In November 1918, the Spartacist leader, Karl Liebknecht, declared the German Socialist Republic from a balcony of the Stadtschloss, ending more than 400 years of royal occupation of the building.
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Of the entire extensive building, only the balcony from which Liebknecht had declared the German Socialist Republic was preserved, and later removed to the Council of State building (Staatsratsgebäude) where it formed the main entrance.
Karl Liebknecht | Wilhelm Liebknecht | Liebknecht | Liebknecht's balcony in the Council of State Staatsratsgebäude |
A few hours later the Berlin newspapers published that in the Berlin Lustgarten - at probably around the same time — Liebknecht had proclaimed a Socialist Republic, which he affirmed from a balcony of the Berlin Royal Residence to an assembled crowd at around 4 pm.
Johann Georg Liebknecht (23 April 1679 in Wasungen, Thuringia - 17 September 1749 in Gießen) was a German theologian and scientist.
Liebknecht also wrote extensively against militarism, and one of his papers, Militarismus und Antimilitarismus ("militarism and antimilitarism") led to his being arrested in 1907 and imprisoned for 18 months in Glatz, Prussian Silesia.
The arterial road connects the centre of former East Berlin at Alexanderplatz via Karl-Liebknecht-Straße with the far north-eastern districts and the orbital motorway Berliner Ring (BAB 10) via the Bundesautobahn 114.