Wilhelmstrasse (Berlin)

Wilhelmstrasse ( German: Wilhelmstraße ) - the famous Berlin street, located in the Mitte and Kreuzberg districts . The government offices of Prussia and the German Empire were located on Wilhelmstrasse until 1918. "Wilhelmstrasse" is a common noun for the imperial government in the same way that the Great Britain government is called Whitehall .

Wilhelmstrasse, right, British Embassy

The street leads from north to south. In the north, it begins at the Reichstag (Spree river embankment), crosses Unter den Linden boulevard on the eastern side of Paris Square and Leipzig Street and ends at the Gallic Promenade ( German Hallesches Ufer ) near the Gallic Gate ( German Hallesches Tor ) in Kreuzberg . On the section between Behrenstrasse ( German Behrenstraße ) and Unter den Linden, Wilhelmstrasse is closed to vehicles for the safety of the British Embassy.

Having become king of Prussia, Frederick William I decided to expand the territory of Berlin and, accordingly, Friedrichstadt . In 1731, the Husar Street ( German Husarenstraße ) was laid in Friedrichstadt, which after the death of Frederick William I received his name.

In the northern part of the street, palaces of ministers and those close to the king were built. Three such palaces, thanks to the representative kurdoner, have received a particularly impressive appearance: Schwerin Palace (later the Reich Presidential Palace ), Schulenburg Palace (later the Reich Chancellery ) and Vernezobra Palace (later the Prince Albrecht Palace ).

View towards Unter den Linden and the Adlon Hotel

By the beginning of the 19th century, key ministries of Prussia were located on Wilhelmstrasse. Since 1871, government offices of the German Empire were located on Wilhelmstrasse. In the immediate vicinity of the building of foreign embassies. During the Second World War, many buildings on Wilhelmstrasse were destroyed by bombs or during street battles and after 1945 were demolished. In the 1980s, on the section between Berenstrasse and Fossstrasse ( German Voßstraße ), trading enterprises and panel houses with beautifully decorated facades were built, where high-ranking nomenclature workers of the GDR lived. Currently, on the initiative of the Berlin Parliament , a permanent exhibition is working on Wilhelmstrasse, telling about the memorials of the street.