Template:About Template:Infobox German location Mitte ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding.
It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg) which were formerly divided between East Berlin and West Berlin. Mitte encompasses Berlin's historic core and includes some of the most important tourist sites of Berlin like the Reichstag and Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Checkpoint Charlie, Museum Island, the TV tower, Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden, Potsdamer Platz, Alexanderplatz, the latter six of which were in former East Berlin.
GeographyEdit
Mitte (German for "middle", "centre") is located in the central part of Berlin along the Spree River. It borders on Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in the west, Reinickendorf in the north, Pankow in the east, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in the southeast, and Tempelhof-Schöneberg in the southwest.
In the middle of the Spree lies Museum Island (Museumsinsel) with its museums, Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom) and Berlin Palace (Berliner Schloss). A central square in Mitte is Alexanderplatz with the prominent Fernsehturm (TV tower), Germany's highest building, and the large railway station with connections to many subway (U-Bahn), tramway (Berlin trambahn), city trains (S-Bahn) and buses.
There are some important streets which connect Mitte with the other boroughs, e.g. the boulevard Unter den Linden which connects Berlin Palace with Brandenburg Gate and runs further as Straße des 17. Juni to the Victory Column and the centre of former West Berlin in Charlottenburg, or Karl-Marx-Allee from Alexanderplatz to Friedrichshain and the eastern suburbs.
HistoryEdit
The former Mitte district had been established by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act and comprised large parts of the historic city around Alt-Berlin and Cölln. Brandenburg Gate was the western exit at the Berlin city boundary until 1861.
Between 1961 and 1990, the area's East Berlin portion was surrounded by the Berlin Wall on the north, south and west. There were some border control points, the most notable of which was Checkpoint Charlie between Kreuzberg and Mitte, which was operated by the United States Army and was open to foreigners and diplomats.
Two other checkpoints were at Heinrich-Heine-Straße/Prinzenstraße east of Checkpoint Charlie, open to citizens of West Germany and West Berlin and on Invalidenstraße in the north on the border with the West Berlin Tiergarten district (the present-day Moabit locality).
Regierungsviertel (Government District)Edit
The government district is located in the locality of Tiergarten around the Reichstag Building. Most institutions of the German government have their seat at the Regierungsviertel
- Bundestag, the German parliament in the old Reichstag Building
- Bellevue Palace, seat of the Federal President
- German Chancellery
- Offices of the Abgeordneten, members of the parliament, in the Paul-Löbe-Haus and the Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus
- Federal Ministry of the Interior
- Berlin reichstag west panorama.jpg
Reichstag Building
- 2006-09-19 Berlin Bellevue.jpg
Bellevue Palace
- Bundeskanzleramt Berlin 2010.jpg
German Chancellery
- Reichstagsgebäude und Paul-Löbe-Haus, Berlin-Mitte, 170327, ako.jpg
Paul-Löbe-Haus
- Berlin, Tiergarten, Otto-von-Bismarck-Allee, Botschaft Schweiz.jpg
Swiss Embassy
Historische Mitte (Historic center)Edit
The historic center is located in the locality of Mitte proper around the Berlin Palace.
- Berlin Palace / Humboldt Forum
- Berlin Cathedral
- Museum Island
- Nikolaiviertel
- Gendarmenmarkt
- Unter den Linden
- Brandenburg Gate
- Berlin-BerlinerSchloss-2-Asio (cropped).JPG
Berlin Palace / Humboldt Forum
- Berlin Aussicht vom Humboldt Forum asv2023-02 img04.jpg
Altes Museum and Berlin Cathedral on Museum Island
- Berlin Museumsinsel Fernsehturm.jpg
Bode Museum on Museum Island
- Mitte Nikolaikirchplatz-001.jpg
Nikolaiviertel
- Gendarmenmarkt Panorama.jpg
Gendarmenmarkt
- Unter den Linden Berlin2007.jpg
Unter den Linden
- 2005-10-26 Brandenburger-Tor.JPG
Brandenburg Gate
Botschaftsviertel (Embassy Quarter)Edit
Many embassies and the Federal Ministry of Defence in the historic embassy quarter in the south of the Tiergarten Park.
- Italienische Botschaft - panoramio.jpg
Italian Embassy
- Tiergarten Japanische Botschaft-002.JPG
Japanese Embassy
- Berlin - Spanische Botschaft.jpg
Spanish Embassy
- Tiergarten Indische Botschaft.JPG
Indian Embassy
- Be Embassy of UAE 03.jpg
Embassy of the United Arab Emirates
Tiergarten ParkEdit
Großer Tiergarten is the name of the biggest urban park in Mitte, located in the same-named locality. Tiergarten Park was established as a hunting ground in the 16th century by the Prussian kings. Today it is enclosed by densely built-up areas by Hansaviertel and Moabit in the north, the Government District in the east and the City West and the Embassy Quarter in the southwest.
Many cultural monuments and memorials are located in the Tiergarten Park, like the Siegessäule, the Soviet War Memorial and a historic rose garden. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the biggest victim group of the Nazi dictatorship, is located on the east side of the park, near the Brandenburg Gate and near the place where Hitler's New Reich Chancellery once was.
- Siegessäule10.jpg
Siegessäule
- Siegessaeule Aussicht 10-13 img4 Tiergarten.jpg
View from the Siegessäule to Brandenburg Gate
- Berlin Großer Tiergarten Rosengarten.jpg
Rose Garden
- Memorial to Homosexuals persecuted under Nazism.jpg
Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism
- Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europeabove.jpg
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
KulturforumEdit
The Kulturforum was built in the 1950s and 1960s at the edge of West Berlin, after most of the once unified city's cultural assets had been lost behind the Berlin Wall. The Kulturforum is characterized by its innovative modernist architecture; several buildings are distinguished by the organic designs of Hans Scharoun, and the Neue Nationalgalerie was designed by Mies van der Rohe, albeit originally as a private house.
Among the cultural institutions housed in and around the Kulturforum are:
- Neue Nationalgalerie
- Gemäldegalerie
- Museum of Decorative Arts
- Musical Instrument Museum
- Kupferstichkabinett (Print room)
- Art Library
- Berliner Philharmonie
- Chamber Music Hall
- Berlin State Library
- Ibero-American Institute
- Wissenschaftszentrum
- St. Matthäus-Kirche
In arts and literatureEdit
- Berlin Alexanderplatz, a 1929 novel by Alfred Döblin
- Mitte 1, a 2013 novel by Albrecht Behmel
- Berlin-Mitte, Norman Ohler
- Unter diesem Einfluss, Henning Kober
SubdivisionEdit
The present-day borough of Mitte consists of six localities:
|
(the former Mitte borough) |
(the former Tiergarten borough) |
(the former Wedding borough) |
DemographicsEdit
Template:As of, the borough had a population of 322,919, of whom 144.000 (44.5%) had a migration background. In the former West Berlin areas of Wedding, Gesundbrunnen and Moabit, foreigners and Germans of foreign origin compose nearly 70% of the population, while in Mitte proper the share of migrants is relatively low. The immigrant community is quite diverse, however, Turks, AfricansTemplate:Who, Eastern Europeans Template:Who and East AsiansTemplate:Who form the largest groups.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
| Percentage of people with migration background<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
|---|---|---|
| Germans without migration background/non-migrants | 55.5 % (184.000) | |
| Germans with migration background, or Foreigners/Ausländer | 44.5 % (144.000) | |
| Muslim/Middle Eastern origin (Turkey, Arab League, Iran etc.) | 18.0% (60.000) | |
| non-German European origin (UK, Netherlands, United States, Russia, Poland, Spain, France etc.) | 10.7% (35.400) | |
| Others (East Asians, Vietnamese, Afro-Germans, Sub-Saharan Africans etc.) | 14.5% (48.000) |
PoliticsEdit
Borough assemblyEdit
The governing body of Mitte is the borough assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung). It has responsibility for passing laws and electing the borough administration, including the mayor. The most recent borough assembly election was held on 26 September 2021, and led to a coalition between the Greens and the social democrats.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
| Legislative period | Borough Mayor | Coalition
({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) |
Borough assembly seats of the coalition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-2026<ref name=":0">Shorter period due to the 2023 Berlin election re-run</ref> | To be confirmed | To be confirmed | To be confirmed | |
| 2021-2023<ref name=":0" /> | Stefanie Remlinger (Greens, 2022-2023)
Stephan von Dassel (Greens, 2021-2022)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Template:Composition bar/advanced
30/55 |
| 2016-2021 | Stephan von Dassel | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Template:Composition bar/advanced
28/55 |
| 2011-2016 | Christian Hanke (SPD) | SPD and CDU<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Composition bar/advanced
28/55 | |
| 2006-2011 | Christian Hanke (SPD) | -<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | - | |
| 2001-2006 | Joachim Zeller (CDU)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | CDU, PDS, Greens<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Composition bar/advanced
32/55<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |
CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
The 2021 results were as follows:
Template:Election table ! colspan=2| Party ! Lead candidate ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | align=left| Laura Neugebauer | 44,653 | 28.5 | Template:Increase 4.6 | 18 | Template:Increase 4 |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | align=left| Ephraim Gothe | 28,997 | 18.5 | Template:Decrease 5.3 | 12 | Template:Decrease 2 |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| The Left (LINKE) | align=left| Christoph Keller | 26,256 | 16.8 | Template:Decrease 1.1 | 10 | ±0 |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | align=left| Carsten Spallek | 20,088 | 12.8 | Template:Decrease 0.7 | 8 | Template:Increase 1 |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | align=left| Bastian Roet | 10,419 | 6.7 | Template:Increase 0.6 | 4 | Template:Increase 1 |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD) | align=left| Sabine Schüler | 7,565 | 4.8 | Template:Decrease 5.1 | 3 | Template:Decrease 2 |- | colspan=8 bgcolor=lightgrey| |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Volt Germany | align=left| | 3,668 | 2.3 | New | 0 | New |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Tierschutzpartei | align=left| | 3,410 | 2.2 | New | 0 | New |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Die PARTEI | align=left| | 3,358 | 2.1 | New | 0 | New |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| dieBasis | align=left| | 2,193 | 1.4 | New | 0 | New |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Klimaliste | align=left| | 1,927 | 1.2 | New | 0 | New |- | | align=left| The Greys | align=left| | 1,112 | 0.7 | New | 0 | New |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Pirate Party Germany | align=left| | 919 | 0.6 | Template:Decrease 2.9 | 0 | Template:Decrease 2 |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Free Voters | align=left| | 903 | 0.6 | New | 0 | New |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| The Humanists | align=left| | 602 | 0.4 | New | 0 | New |- | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | align=left| Ecological Democratic Party | align=left| | 287 | 0.2 | New | 0 | New |- | | align=left| The Eligible | align=left| | 99 | 0.1 | New | 0 | New |- ! colspan=3| Valid votes ! 156,456 ! 99.1 ! ! ! |- ! colspan=3| Invalid votes ! 1,384 ! 0.9 ! ! ! |- ! colspan=3| Total ! 157,840 ! 100.0 ! ! 55 ! ±0 |- ! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout ! 247,338 ! 63.8 ! Template:Increase 10.0 ! ! |- | colspan=8| Source: Elections Berlin |}
Borough governmentEdit
The borough mayor ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) is elected by the borough assembly, and positions in the borough administration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) are apportioned based on party strength. Stefanie Remlinger of the Greens was elected mayor on 20 October 2022. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the borough administration is as follows:
| Councillor | Party | Portfolio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stefanie Remlinger | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | GRÜNE | Borough Mayor Staff and Finance |
| Ephraim Gothe | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | SPD | Deputy Mayor Urban Development and Logistics |
| Stefanie Remlinger | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | GRÜNE | Education, Sport and Culture |
| Carsten Spallek | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | CDU | Social Affairs and Civil Service |
| Almut Neumann | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | GRÜNE | Order, Environment, Streets and Green Spaces |
| Christoph Keller | bgcolor=Template:Party color| | LINKE | Youth and Health |
| Source: Berlin.de | |||
Twin towns – sister citiesEdit
Template:See also Mitte is twinned with:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Div col
- Template:Flagicon Beyoğlu (Istanbul), Turkey (2008)
- Template:Flagicon Bottrop, Germany (1983)
- Template:Flagicon Central AO (Moscow), Russia (2006)
- Template:Flagicon Chaoyang (Beijing), China (2004)
- Template:Flagicon Chiyoda (Tokyo), Japan (1994)
- Template:Flagicon Frogn, Norway (1990)
- Template:Flagicon Higashiōsaka, Japan (1959)
- Template:Flagicon Holon, Israel (1970)
- Template:Flagicon Kassel, Germany (1979)
- Template:Flagicon Petrogradsky (Saint Petersburg), Russia (1994)
- Template:Flagicon Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Germany (1992)
- Template:Flagicon Shinjuku (Tokyo), Japan (1994)
- Template:Flagicon Tourcoing, France (1995)
- Template:Flagicon Tsuwano, Shimane, Japan (1995)