Potsdamer Platz is an important square and traffic intersection in central Berlin, Germany. It is named after the nearby city of Potsdam.

In the 1920s and '30s, it was one of the busiest traffic centers in all of Europe. Most of the buildings were destroyed by the heavy bombardment of Berlin during World War II. When the city was divided into East Berlin and West Berlin after the war, the square was cut in half, and after 1963, the Berlin Wall ran right through it, which caused the area to become totally desolate.

After the downfall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Roger Waters staged a gigantic charity concert of The Wall on July 21, 1990 to commemorate the end of the division between East and West Germany. The concert took place on the then empty Potsdamer Platz and featured many guest superstars.

After 1990, the square became the focus of attention again, since it was an attractive location suddenly near the center of the city. The city government chose to divide the area into four parts, each to be sold to a commercial investor, which then planned new construction. During the building-phase the Potsdamer Platz was the largest building site in Europe.

Potsdamer Platz (June 2003)

The largest of these four parts went to Daimler-Benz, now part of Daimler-Chrysler, who charged Renzo Piano with creating a master plan for the new construction. The individual buildings were then built by many individual architects according to that plan. This includes the remarkable Potsdamer Platz No. 1 by Hans Kolhoff , now home to a number of prestigious law firms (in the photo on the right, the tall brick building in the center).

The second largest part went to Sony, which erected its new European headquarters there. This new Sony Center by Helmut Jahn, an impressive, yet light monolith of glass and steel (the rightmost building in the picture on the right), is considered by many to be one of the finest piece of modern architecture in Berlin.

The whole project was the subject of much criticism from the beginning, and still not everyone applauds how the district was commercialized and replanned. However, the plaza now attracts about 70,000 visitors a day, and many critics are surprised by the success of the new quarter. At almost any time of the day, the place is packed with people. It has become a must-see for visitors, a top shopping area for Berliners, and probably the number-one spot to go for film fans, with more than 40 screens in three cinemas, a film academy and a film museum.

Some scenes of the 1987 Wim Wenders movie Der Himmel über Berlin (English title: Wings of Desire) are located on the old, almost entirely void Potsdamer Platz before the Wall fell. The movie thus gives a good impression of the surroundings at the time, which are completely unlike what can be seen today.

External links

• Walks through Berlin: Potsdamer Platz
• Panorama of the new Potsdamer Platz
• Construction at Potsdamer Platz
• Photos of Potsdamer Platz 1989, 1990 and 1999