The Berliner Dom cathedral was built from 1894 to 1905 in the Italian Renaissance style, with a huge 245-foot-high dome and a massive interior that resembles St. Peter's in Rome.
Berlin: A work
in progress
The city formerly split by a wall
is now united in rebirth, with
neighborhoods rising out of rubble
It's a pleasure to visit a place after the construction dust settles, after jackhammers, bulldozers and pile drivers have been used to create a new city. This is Berlin: Europe's newest old city, still a work in progress but offering enough for the savvy traveler to benefit.A century ago Berlin ranked with London, Paris, Vienna and Rome as one of Europe's grandest cities, but it suffered in the 20th century when one-third of it was leveled in World War II, it was ripped in half by the Wall and another third was demolished by uncontrolled urban renewal. Add the devastation of Cold War economic hardships and the problems of absorbing the poverty-stricken Eastern side, and it was a city in ashes. But Berlin is being reborn with neighborhoods growing out of vast, rubble-filled lots.
Dozens of important buildings have been rescued; fans of contemporary architecture and design are in for a thrill, while lovers of classical beauty will find much to admire. Culture seekers will find all manner of art, music and theater available. Night life for young club-hoppers doesn't get wilder than Berlin, in the tradition of 1920s cabaret and '90s punk.
Berliners lived on the front line of nuclear confrontation, their existence split by the Berlin Wall that inspired all to seize life with gusto. Inside communist East Germany, as Westerners surrounded by the "enemy," residents developed an intense appreciation for life, pleasure, culture and the arts, which has produced a complex society. Having survived repression and hardships, the people are quite open-minded -- almost anything goes!
It is possible to explore Berlin in three days, even though it is the largest city on the continent, covering 340 square miles. (Paris covers 40 square miles; Madrid, 330; New York, 320.) Although much of its expanse comprises parks, forests, lakes and suburban open space, there is still much urban life to explore.
The collection at the Pergamon Museum includes treasures from ancient Greece, Rome, Babylon and the Middle East, including the horses at right.
The Former East Berlin
Start at the Reichstag, the nation's capitol building and home to Germany's parliament in the Mitte ("Middle") district. Get there when it opens at 8 a.m. to beat the crowds. Ride the free elevator up into the dome for a stunning view.This large, old structure had been empty and derelict for much of the past 70 years but has been transformed by Lord Norman Foster, who capped it with a glass dome. Like the Louvre's glass pyramid, the dome functions as a viewing platform and brings light into the building; it also represents the transparency of democracy and superiority of the public over the legislature. This architectural breakthrough transformed a gloomy, brooding old building that many wanted to demolish into the city's main attraction. Its leap from eyesore to world-class monument status and political center also celebrates Berlin's rebirth.
A short section of the mostly demolished Berlin Wall can be seen behind the Reichstag, along with the Wall Victims Memorial honoring those who died trying to escape from the East. The wall's main surviving segment stretches 1,400 yards from Ostbahnhof station to the Oberbaumbrücke. Pieces of the wall are scattered around, and a brick line in the ground runs throughout Berlin, showing the wall's original location.
One block south, Berlin's most famous landmark, the Brandenburg Gate, recently emerged from several years of scaffoldings at the center of Pariser Platz and has also been transformed, from an empty lot to the site of the American, French and British embassies. Pariser Platz was a prestigious address in prewar times, then became trapped in the wall's no man's land during the postwar period. It has re-emerged to become the city's symbolic grand entrance. Take a look inside the amazing conference hall of the DG-Bank, designed by Frank Gehry, then visit the tourist information office inside the south leg of the gate for free maps and brochures.
Unter den Linden: Pass through Brandenburg Gate to enjoy the view down Berlin's monumental Unter den Linden ("Under the Lime Trees"), a street extending a mile to Museum Island. At right are the deluxe Hotel Adlon Kempinsky and the massive Russian Embassy. For a stylish break, Café Einstein (the genius lived in Berlin for 20 years) is ahead on the left.
Friederichstrasse: Save the rest of Unter den Linden for later and turn right down the glitzy Friederichstrasse into the heart of the main shopping district. This 10-block stretch is like Fifth Avenue, leading one-half mile south to Checkpoint Charlie, the border-crossing station of Berlin's divided era.
Temptations in this shopping zone could keep some occupied for days, but all will enjoy the postmodern facades and marble-clad, mirrored malls. The most spectacular is the Friedrichstadtpassagen, running three blocks south of Französische Strasse. The mall is anchored by French department store Galleries Lafayette.
Continue south through the mall and its underground passageways to Checkpoint Charlie, once the heavily fortified main portal between East and West but now gone, supplanted by office towers. All that remains is a small reconstruction of an Allied guardhouse and large photos.
The Haus Am Checkpoint Charlie museum shows a variety of ways people tried to escape, including balloons, submarines, tunnels and hidden car compartments. Graphic exhibits about the wall make this a fascinating visit.
A block west of Friederichstrasse at Leipziger Strasse is the Museum of Communication, opened in 1898 in a beautiful old building with three floors of exhibits. Those wanting a larger exhibit about WWII and the Cold War would enjoy a free visit to the Allied Museum in the Zehlendorf suburb.
Kreuzberg: Three blocks south in the working-class Kreuzberg District lies the new Jewish Museum, with innovative architecture and installations that immerse you in 2,000 years of Jewish history, presented in 14 galleries and gardens. Slanted walls, floors and ceilings create an unbalanced feeling that drives the museum's upsetting message home. It was the first major work by Daniel Libeskind, who also won the competition for New York's Ground Zero site.
Kreuzberg, which extends another mile south, is a comfortable middle-class area with many shopping streets, such as Bergmannstrasse, attractive squares like Chamissoplatz and busy markets like Marheineke Markthalle. On the east side is a large Turkish population with ethnic markets and inexpensive restaurants clustered along Kottbusser Damm. On Tuesday and Friday afternoons, an outdoor food market is held along the Maybachufer canal bank.
Museum Island is a complex of five museums, gardens and a cathedral that could easily take several days to explore.
Deluxe hotels and stylish cafes surround the plaza for perfect outdoor dining. Brasserie am Gendarmenmarkt is one of many Berlin restaurants offering a "Quick-Lunch" of three courses in 30 minutes; or try Borchardt, a gourmet legend since 1853, on Französische Strasse. Lutter & Wegner offers a traditional German menu, or just grab a cheap curry sausage (döner kebab) from one of the many sidewalk stands. Hotel choices also abound here, including the four-star Cityhotel.
Walking two blocks north brings you back to Unter den Linden and landmark buildings -- including the State Opera House, Humboldt University, Arsenal, Crown Princes' Palace, German Historical Museum, St. Hedwig's Cathedral and Bebelplatz -- from the 18th and 19th centuries, clustered along four blocks that Frederick the Great (1740-1786) intended to use as his imperial center.
Museum Island: A day or two could be devoted to this complex of five museums, gardens and a cathedral. First, you will come upon the massive Berliner Dom cathedral, built from 1894 to 1905 in the Italian Renaissance style with a huge dome 245 feet high and massive interior that resembles St. Peter's in Rome. Repairs of WWII damage were completed in 1993, the crypt reopened in 1999 and the interior mosaics, with 4 million pieces, were finished in 2002. You can climb 267 steps into the dome for a view across town, then go back down. There is no elevator.
Hopefully you'll have some energy left to view the museums; otherwise, return tomorrow. A three-day museum pass allows you to save money on return visits. Don't miss the Pergamon Museum's treasures from ancient Greece, Rome, Babylon and the Middle East, especially the large Greek altar from 165 B.C., the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, facades from Uruk and a huge Roman market gate.
Two art museums worth a look are the Altes Museum, with classical sculpture and a new Egyptian collection, including the famous bust of Nefertiti; and the Alte Nationalgalerie, showcasing 19th-century European paintings, including several rooms of French Impressionists. Byzantine art is displayed in the Bodemuseum, and the Neues Museum is slated to reopen in 2009.
Night life: Scheunenviertel, a few blocks north of the museums, has become the hippest place in town. Also called Spandauer Vorstadt and the Jewish Quarter, this district is filled with dozens of art galleries, trendy shops, jazz clubs, small theaters and restaurants.
Head for Hackesche Höfe and grab a courtyard table. It's especially pretty at twilight. Seven other courtyards are scattered through this large complex of apartments, shops, galleries and entertainment venues. Typical of 100-year-old working-class housing blocks, most of which were demolished, Hackesche Höfe is a revitalized example of an old, mixed-use concept. Town planners around the world are now trying to replicate this model of the ideal city.
Among the more impressive exhibits at the Pergamon Museum are a large Greek altar from 165 B.C., the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, facades from Uruk and a huge Roman market gate.
West to East
Start near Zoo Station at the eastern end of Kurfürstendamm, or Ku'damm for short, a boulevard shaped in the mid-19th century by Chancellor Bismarck into a 2-mile imitation of the Champs-Élysée. The Wertheim department store is one of the street's draws.Savignyplatz is a pleasant square one block north, ringed by boutiques and galleries with a small, grassy park in the center. Nice shopping blocks include Grolmannstrasse, Savignypassage and the mall underneath the elevated S-Bahn tracks. On Kantstrasse, browse in the design emporiums, especially in the multilevel Stilwerk. This neighborhood is noted for Berlin's biggest concentration of budget hotels and pensions.
Side streets worth exploring include the Meineckstrasse and Fasanenstrasse, near Breitscheidplatz, where you can enter the burned-out Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church commemorating WWII. You also cannot miss the 22-story Europe-Center, Berlin's first skyscraper, opened in 1965.
KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens), the continent's largest department store, is just a few blocks east along Tauentzienstrasse at Wittenbergplatz. It's the Harrods of Germany with 60,000 square meters of space, larger than 12 football fields. Some might require days or weeks to explore it all. On just one floor you'll find about 1,300 kinds of cheese, 400 breads and a variety of food.
Afterward, enter the zoo, two blocks north, through its distinctive elephant gates. With 14,000 creatures in residence, the zoo is one of the world's largest. Another site to consider is Charlottenburg Palace. The requisite palace tour is narrated in German, but knowing the language is not necessary to appreciate the dazzling interior, built in the 18th century by Frederick the Great.
Potsdamer Platz: Enter the U2 metro station at Wittenbergplatz next to KaDeWe and travel east five stops to Potsdamer Platz, the city of the future. The commercial center of Berlin in the early 20th century, it was devastated during WWII, then obliterated by construction of the wall. This neighborhood will continue to be developed for many years to come, but Europe's largest construction site, costing more than 5 billion euros and source of a decade of headaches, now draws 70,000 visitors daily. Three towering machines for urban living resemble nothing you've ever seen.
The Sony Center is a curved, mirrored skyscraper with a circular plaza sheltered by glass sails soaring high overhead. The architect, Helmut Jahn, calls it a "cultural forum for the next millennium," but you'll just call it unbelievable. Orbiting around the central plaza are multiple towers housing shops, restaurants, offices, a movie museum, multiplex cinema and Sony headquarters.
Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano, Christoph Kohlbecker and Arata Isozaki worked on this mega-complex, which includes two other large sections, DaimlerCity and Beisheim Center.
Ancient statues comprise a large portion of the Pergamon Museum's collection.
The other art museums focus on decorative arts (Kunstgewerbemuseum), prints and graphics (Kupferstichkabinett), musical instruments (Musikinstrumenten-Museum) and modern art (Neue Nationalgalerie). The latter New National Gallery was designed in 1968 by Mies van der Rohe, father of the Bauhaus movement. It has a fine collection of Picasso, Dali, Klee, Miró, Kandinsky and other great 20th-century painters.
For contemporary art, you need to make a side trip to the Hamburger Bahnhof, a huge Neoclassical train station converted into Berlin's premier museum, a half-mile north of the Reichstag on Invalidenstrasse.
Across the street is the Berlin Philharmonic concert hall, a building with wings that looks as if it is taking off. Designed in 1963, the hall is famous for excellent acoustics and is home to the Berlin Philharmoniker, the city's main orchestra.
Science and technology buffs can travel two stops south on the U-bahn to the Deutsches Technikmuseum, one of the world's largest with 14 departments spread over 50,000 square meters and with lots of demonstrations and activities.
At day's end, get back on the U2 metro and head seven stops north for a quick look at the plaza that was the former center of East Berlin.
Alexanderplatz: This area isn't glamorous, but it's called "the most famous square in Berlin" by the tourist bureau. Communist leaders poured in money for development during the 1960s, with shabby results: a huge empty plaza surrounded by bland high rises, a Kaufhof department store, shopping mall, Forum Hotel and 1,200-foot-high Fernsehturm TV Tower. Modernization is happening, and you must at least look at it. After a peek, hop back in the U2 metro and head north three stops to Eberswalder Strasse station.
Prenzlauer Berg: This is one of the town's hippest sections. Find out what's going on at Kulturbrauerei, an exciting cultural center with 19 venues covering 25,000 square meters, including Kastanienallee and Oderberger Strasse, fun boutique-lined streets. Ask the locals for tips on eating and music. For a sensational meal, look for Gugelhof, where Chancellor Schröeder hosted Bill Clinton; or for simpler tastes, head to Konnopke Imbiss for currywurst.
The Charlottenburg Palace's interiors were built up in the 18th century by Frederick the Great.
Bus tour and Potsdam
This might be a good time for a bus tour to recap your visit before heading out of town for an afternoon at Potsdam. Many companies offer bus tours with similar routes, so pick the most convenient.City Circle Tour is typical, offering a two-hour tour for about $20, with 14 stops at major sites. Although these are hop-on, hop-off tours, it's better to stay on for the complete circuit to avoid waits of up to 30 minutes for the next bus. A cheaper alternative is to ride the public bus between Zoo Station and the Brandenburg Gate, covering sights missed while walking. If you feel no need for the bus tour, skip ahead.
Potsdam: This is home to Berlin's most beautiful royal site, Sanssouci Palace. Only 2,000 visitors a day are allowed inside, so arrive before 2 p.m. Tickets purchased from Tourist Information offer guaranteed entry. At 18 miles southwest of Berlin, it takes 30 minutes by S7 or D8 train, using a Zone C ticket.
Sanssouci, smaller than Versailles, is a rococo feast for the eyes, designed by Frederick the Great in the mid-18th century. Prime attractions are the Concert Hall, Sea Shell Room and the Ladies Bedchamber, with gilded decor, ceiling murals and period furniture.
Another highlight is the 750- acre garden. Paths invite you for a leisurely stroll that could last hours as you take in with French-style gardens and wilder English woods.
Several other buildings on the grounds also are worth a closer look. A mile west across the gardens is the New Palace, with 200 rooms in the Baroque style.
Another half-mile south through more beautiful parklands is the Charlottenhof Palace, designed by Berlin architect Karl Schinkel in 1826. Three more buildings to visit are the Chinese Teahouse, the rococo Belvedere and the Dragon House, which houses a cafe and restaurant.
Afterward, walk a few blocks east into the town. Potsdam is a quaint village with a historic center. Shopping and browsing through the northeast corner Dutch Quarter, a cluster of 130 brick homes, is especially enjoyable. Treat yourself to a fine meal at Doreamus on Brandenburger Strasse while enjoying the view across the Old Town -- a perfect way to end your visit.
Pass through Brandenburg Gate to enjoy the view down Berlin's monumental Unter den Linden ("Under the Lime Trees"), a street extending a mile to Museum Island.
IF YOU GO ...
Here are a few places to stay while in Berlin. Add telelphone prefix 011-49-30 when calling from the United States.
Hotels
» Hilton Berlin: Mohrenstrasse 30; call 20230; fax 2023-4269» Cityhotel Am Gendarmenmarkt: Leipziger Strasse 65; call 206-340; fax 206-34199; e-mail info@cityhotel-am-gendarmenmarkt.de
» Adlon Kempinski: Unter den Linden 77; call 2261-1111; www.hotel-adlon.de
» Garni Gendarm: Charlottenstrasse 61; call 206-0660; www.hotel-gendarm-berlin.de/eindex.html
» Grand Hyatt: Marlene-Dietrich-Platz 3; call 2553-1234; www.berlin.grand.hyatt.com
» Dorint am Gendarmenmarkt: Charlottenstrasse 50; call 203-750; www.dorint.de
Web sites
» Official Tourist Office: www.berlin.de/english» Cathedral: www.berliner-dom.de
» www.berlin-tourist-information.de
» Walking tours: www.berlinwalks.com
» Reichstag: www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/index.html
» Deutsches Historiches Museum: www.dhm.de/ENGLISH/index.html
» Science Museum: www.dtmb.de
» French Cathedral: www.franzoesischer-dom-berlin.de
» Courtyard complex: www.hackesche-hoefe.com
» Contemporary art: www.hamburgerbahnhof.de
» Courtyard complex: www.heckmann-hoefe.de
» House of World Cultures: www.hkw.de
» Jewish Museum: www.jmberlin.de
» Shopping mall on Ku'damm: www.kudamm-karree.de
» Eclectic entertainment center: www.kulturbrauerei-berlin.de
» Checkpoint Charlie museum: www.mauer-museum.com
» Museum listings: www.museen-berlin.de
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