Morning: from the historical centre to the Potsdamer Platz
The wind can blow heavily on the Alexanderplatz, the ‘Alex’ for Berliner. This large square has become famous for the novel ‘Berlin Alexanderplatz’ from Alfred Döblin (1929).
The ‘world clock time’ and the colourful enamelled ‘fountain of the friendship between the nations’ are two masterpieces from the time of the DDR, located between a shopping gallery, cafe terraces, a warehouse and the restored station Alexanderplatz with the beautiful station hall from 1926.

In the environment the futuristic Berlin is supposed to be presented. Hans Kallhoff’s design provides skyscrapers up to 150 m high. In between there will be lots of space left to parade and relax. In the near future however, temporary solutions will have to suffice.

The 365 m high Fernsehturm (tv tower) is over twice as high as the skyscrapers. 200 m Above the city there is an attractive rotating restaurant with a fantastic view over the metropolis. Between the somewhat lonely looking Marienkirche, one of the oldest houses of God in Berlin (13th century, altered many times), and the striking Rotes Rathaus, the seat of the governing mayor, the Neptune fountain makes sure that all eyes are focused on the large square. The Rathaus-Passagen isolate the square from the crowded Gruner Straße.

West of the Spandauer Straße is the beginning of the Nikolaiviertel, the quarter that, together with the sister city Cölln on the other shore of the Spree, formed the ‘cradle of Berlin’ in the 13th century. During the Second World War this quarter was destroyed almost entirely, but on the occasions of the 750th birthday of the city, it was rebuilt in 1987 as showpiece of the DDR. Especially tourists love the peculiar mixture of system construction and historical looking facades, of reconstruction and original, transportable decor pieces. It is a piece of romance, like the Drosselgasse in Rüdesheim, a bit of old Berlin, or what is left of it, with souvenir shops, fountains and monuments, little cafes, restaurants and coffee houses. In this quarter you also find the Heinrich-Zille-Museum, with the works of the Berlin ‘Milljöh’ painter. Next to the Nikolaikirche ‘Zum Nußbaum’ was reconstructed, Zille’s favourite bar. The majestic Knoblauch-Haus from 1759 is the only building that remained in its original state. A permanent exhibition of the Stadtmuseum gives an idea of the middleclass living culture from the biedermeier (1815-1850). In the magnificent Ephraim-Palais with its curled and gilded forged works, you can admire recent exhibitions of the Stadtmuseum.

Along the Spree stands a striking grey building, the Marstall, in which a long time ago, 300 horses and carriages found their place. Now it is the city library and the ‘Hans Eisler’ school of music is settled there as well. The Marx-Engels-Forum with an over life-sized bronze statue of the communistic thinkers has stood the test the time, but the days of the decayed Palast der Republik have been counted. Already in 2002 the Bundestag decided that it had to make place for the rebuilding of the Hohenzollern-Schloss, which was broken down in 1950 by the DDR government. The facade remains, but behind it the ‘Humboldt-Forum’ would have to rise with museums and libraries. The complex has been temporarily used for three years for all sorts of cultural projects, but in the beginning of 2006 people would start breaking it down.

A portal of the city castle (from the balcony Karl Liebknecht announced the ‘Free Socialistic Republik’ in 1918) is integrated in the former building of the State Council at the Werderstraße. The Federal Chancellor found his dwelling place here until he moved to the new Kanzleramt in 2001, his official residence in the Spreebocht.
In 2006 the new European elite School for Management and Technology (ESMT) would welcome its new students here. Right next to it at the Werdersche Markt is the Auswärtiges Amt (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). The modern building – the atrium with cafeteria is pretty accessible – is connected to the former Reichsbank (1937-1940). From 1959 to 1989 the central committee of the SED was settled here, in 1990 the treaty of unification was sanctioned in this building.

Diagonally across from it stands the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche from Karl-Friedrich Schinkel (1824-1830). Sculptures of the Nationalgalerie collection are being exhibited here (free entrance). Right next to it, Schinkel’s Bauakademie is supposed to rise again.

Once, Schinkel made his mark at the park, the ‘Lustgarten’, now the access gateway to the Museuminsel (‘museum island’) is being used as a relaxation/picnic meadow and in the summer you’ll find a crowded but cosy atmosphere there. Schinkel’s first Berliner Dom was broken down by emperor Wilhelm II who replaced it with a monumental building with a mighty cupola (1894-1905). At the end of the park the classical facade of the Altes Museum arises. At the Museuminsel, after this first museum of Berlin, other museums followed (1830, after Schinkel’s plans): the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Neues Museum, the Bodemuseum and the Pergamonmuseum. You will need one or two extra days if you plan to visit the museums. People have started the restoration of the Neues Museum, until recently this was merely a ruin from the time of the war. In 2009 the Ägyptisches Museum (Egyptian Museum) is supposed to take its original place here. Since the summer of 2005 Nefertiti and her Egyptian companions make a stop at the Altes Museum. Since 1999 the Museuminsel has been admitted to the UNESCO-list of the world estate. It is a total concept and it is being reorganized and rebuilt after the designs of the English architect David Chipperfield.

Top architect I.M. Pei signed for the new museum building with its glass facade and the striking spiral tower. The new exhibition area of the Deutsches Historisches Museum is connected underground with the Zeughaus, where the permanent exhibition in 2006 will start again.
In front of the main entrance of the Zeughaus, at the Schlossbrücke to be precise, the street Unter den Linden begins. 350 Years ago, elector Friedrich Wilhelm had the first lime trees planted here, along the equestrian path of the castle to the hunting grounds Tiergarten. Friedrich II of Prussia had the avenue expanded to a beautiful 60 m wide boulevard.
The Zeughaus is the oldest building in the street. People started building the arsenal in 1695. Right across from it dwells the media concern Bertelsmann, with the proud address ‘Unter den Linden 1’. Next to it, the crown prince and crown princess’ palaces glitter.
With a pieta from Käthe Kollwitz, Schinkel’s Neue Wache became the ‘Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany’.

With the Forum Fridericianum around the current Bebelplatz, Friedrich II wanted to unite royalty, art and science in one place. The Staatsoper, the St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale, the Alte Bibliothek and the Humboldt-Universität belong to this whole. Placed in between is a proud statue of Friedrich II on a horse. Under a glass shelter at the centre of the Bebelplatz you see empty bookshelves. The monument remembers the book incineration on May 10, 1933.

A small walk takes you to the Gendarmenmarkt, the most beautiful square in Berlin. At the centre is the theatre with a very impressive stairway, designed by Schinkel, which has been given the new name ‘Konzerthaus’ because of its new function. The Französischer Dom at the north side of the square has a dizzily high viewing platform. In the German Dome at the south side you’ll find an exhibition about the parliamentary democracy in Germany.

The Friedrichstraße lets you taste the old and new atmosphere of the centre of Berlin: luxury stores, coffee houses and restaurants, hotels, office buildings and apartments. Underground shopping galleries connect the ‘quarters’ 205 and 206 with the French warehouse Galeries Lafayette.
Along the former embassy of the Soviet Union, now Russia, you reach the end of our first stage, the Brandenburger Tor at the Pariser Platz. The famous Hotel Adlon has risen in its historical size, but this time with all modern comfort. The traffic-free square is surrounded by Haus Liebermann, the French embassy and soon the American embassy as well (the building started in 2005) and the Akademie der Künste (Art Academy) with its glass facade. A passage leads through the Art Academy to the Behrenstraße and the monument for the Holocaust.

At the Brandenburger Tor itself the cleverly restored coach-and-four from Gottfried Schadow is displayed in all its glory. Here most pictures and shots of Berlin are being taken. Almost every statesman enters Berlin through the city gate, which was raised in 1788-1791 after examples from the classicism, and almost every event in Berlin takes place with the coach-and-four at the background.
When you walk west, you’ll see a double row of paving bricks on the Platz des 18. März that remembers the former course of the Berlin Wall.
Straight ahead you’ll reach the Soviet monument in the Straße des 17. Juni and on the right side, through the park, you’ll end up at the respectable Reichstag (Reichstag building), now officially called ‘Deutscher Bundestag Plenarbereich Reichstagsgebäude’. The glass cupola is the new symbol of Berlin and can be visited.
On the left, more to the south, you’ll pass the Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (monument for the European Jews that were killed) and several embassies close to the Potsdamer Platz.

Afternoon
The Potsdamer Platz, the ‘new centre’ of Berlin, is very popular amongst the inhabitants as well as the visitors. It consists of several architectural units around the station Potsdamer Platz. If you come from the north, you’ll first reach the Beisheim Center, which was finished in 2004, with the luxurious hotels Marriott and Ritz-Carlton.
While people in the east are still very much occupied with the building of new apartment and office buildings at the historical octagon of the Leipziger Platz, Helmut Jahn’s Sony Center has been a popular meeting place for quite some time now. Under the spectacular tent roof construction you’ll find numerous coffeehouses, restaurants and cinemas next to the ‘Kaisersaal’ of the former Grand Hotel Esplanade, which was cleverly blended into the modern environment. Among other things, the Sony Center houses the Filmmuseum Berlin with treasures from Marlene Dietrich’s inheritance.
On the other side of the Potsdamer Straße you can take the fastest elevator in Berlin at Hans Kollhoff’s Klinker-Hochhaus and at a height of 90 m you can enjoy the magnificent views that reach further than the Potsdamer Platz under your feet.

The Daimler-Chrysler-Areal, which was opened in 1998, is the oldest part of the new quarter. The Marlene-Dietrich-Platz has gained its own look because of the buildings of architect Renzo Piano. Points of attraction around this square are the many cinemas, coffeehouses and cafes, the Musical Theater Berlin, the casino and the shopping centre Potsdamer Platz Arkaden. Close to the Potsdamer Platz, apart from the many museums, you’ll also find the Kulturforum with the Staatsbibliothek, the Philharmonie and the Kammermusiksaal. From the Potsdamer Platz you can take bus 200 to the Bahnhof Zoo or you can take the fast connection U2 (up to the Wittenbergplatz) to the City West.

 Alternative: a bus tour through the Tiergarten
If you have reserved an extra day for shopping and culture at the Potsdamer Platz, you can continue the sightseeing tour at the Reichstag with bus 100. The ‘Hunderter’ goes through the Tiergarten, the largest city park that was once designed as an English scenery garden, but during the winter of 1945-1946 the people in Berlin used the trees to make fires in order to stay alive.

The Straße des 17. Juni crosses the Tiergarten over its entire length, from the Brandenburger Tor to the tram station Tiergarten. Numerous roads go through the park, strewn with meadows, flowerbeds, tiny lakes, monuments and quiet places. South of the Tiergarten and in the side streets numerous embassies have settled. At the same time, many agencies are an architectural frontpiece of the respective countries: have a look at the Indian embassy, for example (Tiergartenstraße), the United Arab Emirates embassy (Hiroshimastraße), or the embassy of the Scandinavian countries and Mexico (Klingelhöferstraße).
The bus goes past the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, which offers a remarkable forum of non-European cultures, the Schloss Bellevue, the official residence of the Federal President, the Bundespräsidialamt, the cabinet of the Federal President, and the Großer Stern with Victoria, the goddess of victory, on the Siegessäule. You’ll reach the centre of the City West at the Budapester Straße stop, just after the Elephant gate, the entrance of the Zoologischer Garten, the zoo.

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