Berlin: area by area - East of the Centre - Alexander Platz

Alexanderplatz is the most famous square in Berlin.
Originally, this square lay just beyond the gates to the city. Around 1700 it was the site of a livestock market, earning it the name Ochsenplatz or "Oxen Square". Later, it was also used as a wool market and as a parade ground.
It received its current name on the occasion of the visit of Czar Alexander II. in 1805. At the turn of last century, "Alex" gradually lost its marketplace character, and, with the establishment of a regional train station there in 1882, it became an important transport intersection. The square which Alfred Döblin immortalized in his novel "Berlin Alexanderplatz" (1929) was almost completely destroyed in the war.
Its present appearance dates from the construction of the East German city center from 1966–71. This included the former Centrum department store, the Alex Passages which connected with it, the 123m-high Park Inn Berlin Alexanderplatz Hotel, and the »Fernsehturm (TV Tower) which dominates the square.
The square is also home to the World Time Clock, and the Fountain of International Friendship, both of which were erected in 1969.