Motzstraße

Motzstraße is a street in the Berlin borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It 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 ofBerlin
Length1,500 m (4,900 ft)
AreaSchöneberg, Wilmersdorf
Coordinates52°29′46″N 13°20′36″E
Construction
Inauguration1870
Motzstrasse, just south of Nollendorfplatz (2009)

The section of Motzstraße between Nollendorfplatz and Martin-Luther-Straße is the centre of one of Berlin's gay areas. Berlin's Lesbian and Gay City Festival Motzstraßenfest is held there every July, on the weekend before the Gay Pride celebrations (CSD) in Berlin.

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, 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 attracted many authors for readings, including Reinhard Jirgl. The business closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual street festival was cancelled in 2020 and 2021.

Surroundings

The area around Motzstraße has been recognised as a gay-friendly neighbourhood since the 1900s. Related establishments include Piscator's Theatre (later Metropol Theatre) and then Metropol cinema), Metropol discothek, Goya club (now known as Metropol), and the Eldorado (1926–1932).[2][1]

British-American author Christopher Isherwood lived 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, restored after wartime damage, is an upscale neighbourhood filled with Wilhelmine architecture. Many notable personalities and famous figures have made their homes in the area, such as Rudolf Steiner and Else Lasker-Schüler.

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).
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