In Monika Maron's Place of Birth: Berlin, she describes seeing places that don't exist anymore. Maron talks about remembering the old Alexanderplatz. She states, "It was once a proper square, criss-crossed by innumerable dangerous trams" (Maron, 72). As you can see from the picture below, there used to be many trams that went back and forth, carrying passengers from the central Mitte district outward to all parts of Berlin.
After World War II, Germany split into two countries, with Berlin also splitting itself into two cities. Alexanderplatz was in the area that fell into East Germany. During the 1960s, the East German government (GDR) remade the square, turning it into a pedestrian zone and enlarged the space in an effort to redevelop the city center.
Alexanderplatz is located in the heart of the Mitte district, which is in the center of Berlin, and just east of the Spree River. The image above shows the exact location of the popular square.
Even after reunification of East Germany and West Germany in 1990, there are still some socialist reminders left on the city, such as the Fountain of Friendship between People's. The fountain was conceived by a group of artists led by Walter Womacka. It is covered in graffiti and in the hot weather, children run through the water.
The square also boasts the World Clock, which continually rotates, showing the time throughout the globe. In the picture to the left, you see one of the many trams passing the World Clock. Below is an up close picture of the World Clock that can take on various forms in how it displays the time. It can have analogue clocks, with moving hands but also multiple digital clocks that have numeric readouts.
Since German reunification, Alexanderplatz has become a place that is gradually going through renovations. The government would like to make it more modern but there has been a lack of demand for the skyscrapers that were originally proposed. In Brian Ladd's Ghosts of Berlin, he says that the square is "windswept and desolate in a way that makes pedestrians want to hunch over and hurry across to their destinations" (Ladd 190).
Below is a video that shows plenty of old GDR buildings but also some of the more prominent tourists attractions of the area surrounding Alexanderplatz, including the second tallest structure in the European Union:
Below is a video that shows plenty of old GDR buildings but also some of the more prominent tourists attractions of the area surrounding Alexanderplatz, including the second tallest structure in the European Union: