze sculpture of St. George , fighting a dragon , 1853 from the courtyard of the City Palace took his place in a small square on the Spree embankment. Narrow alleys paved in old patterns were laid in accordance with preserved plans. On an area of ​​almost 50 thousand square meters. m. there are about 2 thousand inhabitants in almost 800 apartments. The quarter has 33 small shops, 22 catering establishments and various museum institutions, such as Nikolaikirche and Efraim Palace .

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  Historic panel building

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  In the square near the church of St. Nikolay

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  The Walnut Tree Restaurant

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  Sculpture of st. George Fighting the Dragon

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  Commemorative plaque on the house where Edward Grell was born

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  Sculptural portrait of Edward Grell. 1886

• Uwe Kieling, Johannes Althoff: Das Nikolaiviertel. Spuren der Geschichte im ältesten Berlin , Berlin-Edition 2001, ISBN 3-8148-0080-X
• Benedikt Goebel: Der Umbau Alt-Berlins zum modernen Stadtzentrum , Verlagshaus Braun Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-935455-31-3

•   Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nikolaiviertel
• Official site
• Attractions Nikolaiviertel (German)