Spree

The Spree River (Sorbian: Sprjewja;

The river in Berlin

The pond of the Charlottenburg Palace was created to have boat access to the Esprea.

History

Around 1150, when Albert the Bear seized control of what would later become the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the first buildings appeared on the grounds of present-day Palace Square on the Isle of the Spree. The area was swampy at the time and was surrounded by several small branches of the river. Later, still in the middle ages, the Spree river valley, between the then towns of Köpenick and Spandau, Cölln on the Spree island and Berlin were founded on the north shore. However, it is not clear when the first permanent connection over the river was created in this sector.

In 1432, the two settlements were merged to form a single administrative district. However, ten years later they separated, remaining so until 1709. After uniting again, the unified city was renamed Berlin, and was the political center of Brandenburg, Prussia, and the German Empire founded in 1871.

The course of the river was the scene of combat during the Battle of Berlin in World War II. During the conflict, the German commander Helmuth Weidling, who was in command of the city's defenses, arranged for the opening of the river floodgates with the aim of flooding the subway tunnels, seeking to prevent the enemy from attacking through them.

In the decades that followed and after the construction of the Berlin Wall, many East Berliners tried to escape by crossing the river. The route of the wall between the Oberbaum and Schilling bridges on the border between the districts Friedrichshain (formerly East Berlin) and Kreuzberg (formerly West Berlin), did not coincide with the location of the outer wall. In this segment, the water surface of the Spree belonged in its entire width to East Berlin.

Environmental and urban aspects

At Köpenick, in the southeastern part of Berlin, the Esprea is joined by one of its tributaries: the Dahme River. The final course of the Spree is the best known, flowing through the city center of Berlin to join the River Havel at Spandau, one of Berlin's western districts. In the south of the city, the public park Treptower Park is crossed by the Spree, and houses the Soviet Memorial for the fallen soldiers of the Red Army during World War II. Following its course, you can see the Mercedes-Benz Arena, a multifunctional area opened in 2008 where up to &&&&&&&&&&017000.&&&& &017,000 spectators can gather to watch shows, and after a few hours it can be turned into a sports hall. Not far from there, it was decided to keep a 1.3 km section of the wall of Berlin along the Spree in order to house the East Side Gallery.

On the other hand, the Fluss-bad Berlin association is a project created in 2012 whose goal is to make the Spree a river in which you can swim. Those responsible for the initiative organize an annual race in the river to promote swimming and the use of water purification systems.

The Royal Palace and the monument to Guillermo I in 1900.

Berlin-Mitte

Weeks before the start of the 2006 World Cup of Football was inaugurated the Central Station of Berlin, the largest train station in Europe.

In its course through Berlin-Mitte, the river forms the island of the Spree, the northern part of which is called Museum Island (Museumsinsel), with its collection of five main museums. It also includes the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom), the Royal Palace, and the Neuer Marstall among other buildings.

After German reunification, political leaders decided to settle in Berlin, and the Regierungsviertel (government district) was erected on a bend in the river near the Humboldthafen. The government buildings form a junction above the River Spree, connecting symbolically East and West are symbolically linked by the Federation Union bridge. The offices housing parliamentary services are located in Jakob-Kaiser-Haus, Paul-Löbe-Haus and Marie -Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus located near the Reichstag Building. This has given a political symbolism to the sector, which is why correspondents for television channels usually send their chronicles from the riverbank, frequently with the Reichstag as a background.

In the same sector, the new Chancellery inaugurated in 2001 forms a complex built entirely of white concrete. Then Chancellor Gerhard Schröder recalled that in the same place, during Nazi Germany, the government had planned to build the Welthauptstadt Germany, capital of the empire that was to last a thousand years. In this new city, Adolf Hitler and his architect Albert Speer planned to erect the Volkshalle (people's pavilion), crowned by the largest dome in the world

Since 1994, the Bellevue Palace located in the middle of Tiergarten Park has been the official residence of the President of Germany.

Tourism

The tourist attractions of the river contributed to Berlin being the third most visited city in the European Union at the beginning of the 2010s.