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What to See in Berlin and Potsdam (Part 2)
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Berlin City Guide (Part 2)
Welcome to Part 2 of our guide on what to see in the German capital, grouped by city areas.
Also see: Berlin at a Glance
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MITTE | Between Tiergarten Park and Alexanderplatz
- Unter den Linden | The Berlin avenue known as “under the linden trees” stretches between the Brandenburg Gate to the west and Museum Island and the Spree River to the east. Along the way, besides shops, hotels and cafés, you can see (going west): the Schlossbrücke (Palace Bridge), the Deutsches Historisches Museum (allow time for this excellent history museum), the Neue Wache (memorial to victims of facism), Humboldt University, the Bebelplatz square (site of 1933 Nazi book-burning memorial), the famous Hotel Adlon, and the new American Embassy near the Brandenburg Gate. The area around the intersection of Unter den Linden and Friedrichstraße is becoming Berlin’s new center. (See Friedrichstraße sights.)
- Holocaust Memorial | Opened to the public in May 2005, Berlin’s Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas is a collection of 2,711 stelae that covers an entire city block along Behrenstraße, behind the U.S. Embassy just south of the Brandenburg Gate. Don’t miss the easy-to-overlook underground information center and exhibit.
PHOTOS > Holocaust Memorial (5 views of the Memorial)
WEB > Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (official site, English or German; PDF flyers in many languages) - Gendarmenmarkt | Over the centuries, Berlin has had a lot of French influence, and here you can see some tangible evidence. The Gendarmenmarkt square is only a few blocks south of Unter den Linden. At the square’s northern end (bordered by Französische Straße, French Street) stands the Französischer Dom (French Dome church, not a cathedral, despite the German word Dom), still in use today. In the same building is the Hugenottenmuseum (Huguenot Museum) which documents the arrival of the French Huguenot refugees in Berlin in the 17th century and their impact on the city. On the opposite side of the square is the Deutscher Dom (German Dome church). Between the two stands the Konzerthaus concert hall.
WEB > Französischer Dom (Berlin.de)
(Continued from Part 1)
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This famous bust of Nefertiti (“Nofretete” in German) can now be seen as part of the Egyptian collection in the Neues Museum. PHOTO © Hyde Flippo |
- Museuminsel | Museum Island lies at the eastern end of Unter den Linden (see below) and is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. On this aptly named island in the Spree, you will find five of Berlin’s top museums, including the Pergamon with its Greek altar and magnificent Ishtar Gate. The entire museum complex has been undergoing major renovation for many years and is scheduled to be completed in 2015. All five museums will then be interconnected: the Bode, the Pergamon, the Neues Museum (where Nefertiti has her new home!), the Alte Nationalgalerie, and the Altes Museum. But you don’t have to wait for 2015! See the links below for details.
WEB > Museum Island - SMB (about all the museums)
WEB > Master Plan Museuminsel (English) - Alexanderplatz | The “Alex,” as Berliners call this square, is the former center of East Berlin. For a while after the Wall came down, the future of this historical urban area was uncertain. But two decades after the Wende (reunification), Alexanderplatz is thriving. New, modern shopping malls (Alexa), cinemas, restaurants, and other businesses have sprung up all around the TV tower (see below) and the train station. Alexanderplatz is also a major transit hub for the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, bus, and tram.
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This 368 m concrete tower on Alexanderplatz has become one of Berlin's best-known landmarks. PHOTO © Hyde Flippo > Larger view |
- Fernsehturm
If nothing else, you can use the giant Alexanderplatz TV tower as a reliable guide to find your way around eastern Berlin. Built as an icon of socialism in 1969, the 1,200 ft (368 m) tall concrete structure features an observation deck and a revolving restaurant, each offering great views of the city. Another East Berlin landmark can be found not far from the TV tower on the other side of the S-Bahn station. The large revolving World Time Clock (Weltzeituhr) will tell you the current time in various cities around the globe. - Rotes Rathaus | Each of Berlin’s 12 districts has its own city hall (Bezirksamt/Rathaus), but the main city hall is only a few steps away from the TV tower. Completed in 1869, the “Red City Hall” is named for the red bricks of its walls. Badly damaged during the war, das Rote Rathaus was rebuilt and served as the East Berlin city hall, while the Schöneberg city hall (where JFK gave his “ich bin ein Berliner” speech) housed the West Berlin government offices. Today Berlin’s proudly gay mayor, Klaus Wowereit, has his office in the Rotes Rathaus.
The next sightseeing zone is the area around Berlin’s upscale shopping avenue, the Kurfürstendamm. But there is much more to this area than shopping.
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KURFÜRSTENDAMM AREA | Berlin’s Shopping Avenue
- Kurfürstendamm | Often referred to by its short name, the Ku’damm was West Berlin’s main shopping area when the Wall divided the city. Today the two-mile long tree-lined avenue is still a key shopping zone and an enjoyable place to stroll by shops, cafés, cinemas, and Berlin’s famous KaDeWe department store (on Tauentzienstraße).
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The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church — old and new. PHOTO © Hyde Flippo |
- Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church | You can’t miss the jagged church spire of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche. (The Berliners’ nickname for it is the “hollow tooth.”) Completed in 1895, the church was badly damaged by Allied bombs in 1943. The stone shell of the structure was left standing as a reminder of the horrors of war. You’ll find it on Breitscheidplatz at the downtown end of the Ku’damm. Inside you can visit a small museum that documents the church and the destruction. A new modern church with matching tower (1960-63, designed by Egon Eiermann) stands next to the ruin. Step inside and enjoy the solitude of the beautiful dark blue stained-glass interior.
- Zoologischer Garten | Berlin has one of the world’s finest zoos. (And there’s a second, lesser known zoo, the Tierpark Berlin, in eastern Berlin.) Founded in 1841, Germany’s oldest zoo was devastated by World War II and had to begin almost from scratch in 1945. Today visitors can see over 11,000 animals of all kinds. The biggest star, until his premature death, was Knut the polar bear, the first to be born in the zoo in over 30 years (born Dec. 5, 2006; died March 19, 2011). The zoo is only a short walk from the Bahnhof Zoo (Zoo Station).
WEB > Zoologischer Garten (Zoo Berlin, English)
WEB > Zoo Berlin - At a glance (hours, admission prices) - Next > The Potsdamer Platz area in Part 3
- Travel guides | There’s much more to see and do! See our Bookstore for travel guides for Berlin and Potsdam.
Berlin City Guide continued on the next page...
NEXT > Berlin Sights - Part 3
BACK > Berlin Sights - Part 1
MORE > Berlin Photo Gallery
Related Pages
- Berlin at a Glance
- Berlin Links - Berlin on the web
- Berlin Airlift - 1948-1949
- Casinos in Austria, Germany, Switzerland
Berlin has two! - Potsdam and Babelsberg
- Berlin Photo Gallery
- City Guides - Germany
- Driving Tips for Germany
- Air Travel - Getting to and from Berlin
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