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| top down: City Trips: Berlin Germany | The main two old and new Berlin landmarks are Potsdam Square - Potsdamer Platz and Brandenburg Gate - Brandenburger Tor, you enjoy a good view of the city from the new Reichstag - Parliament - glass dome, following Spree river you visit the the remains of Prussia and the German empire can be seen along the Unter den Linden avenue, you tread on Berlin's oldest part in the Nikolai quarter and along Kloster street. In the city center, surrounded by sights and modern architecture, you relax under the trees, at the lakeside and in the beergarden of Tiergarten - animal garden, a large park named after Berlin's zoological garden nearby. You can walk the described routes in addition to a round trip sightseeing tour taking one of the regular busses from Bahnhof Zoo - Zoo station, from Alexanderplatz - Alexander square, or from Kranzlereck - the corner of Cafe Kranzler - on the Kurfuerstendamm avenue (Bus 100, 200). Each walk will take you approximately half a day not counting any museum visits, you will be faster if you go by bike, by bus, by underground or S-train. Further outside you get an impression of the Prussian electors' lifestyles in Charlottenburg Palace built for Electress Sophie Charlotte in 1700 (U7 to station Richard-Wagner-Platz, U2 to station Sophie-Charlotte-Platz). Going to Charlottenburg is worthwile for more than Prussian nobility. In the Museum of Pre- and Early History you see exhibits from Heinrich Schliemann's Troja excavations, the Broehan Museum shows Art Nouveau and Art Deco interior design, the Berggruen Collection owns a large number of Picasso's and some paintings by Cezanne, van Gogh, Braque and Giacometti. >> online city map >>printed travel guides & maps Landmarks: Potsdam Square and Brandenburg GateBerlin's center was shaped by the representative buildings of Prussia, of the Weimar Republic, of National Socialism, of the GDR and the Federal Republic. Since 1989 it has been reunited Germany's turn to make use of the gaps caused by the war and by the wall, to decide on demolition, reconstruction, renaming and conservation, forgetfulness and memento, conjuring the past and looking into the future. In 1900 Berlin's arterial roads ran across Potsdam Square - Potsdamer Platz (S1, S2, S25, S26, U2, Bus 200). Here in 1924 traffic was regulated by Germany's first traffic lights. Emperor Wilhelm spent his gentlemen's evenings in the Hotel Esplanade. Next to the Hotel the infamous National Socialist 'People's Court' administered injustice. With the exception of the former wine merchants' Haus Huth and the Emperor's Hall in the Hotel Esplanade there is hardly anything left of 1920's Potsdamer Platz buildings. >> photo Haus Huth The National Socialists planned a new capital, so they cleared the area between Potsdamer Platz and Tiergarten. Under the site, they built the "Fuehrerbunker". Potsdamer Platz was demolished by bombs, after the war the broad strip of the Berlin Wall ran across the square. In West-Berlin Hans Scharoun planned the Kulturforum - Culture Forum on the western area between Potsdamer Platz, Tiergarten and Landwehrkanal. In the 1960's the Philharmonie and the State Library - Staatsbibliothek were built according to Hans Scharoun's design. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was the architect of the new national gallery - Neue Nationalgalerie. In the 1970's the State Institute for Musical Research - Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung, the Instruments' Museum by Hans Scharoun and the Museum of Arts and Crafts by Rolf Gutbrod opened their doors. The Chamber Music Hall adjoining the Philharmonie dates back to the 1980's. After the fall of the Berlin Wall the Paintings and Sculpture Gallery by Rolf Gutbrod with the forum by Hans Hollein, the Kupferstichkabinett - Etching Gallery and the Kunstbibliothek - Art Library - were built. Investors and famous architects queued up for the wasteland left by the wall in Berlin's sought-after central area near Tiergarten, Brandenburger Tor and Reichstag. At the mouth of Alte Potsdamer Strasse next to Kulturforum you find the Quartier DaimlerChrysler and the Hyatt Hotel designed by Rafael Moneo, with cinemas, gambling casino, a musical theater and the debis House designed by Renzo Piano, an office block designed by Arata Isozaki and a shopping mall by Renzo Piano. >> photo Potsdamer Platz shopping mall The former wine merchants's Haus Huth dates back to 1912, you find the DaimlerChrysler Art Collection there. You get a good view of the area from the Panorama Point of the DaimlerChrysler highrise designed by Hans Kollhoff. Around the DaimlerChrysler Center you see sculptures by famous artists: "Riding Bikes" and "Balloon Flower" by Robert Rauschenberg, "Meta Maxi" by Jean Tinguely, "Galileo" by Marc di Suevo, "Light Blue" by Francois Morellets, "Nam Sat" by Nam June Park, "Boxer" by Keith Haring. The most spectacular architectural sight on Potsdamer Platz is the Sony Center designed by Helmut Jahn, much photographed with its open roof sail construction connecting the towers. >> photo Sony Center roof The historic Emperor's Hall is integrated into the newly built Hotel Esplanade - moved on airbags 246 feet from its original site. In the Sony Center you find restaurants, cafes, a Sony shop, a cinema, the Filmhaus Berlin and the Film Museum owning - amongst other things - Marlene Dietrich's estate. German Railways Headquarters work in the 26-storey glass tower of the Sony Center. The park colonnades designed by Giorgio Grassi cover the entrance of the underground and S-train station Potsdamer Platz. From Potsdamer Platz you walk along Ebertstrasse and Tiergarten Park to the Brandenburg Gate - Brandenburger Tor (station Unter den Linden, S1, S2, S25, S26, Bus 100, 200). >> photo Brandenburg Gate Frederick the Great died in 1786. 1788 to 1791, when the Brandenburg Gate was built to finish the representative avenue Unter den Linden, Prussia had stopped being a European power and king Friedrich Wilhelm II was mainly interested in women. The Brandenburg Gate was modeled on the Acropolis in Athens. On top of the gate a goddess of peace drove a carriage drawn by four hourses. Napoleon sent the Brandenburg Gate's peace goddess, the carriage and the horses to Paris when he occupied Berlin, Bluecher returned them in 1814. The peace goddess was changed to a goddess of victory: now she held a wand, an iron cross, an oak leaf wreath and the Prussian eagle. After 1945 the Soviet flag flew from the Brandenburg Gate, the carriage drawn by four horses was destroyed. The Brandenburg Gate became the symbol of the city's separation: The Wall divided Berlin along the gate's western entrance. In united west-eastern effort, from a mould stored in West-Berlin, the GDR reconstructed the goddess and the carriage - without the wand. Today's wand with the iron cross, the oak leaf wreath and the Prussian eagle, held by the goddess of victory dates back to the restoration that took place after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Pariser Platz - Paris Square in front of the Brandenburger Tor is a pedestrian area today, as exhaust fumes proved too destructive for the gate. Embassies could be found here before the Second World War, the Hotel Adlon and the house of the painter Max Liebermann. The square's new buildings follow the past: The French Embassy has moved in, the new Hotel Adlon, the US Embassy and around the corner the British Embassy resides in Wilhelmstrasse. The historic exhibition hall of the Academy of Fine Arts - Akademie der Kuenste is part of a new building. The Brandenburger Tor Foundation of the Berlin Bank has its seat in the new Haus Liebermann and other banks have moved to the square. The interior design of the DG-Bank by Frank O. Gehry is worth seeing. Next to the Brandenburger Tor, between Ebert-, Wilhelm- and Behrenstrasse you find the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe by Peter Eisenmann. In Tiergarten Park at the back of the Brandenburg Gate on the Strasse des 17. Juni you pass a bronze Red Army soldier and two Soviet tanks: The Soviet Cenotaph was built in 1945-46 using the marble from the remains of Hitler's seat of government - the Neue Reichskanzlei - in Voss-Strasse. Behind the cenotaph are the graves of 2000 Soviet soldiers. From the Brandenburger Tor you either follow Ebertstrasse to go to the Reichstag - the German parliament - and to the new government buildings, or you follow the Unter den Linden avenue to have a look at the representative buildings of Prussian Berlin. Reichstag Parliament and New Governement BuildingsYou find the Reichstag and the new government buildings north of Tiergarten park on the Spree river. There is a bus stop in front of the buildings (100, 200) or you walk along Ebertstrasse from the S-train station Unter den Linden (S1, S2, S25, S26). Across the Spree river you find the new central train station at Lehrter Strasse. The Reichstag was built from 1884 to 1894 in Neo Renaissance style to be the seat of the German parliament for hardly 40 years: After the arson attack in 1933 the building stood empty. >> photo Reichstag building In 1970 the historic building was reconstructed: The Bonn Federal Parliament held regular sessions in the Reichstag, accompanied by protests of the GDR and the Soviet Union. In 1991 the newly elected parliament of reunited Germany decided that Berlin and the Reichstag would be the seat of government. The architect Sir Norman Foster was commissioned for the necessary alterations and the new glass dome. Before construction works started a touch of playfulness entered into the historic event: Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the Reichstag. You can climb into Sir Norman Foster's glass dome and take photographs from the viewing platform. Downstairs there is an exhibition on the history of the Reichstag building, there is a garden restaurant on top. Across the Spree river you find the new government buildings the office of the chancellor, the members of parliament and the administrative buildings. >> photo new government buildings At the back of the chancellor's office the congress hall Haus der Kulturen der Welt presents international concerts and exhibitions - the building was the United States' contribution for the International Architecture Exhibition in 1957. Bus No 100 stops at the Haus der Kulturen. You can continue one stop to the president's seat in Schloss Bellevue, the palace park is open to the public. From Schloss Bellevue you continue your sightseeing tour by Bus No 100, or you take the S-train (station Bellevue, S3, S5, S7, S75 S9). Prussia and the Empire: Unter den LindenPrussian electors used the Unter den Linden trail when riding from their town palace to hunt in the woods. In mid-18th century Frederick the Great - Friedrich der Grosse - turned the road into a representative avenue. You start at Pariser Platz in front of the Brandenburg Gate - Brandenburger Tor (station Unter den Linden, S1, S2, S25, S26, Bus 100, 200). King Friedrich Wilhelm II, the merry successor of Frederick the Great, commissioned the Brandenburg Gate to finish Unter den Linden. >> photo Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate was modeled on the Acropolis in Athens. On top of the gate a goddess of peace drove a carriage drawn by four hourses. Napoleon sent the Brandenburg Gate's peace goddess, the carriage and the horses to Paris when he occupied Berlin, in 1814 Bluecher brought them back. The peace goddess was changed to a goddess of victory, now she held a wand with an iron cross, an oak leaf wreath and the Prussian eagle. After 1945 the Soviet flag flew from the Brandenburg Gate, the carriage drawn by four horses was destroyed. The Brandenburg Gate became the symbol of the city's separation: The Wall divided Berlin along the gate's western entrance. In united west-eastern effort, the GDR reconstructed the goddess and the carriage from a mould stored in West-Berlin - without the wand. Today's wand with the iron cross and the Prussian eagle, held by the goddess of victory dates back to the restoration after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Pariser Platz - Paris square in front of the Brandenburger Tor today is a pedestrian area, as exhaust fumes proved too destructive for the gate. Before the Second World War embassies could be found here, the Hotel Adlon and the house of the painter Max Liebermann. The square's new buildings follow the past: The French Embassy moved in, the new Hotel Adlon, the US Embassy and around the corner the British Embassy resides in Wilhelmstrasse. The historic exhibition hall of the Academy of Fine Arts - Akademie der Kuenste is part of a new building. The Brandenburger Tor Foundation of the Berlin Bank has its seat in the new Haus Liebermann and other banks have moved to the square. The interior design of the DG-Bank by Frank O. Gehry is worth seeing. Next to the Brandenburger Tor, between Ebert-, Wilhelm- and Behrenstrasse you find the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe by Peter Eisenmann. In Tiergarten Park at the back of the Brandenburg Gate on the Strasse des 17. Juni you pass a bronze Red Army soldier and two Soviet tanks: The Soviet Cenotaph was built in 1945-46, using the marble from the remains of Hitler's seat of government - the Neue Reichskanzlei - in Voss-Strasse. Behind the cenotaph are the graves of 2000 Soviet soldiers. At Pariser Platz you pass the new Hotel Adlon walking along Unter den Linden. The Russian Embassy next door dates back to the Palace of Princess Amalia, Frederick the Great's sister. In 1832 the first Russian diplomat moved into the building. Up to Friedrichstrasse you walk along new government and television offices. Before the war there were shops here, cafes, restaurants and hotels. In the Deutsche Bank building across Friedrichstrasse the Deutsche Guggenheim exhibits modern art. On the left hand side you see the Neo Baroque Staatsbibliothek - State Library built from 1903 to 1914. The building of the Humboldt University dates back to the times of Frederick the Great: The palace for the king's brother Prince Heinrich was designed by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorf and built from 1748 to 1766. The founder of the university was Wilhelm von Humboldt. The equestrian statue in the middle of the avenue was raised in 1851. Today the Alte Palais - Old Palace - on the right hand side, built from 1834 to 1837 for crown prince Wilhelm, is part of the Humboldt University. Wilhelm I lived here up to his death in 1888 - as crown prince, Prussian King and German Emperor. The Alte Bibliothek - Old Library - next to the Alte Palais was built from 1775 to 1780, nicknamed 'Kommode' for its Baroque big-bellied facade. Today the building is part of the Humboldt University. In the middle of Bebel square you look into a glass cellar: The empty book shelves of the "sunken library" are a memorial to the public burning of books National Socialists performed here. Around Bebel Square Frederick the Great and his architect Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff planned the Forum Fridericianum as Berlin's cultural center. The St. Hedwig Cathedral on the south-east corner dates back to 1747. Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff modeled the church on the Roman Pantheon. Berlin's catholic bishop has his seat here. The Classicist Staatsoper - State Opera House next door was built by Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff from 1741 onwards. The Opera House was the first German theater built outside a palace, at the same time it was the largest theater in Europe. The Opera Cafe dates back to the father of Frederick the Great: The Baroque palace was built from 1733 to 1737. The Kronprinzenpalais - palace of the crown prince - was built from 1663 to 1664: Federic the Great lived here when he was crown prince, crown prince Friedrich Wilhelm III and his wife Luise moved in, so did the future Emperor Friedrich III and his wife Victoria, daughter of Queen Victoria: Wilhelm II was born here. The Classicist Neue Wache - new guard - on the left hand side of Unter den Linden next to the Humboldt University was built from 1816 to 1818, architect was Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Since 1931 the Neue Wache has been a monument with changing names: Cenotaph for the Fallen Soldiers of the First World War, Memorial for the Victims of Fascism and Militarism, Memorial for the Victims of War and Tyranny. Prussian Ministers of Finance had their seat in the Palace Zum Festungsgraben, built in 1753 at the back of Neue Wache. The Classicist Maxim Gorki Theater dates back to 1827: In 1829 Felix Mendelssohn-Barholdy performed in the concert hall. Next to Neue Wache you find the largest Baroque building of Berlin: The Zeughaus arsenal built from 1695 to 1730. The arms depot changed to an arms and war museum in 1870. In 2005 the new Museum of German History - Deutsche Historische Museum - opened here, changing collections are shown in the modern annex designed by I.M. Pei. You cross the Spree river on the Schlossbruecke - Palace Bridge built from 1822 to 1824 by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The Greek gods on the bridge were sculptured from 1845 to 1857 according to Schinkel's design. You walk on the area of the former Berlin town palace destroyed by the war. On the left hand side at Lustgarten you find the Berlin Cathedral built from 1894 to 1905 and the Alte Museum - Old Museum - on Museums' Island - designed by Schinkel and built from 1824 to 1830. The Museums' Island ist part of the UNESCO World Heritage. >> photo Museums' Island At Schlossplatz the Palast der Republik - Palace of the Republic, the former seat of the GDR parliament has been torn down. The building is to be replaced by a reconstruction of Berlin's Town Palace - Stadtschloss. >> photo Palace of the Republic and Berlin Cathedral The Neue Marstall - New Royal Stables - next to the Palace of the Republic was built from 1896 to 1901, the integrated Alte Marstall - Old Royal Stables - dates back to 1670, it is Berlin's only preserved Early Baroque building. The Ribbeck House next door is Berlin's only preserved Renaissance residential house, it was put up in 1624. On your way from the Palace of the Republic - Palast der Republic - to Alexanderplatz you pass the statues of Marx and Engels (S3, S5, S7, S75, S9, U2, U5, U8, Bus 100, 200). >> photo Marx and Engels monument On a sightseeing tour with one of the regular busses (100, 200) from Bahnhof Zoo, from Alexanderplatz or from Kranzlereck on the Kurfuerstendamm avenue, the bus takes you along Unter den Linden. You enter the bus on both ends: at the Brandenburger Tor (station Unter den Linden, S1, S2, S25, S26) and at Lustgarten or Alexanderplatz (S- an U-train station, S3, S5, S7, S75, S9, U2, U5, U8). Have you got time left at Alexanderplatz, visit the Nikolai quarter nearby. Old Berlin: Nikolai Quarter and KlosterstrasseThe Nikolai quarter (S- and U-train station Alexanderplatz S3, S5, S7, S75, S9, U8) is built on Berlin's oldest part, the Gothic Nikolai church dates back to a Romanesque basilika. The GDR restorated and renovated the quarter for the 750 centennial celebrated in both parts of the separated city. At Nikolaikirchplatz No 10 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing wrote his play "Minna von Barnhelm". The restaurant "Zum Nussbaum" on the corner to Probststrasse is a reconstructed historical Berlin pub. In its 19th century interior the reconstructed residential house of the Knoblauch family on the corner to Poststrasse exhibits the history of its Jewish residents. The house originally was built from 1759 to 1761. Lessing, Mendelssohn, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Scharnhorst and Freiherr von Stein were among the guests. Eduard Knoblauch, architect of the New Synagogue in Oranienburger Strasse, was a family member. >> photo House of the Knobloch family
Across from Nikolai church in Poststrasse you find a replica of the court room that was part of the medieval council house. The original court room has been moved to the Babelsberg palace park near Potsdam. The Ephraim house on the corner to Muehlendamm Bridge dated back to 1763-1764. The Berliner Stadt-Museum - Museum of the City of Berlin - shows exhibitions on cultural and city history here. In summer you sit on the terrace of the Ephraim house cafe overlooking the Spree river. >> photo Stadtmuseum Walk across Muehlendamm and Molkenmarkt, you reach U-train station Klosterstrasse. The church of the Franciscan cloister dates back to the 13th century - only remnants are left. >> photo Parochial church On the corner of Klosterstrasse to Parochialstrasse you find the Palais Podewil built in the beginning of the 18th century. Today the Palais Podewil is a cultural center. The Baroque Parochial church built from 1695 to 1714 is remarkable. At the back of the church along Waisenstrasse there are remnants of Berlin's town wall of the 13th and 14th century. The pub "Die letzte Instanz - The Last Instance" at Waisenstrasse 16 owes its name to the court nearby. It is said to be Berlin's oldest preserved pub. From Waisenstrasse you return via Grunerstrasse to Alexanderplatz(S3, S5, S7, S75, S9, U2, U5, U8, Bus 100, 200). Green Lungs and Modern Architecture in Berlin's Very Center: TiergartenOn your tour through the city center you relax in the park: Between Kurfuerstendamm (S- and U-train station Zoologischer Garten, S3, S5, S7, S75, S9, U2, U9, Bus 100, 200), Potsdamer Platz (S- and U-train station Potsdamer Platz, S1, S2, S25, S26, U2, Bus 200), Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag (S-train station Unter den Linden, S1, S2, S25, S26, Bus 100, 200), Hansa-Viertel district (U-train station Hansaplatz, U9, S-train station Tiergarten S3, S5, S7, S75, S9, Bus 100) and Schloss Bellevue (S-train station S3, S5, S7, S75, S9, Bus 100) you walk through the Tiergarten, a park with 15.5 mile hiking trails, a lake, a boat rental, a beer garden, and a - remarkable - zoo. Hitler's architect Speer did not have time to complete much of his monumental design, he did broaden the road from the Brandenburger Tor through Tiergarten to a wide east-western aisle and he moved King Wilhelm's 1873 Siegessaeule - Victory Column and the monuments for Bismarck, General Moltke and War Minister Roon from the Reichstag to the center of Tiergarten (Grosser Stern, Bus 100). You can climb the Siegessaeule and take photographs from its 157 feet viewing platform. You find the Zoo via Kurfuerstendamm and Breitscheidplatz or via Bahnhof Zoo - Zoo station (S- and U-train station Zoologischer Garten, S3, S5, S7, S75, S9, U2, U9, Bus 100, 200). Founded in 1844 Berlin's zoo has been Germany's first zoological garden, today the zoo boasts the largest number of species worldwide. At the back of the zoo on the south bank of the Landwehrkanal below Lichtensteinbruecke a memorial commemorates the murder of Rosa Luxemburg, thrown into the Landwehrkanal by soldiers of a volunteer corps. Several hundred feet further down to the north Karl Liebknecht was shot at the Neue See - New Lake. Cross the Landwehrkanal from the zoo via Lichtenstein Bridge and follow Lichtenstein Alley. Turn right into Grosse Weg, cross Hofjaeger Alley and follow Tiergartenstrasse. Here in the Diplomatenviertel - diplomat's quarter you see modern architecture at close range. For the new Indian Embassy red sandstone was sent from Rajastan to Berlin, the Austrian Embassy was designed by Hans Hollein, the Mexican Embassy impresses with folded concrete, the Nordic Embassies on the corner of Stuelerstrasse, Hofjaeger Alley and Klingelhoefer Strasse were designed by Berger and Parrkinen (Bus 100, 200). At Klingelhoeferstrasse 14 on the Herkulesufer - Herkules bank - of the Landwehrkanal the Bauhaus Archive of Walter Gropius opened in 1979. You see modern Architecture from the 1950's when you walk across Tiergarten from Herkulesufer, along Klingelhoefer Strasse and Hofjaeger Alley via the Grosse Stern (Bus 100) to north-west Altonaer Strasse entering the Hansa-Viertel district (U-train station Hansaplatz, U9). The Hansa quarter was destroyed by bombs in the Second World War, so in 1957 for the International Architecture Exhibition there was space to fill. (S-train station Tiergarten, S3, S5, S7, S75, S9, Hansaplatz, U9). Among many other famous architects Alvar Aalto built an apartment block in Klopstockstrasse 30-32 near U-train station Hansaplatz (U9), Walter Gropius designed an apartment block in Haendelallee 3-9, Oscar Niemeyer was the architect of the building on Altonaer Strasse 4-14 and Max Taut constructed the house on Hanseatenweg 1-3.
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