TheSonnenallee (“Sun Avenue”) is a street inBerlin,Germany, connecting the districts ofNeukölln andTreptow-Köpenick. The street is 5 km long, crossingBaumschulenstraße at its south-east end and terminating atHermannplatz in the north-west. Sonnenallee was constructed at the end of the 19th century. The area around the Sonnenallee was created to cater for the rural drift to the city of that period.

Sonnenallee is nearly 5 kilometres long, with around 4.5 kilometres in the district of Neukölln, and 400 meters in Treptow-Köpenick. It begins in the north-west atHermannplatz as the continuation ofUrbanstraße, runs 2600 meters south-east before crossing theRingbahn and shortly thereafter theNeukölln Ship Canal. After the intersection with Grenzallee and Dammweg, Sonnenallee passes several allotments (Kleingartenanlagen) and two large housing estates, leading to its south-easterly endpoint at Baumschulenstraße.

Several city squares lie along Sonnenallee, such as Hermannplatz, Hertzbergplatz, and Venusplatz. The entire length of the street originally had trees running down both sides and averge down the middle, which until 1965 housed a tram line. In the 1980s, this central strip was removed in places to make way for further lanes or parking spaces. Today it has six lanes and is an importantarterial route in Berlin's south-east.

During its history, the Sonnenallee has been known under various other names. At the beginning the street was known simply asStraße 84 (Street No. 84). In 1893, five years after the death ofKaiser Friedrich Wilhelm the street was renamed in his honour. In the 1920s the street was extended to the south east and namedSonnenallee.

During thecommunist period the street was intersected by theBerlin Wall including aborder crossing.

Nowadays, Sonnenallee is home to a large immigrant population ofMiddle Eastern origin, particularly ofSyrian, earning it the nickname of "Arab Street".^[1][2][3][4] The area has also gained a reputation for crime, an image which is possibly promoted by crime TV series such as4 Blocks.^[5]

The 1999film of the same name andits corresponding book portrayed anostalgic view of theGDR in the 1970s, which earned it national notoriety in Germany.^[6]

Media related toSonnenallee (Berlin) at Wikimedia Commons

• The former border crossing at Sonnenallee on www.berlin.de

52°28′34″N13°27′09″E / 52.47611°N 13.45250°E /52.47611; 13.45250

• Streets in Berlin
• Berlin border crossings
• Treptow-Köpenick
• Neukölln
• 19th-century establishments in Germany

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