Things To Do in Berlin

It's now been over 35 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. While Berliners won’t forget this monstrous concrete symbol of political division and paranoia, the majority of it was torn down in the early 1990s. But there are still a few places to see remnants of the Wall.

The East Side Gallery (U-Bahn: Warschauerstrasse Strasse), a 2km ( 3/4-mile) section of the Wall along the Spree River southeast of Alexanderplatz, is the longest and best preserved section left standing. It was painted by an international group of artists in the 1990s and is considered an outdoor art gallery. The Wall is still a political flashpoint for many Berliners. Controversy recently erupted when the city tried to restore some of the sections of the East Side Gallery that that had been damaged by weather and graffiti, and again when a real-estate developer removed two sections and began constructing an incongruous luxury apartment building behind the old Wall. The Berlin Wall Memorial/Berliner Mauer Dokumentationszentrum (Bernauer Strasse 111; www.berliner-mauer-dokumentationszentrum.de; Tues–Sat 10am–6pm, Nov–Mar to 5pm; free admission; U-Bahn: Bernauer Strasse), created by the government as a memorial center, is a 230-ft.-long (70m) reconstructed stretch of the Wall at Bernauer Strasse and Ackerstrasse. The memorial consists of two mirrorlike stainless-steel walls that include fragments of the original wall, and a memorial building with photos of the area pre-1989 and eyewitness testimonies of what it was like when the wall stood. Part of the memorial is the Chapel of Reconciliation (Kapelle der Versöhnung), a contemporary building set on the site of a church that was blown up in 1985 in order to widen the border strip at this spot.

Architecture Beyond the Berlin's Main Sights

Just north of the Tiergarten is the Hansaviertel, or Hansa Quarter (U-Bahn: Hansaplatz). The architecture of this area was an outgrowth of the great INTERBAU 1957 (International Builder's Exhibition), when architects from 22 nations designed buildings for the totally destroyed quarter. The diversity here is exhilarating: Fifty architects took part, including Gropius, Niemeyer, and Duttman.

Le Corbusier also submitted a design for an apartment house for INTERBAU 1957, but the structure was so gigantic that it had to be built near the Olympic Stadium (U-Bahn: Olympia-Stadion). The Corbusier House, called Strahlende Stadt (radiant city), is one of Europe's largest housing complexes -- its 530 apartments can house up to 1,400 people. Typical of the architect's style, this tremendous building rests on stilts.

The architects of rebuilt Berlin were also encouraged to design centers for the performing arts. One of the most controversial projects was the Kongresshalle (Congress Hall), on John-Foster-Dulles-Allee, in the Tiergarten, just west of Brandenburg Gate (S-Bahn: Unter den Linden). This building was conceived as the American contribution to INTERBAU 1957. The reinforced concrete structure has an 18m-high (60-ft.) vaulted ceiling that reminds some viewers of an oversize flying saucer. Berliners immediately christened it the "Pregnant Oyster." The building today is used mainly for conventions. More successful was the Philharmonie, new home of the Berlin Philharmonic, at Matthäikirchstrasse, and its adjacent chamber music hall, next to the Tiergarten. The tentlike roof arches up in a bold curve, and the gold-colored facade glitters.

One of the city's tallest buildings sits in the midst of the city's busiest area. The 22-story Europa Center, just across the plaza from the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz (U-Bahn: Kurfürstendamm), is the largest self-contained shopping center and entertainment complex in Europe. This town-within-a-town opened in 1965 on the site of the legendary Romanisches Café, once a gathering place for actors, writers, and artists in the flamboyant 1920s. Berliners dubbed it "Pepper's Manhattan," after its owner, K. H. Pepper. In addition to three levels of shops, restaurants, nightclubs, bars, and cinemas, it contains dozens of offices, a parking garage, and an observation roof. At the Tauentzienstrasse entrance, you can find two pieces of the former Berlin Wall. 

About Berlin's Sightseeing Pass

The CityTourCard gives you free entry to more than 50 museums in Berlin, a free trip up the Fernsehturm (Television Tower), and reduced fare on BVG tours. The card is sold at all BVG and S-Bahn (urban rail) ticket counters and at some 200 hotels, and it's also available from automatic vending machines run by the BVG. Ticket holders may take children ages 5 and younger free. The cost is 22.10€ for 48 hours (shorter and longer cards are available, along with those that include Potsdam) For more information, visit www.citytourcard.com.

The Marker That Identifies Hitler's Bunker

The notorious bunker of the Third Reich was marked publicly in 2006. The Führer Bunker, as it is called, was where Hitler staged his last stand, committing suicide on April 30, 1945, as Soviet troops encircled the bunker. Stalin had issued orders to bring Hitler to Moscow alive. "History can be good or bad, but even if it's about a devil, people must be informed of history," said former SS Staff Sgt. Rochus Misch, a Hitler bodyguard who lived in the bunker with him and attended the unveiling of the marker in June 2006.

For decades, Berlin officials refused to mark the site, fearing it would become a place of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis. Misch dispelled the widely circulated myth that the bunker had 12 floors and an underground highway that Hitler used to cruise beneath the city. The bunker was constructed in 1935 and was fortified by walls 4.2m (14 ft.) thick. The bunker is not intact under the parking lot that covers it. Soviet soldiers blew up most of the bunker in the 1980s, and the foundation and walls were filled with rubble. The marker bears graphics, photographs, and a chronology of events in both German and English. The location of the bunker is at the corner of In den Ministergarten and Gertrude Kolmar Strasse near the Potsdamer Platz.

Berlin is a great shopping city and you can find anything you want. But keep in mind that you’ll pay less for goods made in Germany and the European Union than for goods imported to Germany from the United States. German porcelain, china, crystal, and cutlery, for example, are prized for their quality, and their prices are lower here than in the United States.

The main shopping boulevard in the western part of Berlin is the famous Ku’Damm (short for Kurfürstendamm). Quality stores, in addition to stores carrying souvenirs and T-shirts, line the street. The specialty stores on the side streets around the Ku’Damm, especially between Breitscheidplatz and Olivaer Platz, are good shopping grounds.

Another good shopping street in western Berlin, close to Ku’Damm, is Tauentzienstrasse and its intersecting streets: Marburger Strasse, Ranke Strasse, and Nürnberger Strasse. Europa Center (Tauentzienstrasse), Berlin’s first shopping mall, dating back to the 1960s, contains dozens of shops joined by restaurants and cafes. Neues Kranzler Eck, an upscale, outdoor retail “passage” created right on the Ku’Damm at Joachimstaler Strasse, is newer and trendier.

The Uhland-Passage, at Uhlandstrasse 170, has some of the best boutiques and big-name stores in Berlin. Shoppers interested in quality at any price head to Kempinski Plaza (Uhlandstrasse 181-183), home to some of the most exclusive boutiques in the city, including haute-couture women’s clothing. You find trendier boutiques along Bleibtreustrasse.

The Potsdamer Platz Arkaden (U-/S-Bahn: Potsdamer Platz), one of the most comprehensive shopping malls in Berlin, contains over 100 shops scattered over three levels. Unter den Linden is emphatically not a shopping street, but Friedrichstrasse is. This was the main shopping street in eastern Berlin (now Mitte) before World War II and before the Wall. It has regained its former prominence and is decidedly upscale.

Berlin Flea Markets

In Berlin, “nightlife” runs round-the-clock, and there’s plenty to do at any hour. No matter what your tastes and interests, you will find something to do when the sun goes down. The caliber and variety of of Berlin’s performing arts scene is extraordinary, and the club scene is—and has been since the 1920s—legendary.

The monthly English-language newspaper, “The ExBerliner” (www.exberliner.com), provides a witty, informative guide to the city’s culture and entertainment. This magazine is available at newsstands and tourist offices. Tourist offices also distribute a free magazine called “New Berlin” providing tips and recommendations to visitors. The German-language “Berlin Programm” (www.berlin-programm.de) is available at newsstands. The most detailed listings are found in “zitty” (www.zitty.de), a biweekly publication in German.

You can buy tickets at the venue’s box office (Kasse). Tickets can usually be purchased right up to curtain time. Tickets for more than 100 venues, including opera, classical concerts, musicals, and cabarets are available at Hekticket (www.hekticket.de), with outlets in the Deutsche Bank foyer at Hardenbergstrasse 29 tel. 030/230-9930; U-Bahn: Zoologischer Garter) and Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 12, on the S-Bahn bridge at Alexanderplatz (tel. 030/230-9930; U-/S-Bahn: Alexanderplatz); both are open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm.; the Zoo location is also open Sundays from 2 to 6pm. For some of the larger opera, ballet, and classical-music venues, you can buy tickets online.

Discounted Tickets for Berlin Shows

Unsold, day-of-performance tickets for music, dance, and theater venues throughout Berlin are sold for up to 50 percent off at the BERLIN infostores. A Berlin Welcome Card allows you to buy reduced-price tickets (usually 25 percent off) at several major performing-arts venues, including the opera houses. 

Cabaret in Berlin

Very popular among visitors to Berlin is the kind of nightspot depicted in the musical Cabaret, with floor-show patter and acts that make fun of the political and social scene. Cabaret life in between-the-wars Berlin inspired writers such as Christopher Isherwood, among many others. These emporiums of schmaltz have been reborn in the former East Berlin -- though the satire may be a bit less biting than it was during the Weimar Republic. Today's cabaret shows may remind you of Broadway blockbusters, without much of the intimacy of the smoky and trenchant cellar revues of the 1930s.

Cafe Life

At its mid-19th-century zenith, Berlin was famous for its cafes. Max Krell, an editor, once wrote: "Cafes were our homeland. They were the stock exchange of ideas, site of intellectual transactions, futures' market of poetic and artistic glory and defeat." They've changed with the times, but cafes are still going strong in Berlin -- particularly, these days, in what used to be East Berlin. In the heart of the old East German capital is a complex of about 100 bars, shops, and restaurants, called Die Hackenschen Höfe (S-Bahn: Hackescher Markt). This stylish minimall attracts hip counterculture denizens who wander between galleries, boutiques, and fashionable cafes. It has become one of the most prominent places in the city to go drinking.

Hanging out at a Kneipe -- A Kneipe is a cozy rendezvous place, a sort of lowbrow pub. Many Berliners have a favorite Kneipe for relaxing after work and visiting with friends, and there are hundreds in Berlin. The following is a more upscale version of a Kneipe known for its history and food.

Gay & Lesbian Berlin

Traditionally, lesbian and gay life centered on the Nollendorfplatz (U-Bahn: Nollendorfplatz), the so-called "Pink Village." There is a history of homosexuality here at the Schwules Museum, Mehringdamm 61 (tel. 030/69599050; www.schwulesmuseum.de). The state-supported Spinnboden Lesbenarchiv & Bibliothek, Anklamerstrasse 38 (tel. 030/4485848; www.spinnboden.de), caters to all sorts of lesbian cultural events. Mann-o-Meter, Bülowstrasse 106 (tel. 030/2168008; www.mann-o-meter.de), is a gay information center.

Today, Motzstrasse is the location of many gay and lesbian bars, including Tom's and Prinzknecht.

In the latter half of June, the Lesbisch-Schwules Stadtfest (Lesbian and Gay Men's Street Fair) takes place at Nollendorfplatz. This is topped in size, though not in exuberance, the last week in June by the Christopher Street Day parade, when 200,000 people congregate to have fun and drop inhibitions.