Kollwitzplatz

Description:

• This rectangular, leafy square in the heart of Prenzlauer Berg is surrounded by pristinely restored buildings and busy cafés. Named after a famous left-wing, anti-war artist (such as Käthe Kollwitz Museum), this was the clandestine meeting place for radicals, intellectuals and artists during the socialist era. But when the Wall came down in 1989, it did not take long for a new clientele - young West Germans - to discover this charming, run-down square. As a result, bars, cafés and clubs shot out of the ground like mushrooms. Ten years later, the square has become much more "establishment" and is now full of trendy cafés and exclusive restaurants such as Gugelhof, where German Chancellor Schröder once took US President Clinton out to dine. The square still has atmosphere, yet the smell of revolution which hung over the square in the 1990s, when Labour Day demonstrations regularly turned into pitched battles with the police, is long gone. But Käthe Kollwitz doesn't mind. Her bronze statue stands in the middle of the square, surrounded by kids romping in the playground.
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