Messy, frenetic, and full of questionable architectural works, Alexander Platz has always been the most famous square in Berlin.
Its name dates back to 1805, when during a visit to Berlin of Tsar Alexander I, the square that housed the cattle and wool market, the Ochsenmarkt (cattle market, in fact), was renamed, Alexander Platz.
The square was the scene of the main events of the Berlin history and a crucial point for the traffic of the capital: as much as 20 tram and bus lines intersect at this point!
The aspect that keeps today is a clear socialist architecture testimony, all surrounded by bulky tower blocks as the “House of the Teacher”, the “House of Travel”, the “house of the Electronic Industry” and the “Hotel Stadt Berlin”. But the iconic building of Alexander Platz is undoubtedly the TV tower, which with its 365 meters high, a meter for each day of the year, dominates the town and is the tallest structure in Western Europe.
An elevator that rises at a speed of 6 meters per second, takes visitors to the steel ball, at an altitude of 203 meters, which offers a spectacular view across Berlin. Finally, two iconic symbols: the “Urania Weltzeituhr”, the clock that marks the hours of the world’s major cities, and “Brunnen der Völkerfreundschaft”, the fountain overlooking the center of the pedestrian area of the square dedicated to “friendship among peoples”.
USEFUL INFO
Opening hours: open air
Admission: free
How to reach: Metro Alexander Platz (U1, U5, U8, S3, S5, S7, S9)
Address: Alexander Platz
