Historic Wilhelmstraße

“What does Wilhelmstraße say?” because of his synonymic character for terms like “Downing Street” or “Quai d’Orsay” this was once a frequently asked question in the European diplomatic scene. From the founding of the German Reich in 1871 until the end of the Nazi regime in 1945, the major ministries and several foreign embassies were located on the section of Wilhelmstraße that now lies between Unter den Linden and Leipziger Straße. In the postwar period it formed a kind of bridge between the Soviet sector in the East and the American sector in the West, touching the edges of both systems. Wilhelmstraße was devided by the Berlin wall, and although some ministry buildings from the old days were still used by the East German government, Wilhelmstraße was almost forgotten as a historic location.

It was only after the reunification of Germany in 1990 that Wilhelmstraße regained its place in the center of reunited Berlin. Several ministries, the British Embassy and the Social Democratic Party headquarters are based here now, making Wilhelmstraße an important political address again.