Spittelmarkt

Spittelmarkt. 1896

Modern Spittelmarkt. In the background is the Berlin TV Tower

Spittelmarkt ( German: Spittelmarkt - “almshouse square”) is an old square in the Mitte district of Berlin at the eastern end of Leipzig Street on the banks of the Spree . The name comes from the hospital ( German: Spital ), once located on the square.

After World War II, on the restored square, two main streets converge at an angle - Leipzig Street and Gertraudenstrasse. On the square is the eponymous station of the Berlin underground .

Previously, between the so-called fishing island of Fischerinsel on Spreeinsel and the eastern end of Leipzig Street, the Market Square appeared on the site of the demolished fortresses, which retained its transport significance until the Second World War.

By 1400, the monastery of St. Gertraud in front of the Gertraud Gate in Friedrichstadt on the modern square Spittelmarkt erected a building with a chapel for young noblemen, which later became a hospital for the poor. The 26th Old Prussian Infantry Regiment lodged around the square in the 18th century. The chapel was rebuilt in the church of Spittelkirche. The rapid construction in Berlin during the time of the Grunding deprived the monastery of its squares, and in 1872 the hospital of St. Gertrauda together with the chapel moved to Wartenburgstrasse ( German Wartenburgstraße ) in Kreuzberg . The most valuable interior items of the Spittelkirche, demolished in 1881, were transferred to the new chapel at the hospital in Kreuzberg.

In World War II, the square suffered heavy losses. After the analysis, the contours of the square collapsed completely changed, and the square was restored taking into account automobile traffic and lost its historical appearance, having changed beyond recognition. The only surviving historical building on the square surrounded by standard modern residential buildings is the so-called Jewel Palace ( German: Juwel-Palais ) in the northern part of the square under the Gertraudenbrücke bridge.