Editing Potsdamer Platz (section)

== Interwar years ==
[[File:Potsdamer Platz 2, Berlin 1900.png|right|thumb|Potsdamer Platz in the mid-1920s, looking east into Leipziger Platz, with the Hotel Furstenhof on the right. A traffic light tower was erected on the elliptical central island in 1924.]]
[[File:Observation deck overlooking Potsdamer Platz with placard showing 1929 view.jpg|thumb|right|Observation deck in [[West Berlin]] with a view of Potsdamer Platz on the other side of the [[Berlin Wall]], 1977. At the bottom of the steps is a placard showing what the square looked like in 1929.]]
[[File:Germany - NARA - 68154987 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Potsdamer Platz, 1920s]]
The heyday of Potsdamer Platz was in the 1920s and 1930s. By this time it had developed into the busiest traffic center in all of Europe,<ref name="Weitz, Eric D. G2007, page 43" /> and the heart of Berlin's [[Nightlife (activity)|nightlife]].<ref>{{Cite web |first1=Birge |last1=Amondson |date=26 June 2019 |title=The 5 Best Night Clubs in Berlin |url=https://www.tripsavvy.com/the-best-clubs-in-berlin-1520107 |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=TripSavvy |language=en}}</ref> It had acquired an iconic status, on a par with [[Piccadilly Circus]] in London or [[Times Square]] in New York. It was a key location that helped to symbolize Berlin; it was known worldwide, and a legend grew up around it. It represented the geographical center of the city, the meeting place of five of its busiest streets in a star-shaped intersection deemed the transport hub of the entire continent. These were:

* Königgrätzer Strasse (northern portion), earlier names Brandenburgische Communication and then Schulgartenstrasse, running along the former route of the customs wall and leading north to the Brandenburg Gate. After a brief spell as Budapester Strasse in the late 1920s (although this name was not widely recognised), on 6 February 1930 it was renamed [[Ebertstrasse]] after [[Friedrich Ebert]] (1871–1925), first President of [[Weimar Germany]]. In 1935 the [[Nazis]] renamed it Hermann-Göring-Strasse after Reichsmarshal [[Hermann Göring]], whose official residence was on the east side of the street near the Brandenburg Gate. On 31 July 1947, it reverted to Ebertstrasse.
* Königgrätzer Strasse (southern portion), earlier names Potsdamer Communication and then Hirschelstrasse, also running along part of the customs wall's old route, actually leading mainly south east. On 6 February 1930, it was renamed [[Stresemannstrasse]] after [[Gustav Stresemann]] (1878–1929), the first Chancellor to serve under President Ebert. In 1935 the Nazis renamed it [[Saarlandstrasse]] after the region of southwestern Germany that had been under [[League of Nations]] rule since the end of [[World War I]] but which on 13 January 1935 elected to return to Germany. On 31 July 1947, it reverted to Stresemannstrasse.
* Leipziger Strasse, leading east.
* Potsdamer Strasse, developed out of that old road to Schöneberg and Potsdam, part of the former trading route across Europe, and leading south west. Today this section is called [[Alte Potsdamer Strasse]], a pedestrianised cul-de-sac severed by post-World War II developments and subsequently by-passed by a new section&nbsp;– the [[Neue Potsdamer Straße]], leading due west and then curving southwards to rejoin its old course at the [[Potsdam Bridge]], over the Landwehrkanal.
* [[Bellevuestrasse]], earlier name Charlottenburger Allee, leading north west through the Tiergarten to [[Schloss Bellevue]], today the official residence of the [[Federal President of Germany]].

[[File:Kaufhaus Wertheim, Leipziger Platz, 1920er Jahre.jpg|right|thumb|The Wertheim department store in 1927, showing the main facade along Leipziger Strasse]]
As well as the stations and other facilities and attractions already mentioned, in the immediate area was one of the world's biggest and most luxurious department stores: [[Wertheim (department store)|Wertheim]]. Founded by German merchant [[Georg Wertheim]] (1857–1939), designed by architect [[Alfred Messel]] (1853–1909), opened in 1897 and extended several times over the following 40 years, it ultimately possessed a floor area double that of the Reichstag, a 330-metre-long [[granite]] and [[plate glass]] facade along Leipziger Strasse, 83 [[elevator]]s, three [[escalators]], 1,000 [[telephones]], 10,000 lamps, five kilometers of pneumatic tubing for moving items from the various departments to the packing area, and a separate entrance directly from the nearby U-Bahn station. It also contained a summer garden, winter garden and roof garden, an enormous restaurant and several smaller eating areas, its own laundry, a theater and concert booking office, its own bank, whose strongrooms were underground at the eastern end of the building, and a large fleet of private delivery vehicles. In the run-up to Christmas Wertheim was transformed into a fairytale kingdom, and was well known to children from all over Germany and far beyond.

{{main|Haus Vaterland}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13681, Berlin, Stresemannstraße bei Nacht.jpg|right|thumb|Stresemannstraße at night, July 1932, showing the Haus Vaterland. The Hotel Fürstenhof is in the left foreground while the brightly illuminated building in the distance is [[Europahaus]], opposite the Anhalter Bahnhof.]]
In Stresemannstrasse, and paralleling the Potsdamer Bahnhof on its eastern side, was another great magnet for shoppers and tourists alike&nbsp;– a huge multi-national-themed eating establishment: the [[Haus Vaterland]]. Designed by architect [[Franz Heinrich Schwechten]] (1841–1924), who was also responsible for the Anhalter Bahnhof and the [[Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church]], it was erected in 1911–12 as the Haus Potsdam. 93 m in length and with a dome rising 35 m above the pavement at the north (Stresemannstrasse) end, it contained the world's largest restaurant&nbsp;– the 2,500-seat Café Piccadilly, plus a 1,200-seat theatre and numerous offices. These included (from 1917 to 1927), the headquarters of [[Universum Film AG]] (aka UFA or Ufa), Germany's biggest film company.

On 16 August 1914, less than three weeks after the start of [[World War I]], the Café Piccadilly was given a new name&nbsp;– the more patriotic-sounding Café Vaterland. However, in 1927–8 the architect and entrepreneur [[Carl Stahl-Urach]] (1879–1933) transformed the whole building into a gastronomic fantasy land, financed and further elaborated upon by new owners the [[Kempinski]] organisation. It reopened on 31 August 1928 as the Haus Vaterland, offering "The World in One House," and could now hold up to 8,000 guests at a time. The Café Vaterland had remained largely untouched, but the 1,200-seat theatre was now a 1,400-seat cinema. The rest of the building had been turned into a large number of theme restaurants, all served from a central kitchen containing the largest gas-fueled cooking plant in Europe. These included: Rheinterrasse, Löwenbräu ([[Bavaria]]n beer restaurant), Grinzing ([[Vienna|Viennese]] café and wine bar), Bodega (Spanish winery), Csarda (Hungarian), [[Wild West]] Bar (aka the [[Arizona]] Bar) (American), Osteria (Italian), Kombüse ([[Bremen]] drinking den&nbsp;– literally "galley"), Rübchen ([[Teltow]], named after the well-known [[turnip]] dish ''Teltower Rübchen'', made with turnips grown locally in the small town of Teltow just outside Berlin), plus a Turkish café and Japanese tearoom; additionally there was a large ballroom. Up to eight orchestras and dance bands regularly performed in different parts of the building, plus a host of singers, dancers and other entertainers. It should be pointed out here though that not all of these attractions existed simultaneously, owing to changes in those countries that Germany was or was not allied to, in the volatile years leading up to and during [[World War II]], a good example being the closure of the Wild West Bar following America's entry into the war as an enemy of Germany.

Among the major hotels at or near Potsdamer Platz were two designed by the same architect, [[Otto Rehnig]] (1864–1925), and opened in the same year, 1908. One was the 600-room [[Hotel Esplanade Berlin|Hotel Esplanade]] (sometimes known as the "Grand Hotel Esplanade"), in Bellevuestrasse. [[Charlie Chaplin]] and [[Greta Garbo]] were guests there, and [[Kaiser Wilhelm II]] himself held regular "gentlemen's evenings" and other functions there in a room that came to be named after him&nbsp;– the [[Kaisersaal]].

The other was the [[Hotel Excelsior]], also 600 rooms but superior provision of other facilities made it the largest hotel in Continental Europe, located in Stresemannstrasse opposite the Anhalter Bahnhof and connected to it by a 100-metre-long subterranean passageway complete with a parade of underground shops.

Two other hotels which shared the same architect, in this case [[Ludwig Heim]] (1844–1917), were the 68-room [[Hotel Bellevue]] (sometimes known as the "Grand Hotel Bellevue"), built 1887–8, and the 110-room [[Palast Hotel]], built 1892–3 on the site of an earlier hotel. These stood on either side of the northern exit from Potsdamer Platz along Ebertstraße. The Bellevue was well known for its Winter Garden.

Meanwhile, facing the Palast Hotel across the entrance to Leipziger Platz (the Potsdam Gate), was the 400-room [[Hotel Fürstenhof]], by [[Richard Bielenberg]] (1871–1929) and [[Josef Moser (architect)|Josef Moser]] (1872–1963), erected in 1906–1907, also on the site of an earlier building. With its 200-metre-long main facade along Stresemannstrasse, the Fürstenhof was less opulent than some of the other hotels mentioned, despite its size, but was still popular with business people. The new U-Bahn station was being built at the same time as the hotel and actually ran through the hotel's basement, cutting it in half, thus making the construction of both into something of a technical challenge, but unlike the Wertheim department store (and contrary to several sources), the hotel did not enjoy a separate entrance directly from the station.

The [[Weinhaus Huth]], with its distinctive corner cupola, was a wedge-shaped structure located in the angle between Potsdamer Strasse and Linkstrasse (literally "Left Street"), and with entrances in both streets. Wine merchant Friedrich Karl Christian Huth, whose great-grandfather had been ''kellermeister'' (cellar-master) to [[Frederick II of Prussia|King Friedrich II]] back in 1769, had founded the firm in 1871 and taken over the former building in Potsdamer Straße on 23 March 1877. His son, the wine wholesale dealer William ("Willy") Huth (1877–1967), took over the business in 1904 and, a few years later, commissioned the replacement of the building by a new one on the same site. Running right through the block into Linkstrasse, this new Weinhaus Huth was designed by the architects [[Conrad Heidenreich]] (1873–1937) and [[Paul Michel (architect)|Paul Michel]] (1877–1938), and opened on 2 October 1912, and contained a wine restaurant on the ground floor, and [[wine storage]] space above, so it had to take a lot of weight. It was thus given a strong steel skeleton, which would stand the building in very good stead some three decades after its completion. Famous for its fine claret, numerous members of European society were made welcome there as guests. A total of 15 chefs were employed there, and Alois Hitler Jr., the stepbrother of the future [[Nazi]] dictator [[Adolf Hitler]], was a waiter there in the 1920s, before he opened his own restaurant and hotel at [[Wittenbergplatz]], in the western part of the city.

[[Café Josty]] was one of two rival cafés (the other being the ''Astoria'', later ''Café Eins A''), occupying the broad corner between Potsdamer Strasse and Bellevuestrasse. The Josty company had been founded in 1793 by two Swiss brothers, Johann and Daniel Josty, who had emigrated to Berlin from [[Sils im Engadin/Segl|Sils]] in Switzerland and set up a bakery from which the café was a 1796 offshoot. It had occupied various locations including (from 1812 till 1880), a site in front of the [[Stadtschloss, Berlin|Berlin City Palace]], before moving to Potsdamer Platz in the latter year. A major player on the Berlin café scene, Josty attracted writers, artists, politicians and international society: it was one of ''the'' places to be seen. The writer [[Theodor Fontane]], painter [[Adolph von Menzel]], and [[Dadaism|Dadaist]] [[Kurt Schwitters]] were all guests; [[Karl Liebknecht]], the [[Spartacist League|Spartacus]] [[Communist]] movement leader read a lot here and even made some key political speeches from the pavement terrace, while author [[Erich Kästner]] wrote part of his 1929 bestseller for children, ''[[Emil und die Detektive]]'' ([[Emil and the Detectives]]), on the same terrace and made the café the setting for an important scene in the book.

Despite the prestige associated with its name, Café Josty closed in 1930. It then went through an odyssey of re-openings, closures and relaunches under a number of different names including ''Conditorei Friediger'', ''Café Wiener'', ''Engelhardt Brau'' and ''Kaffee Potsdamer Platz'' (sometimes appearing to have two or more names simultaneously), before its eventual destruction in [[World War II]].

Among the many beer palaces around Potsdamer Platz were two in particular which contained an extensive range of rooms and halls covering a large area. The [[Alt-Bayern]] in Potsdamer Strasse was erected by architect [[Wilhelm Walther (architect)|Wilhelm Walther]] (1857–1917) and opened in 1904. After closing in 1914, it underwent a revamp before reopening in 1926 under the new name [[Bayernhof]].

Meanwhile, in Bellevuestrasse, sandwiched between Café Josty and the Hotel Esplanade but extending right through the block with a separate entrance in Potsdamer Strasse, was the [[Weinhaus Rheingold]], built by [[Bruno Schmitz]] (1858–1916) and opened on 6 February 1907. Intended to be a concert venue until concerns were raised about increased traffic problems in the already congested streets, it was ruled that it should serve a gastronomic purpose only. Altogether it could accommodate 4,000 guests at a time, 1,100 of these in its main hall alone. Many of the total of 14 banquet and beer halls had a [[Richard Wagner|Wagnerian]] theme&nbsp;– indeed, the very name of the complex was taken from the Wagner opera ''[[Das Rheingold]]'', the first of the four parts of the cycle [[Der Ring des Nibelungen]], although this name did hark back to the building's planned former role as a concert venue. Another building by the same architect but which still stands&nbsp;– the "Rosengarten" in [[Mannheim]], has a remarkably similar main facade.

Finally, on the corner between Potsdamer Strasse and the Potsdamer Bahnhof, stood [[Bierhaus Siechen]], built by [[Johann Emil Schaudt]] (1874–1957), opened in 1910 and relaunched under a new name, [[Pschorr-Haus]].

At 8.00 p.m. on 29 October 1923, Germany's first radio broadcast was made<ref>"Germany", by Elfriede Fursich, in ''Encyclopedia of Radio'', ed. by Christopher H. Sterling (Taylor & Francis, 2004) p. 1067</ref> from a building ([[Vox-Haus]]) close by in Potsdamer Strasse. Standing alongside the Weinhaus Rheingold's Potsdamer Strasse entrance, this five-storey steel-framed edifice had been erected as an office building in 1907–8 by architect and one-time Berlin inspector of buildings [[Otto Stahn]] (1859–1930), who was also responsible for the city's [[Oberbaumbrücke]] over the [[Spree (river)|River Spree]]. In 1920 the Vox-group had taken over the building and the following year commissioned its remodelling by Swiss architect [[Rudolf Otto Salvisberg]] (1882–1940), and then erected two transmitting antennae. Despite several upgrades between December 1923 and July 1924, the nearby Hotel Esplanade's formidable bulk prevented the transmitter from functioning effectively and so in December 1924 it was superseded by a better sited new one, but Vox-Haus lived on as the home of Germany's first radio station, [[Radiostunde Berlin]], founded in 1923, renamed [[Funkstunde]] in March 1924, but it moved to a new home in 1931 and closed in 1934.

In addition, the former Millionaires' Quarter just to the west of Potsdamer Platz had become a much favoured location for other countries to site their embassies. By the early 1930s there were so many diplomats living and working in the area that it came to be redesignated the "Diplomatic Quarter". By 1938, 37 out of 52 embassies and legations in Berlin, and 28 out of 29 consulates, were situated here.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/bauen/botschaften/en/st003.shtml |title=Embassies / Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment in Berlin / Diplomatic quarter in Tiergarten |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323161635/http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/bauen/botschaften/en/st003.shtml |archive-date=23 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{See also|1920s Berlin}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00843, Berlin, Verkehrsturm auf dem Potsdamer Platz.jpg|thumb|The traffic light tower in November 1924, one month in operation (the ground around it still has to be cleared and paved). The street behind it is Bellevuestraße, with the canopy over Café Josty's pavement terrace visible on the left.]]

The first [[traffic light]] tower in Germany was erected at Potsdamer Platz on 20 October 1924 and went into service on 15. December 1924 in an attempt to control the sheer volume of traffic passing through.<ref>[http://zefys.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/index.php?id=dfg-viewer&set%5Bimage%5D=1&set%5Bzoom%5D=max&set%5Bdebug%5D=0&set%5Bdouble%5D=0&set%5Bmets%5D=http%3A%2F%2Fcontent.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de%2Fzefys%2FSNP26372939-19250103-0-0-0-0.xml ''15. December 1924: Acceptance of the traffic tower took place, the first policeman climbed up the tower and started operation''.] German Source, in: ''[[Vossische Zeitung]]'', 3. Januar 1925, Foreign Edition, page&nbsp;1, checked 11. June 2019.</ref>

This traffic had grown to extraordinary levels. Even in 1900, more than 100,000 people, 20,000 cars, horse-drawn vehicles and handcarts, plus many thousands of bicycles, passed through the platz daily. By the 1920s the number of cars had soared to 60,000. The trams added greatly to this. The first four lines had appeared in 1880, rising to 13 by 1897, all horse-drawn, but after electrification between 1898 and 1902 the number of lines had soared to 35 by 1908 and ultimately reached 40, carrying between them 600 trams every hour, day and night. Services were run by a large number of companies.

After 1918 most of the tram companies joined. In 1923, at the peak of the [[Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic|Hyperinflation]] the tram traffic was stopped for two days and a new communal company called ''Berliner Straßenbahn-Betriebs-GmbH'' was founded. Finally in 1929 all communal traffic companies (Underground, Tram and Buses) were unified into the ''Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe'' (Berlin Transport Services) company.

At the Potsdamer Platz up to 11 policemen at a time had tried to control all this traffic but with varying success. The delays in tram traffic increased and the job was very dangerous for the policemen. The ''Berliner Straßenbahn-Betriebs-GmbH'' started researches to control the traffic on the main streets and places in 1924. Berlin traffic experts visited colleagues in Paris, London and New York. They had to organize the traffic, define traffic rules and select a solution to control the traffic. In New York, [[Fifth Avenue]] they found traffic light towers designed by Joseph H. Freedlander in 1922 which can be regarded as a model for the Berlin tower.

The Potsdamer Platz five-sided 8.5 m high traffic tower was designed by [[Jean Kramer]], a German architect. The traffic lights were delivered by Siemens & Halske and mounted on top of the tower cabin. A solitary policeman sat in a small cabin at the top of the tower and switched the lights around manually, until they were automated in 1926. Yet some officers still remained on the ground in case people did not pay any attention to the lights. The tower remained until October 1937, when it was removed to allow for excavations for the new S-Bahn underground line. On 26 September 1997, a replica of the tower was erected, just for show, close to its original location by Siemens, to celebrate the company's 150th anniversary. The replica was moved again on 29 September 2000, to the place where it stands today.

[[File:Potsdamer Platz mit Columbushaus, 1932.jpg|thumb|Pre-World War II heyday: Potsdamer Platz in 1932, showing the ultra-modern [[Columbushaus]] nearing completion.]]

The traffic problems that had blighted Potsdamer Platz for decades continued to be a big headache, despite the new lights, and these led to a strong desire to solve them once and for all. By now Berlin was a major centre of innovation in many different fields including architecture. In addition, the city's colossal pace of change (compared by some to that of Chicago<ref name="Peter Fritzsche 1994, page 2">Peter Fritzsche, Karen Hewitt: ''Berlinwalks'', 1994, Boxtree Limited Publishers, {{ISBN|0-7522-1602-3}}, page 2</ref>), had caused its chief planner, [[Martin Wagner (architect)|Martin Wagner]] (1885–1957), to foresee the entire centre being made over totally as often as every 25 years.<ref name="Peter Fritzsche 1994, page 2"/> These factors combined to produce some far more radical and futuristic plans for Potsdamer Platz in the late 1920s and early 1930s, especially around 1928–9, when the creative fervour was at its peak. On the cards was an almost total redevelopment of the area. One design submitted by Wagner himself comprised an array of gleaming new buildings arranged around a vast multi-level system of fly-overs and underpasses, with a huge glass-roofed circular car-park in the middle. Unfortunately the worldwide [[Great Depression]] of the time, triggered by the [[Wall Street crash of 1929]], meant that most of the plans remained on the drawing board. However, in Germany this depression was virtually a continuation of an economic morass that had blighted the country since the end of [[World War I]], partly the result of the [[war reparations]] the country had been made to pay, and this morass had brought about the closure and demolition of the Grand Hotel Belle Vue, on the corner of Bellevuestrasse and Königgrätzer Strasse, thus enabling one revolutionary new building to struggle through to reality despite considerable financial odds.

[[Columbushaus]] was the result of a plan by the French retail company [[Galeries Lafayette]], whose flagship store was the legendary Galeries Lafayette in Paris, to open a counterpart in Berlin, on the Grand Hotel Belle Vue's former site, but financial worries made them pull out. Undaunted, the architect, [[Erich Mendelsohn]] (1887–1953), erected vast advertising boards around the perimeter of the site, and the revenue generated by these enabled him to proceed with the development anyway. Columbushaus was a ten-storey ultra-modern office building, years ahead of its time, containing Germany's first artificial ventilation system, and whose elegance and clean lines won it much praise. However, despite a [[Woolworth GmbH|Woolworths]] store on its ground floor, a major travel company housed on the floor above, and a restaurant offering fine views over the city from the top floor, the economic situation of the time meant that it would not be followed by more buildings in that vein: no further redevelopment in the immediate vicinity of Potsdamer Platz occurred prior to World War II, and so Columbushaus would always seem out of place in that location. Nevertheless, its exact position showed that the platz was starting to be opened out: the former hotel had mostly stood on a large flagged area laid out in front of it, indicating that the new building curved away from the existing street line; this would have enabled future street widening to take place.