Johannes Gutenberg
Breitscheidplatz was named after what from 1889 to 1892?
Breitscheidplatz Breitscheidplatz ( ) is a major public square in the inner city of Berlin , Germany . Together with the Kurfürstendamm boulevard , it marks the centre of former West Berlin and the present-day City West . It is named after Rudolf Breitscheid . Location . Breitscheidplatz lies within the Charlottenburg district near the southwestern tip of the Tiergarten park and the Zoological Garden at the corner of Kurfürstendamm and its eastern continuation , Tauentzienstraße , leading to Schöneberg and the Kaufhaus des Westens on Wittenbergplatz . The Europa-Center mall and highrise closes off the Breitscheidplatz to the east . At its centre is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church with its damaged spire . History . Breitscheidplatz is at the end of the former Kurfürstendamm bridle path of 1542 which led Elector ( Kurfürst ) Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg to his hunting grounds in the Grunewald forest . In 1889 the square was given the name Gutenbergplatz after Johannes Gutenberg , the designer of the printing press ; in 1892 it was renamed Auguste-Viktoria-Platz in honour of the German Empress Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein . Shortly after the square was laid out , Auguste-Viktorias spouse Emperor Wilhelm II determined it as the site for the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in honour of his grandfather , Emperor Wilhelm I . The church , designed by royal architect Franz Schwechten , was a prime example of Romanesque Revival architecture . Being a native Rhinelander , Schwechtens design of the church was inspired by the Bonn Minster which Wilhelm II knew quite well as he studied in Bonn . It was consecrated in 1895 . Around the square until World War I , further development took place in a similar Neo-Romanesque style , including on the west side the Ausstellungshallen am Zoologischen Garten , an exhibition and event space completed in 1896 , and opposite it the 1899 building on the site of todays Europa-Center which after 1916 housed the Romanisches Café . The square was sometimes called the Romanisches Forum ( Romanesque Forum ) or Romanisches Viertel ( Romanesque Quarter ) as a result . 20th century . After World War I , the square became a meeting place for bohemians and intellectuals in Berlin , particularly at the Romanisches Café , where writers , artists and musicians congregated and exchanged ideas . In addition , cinema and variety theatre development had begun in the area with conversion of part of the exhibition space on the west side . In 1925 the Ufa-Palast am Zoo opened in one of these spaces , then Germanys largest cinema , followed in 1926 by the Gloria-Palast on the western side , where The Blue Angel premièred on 1 April 1930 . By 1928 , when Joseph Goebbels made a speech attacking the commercial establishments surrounding the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church , the square contained a cluster of Berlins premier cinemas—Ufa-Palast am Zoo , Gloria-Palast , Capitol , Marmorhaus and Tauntzien-Palast—in addition to cafés , theatres , and other business establishments , and some businessmen had sought to establish it as Berlins Broadway . In 1943 , the square was heavily bombed and most of the area was destroyed . After World War II the square experienced massive reconstruction when it became the quasi-symbolic centre of West Berlin in compensation for the loss of the historic centre around Alexanderplatz and Unter den Linden in Mitte , then part of East Berlin . In 1947 the square was given the new name Breitscheidplatz after Rudolf Breitscheid , a German Social Democrat who was killed at the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1944 . Post-war . The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church ( informally known as der Hohle Zahn , the Hollow Tooth , by Berliners ) was in shambles after the war . In the 1950s and 1960s the trend in Berlin was to tear down buildings damaged in the war and to build anew . The renowned West German architect Egon Eiermann originally planned to completely demolish the ruins , causing numerous public protests . He then designed a modern parish church and separate belfry , beside which the ruined spire of the old church would be preserved as a memorial . The new Gedächtniskirche was consecrated in 1961 and soon became the architectural pride of West Berlin and a memorial against war and destruction . The development of the square included the erection of the Zoo Palast cinema replacing the Ufa-Palast in 1956 , the Bikini-Haus on the northern side finished in 1957 ( named after its bare midriff on the second floor ) and the Schimmelpfeng-Haus built in 1960 ( now demolished ) on the site of the old Gloria-Palast . In 1965 , the Europa-Center shopping mall was opened by Mayor Willy Brandt on the site of the former Romanisches Café . It included a large cinema complex and an highrise . The Center with its characteristic Mercedes-Benz star on top became a major business centre and unofficially gave the Breitscheidplatz the reputation of being the commercial hotspot in West Berlin . Today the building still hosts numerous department stores , pavement coffee shops and restaurants and is a popular tourist attraction . It has landmark status . Redevelopment . The Breitscheidplatz , still one of Berlins most visited places , is known by many as one of the quintessential squares of Berlin . It presents an awkward yet typical Berlin combination of the old and the new , the cultural and commercial . Since the turn of the millennium , city plans developed for the Breitscheidplatz include bettering the quality for pedestrians and more public competitions for the future planning of Breitscheidplatz . In 2006 , the automobile tunnel on Budapester Straße in front of the Bikini-Haus was closed and the pedestrian zone extended . From 2010 to 2014 the Bikinihaus was refurbished as a shopping mall and a hotel , including the redevelopment of the adjacent Zoo Palast as a multi-screen cinema complex . The destruction of the Schimmelpfeng-Haus began in 2009 to build the Zoofenster highrise , with offices , restaurants and a Waldorf Astoria hotel , and the neighbouring Upper West tower block , to create an attractive urban area with livable space . Other plans include renovating the bus station on Hardenbergplatz in front of the Bahnhof Zoo and other urban spaces in the vicinity . 2016 Christmas market attack . On 19 December 2016 , at about 20:00 local time , a truck-ramming attack was made on the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz , killing twelve people and injuring 48 others . In preparation for the Christmas market 2018 , the square and its surrounding were fortified against further terrorist attacks . Public transport . Breitscheidplatz can be reached by S-Bahn via the Zoologischer Garten station ( S 5 , S 7 , S 75 , S 9 ) as well as by U-Bahn via Zoologischer Garten ( U 2 , U 9 ) and Kurfürstendamm stations ( U 1 , U 9 ) . Busses stop at Breitscheidplatz ( lines 100 and 200 ) and Europa-Center ( M29 , M19 ) . The Bahnhof Zoo was constructed in 1882 and functioned as the main railway station of West Berlin . Its importance as a major hub diminished when in preparation for the 2006 FIFA World Cup the new Berlin Hauptbahnhof was completed at the site of the former Lehrter Bahnhof ; this is now the main train station in Berlin , and the German Intercity-Express and InterCity long distance trains no longer stop by default at Zoologischer Garten .