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| Strasse des 17. Juni | |
 Looking east along the Straße des 17. Juni from theTiergartenS-Bahn station, with theVictory Column in the distance | |
 Interactive map of Straße des 17. Juni | |
| Former names |
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| Part of | |
| Namesake | East German uprising of 1953 |
| Type | Boulevard |
| Location | Berlin, Germany |
| Quarter | Tiergarten,Charlottenburg |
| Nearest metro station | |
| Coordinates | 52°30′52″N13°20′55″E / 52.51442°N 13.34858°E /52.51442; 13.34858 |
| East end | |
| Major junctions |
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| West end |
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| Construction | |
| Inauguration | 1697 (1697) |
TheStraße des 17. Juni, orStrasse des 17. Juni (seeß;[1]German pronunciation:[ˈʃtʁaːsədɛsˈziːpˌt͡seːntn̩ˈjuːni]ⓘ;transl. 17th of June Street), is a street in centralBerlin, the capital ofGermany. Its name refers to the17 June 1953 uprising in East Germany. The western continuation of the boulevardUnter den Linden, it runs east–west through theTiergarten, a large park to the west of the city centre. At the eastern end of the street is theBrandenburg Gate and thePlatz des 18. März, it then passes theSoviet War Memorial before passing either side of theVictory Column (Siegessäule) in the middle of the park, and out of the park through theCharlottenburg Gate, terminating about half a kilometre later atErnst-Reuter-Platz. The street is a section of the main western thoroughfare radiating out from the centre of Berlin so the road continues to the west ofErnst-Reuter-Platz, the first section of which is calledBismarckstraße.
Before 1953, the street was calledCharlottenburger Chaussee, because it ran from the old city center (Berlin-Mitte) to the borough ofCharlottenburg through the Tiergarten (Zoo; literally "animal garden"). The 1953 name change was made in order to honor an East German uprising and its victims. Soon afterStalin's death many East Berliners began a strike against working conditions, centered on the building sites around today's Karl-Marx-Allee. This gained momentum and descended into rioting when faced with strong opposition from the East German authorities, largely on 17 June 1953.[2] (Another street, in northwest Berlin, got the name Charlottenburger Chaussee instead.[3])
It was made into a paved road in 1799, and owing to Berlin's rapid growth in the 19th century it became a major thoroughfare to the affluent western suburbs. At the outbreak ofWorld War I in early August 1914, hundreds of thousands of Berliners cheered the military parade, which took place here.[4] At the outbreak ofWorld War II, no such scenes were ever observed, according to the American journalist and historianWilliam L. Shirer.[5]
Charlottenburger Chausee was a part of theOst-West-Achse (East-West Axis), which during the Nazi period became a triumphal avenue lined with Nazi flags. During theNazi era, the boulevard was made broader and the Prussian-eraVictory Column was moved from in front of theReichstag to the roundabout in the middle of the Tiergarten, where it has remained since 1938.
The Charlottenburger Chaussee was to have formed one aspect of the remodelling of the city of Berlin into the renamed city calledGermania, designed by Hitler,Albert Speer, andPaul Troost to be the capital of the Reich.[6]
In thelast weeks of World War II, when Berlin's airports were unusable, it was used as a landing strip.[7]
In 1953, West Berlin renamed the streetStraße des 17. Juni, to commemorate thePeople's uprising in East Berlin on 17 June 1953, when theRed Army and GDRVolkspolizei shot protesting workers.
The street has in recent years been used for mega-events such as theLove Parade orLive 8. In 2006, the street was closed to vehicular traffic for six weeks for use as theFanmeile (fan mile) during the2006 Football World Cup. It also serves as the starting point for theBerlin Marathon. Every New Year's Eve, the street is also one of the gathering points in Berlin where usually over a million people gather to watch a stage show at theBrandenburg Gate, party and see fireworks go off at midnight. It is the largest such party in Europe, if not the world.[8]
Steht der Buchstabe ß nicht zur Verfügung, so schreibt man ss. [If the letter ß is unavailable, then one writes ss.]
52°30′51″N13°21′02″E / 52.51417°N 13.35056°E /52.51417; 13.35056
