Leipziger Straße

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  Vehicles on Leipziger Straße.

• The Christopher Street Day (CSD) procession crosses Leipziger Platz.

Leipziger Straße is an important shopping street in Berlin and runs parallel to Unter den Linden via Leipziger Platz to Potsdamer Platz.

Leipziger Straße is an important shopping street in Berlin-Mitte. It begins at Spittelmarkt and runs for around 1.5 kilometers parallel to Straße Unter den Linden via Leipziger Platz to Potsdamer Platz. Since reunification, the street has once again become a main connecting road between the two halves of the city.

The beginnings of Leipziger Straße

Leipziger Straße was created in 1688 during the expansion of Friedrichstadt, and in 1706 it was named after the trade route leading along it towards Leipzig. Over time, Leipziger Straße increasingly changed from a residential street to a shopping street. In 1882, Leipziger Straße was the first street in Berlin to be equipped with electric lanterns. Between 1935 and 1936, the huge building complex of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Ministry of Aviation), now called Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus, was built on the corner of Wilhelmstraße.

Leipziger Strasse after the Second World War

Leipziger Straße was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War. The Wertheim department store, until then a center of attraction in Leipziger Straße, was also badly damaged during the war. After the ruins were demolished, the legendary techno club Tresor opened in the department store's surviving vaults in the early 1990s. The Mall of Berlin shopping center opened in September 2014 on the same site as the Wertheim department store.

In 1970, the systematic reconstruction of the eastern section from Friedrichstraße onwards began with 2000 apartments. At the same time, the street was widened and connected to Gertraudenstraße. During the division of Germany, Leipziger Straße ended up as a dead end. After reunification, it regained its importance as a major thoroughfare.

Information

• Address:
  Leipziger Str. 33
  10117 Berlin
  City map