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Guide to Europe >> Germany >> Berlin
Berlin |
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Berlin has seen a massive transformation in the past few decades. Critically damaged by World War II and the separation of East Germany and West Germany by the Berlin Wall, Berlin began rebuilding and reconnecting after 1989, with artists and other cultural elites returning to the city in hordes. While some tensions still exists between the East and West Berliners (some Easterners see the West as arrogant), the general atmosphere in Berlin is very accepting and multicultural. Today, the this capital city maintains one of the most vibrant nightlife scenes in Europe and attracts backpackers from around the world.
College Backpacking recommends spending 3-4 days in Berlin. The sights and cultural areas are endless, and the city itself has a general air of friendliness and acceptance.
To start, explore the Mitte district, which is the center part of town where you can find the Bradenburg Gate, the Reichstag, and many other historical structures. The district was once split by the wall.
Museum Island can take up most of a day, so reserve the second day for a large dose of art and culture.
On Day Three, head towards the Friedrichshain district, a hip and alternative neighborhood with many cafes and a very young crowd. Here you can find the East Side Gallery, the best-preserved section of the Berlin Wall. Take the metro to the Warschauer Str. Station. If possible, find a restaurant for dinner in Friedrichshain, and explore the many little unassuming bars.
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| Tourist Sites |
Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is one of the main symbols of Berlin. It is located to the west of the city near the Pariser Platz and one block south of the Reichstag. It is the only remaining gate to the city that was originally commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia in the late 1700’s. The gate includes 12 columns and a statue of the Quad Riga, the chariot and four horses driven by Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory. When Napoleon defeated the Prussians, he took the Quad Riga back to Paris, where it remained until 1814 when Prussian’s defeated Napoleon and occupied Paris. The gate was one of few structures in Berlin to survive the intense bombing in World War II. John F. Kennedy gave his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech in front of the Brandenburg gate in 1963.
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Berlin Wall
After Germany was defeated in World War II, it was divided up amongst the Allies. Russia was given control over East Germany and the eastern portion of Berlin, and the other allies, the Americans, French, and British took Western Germany and the western portion of Berlin. The wall was constructed on August 13, 1961 to prevent the East Germans from crossing into the western half and to essentially isolate the western portion of Berlin. It is estimated that over 200 people were killed trying to flee to West Berlin during the 28 years that the wall stood. The final version of the wall contained 8 crossings, with the most famous being Checkpoint Charlie. There are over 5,000 reported successful escapes into West Berlin. Today the wall has mostly been destroyed or stolen, and only three sections of the wall remain. One section lies halfway between Checkpoint Charlie and the Potsdamer Platz, another on the Spree River near Oberbaumbrucke, and the third section at Bernauer StraBe. The wall’s location is marked throughout the city with cobblestones laid into the ground. The line can be seen travelling though buildings, streets, and whatever else stands in the wall’s path. |
Checkpoint Charlie
Address: Friedrichstrasse and Kochstrasse
Checkpoint Charlie was one of eight crossings through the Berlin wall. It was located in the American Sector and only Allies and non-German citizens were allowed to use it. The Cold War nearly ignited into a full scale war when tensions spiked on October 22, 1961. There was a dispute over a U.S. diplomat’s documents being reviewed, and soon ten American tanks stood 100 meters from ten Soviet tanks with guns pointing at each other. Luckily, the standoff ended peacefully on October 28th.
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Reichstag Building
Address: Platz der Republik 1
Transportation: S1 and S2, bus no. 100
Hours: 8:00am- midnight
This building was built to house the Reichstag, parliament, of the German empire. It served this purpose from 1894 until 1933, when it was supposedly set ablaze by a Dutch communist. Many believe that the Reichstag fire in 1933 was a conspiracy, and that the Nazis set the fire as a stunt to push communism out of Germany. The building was redesigned with a glass roof and dome, which allows people to look down upon the German parliament. There is no fee to access the dome, which provides an excellent view of the city, but the lines can be quite long in the summer.
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TV Tower
This tower is located near Alexanderplatz and was completed in 1969 by the communist government of East Germany. The tower reaches a height of 368 meters, which makes it the fourth tallest structure in Europe. The tower has a visitor’s platform and a revolving restaurant in the middle of the sphere. When the sun hits the tower’s dome, the reflection is often seen as a cross, which Berliner’s soon called the Pope’s Revenge. This was a slight against the Communist government, which suppressed church institutions in East Germany. |
Gendarmenmarkt
Transportation: U2, U6
Gendarmenmarkt is a sight in Berlin which hosts the French and German Cathedrals along with the Konzerthaus, concert hall which hosts the major German orchestra. This area demonstrates the multi cultural makeup of Berlin, and how these cultures can leave together peacefully. The French Cathedral was built in 1705 by the Huguenots, and the German Cathedral, which stands just on the other side of the square, was built in 1708 by the Germans. |
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
Transportation: S line, Unter den Linden stop
Also known as the Holocaust Memorial, this memorial is dedicated to all the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. It was designed by Peter Eisenman and Buro Happold. It contains 2,711 concrete pillars of varying height placed on a wavy sloping surface, which aims to create an uneasy sense of confusion. It was inaugurated in May of 2005. It is only one block south of the Brandenburg gate in the Friedrichstadt area. One thing about this memorial has caused quite a bit of controversy. The pillars were all covered with an anti-graffiti chemical, which is manufactured by Degussa. Degussa also produced some of the poisons used in the Nazi gas chambers. |
Museum Island
Transportation: U and S lines to Friedrichstrasse, bus nos. 100, 157, 348, 147
General Hours: Tues.- Sun. 10:00am- 6:00pm
Tickets: €12
Old, New, Old National Gallery, Bode, Pergamon
Museum Island is an island in Berlin, Germany in the Spree River. It hosts five internationally renowned museums, and was constructed under several Prussian Kings. The Old Museum was completed in 1830 and currently hosts ancient Greek and Roman artifacts. The New Museum was completed in 1855, heavily damaged during World War II, and its reconstruction is scheduled to be completed in 2009. Once finished, it will host Egyptian artifacts and papyrus along with the famous bust of the queen Nefertiti. The new museum will also host some prehistoric items including some from the Stone Age. The Old National Museum was completed in 1876 and displayed over 250 paintings donated by Johann Heinrich Wagener. This Roman Temple styled museum currently displays works from Classicism and Romanticism, including works by Monet, Caspar Friedrich, and sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow. The Bode Museum was completed in 1904 and currently contains sculptures, Byzantine art, and an assortment of coins and medals. Some of the coins in this collection date back to the seventh century B.C. The Pergamon Museum was completed in 1930, and houses real sized reconstructed buildings like the Pergamon Altar, Market Gate of Miletus, and the Ishtar Gate. The museum is divided into three sections, the antiquity collection, Middle East museum, and the Islamic Art Museum. The Ishtar Gate dates back to 575 B.C. and was a gate to the inner city of Babylon. The gate was ordered by King Nebuchadnezzar II to be built on the North Side of the ancient city. |
Humboldt University
Address: Unter den Linden 6
Humboldt University is the oldest university in the city of Berlin. It was founded in 1810 and many famous persons have done some of their finest work at Humboldt. A few notables are Albert Einstein, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Savigny, Karl Marx, and Otto Von Bismarck. Humboldt University is home to 29 Nobel Prize winners. When the Nazis took power in 1933, they had a large bonfire outside the university where they burned over 20,000 books written by Jews, Gypsies, and other oppressed peoples. There is a memorial to this fire in the square outside Humboldt University, which contains a glass window looking into an empty bookshelf for 20,000 books. |
| Restaurants |
| Tours |
New Berlin Tours
New Berlin Tours offers free 3.5 hour walking and biking tours of Berlin. Tours leave at 10:30am and 12:30pm from the Zoologischer Garten and 11am, 1pm, and 4pm from the Starbucks near the Brandenburg gate. The tour guides do an excellent job, so be sure to bring money to tip them at the end of the tour. |
| Transportation |
Intercity
Flights: Berlin’s tumultuous past has left Berlin with three airports, Flughafen Tegel, Flughafen Schönefeld, and Flughafen Tempelhof. Tegel is Berlin’s main international airport and can be reached by express bus #109 from Bahnoff Zoo. Schönefeld charters intercontinental flights as well as most flights to developing countries, and Tempelhof handles flights within Europe.
Trains: Hauptbahnoff is Berlin’s transit hub, and can get backpackers to many international destinations as well as domestics including Ostbahnoff, Schönefeld airport, Potsdam, Spandau, Oranienburg, and Alexander Platz.
Buses: Berlin’s central bus station is ZOB and is located near Kaiserdamm. There are many promotions on long distance bus travels, so depending whether you value your time or money more, these may be worth looking into.
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Local
Public Transportation: Berlin’s public transportation is a very efficient network of U-bahn (subways), S-bahn (surface rail), buses, and Straßenbahn (streetcars). All of these are operated by the BVG, and they run on a three zone system (A,B,C). Those backpacking in Berlin will likely stay within zones A and B, and a one way ticket costs €2,10. Tickets are good for 2 hours after validation and grant backpackers access to all the above forms of transportation. The systems offer excellent coverage during the night hours as well, since the U and S-bahn systems run from 4am-1am, over 70 buses run throughout the early hours of the morning, and the Straßenbahn run 24 hrs. |
| Night Life |
Tresor
Address: Kopenickerstrasse 59-73
Hours: midnight- 6:00am
Cover: €5-15 (higher on the weekends)
Built on techno music in the former East Berlin, Tresor feature two floors of music. The basement is for more intense, hard-core techno, while the upper floor plays mellower mix. This club is a Berlin institution among young club-goers.
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Zur Letzte Instanz
Address: Waisenstr. 14-16
Transportation: U line Klosterstrasse
Hours: Mon.- Sat. noon- 1:00am
Deemed the oldest pub in Berlin, Zur Letzte Instanz traces its roots back to 1561, when the building was erected. In 1621, a retired knight’s servant opened a distillery in the building and operated a frequent watering hole and restaurant for the nearby monastery. Today it serves traditional German cuisine in a casual environment. |
Quasimodo
Address: Kantstrasse 12a
Transportation: U line, Bahnhof Zoo
Hours: Jazz club; Tues.- Sat. 9:00pm- late, Café: Mon.- Fri. opens at 4:30pm, weekends at 11:00am
Quasimodo features some of the best jazz music in Berlin in its cellar. Jazz, blues and funk musicians from around the world have found their way to this intimate space since 1975, and above lies a café with a front sun terrace. |
Berghain
Address: Am Weiezener Bahnhof
Hours: the club picks up around midnight
This famous club is not for the weak or timid. Berghain is located in a former power plant, apparent from its sparse concrete and steal décor, behind the Ostbahnhof rail station. Extreme clubbers come here for pounding techno music that doesn’t end until Sunday afternoon. The atmosphere is energetic and pleasure-seeking, and anything goes. When people talk about the wild nightlife in Berlin, chances are they’re referring to Berghain. |
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