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Several
new
districts
were
founded
around
the
city's
perimeter,
just
outside
the
old
fortifications.
The
largest
of
these
was
Friedrichstadt,
just
south
west
of
the
historic
core
of
Berlin,
begun
in
1688
and
named
after
new
Elector
Frederick
William
III,
who
later
became
King
Frederick
I
of
Prussia.
Its
street
layout
followed
the
Baroque-style
grid
pattern
much
favoured
at
the
time,
and
was
based
on
two
main
axes:
Friedrichstraße
running
north-south,
and
Leipziger
Straße
running
east-west.
All
the
new
suburbs
were
absorbed
into
Berlin
around
1709–10.
In
1721-3
a
south-westwards
expansion
of
Friedrichstadt
was
planned
under
the
orders
of
King
Frederick
William
I,
and
this
was
completed
in
1732-4
by
architect
Philipp
Gerlach
(1679–1748).
In
this
expansion,
a
new
north-south
axis
emerged:
Wilhelmstrasse.
In
1735-7,
after
Friedrichstadt's
expansion
was
complete,
a
customs
or
excise
wall,
17
km
long
and
4.2
m
high,
was
erected
around
Berlin's
new
perimeter.
Consisting
of
a
wooden
palisade
at
first,
it
was
later
replaced
with
a
brick
and
stone
wall,
pierced
by
14
gates
(later
increased
to
18),
where
roads
entered
the
city.
Here
taxes
were
levied
on
goods
passing
through,
chiefly
meat
and
flour.
The
most
prestigious
gate
was
the
Brandenburg
Gate,
for
the
important
road
from
Brandenburg,
but
1
km
to
the
south
was
the
entry
point
of
another
road
that
gained
even
greater
significance.
This
road
had
started
out
in
the
Middle
Ages
as
a
lane
running
out
from
Berlin
to
the
hamlet
of
Schöneberg,
but
it
had
developed
into
part
of
a
trading
route
running
right
across
Europe
from
Paris
to
St.
Petersburg
via
Aachen,
Berlin
and
Königsberg.
In
1660
the
Elector
Frederick
William
made
it
his
route
of
choice
to
Potsdam,
the
location
of
his
palace,
which
had
recently
been
renovated.
Starting
in
1754
a
daily
stagecoach
ran
between
Berlin
and
Potsdam,
although
the
road
was
in
poor
shape.
But
in
1740
Frederick
II
had
become
King.
Not
a
great
lover
of
Berlin,
he
later
built
a
new
palace,
the
Sanssouci,
at
Potsdam
in
1744-7,
followed
by
the
New
Palace
in
1763-9,
so
the
road
now
had
to
be
made
fit
for
a
King,
plus
all
his
courtiers
and
staff.
After
numerous
other
improvements,
in
1791-3
this
section
was
made
into
Prussia's
first
all-weather
road.
It
later
became
Potsdamer
Straße;
its
point
of
entry
into
Berlin,
where
it
passed
through
the
customs
wall,
became
the
Potsdamer
Tor
(Potsdam
Gate);
once
inside
the
gate
Leipziger
Straße
was
its
eastwards
continuation,
and
Wilhelmstraße
was
the
first
north-south
thoroughfare
that
intersected
with
it.
It
was
around
this
gate
that
Potsdamer
Platz
was
to
develop.