Voss-strasse

Encyclopedia : V : VO : VOS : Voss-strasse

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Voss-strasse (or Voßstraße: see ß) is a street in central Berlin, capital of Germany. It runs east-west from Ebertstrasse to the Wilhelmstrasse in the borough of Mitte, one street north of Leipziger Strasse.

In the 18th and 19th century, the area was the site of several mansions owned by members of the Prussian aristocracy, some of which were taken over by government departments. In 1871, the retired General of the Prussian army Count Ferdinand von Voss-Buch [link] died, and his mansion was demolished.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} A new road between Königgrätzer Strasse (today Ebertstrasse) and Wilhelmstrasse was built through his former garden in 1872, and was named after him [link]. Another street under the same name in Berlin's district Tempelhof-Schöneberg was named after Johann Heinrich Voss.

From 1880 to 1935, Voss-strasse 4-5 was the site of the Justice Ministry of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and of the Third Reich [link]. This building was among those demolished to make way for the new Reich Chancellery building, built by Albert Speer for Adolf Hitler and opened in January 1939 [link]. This building stood on the corner of Voss-strasse and the Wilhelmstrasse. It extended back along the whole length of Voss-strasse, and its official address was Voss-strasse 6. The building was largely destroyed by Allied bombs in February 1945, and later demolished by the Soviet occupying forces. Hitler killed himself in the Führerbunker, a little further north, on 30 April 1945 [link].

From 1949 Voss-strasse was located in the German Democratic Republic, which did little to develop the Potsdamer Platz area which was close to the Berlin Wall dividing the city. As late as 1956 there were no buildings at all along Voss-strasse [link]. Today there is still little of note along the street, although it continues to attract curious visitors looking for the site of the Chancellery and the bunker. On the north side of the street there are several apartment blocks and some fenced-off waste land behind the apartment blocks along the Wilhelmstrasse. On the south side of the street, the Canadian Embassy stands at the corner of Voss-strasse and Ebertstrasse.

See also

• Voss (surname)

References

• Lonely Planet: Berlin, 2005 Lonely Planet guidebook. Has a section on "Ghosts of the Vossstrasse"
• (German language) [Voßstraße]
• (German language) [de] - from the Benutzer:Jcornelius/Ministergärten article on the German Wikipedia
• (German language) [Vossstrassenord] - The Bundesrat Building in the Berlin townscape from 1904 to 2004

External links

• [road map]
• [aerial photo]
• ["Hitler's 'suicide bunker' unearthed"], October 15, 1999, BBC News
• [Fuhrerbunker, Berlin, Germany] - mention of Vossstrasse

 

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