Alexanderplatz, Berlin

Alexanderplatz is a broad public square and transport interchange in Berlin’s Mitte district. Its present name honours the Russian Tsar Alexander I, and the name dates to 1805. Berliners commonly shorten it to “Alex.”

What you see today reflects repeated rebuilding: after severe wartime destruction, East Berlin’s administration reshaped the area during the 1960s, turning a busy traffic circle into a pedestrian zone covering about eight hectares. By 1970, the Interhotel Stadt Berlin and the HO-Centrum-Warenhaus had appeared here; they continue as the Park Inn and Galeria Kaufhof. The square is also a starting point for nearby sights including the Fernsehturm, the Nikolaiviertel and the Rotes Rathaus.

Beneath and around the square, S-Bahn, U-Bahn, regional trains, trams and buses make this one of Berlin’s major transport hubs. The name therefore carries a meeting of imperial ceremony, socialist reconstruction and present-day movement: a place once associated with a city gate and cattle markets now works as a vast urban crossroads.