What else is there to see and do?:
Berlin
has immense proportions: 45 km from east to west, 38 km from north to
south. The 12 districts each have preserved their own character and
invite you to further exploring: short walks through the Kiez,
like the Berliner calls his quarter, nature trips – in the centre of the
city or outside the metropolis in the widespread environment. There are
lots of possibilities!
Walking through the Regierungsviertel
The
Office of the Federal Chancellor, the day care centre of the Bundestag,
the Paul-Löbe-Haus with offices of the representatives of the people and
meeting halls, the Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus with the parliamentary
library, the Bundespressekonferenz: the buildings of the federal
government stand along the Spree like a ‘Band of the Union’, north of
the Reichstag.
The buildings are at their best when you look at them from the water.
The Ulferweg, decorated in the summer of 2004, about 1.1 km long
between the Paul-Löbe-Haus and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, leads
past the Kanzleramt. The new Spreebogenpark in between becomes
the meeting place for the soccer fans during the WorldCup in 2006.
Diagonally across from it, the new central station arises with its huge
glass roof construction. Behind the Haus der Kulturen der Welt is the
mooring place for ships and if you want to go to the cultural centre you
can take bus 100 again.
Show
off at the Ku’damm and in the City West
It
almost seems like the Kurfürstendam got out of fashion since the
historical city centre of Berlin has regained its former glory and the
new quarters are spreading Berlin’s urge for renewal. Still, the City
Center around the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche has a lot to offer.
The whole world comes together at the Breitscheidplatz between the
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche and the Europa-Center: tourists and
inhabitants of Berlin, homeless people and punks, street artists and
pickpockets. Terraces invite you to a refreshing break next to the world
globe fountain of Joachim Schmettau.
East
of the Gedächtniskirche, the Tauentzienstraße begins (in short
the Tauentzien) with the famous KaDeWe at the Wittenbergplatz.
The celebrated warehouse of the City West is the largest in the European
continent and offers a gigantic choice in mostly luxurious products on
six floors. Especially the fifth floor, a paradise for lovers of food,
because you can taste several delicacies before you buy them, and the
large cafeteria under the glass roof on the sixth floor are very
popular.
The Kurfürstendamm was, just like Unter den Linden, originally an
equestrian path to a green zone in the west. Now it is a vivacious
boulevard, the shopping street of the West-City.
At
the Joachimsthaler Straße the Swiss-Hotel with its huge round facade and
the tall ‘Neues Kranzler Eck’ stare each other straight in the eyes.
From the traditional Cafe Kanzler only the round extension from the 50’s
has remained.
At
the Ku’damm, as the Kurfürstendamm is mostly called, you can get carried
along by the shopping crowd and stroll through the side streets. In the
Fasanenstraße, there is the Literaturhaus, which shares several
rooms with the stylish restaurant in the winter garden of an elegant
villa from the 19th century.
North
of the Ku’damm the Fasanenstraße leads past the hotel Bristol Kempinski
and the Jewish town hall. The street ends at the Kantstraße at the
Dephi-Filmpalast, the Theater des Westens with its neoclassic
façade, and the apartment building Kantdreieck with the opinionated roof
canvas, which was designed by Josef Paul Kleihues. A bit further north
you’ll reach the Ludwig-Erhard-Haus, where, among other things,
the stock exchange is accommodated. Because of its expanded shapes it is
sometimes also called ‘armadillo’.
Back
to the Ku’damm: hidden within the row of houses between the Uhlandstraße
and the Knesebeckstraße, you’ll find the little (tourist) cafes of the
‘Sperlingsgasse’ (entrance: Lietzenburger Straße) and the
interactive exhibition ‘The Story of Berlin’.
A bit further, up until the Rathenau-Platz, the Kurfürstendamm consists
of a very normal mixture of homes and stores. Between the
Bleibtraustraße and the Olivaer Platz the Ku’damm becomes a luxurious
shopping street with top designers and chique jewelry stores. At the
Lehniner Platz the house of the Schaubühne gets a lot of
attention. The facade is a faithful reconstruction of the cinema that
was constructed in the 20’s by Erich Mendelsohn. The interior stage
design is extremely modern.
Culture and traces of the jewish life: Spandauer Vorstadt
The Hackescher Markt and the Hackesche Höfe are almost
synonyms for the dazzling big city life that largely attracts Berliner
as well as tourists, in the evening and at night almost more than during
the day. Around a labyrinth of eight courtyards, in the beginning of the
20th century a typical mixture of living, working and culture
arose. Nowadays, after extensive restorations you’ll find variety shows,
theatre, cinemas, galleries, restaurants, cafes, chique boutiques and
even houses. Especially the first courtyard with the colourful tiling is
worth visiting. Outside the Höfe as well, especially in the
Oranienburger Straße, bars, clubs, boutiques, restaurants, galleries,
theatre halls and other meeting places succeed one another.
The Sophiensäle in the Sophienstraße used to be ballrooms and
meeting rooms for the Berlin craft guild. Now it is the pre-eminently
place for promising Off-Theatre- and Performance-projects. The
Auguststraße is the gallery street of the current jetset. The exhibition
house for modern art Kunst-Werke Berlin, that, among other
things, co-operates with the MoMA in New York, is always worth visiting
as well.
Nowadays a lively, hip neighbourhood, in the past this was the centre of
the Jewish life. A walk through Spandauer Vorstadt can teach you
a lot of things about an important chapter of Berlin’s history.
At
the Große Hamburger Straße the leftovers of the first Jewish cemetery
are laid out. In the past, there was a Jewish home for aged people at
the front, that the nazi’s used as a concentration camp for
deportations. A memorial and a commemorative stone remind us of that. In
the former Jewish school for boys, students from all religious
communities are now being educated. The shiny golden cupola of the
Neue Synagoge in the Orienburger Straße can be seen from far away.
After it was spared during the Kristallnacht in 1938 by the action of a
brave police officer, it was destroyed by bombs in 1943. In 1991 the
rebuilding of the front building and the cupola was completed.
In an adjacent, integrated new building, the Jewish culture centre
Centrum Judaicum provides insight in the history of the Berlin Jews.
Among other things, you can perceive traces of new Jewish life at the
intersection of the Tucholskystraße and the Auguststraße with the
Beth-Cafe and at ‘Kolbo, kosher foods’.
Alternative-creative: Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
After
the reformation of the quarter, Kreuzberg, the multicultural and
alternative quarter of the old West-Berlin, was rather sceptical about
the new partner on the other side of the Spree, but Friedrichshain
rapidly grew into a new trendy quarter. For example, when you look at
the numerous cafes at the ‘Boxi’, the Boxhagener Platz. Where, in
the beginning of the 90’s, the East-Berlin ‘Hauserkampf’ was still
raging, you’ll now find numerous hip restaurants, cool clubs and modern
bars, especially at the Simon-Dach-Straße.
The Volkspark Friedrichshain is a family friendly park with a
fairytale fountain at the northwest entrance (Am
Friedrichshain/Friedenstraße). The central axis of the quarter however,
is the Karl-Marx-Allee, which goes from the Frankfurter Tor at
the Warschauer Straße to the Alexanderplatz. The almost 1500 meters up
until the Strausberger Platz, form the longest monument of Germany and
remind us of the socialistic construction anger. Between 1952 and 1958
up until nine floors arose at the former Stalinallee, in a flashy style
with resplendent pillars and small facade decorations of tiles from
Meissen.
The
southeast part of Kreuzberg, called SO 36, named after the former
postal district, mostly became famous as a centre of squatters and
counterculturists. Meanwhile you’ll also find distinguished restaurants
and cafes here, because after the reunification, Kreuzberg turned out to
be located right in the middle of Berlin, geographically speaking. Worth
seeing in ‘SO 36’ is the Görlitzer Park with the
Pamukkalefontain and the artist house Bethanien at the
Mariannenplatz, which contains area’s for exhibitions and performances.
In
the Viktoriapark, the Kreuzberg with its 66 meters is the highest
natural loftiness in Berlin. It is being crowned with Schinkel’s 20 m
high national monument in remembrance of the liberation wars
(1813-1815). Very special is the artificial waterfall, but
remember it is switched off at night and during the winter.
Through the Viktoriapark you can walk to the Riehmers Hofgarten.
The spacious and light living complex between the Yorck- and the
Hagelberger Straße served as a positive counterpart of the gloomy living
barracks from the Gründerzeit (around 1880). Around the crowded
Marheinekeplatz with the over 100 years old market hall, alternative
boutiques and excentric shops have found their place. In the
Passionskirche (former church), rock and jazz concerts are being
organized. In the Bergmannstraße, up until the Mehringdamm, you’ll find
lots of reputable bars and restaurants.
North
of the Landwehr canal and the Hochbahn, close to the former border
region, another culture mile connects museums and monuments, which all
have something to do with the German history. Among them are the
Jüdisches Museum Berlin, the Berlinische Galerie, the museum
Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, the memorial area Topographie des
Terrors and the Martin-Gropius-Bau.
Life art:
Prenzlauer Berg
The
former working class quarter Prenzlauer Berg was the hip quarter of
East-Berlin, even before the ‘Wende’, and still counts as eastern
counterpart of Kreuzberg. The quarter that was united into one quarter
with Pankow, where the former DDR government had its seat, is above all
a meeting place for young people, artists and tourists, with lively
cafes around the Kollwitzplatz and numerous music clubs all
around.
The rental barracks from the Gründerzeit (with beautiful facades and
dark backyards) have been redeveloped, like for example in the
Husemanstraße. However, some buildings still bear the scars of the
previous century. The symbol of this quarter is the water tower,
which has been cast aside in the meantime.
The culture and commerce centre KulturBrauerei is a completely
reorganized brewery, where beer was being brewed until 1967. The
building with its red and yellow bricks and its striking towers is an
impressive example of the industrial architecture from the 19th
century. On the large terrain between the Schönhauser Allee and the
Knaackstraße, between the Sredzki and the Daniziger Straße you’ll find
cinemas, theatres, coffeehouses, restaurants and terraces, but also
publishers, stores and offices.
In the Pfefferberg, another former brewery in the Schönhauser
Allee, people strive after an equal concept. Mostly design and media
companies have settled there.
Between the two culture centres, there is the Jewish cemetery in
the Schönhauser Straße. That street itself is an oasis of peace as well.
The
Green Berlin: Treptow-Köpenick
Treptow-Köpenick, the largest city quarter in Berlin, is located at the
southeast city skirt. With its numerous waters and woods you can really
enjoy the scenery there. The Müggelsee is the largest lake in
Berlin where you can go for a swim or do aquatics. The Müggelberge reach
a height of 115 m, and the equally high artificial Teufelsberg consists
of war debris. The skyscraper the Treptowers counts 31 floors and
is therefore the largest office building in Berlin. The Treptower
Park was opened in 1887 as a park for the people and in 1896 it was
rebuilt into a terrain for the large Berlin industrial exhibition.
Friedrich Simon Archenhold had a 21 m long telescope built there as an
attraction. The binoculars are the largest in the world and are property
of the Archenhold observatory and it still functions. In the
centre of the park, an enormous monument arises for the Soviet soldiers
who got killed in 1945 during the battle for Berlin.
The
promenade at the bank of the Spree invites you to take a walk, after
which you can take a break on the terrace of the famous
restaurant Haus Zenner. With a canoe you can navigate all the way to
Köpenick.
In the past, Berlin’s laundry was done in Köpenick. A small
privately managed Wäscherei-Museum (Louisenstraße 23,
✆
651 64 24) brings back memories from the time of the laundry companies.
The small alleys and the low houses from the centre of Köpenick are
being dominated by the city hall (1901-1904), which became famous for
the stage play ‘Der Hauptmann von Köpenick’ by Carl Zuckmayer.
At a stone’s throw distance from the city hall, the Schloss Köpenick
is located, which was built up in baroque style on the castle island
from 1677 until 1689. Later it served as an army base, a school, and a
museum. In the summer of 2004, the Kunstgewerbemuseum opened its
doors, a museum for interior decoration art with pieces from the
renaissance, the baroque and the rococo.
Berlin tourist attractions: Wannsee and Grunewald
When it gets too hot in the city, Berliners massively drive off to the
Wannsee. The Havel and the Wannsee have a lot to offer for fans of water
sports. The Großer Wannsee is especially popular amongst sailors;
at the Kleiner Wannsee you can rent a rowing boat or have a literary
hunt: in the woods near the Bismarckstraße 3, a stone marks the place
where poet Heinrich von Kleist committed suicide, together with
Henriette Vogel in November 1811.
In the street Am Großen Wannsee, paying a visit to the Villa
Liebermann is very tempting. During the summer, painter Max
Liebermann spent many months here, and perpetuated the beautiful park on
numerous canvasses. A few houses down the road the monument Haus der
Wannseekonferenz reminds us of the SS meeting, where the
‘destruction of the Jews’ was decided in 1942.
Strollers also like to go the Grunewald or the largely laid out
park Klein-Glienicke along both sides of the broad Königstraße. A
little more south, the Jagdschloss Klein-Glienicke is located
(nowadays a sociological education centre) and from there a small bridge
leads to Babelsberg, which belongs to Potsdam, and to Schloss
Babelsberg and the villa quarter. Further north, the park extends to the
Russian inspired blockhouse Nikolskoe, which already received
daytrip people in the beginning of the 19th century. Here you
can enjoy the beautiful view of the Havel. The church with the
Russian-orthodox looking, onion-shaped tower cupola is the Kirche
St.-Peter und Paul.
Now it is not much further to the ferry that will take you to the
Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island). Friedrich Wilhelm II had a castle
built there in romantic style. The very attractive scenery garden is a
protected scenic area at the same time (S-Bahn-station Wannsee and bus
116; to the Pfaueninsel bus 218). Along the Havel you can walk to the
Schloss Glienicke, which looks a lot like an Italian estate. The
castle as well as the park, including the Pfaueninsel, belong to the
‘Potsdam-Berliner Parklandschaft’, which shines on the UNESCO list of
the world culture estate since 1990.
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