Potsdamer Platz (, literally
Potsdam Square) is an important
public square and traffic intersection in the centre of
Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the
Brandenburg Gate and the
Reichstag (
German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corner of the
Tiergarten park. It is named after the city of
Potsdam, some to the south west, and marks the point where the old road from Potsdam passed through the city wall of Berlin at the
Potsdam Gate. After developing within the space of little over a century from an intersection of rural thoroughfares into the most bustling traffic intersection in Europe, it was totally laid waste during
World War II and then left desolate during the
Cold War era when the
Berlin Wall bisected its former location. Since
German reunification, Potsdamer Platz has been the site of major redevelopment projects.