Named after Friedrichstraße, which honours Elector Friedrich III, later King Friedrich I.
The street was at first simply the Querstraße (cross street). Friedrich III, Elector of Brandenburg from 1688 and King Friedrich I from 1701 to 1713, ordered it renamed: ‘What is this, Querstraße? It must be a decent name – mine.’ While Berlin was divided, the station was a border crossing; Berliners called its departure hall the Tränenpalast (‘palace of tears’), where West visitors said goodbye to relatives from the GDR.