Potsdamer Platz - Interwar Heyday

Interwar Heyday

The heyday of Potsdamer Platz was in the 1920s and 1930s. By this time it had developed into the busiest traffic center in all of Europe, and the heart of Berlin's nightlife. It had acquired an iconic status, on a par with Piccadilly Circus in London or Times Square in New York. It was a key location that helped to symbolise Berlin; it was known worldwide, and a legend grew up around it. It represented the geographical centre of the city, the meeting place of five of its busiest streets in a star-shaped intersection deemed the transport hub of the entire continent. These were:

• Königgrätzer Straße (northern portion), earlier names Brandenburgische Communication and then Schulgartenstraße, running along the former route of the customs wall and leading north to the Brandenburg Gate. After a brief spell as Budapesterstraße in the late 1920s (although this name was not widely recognised), on 6 February 1930 it was renamed Ebertstraße after Friedrich Ebert (1871–1925), first President of Weimar Germany. In 1935 the Nazis renamed it Hermann Göring Straße after Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, whose official residence was on the east side of the street near the Brandenburg Gate. On 31 July 1947, it reverted to Ebertstraße again.
• Königgrätzer Straße (southern portion), earlier names Potsdamer Communication and then Hirschelstraße, also running along part of the customs wall's old route, actually leading mainly south east. On 6 February 1930, it was renamed Stresemannstraße after Gustav Stresemann (1878–1929), the first Chancellor to serve under President Ebert. In 1935 the Nazis renamed it Saarland Straße after the region of south western Germany that had been under League of Nations rule since the end of World War I but which on 13 January 1935 elected by a huge (90.3%) majority to return to Germany. On 31 July 1947, it reverted back to Stresemannstraße.
• Leipziger Straße, leading east.
• Potsdamer Straße, developed out of that old road to Schöneberg and Potsdam, part of the former trading route across Europe, and leading south west. Today this section is called Alte Potsdamer Straße, a pedestrianised cul-de-sac severed by post-World War II developments and subsequently by-passed by a new section - the Neue Potsdamer Straße, leading due west and then curving southwards to rejoin its old course at the Potsdam Bridge, over the Landwehrkanal.
• Bellevuestraße, earlier name Charlottenburger Allee, leading north west through the Tiergarten to Schloss Bellevue, today the official residence of the Federal President of Germany.