Unter den Linden

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Unter den Linden (in English: Under the Lindens), is a street in the centre of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden or lime trees which line the grassed pedestrian mall between the two carriageways. Unter den Linden runs east-west from the Brandenburg Gate in the west to the Schlossbrücke (Castle Bridge) over the River Spree in the east. The major north-south street crossing Unter den Linden is Friedrichstrasse.

Unter den Linden is at the heart of the historic section of Berlin dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. Buildings along the street include (from west to east) the Hotel Adlon, the Russian Embassy (formerly the Soviet Embassy), the Berlin State Library, the Berlin State Opera, Humboldt University, St. Hedwig's Catholic Cathedral, the former Crown Prince's Palace, the Neue Wache war memorial, the The Arsenal (now the Historical Museum) and the Alte Kommandantur. These buildings are shown on the map below (click to enlarge).

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Also on the street are well-known statues of Frederick the Great, Alexander von Humboldt, Wilhelm von Humboldt and a number of Prussian generals.

A boulevard of linden trees was planted from 1647 extending from the electoral palace to the gates of the city by Friedrich Wilhelm, "The Great Elector", who wanted to beautify the route from his castle to his hunting park, the Tiergarten. By the 19th century, as Berlin grew and expanded to the west, Unter den Linden became the best known and grandest street in Berlin. The section west of the Brandenburg Gate, going through the Tiergarten Park, is called now Strasse des 17. Juni, having previously been called Charlottenburger Strasse. During the last days of World War II most of the linden trees were destroyed or cut down for firewood. The trees were replanted in the 1950s.

[edit] Along Unter den Linden

The eastern end of the Unter den Linden, at the Schlossbrücke (Castle Bridge), with the Fernsehturm (television tower) and the Berliner Dom in the distance.	Looking west along Unter den Linden from the Schlossbrücke. The linden trees which give the street its name do not begin until further west.	The Berlin State Opera, one of many public buildings in the classical style along the Unter den Linden. Most were heavily damaged in World War II and have been extensively rebuilt.	The Arsenal (now the Historical Museum), is the oldest building on Unter den Linden, built between 1695 and 1706.
The Neue Wache (New Watchhouse), considered by many to by Karl Friedrich Schinkel's masterpiece, built in 1817, now the National War Memorial.	Statue of General Gerhard von Scharnhorst, one of a number of such statues along Unter den Linden	Part of the campus of Humboldt University, which extends across both sides of Unter den Linden	The statue of Frederick the Great in the middle of Unter den Linden, facing west
St. Hedwig's Catholic Cathedral on Bebelplatz, south of Unter den Linden	The entrance to the Berlin State Library	The Adlon Hotel, which has been completely rebuilt on the site of the prewar hotel, on Pariser Platz near the Brandenburg Gate	The Brandenburg Gate, once the western entrance to Berlin, now the symbol of the city, marks the western terminus of Unter den Linden