Nikolaiviertel

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Neighborhoods in Berlin-Mitte: Old Cölln [1] (with Museum Island [1a], Fischer Island [1b]), Altberlin [2] (with Nikolaiviertel [2a]), Friedrichswerder [3], Neukölln am Wasser [4], Dorotheenstadt [5], Friedrichstadt [6], Luisenstadt [7], Stralauer Vorstadt (with Königsstadt) [8], Alexanderplatz Area (Königsstadt and Altberlin) [9], Spandauer Vorstadt [10] (with Scheunenviertel [10a]), Friedrich-Wilhelm-Stadt [11], Oranienburger Vorstadt [12], Rosenthaler Vorstadt [13]

Founded about 1200, the Nikolaiviertel (Nikolai Quarter) of Altberlin, together with the neighbouring settlement of Cölln, is the reconstructed historical heart of the German capital Berlin. It is located in the Mitte district, five minutes away from Alexanderplatz. Situated on the eastern shore of the river Spree, it is bounded by the streets Rathausstraße, Spandauer Straße and Mühlendamm. The Nikolaikirche (Saint Nicholas Church), Berlin's oldest church, lies at the centre of the neighbourhood.

Nikolaiviertel from the Spree

The two settlements of Altberlin as well as Cölln on the other side of the Spree originated along an old trade route, the Mühlendamm (Mills Dam), a place where the river could be easily crossed. The Nikolai Curch, originally a late Romanesque basilica, was erected about 1230. The area around the church with its medieval alleys in the main had been preserved throughout the centuries, until it was destroyed by the air raids and the Battle of Berlin during World War II.

At Berlin's 750th anniversary in 1987 the house-building was restored in a peculiar mixture of reconstructed historic houses and concrete slab Plattenbau blocks, giving the area an unmistakable appearance. Today the small area is famous for its traditional German restaurants and bars.

[edit] Places of interest

Ephraim-Palais

Beside the Nikolaikirche, the best-known building of the quarter is the Ephraim-Palais, built in 1766 for Veitel-Heine Ephraim, the financier of King Frederick II of Prussia. The Rococo facade at the intersection of Mühlendamm and Poststraße became famous as Berlin's "finest corner", until the house was demolished in 1936 for the laying out of the enlarged Mühlendamm street. Parts of the facade were stored in the western outskirts of Berlin, West Berlin authorities delivered them to the GDR government in 1982 to support the reconstruction. The Palais was rebuilt between 1983 and 1987, about 12 meters away from its original site. Today it serves as a museum.

On the other side of the Poststraße is the Knoblauchhaus from 1760, with a neoclassical facade from the 19th century. One of the few preserved historic buildings, it was the residence of the notable Knoblauch family with members like the architect Eduard Knoblauch or the physicist Karl-Hermann Knoblauch. It is home of a Biedermeier museum.

On the banks of the Spree river stands the red sandstone Kurfürstenhaus (Prince-elector's House), erected in 1897 at the site of an older building, where Elector John Sigismund of Brandenburg died on December 23, 1619. As he believed a White Lady haunted the Stadtschloss (City Palace), he had fled to the home of his valet.