Motzstraße

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title: "Motzstraße" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["streets-in-berlin", "gay-villages-in-germany"] description: "Street in Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Berlin" topic_path: "geography/germany" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motzstraße" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Street in Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Berlin ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox street"]

Field	Value
name	Motzstraße
alternate_name	Motzstrasse
image	Motzstraße.JPG
image_alt	Motzstrasse, near Nollendorfplatz, in 2007
caption	Motzstrasse, near Nollendorfplatz, in 2007
former_names
namesake
type	Street
length	1500 m
location	Berlin, Germany
quarter	Schöneberg, Wilmersdorf
metro
coordinates
direction_a	Northeast
terminus_a
direction_b	Southeast
terminus_b	{{ubl
junction
inauguration_date	1870
website
::

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Motzstraße, or Motzstrasse (see ß), is a street in the Berlin borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It runs from Nollendorfplatz via Viktoria-Luise-Platz in Schöneberg to Prager Platz in Wilmersdorf.

The section of Motzstraße between Nollendorfplatz and Martin-Luther-Straße is the centre of one of Berlin's gay areas. Berlin's Lesbian and Gay City Festival Motzstraßenfest is held there every July, on the weekend before the Gay Pride celebrations (CSD) in Berlin.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Hartnackschule_01.jpg" caption="Motzstrasse, just south of Nollendorfplatz, in 2009"] ::

Named after , a Prussian Finance Minister, the first, northerly section was laid out around 1870. That section, to the north of Nollendorfplatz has been renamed twice, in 1934 to Mackensenstraße, at which time the street numbering was changed and again in 1996 to Else Lasker-Schüler Straße. Motzstraße 6 was the location of the American Church from 1903 until 1944, when it was destroyed in an Allied air raid, along with many other buildings in the area. "motzbuch" was located at Motzstraße 32 from 1981 and attracted many authors for readings, including Reinhard Jirgl. The business closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual street festival was cancelled in 2020 and 2021.

Surroundings

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Motzstrassenfest2006.jpg" caption="[[Lesbian and Gay City Festival]] (2006) on Motzstrasse"] ::

The area around Motzstraße has been recognised as a gay-friendly neighbourhood since the 1900s. Related establishments include Piscator's Theatre (later Metropol Theatre) and then Metropol cinema), Metropol discothek, Goya club (now known as Metropol), and the Eldorado (1926–1932).

British-American author Christopher Isherwood lived around the corner from Motzstraße on Nollendorfstraße, where he was inspired by the area's diversity to write several of his best-selling novels.

The section of Motzstraße around Viktoria-Luise-Platz, restored after wartime damage, is an upscale neighbourhood filled with Wilhelmine architecture. Many notable personalities and famous figures have made their homes in the area, such as Rudolf Steiner and Else Lasker-Schüler.

References

References

1. "Motzstraße". {{ill.
2. (3 March 2013). "Motzstrasse Berlin - der Hut des Herrn Motz in Hamburg".
3. "Deutsche Rechtschreibung: Regeln und Wörterverzeichnis".
4. (July 30, 2010). "Geschichte der Motzstraße, Emil und die Literaten".
5. "In the "Eldorado" Transvestite Bar on Motzstrasse, Berlin (1926)".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::