Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, formerly the Bülowplatz, is a square in

Berlin-Mitte Mitte () (German for "middle" or "center") is a central locality () of Berlin in the eponymous district () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district. Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Alt-Berlin centered on the ch ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

History

The square is dominated by the Volksbühne and by the

Karl-Liebknecht-Haus The Karl-Liebknecht-Haus or ''Karl Liebknecht House'' is the headquarters of the party '' The Left'' in Germany. It is located between the Alexanderplatz and Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin-Mitte. Constructed in 1912 as a factory, the building w ...

, the headquarters of the German Left Party. The party's predecessor, the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...

(KPD), opened its headquarters on the square in 1926. The square was previously named ''Babelsberger Platz'' (1907-1910) and ''Bülowplatz'' (1910-1933), and was the focus of one of the last mass demonstrations in Berlin against the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

on January 25, 1933—five days before

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

was appointed

German Chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...

. Later that year, with the rise of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, it was renamed ''Horst-Wessel-Platz'' (1933-1945) after

National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

Horst Wessel. Following the fall of Berlin and

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into two different ...

, the square, then part of

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

-controlled

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

, was renamed ''Liebknechtplatz'' (1945-1947) after German communist

Karl Liebknecht Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German socialist and anti-militarist. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) beginning in 1900, he was one of its deputies in the Reichstag fro ...

. It was then renamed ''Luxemburgplatz'' (1947-1969) after communist leader

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialism, revolutionary socialist, Marxism, Marxist philosopher and anti-war movement, anti-war activist. Succ ...

, until it was given the name ''Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz'' by the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

regime in 1969. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-C00678, Berlin, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Kranzniederlegung

The square is noted as the scene of the

murders of Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

, police captains who were the victims of a double homicide in 1931 at the hands of members of the KPD. A monument created by

Hans Dammann Hans Dammann (16 June 1867, Proskau - 15 June 1942, Berlin) was a German sculptor; known primarily for his war memorials. Life and work His father, , was a Professor of veterinary medicine. In 1877, his family relocated to Hanover. From 18 ...

commemorating Anlauf and Lenck was erected in the square in 1934; although a metal statue of Anlauf and Lenck was melted down during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

as part of a metal recycling campaign (''"Metallspende des deutschen Volkes"''), the rest of the monument was destroyed in 1950 on the orders of

Erich Mielke Erich Fritz Emil Mielke (; 28 December 1907 – 21 May 2000) was a German communist official who served as head of the East German Ministry for State Security (''Ministerium für Staatsicherheit'' – MfS), better known as the Stasi, from 1957 u ...

, one of the murderers, who was by then a member of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party organizations, the ...

of the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

and a State Secretary in the newly formed Ministry of State Security.Michael Stricker: ''Letzter Einsatz. Im Dienst getötete Polizisten in Berlin von 1918 bis 2010'', Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft, Frankfurt 2010, , p. 103

Footnotes

External links

Article from Luise-Berlin.de
{{Coord, 52, 31, 37, N, 13, 24, 40, E, region:DE-BE_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Squares in Berlin Buildings and structures in Mitte Rosa Luxemburg