Berlin Sights

Checkpoint Charlie

Undoubtedly the most well-known crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War was Checkpoint Charlie, built in 1961 after the construction of the Berlin Wall. It joined the Soviet and US-American sectors at Friedrichstraße, and has become one of the city’s most popular sights following German reunification.

Gendarmenmarkt

Gendermenmarkt, located in the city’s city centre, is popularly regarded as “Berlin’s most beautiful square”, and is the site of the opulent Konzerthaus, and the almost identical French and German cathedrals. Created by Johann Arnold Nering in the late seventeenth century, the square originally served as a market in Berlin’s historical Friedrichstadt district, and now hosts one of the city’s most popular Christmas markets.

Alexanderplatz

A huge public square and transport hub in the middle of the city, Alexanderplatz took its name from Tsar Alexander I, who visited Berlin in 1805. Known colloquially as “Alex”, it lies in the former “Königsstadt” district, and is placed next to the world-famous Fernsehturm, the tallest structure in Germany.

“Alex” is also the site of Berlin’s Weltzeituhr (World Time Clock), built in 1969 to show the times of every time zone in the world, and the popular and heavily-graffitied “Fountain of Friendship between Peoples”.

The Berlin Wall

For more than 28 years during the division of Germany, the notorious Berlin Wall served as a border fortification system to prevent escape attempts from the East to the West. The wall was a potent symbol of the Cold War conflict between the West, dominated by the USA, and the Soviet Union led Eastern Bloc. The wall divided the city from 13.08.1961 to 09.11.1989, and turned West Berlin into a political enclave surrounded by the DDR. Border soldiers in the East were ordered to shoot anyone who attempted an “unlawful crossing” of the wall to the West, and the exact number of people killed is unknown. Though now largely removed, a double row of cobble stones runs throw much of the city center, and serves as a chilling reminder of where the wall once stood.

Holocaust Memorial

The Holocaust Memorial, designed by Peter Eisenmans, is a memorial to the millions of Jews murdered by the Nazi regime. Built on an approximately 19.000 m² site close to the Brandenburg Gate between 2003 and 2005, the memorial consists of more than 2700 grey concrete slabs and is a stirring and unmissable feature of Berlin’s inner city landscape.

Reichstag

The Reichstag building has been the seat of the German Parliament since 1999. It was designed by architect P Wallot, and built between 1884 and 1894 in the neo-renaissance style. It housed the emperor-led German empire until 1918, and then the Weimer Republic up until Hitler’s seizure of power. After the infamous fire of 1933, and heavy damage sustained during the Second World War, the building was rebuilt during the 60s in a more “modern” style, and crowned by a glass dome designed by British architect Norman Foster in 1999, from which visitors can enjoy panoramic views of the city.

Potsdamer Platz

Potsdamer Platz is a thriving transport hub and public square in Berlin’s Mitte district. Until being laid waste by air attacks during the Second World War, the square was one of Europe’s heaviest traffic intersections, having been the site of the continent’s first traffic light system in the 1920s, and a number of crisscrossing bus and tram lines. After German reunification in 1990, Potsdamer Platz became a major redevelopment site, boasts a number of jaw-dropping skyscrapers and is once again one of Berlin’s cultural centers.

Spittelmarkt

Spittelmarkt is a historic public square in the Mitte district of Berlin, and takes its name from the late 13th-century Getraudenhospital. Following heavy air attacks during the Second World War, this once heavily-populated and densely built-up area lost its original form completely. The Spindler fountain, completed in 1891, serves as a reminder of the former prominence of Spittelmarkt as an important traffic intersection and market square in Germany’s capital.

Jewish Musem

The Jewish Musem displays the highs and lows of relations between Jews and Gentiles during two thousand years of German-Jewish history. Consisting of permanent and temporary exhibitions, the museum also houses a comprehensive archive and extensive research facilities. Just as famous as the stimulating content of the museum is its architecture. The museum is split between the 18th century baroque Kollegienhaus, and a striking zigzag shaped building redolent of a broken Star of David by world famous American architect Daniel Liebeskind.

Berlinische Galerie

Situated close to the Jewish Museum, the Berlinische Galerie is a museum of modern art, photography and architecture. Founded in 1975 with the intention of only displaying art from Berlin, the Galerie was originally based in an office in Charlottenburg, and was moved to its present location in an old glass warehouse in Kreuzberg in 2004. It displays work by celebrated Berlin artists such as Max Liebermann, George Grosz and Hannah Höch.

Victory Column

The Victory Column is one of Berlin’s most popular attractions. Built between 1864 and 1873 to commemorate various Prussian military successes, the monument is crowned by a bronze sculpture of Victoria, affectionately known as “Goldelse” to Berliners. Surviving the Second World War relatively unscathed, the French wanted to demolish the column, but were vetoed by their British and American allies. Located on the Große Stern (Great Star) square in the heart of Tiergarten, the column served as the location for Barack Obama’s speech during his visit to Germany in July 2008.

Memorial Church

The evangelical Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is located at the end of Kurfürstendamm, one of Berlin’s most celebrated shopping boulevards, in the western district of Charlottenburg. The old church is characterized by its damaged spire, sustained during an air attack on Berlin on the night of 23.11.1943 which destroyed most of the building. The ground floor of the ruined church now serves as a memorial hall, which neighbors a new church and belfry built between 1959 and 1963.

Pariser Platz

Situated immediately behind the Brandenburg Gate at the end of the magnificent Unter den Linden, Pariser Platz is unquestionably one of Berlin’s most well-known squares. The approximately 1½ hectare square lay on the border between East and West Berlin until 1989, and was part of the “dead zone” after the building of the Berlin Wall. Since the fall of the wall and German reunification, the square has once again become accessible to pedestrians, and is one of the city’s focal points.

Brandenburg Gate

Undoubtedly one of Germany’s most recognizable landmarks, the Brandenburg Gate at Pariser Platz was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia and built by Carl Gotthard Langhans between 1788 and 1791. Inspired by the Propylaea, the gate to the Acropolis in the Athens, the neo-classical Brandenburg Gate marked the border between East and West Berlin during the Cold War, and became a triumphant symbol of Germany’s reunification following the fall of the Berlin wall.

Veranstaltungen in Berlin

Messe & Kongress in Berlin