It was named, on 7 October 1947, after the German graphic artist and sculptor Käthe Kollwitz, who spent a large part of her life here in the house at Weissenburger Straße No.

Indirectly, this name is also a reminder of her husband Karl Kollwitz, who worked here as a physician until 1940 and thus shaped the area around the square independently of his wife.

During the Second World War, the residential area was largely spared damage, except for three corner plots of the square and the southern Kollwitzstraße.

In preparation for Berlin's 750th-anniversary celebrations in 1987, some adjacent streets were reconstructed in a historically accurate manner as part of a redevelopment plan.

On 3 October 1990, at midnight on Kollwitzplatz, critics of unity proclaimed the Autonomous Republic of Utopia, known as Micronation, for this one night only.

[2] In memory of Käthe Kollwitz, who lived here from 1891 to 1943, a sculpture by the artist was erected opposite the site of her residence in 1950 at the suggestion of the sculptor Gustav Seitz.

On the occasion of Käthe Kollwitz' 120th birthday, the newly erected sculpture on the building of the former Prenzlauer Berg district office at Fröbelstraße 17 was rededicated.

In 1997, the Prenzlauer Berg Cultural Office initiated the Denkzeichen competition to commemorate the artist on the site of the former Kollwitzhaus.

In the planning area there are two day-care centres at the school on Kollwitzplatz, one close to the water tower, and Belforter Straße 11.

A spatial solution for the markets was later found in a temporary closure of the section of Wörther Straße located at Kollwitzplatz.