Berlin Travel Guide

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City Introduction

With its 3.5 million inhabitants, Berlin is Germany’s largest city and at the same time one of Europe’s great historical metropolises. The city is the former residence of the Hohenzollern rulers and for centuries the center of the great German cultural nation, which has given the world countless famous artists, thinkers and scientists.

Berlin was in many ways also the center of the world through the 20th century. This is where the Cold War was hottest with the United States and the Soviet Union on each side of the Berlin Wall. The wall is gone today, but you can see parts of it around the city, and you can see a lot of other sights from both the cold war era as well as other periods of German history as the nazi time from 1933-1945.

There are many beautiful buildings from the dominant architectural styles through the last several centuries, and modern-day buildings are found in abundance from the time since the German reunification became a reality in 1990. There are also places where old and new is mixed, like on the famous Reichstag building.

Berlin is also one of the great places in the world to enjoy magnificent museums. There are many to choose from, and Pergamon, Bode and the other museums on Museum Island are the highlights. Add to that the cultural life, the many restaurants and the great shopping, and then you know what makes a trip to Berlin something special.

Top Attractions

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

Brandenburg Gate/Brandenburger Tor

In the 18th century, customs walls were built around Berlin, and access to and from Brandenburg was established with the gatehouse Brandenburg Gate, which today is one of Germany’s most famous landmarks and buildings.

 

Museum Island/Museumsinsel

Museum Island is the name of a collection of unique museums that are all worth a visit; Altes Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie, Neues Museum, Pergamonmuseum and Bode-Museum. Among the countless highlights are the bust of Nefertiti, the Pergamon altar and Ishtartor from Babylon.

 

Berlin Cathedral

Berlin Cathedral/Berliner Dom

Berliner Dom is an impressive church, built in 1894-1905 as a large Protestant counterpart to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In the church you can e.g. see grave monuments for some of Berlin’s electors.

 

Gendarme’s Square/Gendarmenmarkt

This is a beautiful square that belongs to Europe’s absolute finest. The square has a nice atmosphere and you can see the German Church, the French Church and the theater Königsliches Schauspielhaus as the finest buildings.

 

Reichstag, Berlin

The Parliament/The Reichstag

The Reichstag is the seat of the Bundestag, the German parliament. The building itself is one of the most famous constructions in Berlin. It was built after the German unification in the 19th century, burned in 1933 and later rebuilt.

 

Unter den Linden

Unter den Linden is Berlin’s central magnificent boulevard that connects the Brandenburg Gate and Pariser Platz with the Hohenzollern City Castle; Stadtschloß. Along the street are a number of beautiful buildings and institutions.

 

Fernsehturm, Berlin

The Television Tower/Fernsehturm

The Fernsehturm was built 1965-1969 as both the tallest building in Berlin and Germany. The tower stands tall and dominates the city skyline, and from the observation platform at a height of just over 200 meters/650 feet it is a fantastic view.

 

Karl Marx Boulevard/Karl-Marx-Allee

This wide and long avenue was laid out in the years 1952-1960 as Berlin’s most monumental street. It was a symbol of the GDR’s power and progress, and the style was Soviet neoclassicism, also known from Moscow in the Soviet Union.

 

Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

Painting Gallery/Gemäldegalerie

This is an excellent art museum with a collection that belongs to one of the world’s finest in European visual art from the 1200-1700s. At the museum you can see works by countless masters such as Rapahel, Tintoretto and Rembrandt.

 

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church/Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche

Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtsniskirche is Berlin’s clearest memorial to the bombings of World War II. It is a 19th century church that stands as a preserved ruin from World War II, and next to it is a modern church.

Other Attractions

Friedrichstrasse, Berlin

Friedrichstraße Railway Station/Bahnhof Friedrichstraße

This is one of Berlin’s central railway stations and a famous place known from the Cold War. It was one of the few border crossings between east and west, and that part of the history can be seen at the museum in Tränenpalast, located at the station.

 

Berlin Palace & Palace Square/Berliner Schloß & Schloßplatz

This is Berlin’s rebuilt city palace from the time of the Hohenzollers. The palace has been the residence of electors, kings and emperors, and the reconstruction of the impressive construction started in 2013, after being the site of the parliament of East Germany.

 

New Synagogue, Berlin

The New Synagogue/Neue Synagoge

Neue Synagoge was built in the years 1859-1866 in an impressive Moorish-Byzantine style with a large gilded dome. It served as the main synagogue of Berlin’s Jewish congregation.

 

Hakesche Courtyards/Hakesche Höfe

The name Hakesche Höfe is a lovely place with a number of very beautiful backyards in the street of Rosenthaler Straße. Today, the backyards have been transformed into an area with restaurants, etc.

 

Berlin Wall Documentation Center

Documentation Center for the Berlin Wall/Berliner Mauer Documentation Center

From 13 August 1961, the Berlin Wall was built by the GDR to secure the country. For decades, the wall became a hard border between east and west. This is an exhibition about the wall with a preserved piece of the original Berlin Wall.

 

The German Historical Museum/Deutsches Historisches Museum

The German Historical Museum depicts the exciting history of Germany. The museum is worth seeing for its exhibitions and it is located in one of the city’s most beautiful buildings from the Baroque era.

 

St Hedwig's Cathedral, Berlin

St. Hedwig’s Cathedral/St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale

This is Frederick the Great’s neoclassical cathedral, which was consecrated in 1773. The construction was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, and the church is a central part of a complex of magnificent buildings, Frederick had built in this district.

 

Potsdam Square/Potsdamer Platz

Potsdamer Platz was one of the busiest places in Germany before World War II. After its destruction during World War II, it was divided by the border between east and west. It was completely rebuilt after the German reunification and is thus an example of modern architecture.

 

Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin

Checkpoint Charlie

This place was one of the border crossings between East and West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie was located on the border of the American and Soviet zones, and therefore the United States and the Soviet Union faced each other right here.

 

Treptow Park/Treptower Park

The beautiful Treptower Park southeast of Berlin’s city center was laid out in 1876. It is one of Berlin’s lovely green parks, and there is an impressive memorial to fallen Soviet soldiers in World War II as a nice sight in the park.

 

Nicholas’ Quarter/Nikolaiviertel

Nikolaiviertel is an old quarter in central Berlin. The area had been destroyed during World War II, but the GDR government rebuilt the neighborhood in 18th century style from 1979 to 1987. You can see the beautiful St. Nicholas Church/Nikolaikirche here.

 

Alexanderplatz, Berlin

Alexanderplatz

This is one of Berlin’s most famous addresses, and the square was the center of city life of the people in the GDR era. Today you can see a mix of buildings from the GDR era and newer constructions in the still busy square.

 

Aminal Garden/Tiergarten

Tiergarten is a large city park with a size of 210 hectares/518 acres. The history of Tiergarten dates back to 1527, when the area was designated as a royal hunting area. Today you can e.g. see the Victory Column/Siegessäule in the large park.

 

Kurfürstendamm

The Kurfürstendamm is the magnificent boulevard of western Berlin. It was already from 1542 the Elector’s transport route between the castles Berliner Stadtschloss in the center to Jagdschloss Grunewald in the forests southwest of the capital.

 

Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin

Charlottenburg Palace/Schloß Charlottenburg

In 1696-1699, Schloß Charlottenburg was commissioned in Italian baroque by Sophie Charlotte, the wife of Friedrich I, Elector of Brandenburg. It is one of Berlin’s most elegant constructions, and today it is open as a museum.

 

Transmission Tower/Funkturm

Berlin’s Transmission Tower was built by Heinrich Straumer in the years 1924-1926 on the occasion of the third German radio exhibition. In 1929, the world’s first television signals were broadcasted from here.

Day Trips

Potsdam Sanssouci, Germany

Potsdam

Potsdam is one of Germany’s most beautiful baroque towns, and as a former residence city it has many sights. For example, you can see world-famous Sanssouci and the Neues Palais as well as places like the city’s Dutch quarter and Russian Alexandrowka.

 

Filmpark Babelsberg

The city of Babelsberg in the Potsdam area is especially known as the world’s center for movie productions in the early 1900s. Filmpark Babelsberg is an theme park and a film studio, where you can see and explore a lot from the great movie history in Babelsberg.

 

Spandau

Spandau is a district in Berlin, yet it is its own city with a number of sights. The 16th-century citadel is a former fortification, prison and treasury, and you can also enjoy a walk in the Old Town, Altstadt.

 

Köpenick

The Köpenick district southeast of Berlin is its own small town in the city. Köpenick is surrounded by forests and lakes and is therefore a place for relaxation relatively close to the center of the German capital. You can i.a. see the hunting castle Schloß Köpenick.

 

Oranienburg

This is a city north of Berlin with a long history and several sights. You can see the city’s fine castle from the 1650s and the former concentration camp Sachsenhausen, which today is a memorial area and museum.

Shopping

Galeries Lafayette

Französische Straße 23
lafayette-berlin.de

 

KaDeWe

Tauentzienstraße 21
kadewe.de

 

Karstadt

Hermannplatz
karstadt.de

 

Galeria Kaufhof

Alexanderplatz 9
galeria-kaufhof.de

 

Potsdamer Platz Arcades

Potsdamer Platz
potsdamer-platz-arkaden.de

 

Wertheim

Kurfürstendamm 231
karstadt.de

 

Shopping streets

Alexanderplatz, Friedrichstraße, Kurfürstendamm, Wilmersdorfer Straße

With Kids

Zoological garden

Zoo Berlin
Hardenbergplatz 8
zoo-berlin.de

 

Aquarium

Aquarium Berlin
Hardenbergplatz 8
aquarium-berlin.de

 

Engineering and Science

Deutsches Technikmuseum
Trebbiner Straße 9
dtmb.de

 

Movie Park

Film Park Babelsberg
August-Bebel-Str.
26-53
filmpark.de

 

Aquarium

Sea Life & AquaDom
Spandauer Straße 3
sealifeeurope.com

Practical Links

Berlin tourism

visitberlin.de

 

Germany Tourism

germany.travel

 

Berlin city transport

bvg.de

 

German Railways

db.de

 

Berlin airports

berlin-airport.de

City History

Founding of Berlin

Berlin’s history began with the two villages of Berlin and Cölln, both of which were granted commercial property rights in the 13th century. The originally Slavic Berlin was located on the eastern bank of the River Spree at the site of the Nikolaiviertel neighborhood today. In the 1000-1100s, German settlers came to the area, and on an island in Spree opposite Berlin they founded Cölln.

In the 1100s, the area came under the field county Brandenburg, founded in 1157 by Albrecht I Bjørnen, and from him comes the bear, which today can be seen in Berlin’s city arms and countless places as one of the capital’s landmarks.

Throughout the 13th century, the German continued to dominate, while Berlin’s Slavic influence gradually disappeared, thus the two cities acted as a unified city, although they were not officially merged officially in 1709. From the 13th century, the year 1237 was considered the city’s total founding.

 

The city grows

Trade rose in the Baltic Sea region, where the importance of the Hanse Association increased over the centuries, and this resulted in significant growth in Berlin in the figure.

However, a major fire raged in 1380, and in addition to buildings, most of the city’s written history also perished. However, Berlin grew out of the fire, and by the end of the century the double city of Berlin-Cölln had about 8,000 inhabitants.

 

Hohenzollern dynasty

In 1415, Friedrich I became the leader of the field county of Brandenburg, and it became important for Berlin’s leadership and development over the following five hundred years.

Friedrich was of the genus Hohenzollern, whose name comes from the Zollern area and the hometown of Hohenzollern in the present southern German state of Württemberg. As a field tomb in Brandenburg, he and the many successors of the genus who ruled until the fall of the monarchy in 1918 gained control of Berlin.

The successor Friedrich II came after Friedrich I’s death in 1440, and the dynasty’s titles were, through generations, cure princes before they became Prussian kings to eventually be German emperors.

In the years 1443-1451, the first city castle in Berlin was built, and when the Hohenzollern family moved their residence from Brandenburg to Berlin, it led to new growth with everything that came with a court and the status of a residence city.

In the short term, however, there were also negative aspects of the new status. The people objected to the construction of the centrally located castle, but did not win this minor revolt and instead were granted certain political and economic privileges. As the chief residence of Berlin, Berlin could no longer be a free city and member of the Hanseatic League, which changed the nature of the trade.

 

16th century Berlin

In 1530, Elector Joachim I chose to lay out the large area, now the green oasis Tiergarten, as a royal hunting area. The decision of public access in the 17th century and the conversion to park in 1740 meant that Berlin has such a colossal park almost in the middle of the city.

The Reformation washed over Europe in the 16th century, when both Berlin and the city’s princes became Lutheran in 1539. The following year, Joachim II carried out the Protestant Reformation in the state of Brandenburg; Here ecclesiastical properties and values ​​were secularized, giving regents the means to establish the Kurfürstendamm splendor.

The plague hit Berlin in the 16th century, and it killed a significant portion of the population. About 4,000 became victims of the disease during its breed in 1576. At the end of the century, 12,000 lived in Berlin-Cölln.

 

Friedrich Wilhelm the Great

Thirty Years War in the period 1618-1648 brought downturns for Berlin. The population dropped significantly and about one third of the houses in the city are believed to be destroyed. After the war, however, Berlin was quickly rebuilt and expanded; not least because of Friedrich Wilhelm nicknamed the Great Kurfürst’s visions of a strengthened Prussia. He ruled 1640-1688, and it created stability and great power for the Elector and the Brandenburg, which he set free from Polish supremacy, paving the way for the coming kingdom of Prussia.

Part of the wealth was created through growth, which included, among other things, persecuted Jews and Huguenots invited to the city. Under Friedrich Wilhelm, the city reached a population of 20,000. The street Unter den Linden was built this time; just like the suburbs of Friedrichswerder and Dorotheenstadt.

Friedrich Wilhelm’s son became the ruler of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in 1688, and in 1701 he became the first Prussian king named Friedrich I. He made Berlin the capital of the new kingdom.

 

The capital Berlin

The time with, among other things, the king’s daughter-in-law, Sophie Charlotte, at the head led to a great cultural and scientific flourishing, where diligently built. An example is the castle in Charlottenburg, which was started by Friedrich I. Together with major contemporary construction projects, Berlin became a major international city, with the population increasing to 55,000 in 1709. It was precisely this year that the cities of Berlin and Cölln were laid officially together and formed Berlin.

The importance of Prussia increased in Europe, and with the growth of the country grew Berlin, which was the center of art and culture of Prussia, and it was here also that the country’s army was formed and built. The army’s importance later also became the basis for much of the city’s industrialization, with the king providing economic benefits for the development and production of weapons in the city. This commitment made the city technologically strong for the future.

As a Protestant country and king, he also allowed greater immigration by Protestants from not least other German states and Switzerland.

 

Frederick the Great

In 1740 King Frederick II, Frederick the Great, came to the throne, and he reigned for 46 years. Frederick the Great supported the thinking, and among the well-known philosophers from Berlin at this time is Moses Mendelssohn.

It also turned into large buildings under Friedrich II; not least the grand plan of the Forum Fridericianum (today Bebelplatz), which was to be a new cultural center in the middle of the city with a new residence castle, opera and other performances that can still be seen today.

Several times during the boom in the 18th century, Berlin was besieged and invaded: in the Seven Years’ War against Austria in 1757 and by Russia in 1760.

With Frederick the Great’s successor, Friedrich Wilhelm II, came a period of stagnation. The new king was not a supporter of the Enlightenment era, and he introduced, among other things, censorship and various reprisals that slowed the city’s growth. He also built new city walls, so in several ways the time was a step back for Berlin.

 

Napoleon and 19th century

Berlin were conquered under Napoleon and occupied in the years 1806-1813. However, the city’s development both during and after the invasion, and Berlin became an ever-greater competitor to Vienna as the dominant city in the German-speaking area. Thus, Berlin’s population rose from 200,000 to 400,000 in the first half of the 19th century, making it one of Europe’s largest cities.

Berlin was the center of the bourgeoisie’s attempt at a democratic revolution against Friedrich Wilhelm IV in 1848. The attempt was thwarted, which led to some stagnation in the political life of the city in the years that followed.

However, economically and industrially, the city was rapidly developing. The railroad’s construction from around 1840 made Berlin even more central in commercial terms. Canals were created for the rivers Oder and the Rhine and on to the North Sea. In 1866, Berlin became the seat of the government of the North German Confederation, and after the German assembly in 1871 under Emperor Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck, Berlin became the capital of the entire German Empire.

The city continued its tremendous growth. From a population of 200,000 in 1819 and 900,000 in 1871, it rose to 1.9 million inhabitants in 1900. Economically, things went well. In Berlin, bankers, industrialists and others gathered with an interest and opportunity to drive development.

For the citizens of the city great progress was also made for decades up to the year 1900. The worn sewers were modernized, and from 1896 the city’s first subway line was established; it opened in 1902.

 

Fall of the Monarchy and the Weimar Republic

With the unification of the many German states and thereby the formation of the German Empire in 1871, the king had become emperor.

Up to the start of World War I in 1914, Berlin was an industrial giant, but the war put an abrupt halt to the city’s economic development. Germany had become involved in the war, many thought would end with a swift victory. However, it turned into a four-year war in which both acts of war and the British blockade of the country made daily life difficult.

After the defeat in 1918, the genus Hohenzollern had to abdicate, and in the Reichstag it was decided to establish the Weimar Republic.

The situation of the Weimar Republic was not easy. Internationally, Germany had been subjected to enormous war damage reparations with the end of World War I, and these were some years when both Communists and later Nazis formed parties and sought armed or political power.

For Berlin’s city government, the situation was also quite different in 1920, because this year several suburbs and the cities around the capital became administratively part of Berlin, which eventually gained about four million inhabitants.

From 1924, however, the situation improved with, among other things, American aid, a possible healthier economic policy and the fact that Berlin was one of Europe’s absolute industrial centers. It became Europe’s largest industrial city, and also flourished the culture where people such as architect Walter Gropius, physicist Albert Einstein and author Bertolt Brecht worked here.

By 1922, many railways to cities around Berlin had been electrified and assembled to Berlin’s S-Bahn, and in 1926 the Tempelhof airport was opened. Berlin was seriously active and developing in the 1920s.

However, unemployment was high, and the international economic depression also hit Berlin and Germany, where militia under the control of the Nazis and Communists struck the streets.

 

Adolf Hitler rises to power

After the 1933 election, President Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of the Nazis after the Nazi election victory. Reichstag burned that year, and after Hindenburg’s death, Hitler became the chancellor and leader, which put a great mark on Berlin as well as Germany and large parts of the world.

Throughout the 1930s, Berlin’s economy developed tremendously. In 1936, the city hosted the Olympic Games, which became an outlet with impressive buildings and vivid images that went around the world.

One of the big plans for Berlin was colossal construction through much of downtown. It was Albert Speer’s design for what was to make Berlin the World Capital Germania / Welthauptstadt Germania. Some parts of the plans were built, but in many ways World War II put an end to the development of the city.

Throughout World War II, Berlin was the center of Germany’s political and military leadership, making it a natural target for the Allies at the time the war turned.

In the last year of the war, Berlin was subjected to massive bombings, and after fierce fighting in the streets of Berlin in May 1945, the Soviet Red Army with Marshal Shukov in the lead occupied the shattered German capital.

 

The divided city and Hauptstadt der DDR

In August 1945, Potsdam hosted the conference, which sealed the fate of Germany and Europe as divided areas of interest. Berlin was divided into two zones, the Soviet and the Western, which again formally consisted of a British, a French and an American zone.

In June 1948, the Western Allies introduced separate city government in its total zone, and a West German currency was introduced. The Soviet Union initiated a physical blockade of the borough, which created the famous Air Bridge with supplies. However, all West Berliners were offered food and shopping in East Berlin. The air bridge lasted from June 26, 1948 to May 11, 1949.

In 1949, Berlin became a new capital, this time in the new state of the GDR, while West Berlin gained regional control in the Federal Republic of West Germany.

After the death of the Soviet Union leader Josef Stalin in 1953, forces in Moscow tried to reunite Germany through the removal of DDR’s Walter Ulbricht. The plan failed, and it ended with a general strike in the GDR on June 17, and since the East German police could not stifle the strike that brought with it the desire for more democracy, the Soviet military had to be used to reintroduce the order in the GDR, which in several decades afterwards was communist.

In August 1961, the 47-kilometer-long Berlin Wall was erected as a physical part of the city. The wall stood with only a few transitions, including Checkpoint Charlie, until 1989-1990, when the German reunion was implemented. The wall was erected to ensure that the rising flight of East Germans to the West could stop, and with the wall came both isolation of West Berlin and an East Berlin, which as capital had to ensure surveillance of the wall and the border, where over the years there were many escape attempts.

In East Berlin, however, much else was built than the Berlin Wall. Thus, the city center was built over the decades with the GDR as a capital with Palast der Republik as both the center of the people and the government, the Fernsehturm as the city’s mighty TV tower, huge residential areas with commercial buildings and the Soviet-inspired splendor buildings along the present Karl-Marx-Allee.

 

Reunification in new unified capital

With Germany’s reunification on October 3, 1990, Berlin again became the capital of all of Germany, and a massive construction was initiated. It included all the government buildings and public institutions to be established, the infrastructure to integrate two cities into one, and not least the area around the old traffic center around Potsdamer Platz, which became Europe’s largest building site these years.

The overall city ensured that the population increased again. The peak in numbers remains during World War II, when the city in 1942 housed nearly 4.5 million people. Today, Berlin’s population is just over 3.5 million.

Geolocation

In short

Overview of Berlin

With its 3.5 million inhabitants, Berlin is Germany’s largest city and at the same time one of Europe’s great historical metropolises. The city is the former residence of the Hohenzollern rulers and for centuries the center of the great German cultural nation, which has given the world countless famous artists, thinkers and scientists.

 

Berlin was in many ways also the center of the world through the 20th century. This is where the Cold War was hottest with the United States and the Soviet Union on each side of the Berlin Wall. The wall is gone today, but you can see parts of it around the city, and you can see a lot of other sights from both the cold war era as well as other periods of German history as the nazi time from 1933-1945.

 

About the upcoming Berlin travel guide

  • Contents: Tours in the city + tours in the surrounding area
  • Published: Released soon
  • Author: Stig Albeck
  • Publisher: Vamados.com
  • Language: English

 

About the travel guide

The Berlin travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the German city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.

 

Berlin is waiting for you, and at vamados.com you can also find cheap flights and great deals on hotels for your trip. You just select your travel dates and then you get flight and accommodation suggestions in and around the city.

 

Read more about Berlin and Germany

 

Buy the travel guide

Click the “Add to Cart” button to purchase the travel guide. After that you will come to the payment, where you enter the purchase and payment information. Upon payment of the travel guide, you will immediately receive a receipt with a link to download your purchase. You can download the travel guide immediately or use the download link in the email later.

 

Use the travel guide

When you buy the travel guide to Berlin you get the book online so you can have it on your phone, tablet or computer – and of course you can choose to print it. Use the maps and tour suggestions and you will have a good and content-rich journey.

Brandenburger Tor • Under den Linden • Museum Island • Alexanderplatz

Overview of Berlin

With its 3.5 million inhabitants, Berlin is Germany’s largest city and at the same time one of Europe’s great historical metropolises. The city is the former residence of the Hohenzollern rulers and for centuries the center of the great German cultural nation, which has given the world countless famous artists, thinkers and scientists.

 

Berlin was in many ways also the center of the world through the 20th century. This is where the Cold War was hottest with the United States and the Soviet Union on each side of the Berlin Wall. The wall is gone today, but you can see parts of it around the city, and you can see a lot of other sights from both the cold war era as well as other periods of German history as the nazi time from 1933-1945.

 

About the upcoming Berlin travel guide

  • Contents: Tours in the city + tours in the surrounding area
  • Published: Released soon
  • Author: Stig Albeck
  • Publisher: Vamados.com
  • Language: English

 

About the travel guide

The Berlin travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the German city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.

 

Berlin is waiting for you, and at vamados.com you can also find cheap flights and great deals on hotels for your trip. You just select your travel dates and then you get flight and accommodation suggestions in and around the city.

 

Read more about Berlin and Germany

 

Buy the travel guide

Click the “Add to Cart” button to purchase the travel guide. After that you will come to the payment, where you enter the purchase and payment information. Upon payment of the travel guide, you will immediately receive a receipt with a link to download your purchase. You can download the travel guide immediately or use the download link in the email later.

 

Use the travel guide

When you buy the travel guide to Berlin you get the book online so you can have it on your phone, tablet or computer – and of course you can choose to print it. Use the maps and tour suggestions and you will have a good and content-rich journey.

Other Attractions

Friedrichstrasse, Berlin

Friedrichstraße Railway Station/Bahnhof Friedrichstraße

This is one of Berlin’s central railway stations and a famous place known from the Cold War. It was one of the few border crossings between east and west, and that part of the history can be seen at the museum in Tränenpalast, located at the station.

 

Berlin Palace & Palace Square/Berliner Schloß & Schloßplatz

This is Berlin’s rebuilt city palace from the time of the Hohenzollers. The palace has been the residence of electors, kings and emperors, and the reconstruction of the impressive construction started in 2013, after being the site of the parliament of East Germany.

 

New Synagogue, Berlin

The New Synagogue/Neue Synagoge

Neue Synagoge was built in the years 1859-1866 in an impressive Moorish-Byzantine style with a large gilded dome. It served as the main synagogue of Berlin’s Jewish congregation.

 

Hakesche Courtyards/Hakesche Höfe

The name Hakesche Höfe is a lovely place with a number of very beautiful backyards in the street of Rosenthaler Straße. Today, the backyards have been transformed into an area with restaurants, etc.

 

Berlin Wall Documentation Center

Documentation Center for the Berlin Wall/Berliner Mauer Documentation Center

From 13 August 1961, the Berlin Wall was built by the GDR to secure the country. For decades, the wall became a hard border between east and west. This is an exhibition about the wall with a preserved piece of the original Berlin Wall.

 

The German Historical Museum/Deutsches Historisches Museum

The German Historical Museum depicts the exciting history of Germany. The museum is worth seeing for its exhibitions and it is located in one of the city’s most beautiful buildings from the Baroque era.

 

St Hedwig's Cathedral, Berlin

St. Hedwig’s Cathedral/St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale

This is Frederick the Great’s neoclassical cathedral, which was consecrated in 1773. The construction was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, and the church is a central part of a complex of magnificent buildings, Frederick had built in this district.

 

Potsdam Square/Potsdamer Platz

Potsdamer Platz was one of the busiest places in Germany before World War II. After its destruction during World War II, it was divided by the border between east and west. It was completely rebuilt after the German reunification and is thus an example of modern architecture.

 

Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin

Checkpoint Charlie

This place was one of the border crossings between East and West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie was located on the border of the American and Soviet zones, and therefore the United States and the Soviet Union faced each other right here.

 

Treptow Park/Treptower Park

The beautiful Treptower Park southeast of Berlin’s city center was laid out in 1876. It is one of Berlin’s lovely green parks, and there is an impressive memorial to fallen Soviet soldiers in World War II as a nice sight in the park.

 

Nicholas’ Quarter/Nikolaiviertel

Nikolaiviertel is an old quarter in central Berlin. The area had been destroyed during World War II, but the GDR government rebuilt the neighborhood in 18th century style from 1979 to 1987. You can see the beautiful St. Nicholas Church/Nikolaikirche here.

 

Alexanderplatz, Berlin

Alexanderplatz

This is one of Berlin’s most famous addresses, and the square was the center of city life of the people in the GDR era. Today you can see a mix of buildings from the GDR era and newer constructions in the still busy square.

 

Aminal Garden/Tiergarten

Tiergarten is a large city park with a size of 210 hectares/518 acres. The history of Tiergarten dates back to 1527, when the area was designated as a royal hunting area. Today you can e.g. see the Victory Column/Siegessäule in the large park.

 

Kurfürstendamm

The Kurfürstendamm is the magnificent boulevard of western Berlin. It was already from 1542 the Elector’s transport route between the castles Berliner Stadtschloss in the center to Jagdschloss Grunewald in the forests southwest of the capital.

 

Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin

Charlottenburg Palace/Schloß Charlottenburg

In 1696-1699, Schloß Charlottenburg was commissioned in Italian baroque by Sophie Charlotte, the wife of Friedrich I, Elector of Brandenburg. It is one of Berlin’s most elegant constructions, and today it is open as a museum.

 

Transmission Tower/Funkturm

Berlin’s Transmission Tower was built by Heinrich Straumer in the years 1924-1926 on the occasion of the third German radio exhibition. In 1929, the world’s first television signals were broadcasted from here.

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