Imagine pink cats and sky-blue mice meeting here. Absurd? Maybe not. Welcome to Antonplatz. This place has a history richer than you might think.
Antonplatz is in Berlin’s Weißensee district. It might seem like just another city square. But Antonplatz holds stories of old Berlin. It covers about 1500 square meters. The square is near Berliner Allee.
Back in the 1870s, Berlin was growing fast. A man named Gustav Adolf Schön needed money. His brother, Anton Matthias Schön, helped him out. To honor Anton, the square got its name around 1874. In 1897, a statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I was erected on Antonplatz. It marked the emperor’s 100th birthday. But in 1925, the statue was moved to the park at Weißensee. The square needed to be reorganized.
For a short time, between 1898 and 1903, Antonplatz was called Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz. However, the name didn’t stick. People still called it Antonplatz. By 1907, electric lights illuminated König-Chaussee and Antonplatz.
Antonplatz is also a transport hub. Trams from all directions meet here. Langhansstraße goes northwest. Max-Steinke-Straße goes north. A Goldbroiler restaurant was at the corner of Antonplatz and Berliner Allee. It was a popular spot until the 2010s.
Now, let’s talk about movies. The Kino Toni & Tonino dominates Antonplatz. This cinema has a long history. In 1920, it opened as a silent film cinema with 700 seats. It was called Decla-Lichtspiele. After World War II, it became UFA-Theater. The Soviets took over in 1947. Herbert Bendel, a private investor, ran it until 1979. It was the last private cinema in East Berlin. The cinema was rebuilt and reopened in 1948 after war damages.
The state shut it down in 1979 due to problems. Later, the city rebuilt it into a premiere cinema. After the Berlin Wall fell, the building stood empty. Michael Verhoeven bought it in 1992. He renovated it and added a smaller cinema called Tonino. Despite subsidies, the cinema struggled.
A fire in 2007 damaged the Toni cinema. It had to be renovated again. Things improved when the cinema joined the Berlinale in 2010. In 2017, Michael Verhoeven sold the cinema to Thorsten Frehse and Matthias Mücke. They own Neue Visionen, a film distribution company. They promised to keep the Toni and Tonino running as cinemas for at least ten more years.
The area south of Antonplatz has its own story. It was once full of apartment buildings. World War II damaged them. The area became a green space. In 1963, a bronze statue called “The Gardener” was erected. There was also a fountain designed by Margret Lüdtke.
In the 2000s, the green space was renovated. The old fountain was removed. A new water feature was installed in 2008. It’s a series of granite basins designed by Matthias Heinz.
The green space has been considered for naming several times. Ideas included Jürgen Kuczynski, Tino Schwierzina, and Werner Klemke. But as of 2024, the area remains unnamed.
Today, Antonplatz is a lively place. A fresh market with organic products takes place three days a week. Local groups organize a Bürgerfest, a community festival. The central location makes it a transport hub. Taxis wait here. A future U-Bahn line might pass under Antonplatz.
Even poetry mentions Antonplatz. Peter Hacks wrote about it in his poem “Irrtümer.” It features a pink cat and a sky-blue mouse meeting here. So, next time you are here, remember its layers. Antonplatz is more than just a square. It’s a piece of Berlin’s vibrant history.