Pariser Platz – a symbol of Berlin
Situated east of the Brandenburg Gate, Pariser Platz completes the famous Unter den Linden boulevard.
It’s also the counterpart of Platz des 18. März on the other side, which forms the end of Strasse des
17. Juni crossing the locality known as Tiergarten.
Crown Prince Frederick (who later became Frederick the Great of Prussia) enhanced Unter den Linden between
Schlossbrücke (Palace Bridge) and Pariser Platz with illustrious buildings and innovative architecture.
This was the era which saw the construction of prestigious buildings like the opera house and Prince Henry
Palace – now the Humboldt University. It was Frederick’s architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel who skilfully
integrated the individual buildings into an overarching aesthetic concept.
Between 1945 and 1989, Pariser Platz divided the world into East and West. Indeed, in 1961 the square
became part of no man’s land alongside the Berlin Wall. Happily, it has been open to pedestrians ever
since the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.