Mitte is a central borough of Berlin consisting of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg) that were formerly divided between East and West Berlin. Mitte is not only a trendy neighborhood, but it is also home to many of Berlin’s most famous landmarks and sights. In addition to its creative scene, the district offers several leisure and nightlife options, particularly around Oranienburger Straße.
It includes Berlin’s historic core and some of the most significant tourist attractions, including Museum Island, the Reichstag and the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Checkpoint Charlie, the TV tower, the Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden, Potsdamer Platz, and Alexanderplatz, the last five of which are situated in former East Berlin.
Here are some fabulous snapshots of Mitte, Berlin captured in 1991 by S. Dekind.
It somehow looks so much cleaner compared to today.
Less roadsigns, less Baustelle, less trash
If you want to see more, there was recently a great documentary about Berlin right after the wall fell down on Arte.
I highly recommend it:
https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/RC-024312/capital-b/
Berlin is polycentric, so there is no real city center.
There isn’t a central business district, but the a zone is absolutely the city center
It looked just as gray as it looks today. But then it was much much cleaner.
All the buildings on the photos No. 12, 13 and 14 are not in the Mitte part of Friedrichstraße, but in Kreuzberg, Ex-Berlin West.