Motzstraße

Motzstraße is a street in the Berlin borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in the former West Berlin, which now runs from Nollendorfplatz via Viktoria-Luise-Platz in Schöneberg to Prager Platz in Wilmersdorf.

Motzstraße
Motzstrasse
Motzstrasse, near Nollendorfplatz (2007)
Former name(s) Street 20, Dept. IV
Part of Berlin
Length 1,500 m (4,900 ft)
Area Schöneberg, Wilmersdorf
Coordinates 52°29′46″N 13°20′36″E
Construction
Inauguration 1870
Motzstrasse, just south of Nollendorfplatz (2009)

History
Lesbian and Gay City Festival (2006) on Motzstrasse

Named after Friedrich von Motz, a Prussian Finance Minister, the first, northerly section was laid out around 1870.[1] That section, to the north of Nollendorfplatz has been renamed twice, firstly in 1934 to Mackensenstraße, at which time the street numbering was changed and again in 1996 to Else Lasker-Schüler Straße. Motzstraße 6 was the location of the American Church from 1903 until 1944, when it was destroyed in an Allied air raid, along with many other buildings in the area. "motzbuch" was located at Motzstraße 32 from 1981 and drew many notable authors to the area for readings over the years, including Reinhard Jirgl.[1] The business was closed down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The section of Motzstraße between Nollendorfplatz and Martin-Luther-Straße is considered to be the centre of one of Berlin's gay areas. It is also the location for Berlin's Lesbian and Gay City Festival which is held every July (June until 2013), on the weekend before the Gay Pride celebrations (CSD) in Berlin. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the street festival was cancelled in 2020 and 2021.

About

The area around Motzstraße has been recognised as a gay-friendly neighbourhood for well over a hundred years, with many famous queer establishments, such as Piscator's Theatre (later Metropol Theatre), which later became the Metropol cinema, Metropol discothek, Goya club and is now known as Metropol, the infamous Eldorado (Berlin)( 1926–1932),[2] and countless other gay venues which attracted large numbers of queer and open-minded clientele.[1]

The renowned British-American author Christopher Isherwood lived just around the corner from Motzstraße on Nollendorfstraße, where he was inspired by the area's diversity to write several of his best-selling novels.

The section of Motzstraße around Viktoria-Luise-Platz, now restored after wartime damage, is an upscale neighbourhood with attractive Wilhelmine architecture. Many notable personalities and famous figures have made their homes in the area, such as Rudolf Steiner and Else Lasker-Schüler, both on Motzstraße.


References
  1. "Geschichte der Motzstraße, Emil und die Literaten" [History of Motzstrasse, Emil and the writers]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). July 30, 2010. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  2. "In the "Eldorado" Transvestite Bar on Motzstrasse, Berlin (1926)". German History in Documents and Images (GHDI).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.