Mehringplatz is a round plaza (or circus)A circus is "circular open space at a street junction" at the southern tip of the

Friedrichstadt Friedrichstadt (; da, Frederiksstad) is a town in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the river Eider approx. 12 km south of Husum. History The town was founded in 1621 by Dutch settlers. Du ...

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it ha ...

district,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. It marks the southern end of Friedrichstraße. Until 1970 both Lindenstraße and Wilhelmstrasse led into it. In 1947 it was renamed after the publicist Franz Mehring (1846–1919). Map de-be friedrichstadt

Mehringplatz is one of three prominent squares laid out about 1730 in the course of the city's

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

extension under King

Frederick William I of Prussia Frederick William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm I.; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the "Soldier King" (german: Soldatenkönig), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuch ...

, along with Pariser Platz (former ''Karree'') and

Leipziger Platz Leipziger Platz is an octagonal square in the center of Berlin. It is located along Leipziger Straße just east of and adjacent to the Potsdamer Platz. History Layout and original architecture The square with the shape of an octagon, initi ...

(''Octagon''). Due to its circular shape, Mehringplatz was initially named ''Rondell''; but on 22 October 1815, it was renamed ''Belle-Alliance-Platz'' after the ''Battle of La Belle Alliance'', an alternative name for the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

that was then popular in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

. ''Rondell'' was the southern entrance to Berlin via ''Hallesches Tor'', a gate on the newer city wall on the outbound road to

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hall ...

. The circus was refurbished during the 1830s, including the erection of the ''Friedenssäule'' (" Peace Column") with a statue of Victoria by

Christian Daniel Rauch Christian Daniel Rauch (2 January 1777 – 3 December 1857) was a German sculptor. He founded the Berlin school of sculpture, and was the foremost German sculptor of the 19th century. Life Rauch was born at Arolsen in the Principality of ...

in 1843. The area was completely devastated in World War Two, particularly in an air raid on 3 February 1945 and the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

which followed. In the 1960s, Mehringplatz was redeveloped as a pedestrian zone that would anchor a large social housing area according to the realization of a plan conceived by Hans Scharoun, which was ultimately executed by the Berlin architect . During the 1990s, the installation of striking murals was used to decorate the lower walls of the courtyard areas of the housing blocks.

Footnotes

Squares in Berlin Buildings and structures in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg {{Berlin-struct-stub