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Ernst-Reuter-Platz

  • Ernst-Reuter-Platz

    View of the high-rise building of the Technical University on Ernst-Reuter-Platz.

  • Ernst-Reuter-Platz

    Berliners enjoy the sun on Ernst-Reuter-Platz in Berlin.

Ernst-Reuter-Platz is a traffic junction in Berlin Charlottenburg. The town square with a large fountain in the middle was named after the governing mayor of the same name.

At the traffic junction in the Charlottenburg district, named after the former governing mayor of Berlin Ernst Reuter (1889-1953), several main road axes meet in a star shape and are connected by a traffic circle. In the middle of the traffic circle at Ernst-Reuter-Platz is a fountain with a water basin and 41 fountains in the center of the complex.

Design of the Ernst-Reuter-Platz

For many years, Ernst-Reuter-Platz was referred to as "Knie" (knee) because the kilometer-long straight street between the former city palace in Mitte and Charlottenburg Palace in the west has a bend at this point.

The square took on its current appearance at the end of the 1950s: architects Bernhard Hermkes and Werner Düttmann designed it as one of the largest and busiest squares in the city with office buildings around a central island with water features. However, despite its generous dimensions, the large, roundel-like oval proved unable to cope with the increasing traffic density and had to be rebuilt several times in the following years.

Planned for modern metropolitan transportation

The idea for the square corresponds to an idea that Ludwig Mies van der Rohe had already proposed for Alexanderplatz in the 1920s: a traffic island is surrounded by loosely grouped individual buildings that do not form a square wall; the open urban space should correspond to modern metropolitan traffic. Formerly admired for its modernity, Ernst-Reuter-Platz is now regarded as an example of a car-friendly "non-square".

Technical University (TU) at Ernst-Reuter-Platz

Even before the redesign of Ernst-Reuter-Platz, the Institute of Mining of the Technical University (TU) had been built on the south-east side in 1955-59 according to plans by Willy Kreuer, in front of which the outdoor sculpture "Growing Wings" by Karl Hartung has stood since 1963.

In 1956/57, the "Osramhaus" designed by Bernhard Hermkes was built in the north-west, followed in 1960 by the high-rise wing running parallel to the building according to plans by Gustav Müller and Franz Heinrich Sobotka and, on the west side, the "Telefunken-Hochhaus" by Paul Schwebes and Hans Schoszberger on a rectangular floor plan, which is now used by the TU. It is around 80 meters high with 22 floors and is a listed building. Its façade is characterized by four columns that taper towards the top.

Public canteen with a view: TU Skyline Café

A tip for all visitors to the square: There is a public cafeteria of the Technical University on the 20th floor of the Telefunken high-rise building. The "Skyline Café" offers a breathtaking view over the city.

Buildings around Ernst-Reuter-Platz

On the south side of the square, the IBM building was built in 1961 according to plans by Rolf Gutbrod, the Raiffeisenhaus by Hans Gerber and Otto Risse in 1972 and the office building by Bernhard Binder, which leads over to Bismarckstrasse, in 1972-75.

In 1968, the Department of Architecture at the Technical University was given a building on the north side of the square designed by Hermkes, which was extended in 1970 with an annex for the Institute of Urban Design by Hans Scharoun.

The sculpture "Flamme" (Flame), created by the sculptor Bernhard Heiliger, has stood in front of the Faculty of Architecture since 1961 as a sculptural reminder of the square's namesake.

Information

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 Address
Ernst-Reuter-Platz 1
10587 Berlin
Please note
Access to the central island with fountain is possible via the subway station in Knesebeckstraße.
Architects
Bernhard Hermkes, Werner Düttmann

Public transportation

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Source: Berlin.de | All texts, photographs and graphics on this site are protected by copyright and may not be copied, reproduced, translated or used otherwise.

Last edited: 21 January 2025