Tiergartenstraße
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Tiergartenstraße is a street in the centre of Berlin, the capital of Germany. The street runs roughly east-west along the southern edge of the Tiergarten, a large forested park on the western side of the city centre, from Kemperplatz in the east to the intersection of Hofjägerallee and Klingelhöferstraße in the west. On its southern side, Tiergartenstraße intersects with (from east to west), Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße, Stauffenbergstraße, Hildebrandstraße and Hiroshimastraße.
At the eastern end of Tiergartenstaße, at the corner of Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße, is the Berlin Musical Instrument Museum (Musikinstrument-Museum), and behind it the Berlin Philharmonie, a major centre for musical performances. To the west of Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße is the Berlin Museum of Applied Art (Kunstgewerbemuseum), and next to it the Berlin Art Library (Kunstbibliothek).
The Musical Instrument Museum was formerly the site of Tiergartenstraße 4, the headquarters of the Nazi regime's "euthanasia" program (in fact a program of mass murder of disabled people and others deemed worthless by the Nazis), which was known by the code name T4 in reference to this address. Although the building from which this program was administered no longer exists, a plaque set into the pavement in front of the Museum commemorates its estimated 200,000 victims.
Tiergartnenstraße, along with the Wilhelmstraße further east, has traditionally been part of Berlin's diplomatic quarter. The Japanese Embassy is at the corner of Hiroshimastraße, the Italian Embassy is at the corner of Hildebrandstraße, the South African Embassy is between Hildebrandstraße and Stauffenbergstraße and the Austrian Embassy is at the corner of Stauffenbergstraße. A number of other embassies are located along these streets, just off Tiergartenstaße.
At the western end of Tiergartenstraße are the offices of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the research institute of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU). Outside the offices is a sculpture depicting Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle shaking hands, symbolising Adenauer's role in restoring Franco-German relations after World War II.
On the north side of Tiergartenstraße just west of Stauffenbergstraße is a large seated statue of the composer Richard Wagner. A glass canopy has been erected over the statue to protect it from the elements, but its base has been defaced by graffiti.
