THE ARMOURED BEAR BLEEDING

Today in Berlin: April 28, 1945

Apr 28, 2025

∙ Paid

On this day in 1945, steadily nearing Berlin’s “Heart of Darkness” - the government district around Wilhelmstraße and the New Chancellery - the Red Army units arriving from the south which had reached Hallesches Tor and what used to Belle-Alliance-Platz in Berlin-Kreuzberg, began moving north towards the legendary railway station, Anhalter Bahnhof.

Aerial photo of Belle-Alliance-Platz (the round plaza replaced by today’s Mehringplatz), Belle-Alliance-Brücke (replaced by Hallesche Brücke) and Hallesches Tor area just north of the bridge where the historic city gate once was, with the elevated U-Bahn station between them. Photo by Walter Mittelholzer via ETH Library Zurich, Image Archive / LBS_MH02-15-0013

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