Lines re-open:
Mon 6th Feb, 9:00am (UK)

Berlin - Sights & Activities

1. Brandenburg Gate

Perhaps Berlin’s best known landmark, the Brandenburg Gate was designed by Karl Gotthard Langhans at the behest of Friedrich Wilhelm II. Its neoclassical style echoing the ancient entrance to the Acropolis (on which it is modelled), it was built in 1791 as an Arch of Peace to mark the city’s western boundary. The Quadriga, a sculpture depicting the goddess Viktoria riding her chariot, was added by Jonathan Gottfried Schadow in 1794. In 1806, following the Prussian defeat at Jena, it was moved to Paris by Napoleon, but brought back in triumph less than a decade later. Its original purpose grew even more ironic in 1933, when the Nazis processed by torchlight the arch to mark the beginning of the 1000-year Reich. During the years of the Cold War the gate was also incorporated into the Berlin wall. Today its original function has been restored and it symbolises the reconciliation of East and West. As such, it is the perfect backdrop for commemorative events, celebrations and pop concerts.

2. Jewish Museum

Designed by American architect Daniel Libeskind, the Jewish Museum houses two millennia of German Jewish history and is principally notable for its controversial zigzag design, which is supposed to convey the impression of an irreparably shattered Star of David. Access is underground via the very courthouse that sentenced thousands of Berlin Jews to exile and death. Inside the museum, visitors will find a comprehensive collection of fascinating artefacts documenting the lives of ordinary Jewish people living in Germany between 1848 and 1919. In the basement, two lopsided corridors - with an invisible incline - create a pair of axes dedicated to themes of exile and Holocaust. One leads to a concrete garden with 36 pillars, and the other to the Tower of the Holocaust, the most moving exhibit. In a high-vaulted shaft, a ladder hangs just out of reach (it goes nowhere). Pipe-holes stud the concrete interior and the room is illuminated by a single slit of light.

3. Potsdamer Platz

Potsdamer Platz was Berlin’s main intersection before World War II and the place where Europe's first traffic light was installed in 1924. After the war it became a dismal, unfashionable spot, adjacent to the eastern side of the Wall. Having had millions of Euros pumped into its regeneration, it is now a shopping and business centre by day and a culture and entertainment venue after dark. It bristles with strikingly modern, glass-fronted skyscrapers, including the Sony Centre, Daimler-Benz's HQ and the Filmmuseum Berlin. The work of such esteemed architects as Richard Rogers, Helmut Jahn and Renzo Piano is on display here.

4. Tiergarten

The Tiergarten (literally “animal garden”) was once a hunting ground from Prussian aristocracy, stocked with wild boar and deer. It was landscaped by Peter Joseph Lenné in the 1830s and still bears his imprint, in spite of being almost totally destroyed in World War II. Today it is Berlin’s largest and most famous public park, offering a wide range of activities, including boating, strolling, jogging, summer concerts and ornamental gardens. Its most celebrated feature is the Sigessäule, or victory column, which was erected in 1873 to commemorate Prussian victories against Denmark, Austria and France. In 1938 Hitler moved it from its place in front of the Reichstag to the centre of Tiergarten where it stands today. The 67 metre column is decorated with captured cannon “Gold Else”, the victory goddess on the summit, beloved by Berliners, is waving her laurel wreath wryly towards Paris.

There are also a number of imposing statues in the park. The three heroes of the Wars of Unification – Count Otto Von Bismark and Generals Helmute von Moltke and Albrecht von Roon – are commemorated to the north of the Sigessäule, while memorials to two prominent revolutionaries – Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg – stand beside the Landwehrkanal near Lichtensteinalle. Also look for the antique gas lamps from various European cities along the route from the station to Landwehrkanal.

5. Reichstag

Built in 1894, the Reichstag has always been a prominent building in German politics, albeit one with a troubled history. In 1918 the German Republic was announced from its balcony and the building continued to be the seat of the Weimar Republic from 1919 – 1933. But in 1933, as the centre of Hitler's dictatorship government, it was set on fire in mysterious circumstances then further damaged by Allied bombing of Berlin during World War II.

It was left in this run-down state until the 1960s, when it was opened as a conference centre. However, after the demolition of the Berlin wall it became the site of the German reunification ceremonies at midnight on October 2, 1990. Norman Foster won a commission in 1992 to transform the building into the new home for the unified German Parliament.

The stated aim of his design was to make the processes of government more transparent. His dome is a gleaming metal and glass structure with a ramp that spirals up a to a roof terrace with 360-degree views of central Berlin.

The dome overlooks the debating chamber for the Bundestag and a central mirrored cone draws light into the plenary chamber. The design also preserves remnants of the building's colourful past, including graffiti left by the Red Army in 1945. You can take a tour of the Reichstag and go up to the viewing gallery inside the glass dome, but get there early to avoid the two-hour queues (tours run 09.00–22.00 and the building closes at midnight).

6. Alexanderplatz

Originally a cattle market, Alexanderplatz was named in honour of a visit to Berlin by the Russian Tsar, Alexander I, who reviewed troops there in 1805. The square was colonised by Berlin’s burgeoning working class in the middle of the 19th century, but its heyday came in the 1920s, when, together with Potsdamer Platz, it was at the heart of Berlin's nightlife. Most of the buildings around it were destroyed in World War II then reconstructed in dispiritingly drab Communist style during the 1960s. The most famous building dating from this period – indeed East Berlin’s most striking landmark – is the Fernsehturm television tower, which rises like a spear from the centre of the square. At 362 metres, its height exceeds that of Paris’s Eiffel Tower. It is topped by a stainless steel sphere, which is divided into seven stories.

One of them is home to the Telecafé, which offers stunning views of the city on clear days. The café rotates on its own axis, and takes 30 minutes to go round. Other notable buildings around the square include City Hall – formerly known as Rotes Rathaus (Red Town Hall) because of its colour – and the Marienkirche, Berlin’s second-oldest church. The nave of the latter is 15th-century and the lantern tower a flight of fancy added by Karl Gotthard Langhans in 1790. As for the square itself, following German reunification it has undergone a gradual process of change, with many of the surrounding buildings being renovated. Despite the construction of a tram line and the addition of some greenery it has retained its somewhat grim socialist character, including the much-graffitied Fountain of Friendship between Peoples (Brunnen der Völkerfreundschaft). In 1993 Hans Kollhoff won the architectural competition to redesign the square but his plans to grace it with 13 skyscrapers have yet to be realised, due to a lack of demand.

7. Kurfürstendamm

The tree-lined boulevard Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s most celebrated shopping street, stretches for 3 kilometres towards Charlottenburg. It was originally laid out as a boulevard with bridle path in the late-19th century, and opulent developments rose along it. In the 1920s, it became the meeting point of Berlin's intellectuals, with countless theatres, cafés and nightclubs springing up. Badly damaged in World War II, it was cleared and redeveloped in the 1950s, with tower blocks and terraced buildings. Many its stores were the beneficiaries of the Wirtschaftswunder – the economic miracle of the 1960s – which was brought about to a large part by American investment. It is still the Berlin's showpiece boulevard, and new buildings are appearing along it once again.

Despite rising rates on the Ku’damm (as it is called for short), the café tradition in Berlin lives on. The first coffee shop – Café Kranzler – opened in 1835 on the corner of Friedrichstrasse and was soon frequented by Prussian aristocracy. From the 1950s on it occupied a building on the same spot called the Kranzlereck. In 2001 it was extended upwards and transformed into a ritzy shopping centre full of boutiques, perfumeries and delicatessens. The café itself has been relocated to a rotunda with a red-and-white striped marquee roof on the top floor of the building. None the less it’s still a great place to stop off and rest your legs while sightseeing. A huge pyramid – similar to the controversial construction, which has changed the face of the Louvre – has been built in the courtyard.

The elegant streets off the Kurfürstendamm are also worth seeing. They were part of the New West End, which was developed as a residential area at the end of the 19th century. Many of the houses here are now art galleries. There is also the Literaturhaus, a cultural centre with a secluded garden café, the Wintergarten.

8. Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was erected by the GDR leadership on 13 August 1961, in order to stem the tide of citizens escaping to the West (though of course they pretended that it served the opposite function by naming it the “Anti-Fascist Protection Barrier.”) This division of Berlin tore families, relationships and friendships apart. Since the Wall began to be dismantled on the night of 9th November 1989, however, even long-time Berlin citizens find it difficult to trace its course. The most lasting symbol of its existence is Checkpoint Charlie. It was at this former border crossing that Soviet and US tanks faced off following the construction of the Wall in August 1961. The original prefabricated sentry box has been replaced with a replica, complete with sandbags and two idealised portraits of US and Soviet servicemen, by artist Frank Thiel. A multilingual sign warns, “You are leaving the American sector.”

Meanwhile, the exhibition in the Haus am Checkpoint Charlie offers a colourful, if somewhat sensationalist presentation of the Wall experience. On display are adapted vehicles, trick suitcases and a hot-air balloon used for escapes to the West. However there are also other exhibits, which better fulfil the museum’s stated purpose, which is to explore the Wall’s human rights implications. The former no-man’s land around the checkpoint has been redeveloped in an attempt to merge the eastern and western parts of the city. New landmarks include the Business Centre by Philip Johnson, the Triangle by Josef Kleihues and the tower block commissioned by GSW (Partnership for Housing Development). Across the road is a lone remnant of 19th century Berlin, a pharmacy-turned-café known as At the White Eagle.

9. Kulturforum

Designed in the 1960s, Kulturforum complex may feature architecture that is unlovely even by the standards of the times, but it features two great jewels: the Gemäldegalerie and the Neue Nationalgalerie. The former reunites formerly separated collections from East and West Berlin and has an extensive selection of European paintings from the 13th to the 18th century. Dürer, Hans Holbein and other German masters are well represented, as are the great Dutch artists Van Eyck and Bruegel. Dutch baroque painting is also prominent, with several outstanding works by Rembrandt, among others. The Italian collection reads like a roll-call of great Renaissance artists: Fra Angelico, Piero della Frances, Giovanni Bellini and Raphael. Outside, in the sculpture park, you can see works by Henry Moore and others. Meanwhile, the Neue Nationalgalerie was designed by Bauhaus architect Mies van der Rohe in 1968 for hanging of large canvasses and focuses on modern art. Many leading post-war artists are represented here: Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, Joseph Beuys. The lower floor displays work by 20th-century Europeans, including Kirchner, Magritte, Klee, Max Ernst, Otto Dix, de Chirico, Dalí and Picasso.

10. Hamburger Bahnhof

Berlin’s other great modern art museum is the Hamburger Bahnhof, a renovated railway station, which opened three years before Tate Modern. A soot-covered relic of the industrial age for forty years, it now calls itself the "Museum of the Present" and offers dazzling, white galleries where light floods from the high-vaulted glass roof, offering an impressive setting for the impressive collection of Warhol, Beuys and Lichtenstein. After dark, a light installation by Dan Flavin turns the building itself into a work of art.