WHICH WAY TO HAACKSCHE MARKT?

Today in Berlin: 1 July, 1840

On this day in 1840 a quiet plaza outside the city wall behind the gate known as Spandauer Tor was named “Haackesche Markt”. Or rather, its name was accepted by the King: the naming would be made official through an edict issued on July 23.

The spelling, as you might have already guessed, would evolve over the years to Hackescher Markt. But what - or who - was Haacke?

Like most noble men of his time Hans Christoph Friedrich Count von Hacke was in Prussian military. Appointed Berlin Governor by King Friedrich II, he was given a straightforward task: get rid of the city fortifications built on the old swamps around today’s S-Bahnhof “Hackescher Markt” after the 30-Year-Wars (Festung Berlin), tear down the city gate on the road to Spandau and make it nice and habitable. The city had to grow.