Berlin: 7 Sites Not To Be Missed


Historically Berlin has been a city of dichotomy and conflict, depending on your point of view it has been described as wild, colourful or decadent, a city of extremes. A city of contradictions, but where, its very differences are its appeal. Like many of its attractions the city is addictive, it constantly draws visitors again and again.

The film Cabaret set in Berlin during the thirties was in part the story of the legendary Sally Bowles, in the fictional Kit Kat Klub, and this film portrays a brash alternative scene. This is an image which the city has boasted of and fostered every since; as such it maintains a high level of artistic freedom its boasts urban eclecticism, and liberalism. It is Germany's capital and the second biggest city in the European Union.

Today it is possible to see that the shape of the city has been fashioned by the distinctive character of various massive construction programmes initiated by the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany, and now the reunification. Berlin was virtually raised to the ground by allied bomb attacks during the Second World War and both the East and West in the 50’s and sixties destroyed what did not happen by bomb damage. Huge construction projects have gone on in the last fifteen years since Berlin once more became the Capitol after reunification.

1. Brandenburg Gate

To many the Brandenburg Gate is the epitome of not only Berlin but also Germany; the Reichstag building the seat of the German Parliament dominates its world famous skyline. The Gate itself has had a chequered history it was originally built in 1791 to represent peace, it has been part of the Berlin Wall and epitomised a country standing on two political divides; it now stands as a symbol of reunification. The structure is the only remaining city gate in Berlin, modeled by Langhans it is built in the style of the Propylaeum in Athens. Whilst the wall stood the gate stood proud and alone, now rebuilding work has been completed in the Pariser Platz.

The Reichstag building or parliament building itself is not the original Nazi facade it was renovated in the 1950s after extensive World War II damage. In 1990 Norman Foster the renowned Manchester architect gave it another controversial face-lift, when it was fitted with a glass dome, which allows the parliament to be viewed from above. There was consternation in some quarters when once again Berlin became the capitol of a united Germany, but this concept that the government has nothing to hide was a masterpiece, and it has become one of the most poplar sights In Berlin.

2. Unter den Linden

Unter den Linden is a magnificent avenue, which represents Old Berlin; it was originally a bridle path. Today it leads from the Brandenburg Gate to the Schlossbrücke Bridge. Magnificent Linden trees originally bordered it, but Hitler ordered these to be chopped down to widen the avenue. It was completely devastated during the war and has been completely rebuilt in the last fifty years.

3. Berlin Wall

The wall is gone but in the eyes of many it is too modern a feature to be forgotten. Berliner’s have marked its passage with a 70-metre memorial consisting of two parallel walls, which holds some of the fragments salvaged from the original wall. The memorial has been constructed from stainless steel but in part you can peer through the slits. When the wall was in place many people from West Berlin could peer through and see those in East Germany going about their daily life only a stone's throw away. A steel plaque reads "In memory of the division of the city from 13 August 1961 to 9 November 1989." It is worth remembering that some of the houses in East Germany actually backed on to the wall originally a few people jumped out of their windows to freedom, until the East German Police moved the houses a little way behind the barrier. Today it is hard to imagine a city so cruelly divided along geographical lines, imagine the irony of being close enough to watch someone eat lunch and far enough away to be in another world.

4. The Wall Museum

The Mauer Museum, the Wall Museum was built privately at the height of the cold war in 1963, its founder opened the “Checkpoint Charlie Haus” right next to the border. The museum was a living testament to bravery because not only was it a museum but also a haven and magnet for those that had successfully fled East Germany. It is impossible now as ever to judge anything out of its time and it is difficult to describe the significance of the Cold War to anyone who did not live through it. It was possible for Westerners to pass from East Germany to West Germany through strictly controlled checkpoints, with code names such as “Checkpoint Charlie”. For most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was no longer possible, though it was possible to view that non-communist life a stone’s throw away.

5. The Beate Uhse Erotik-Museum

Berlin has seventeen state museums, covering art, paintings and sculptor, but it also has some more eclectic tourist museums. The Beate Uhse Erotik-Museum attracts enough visitors in a year to make it Berlin's fifth most popular museum devoted to the history of sex. All the exhibits have an English translation, and many of the over five thousand artifacts are erotic Asian miniatures. The exhibition of Japanese Shunga art is supposed to one of the most complete in the world. There is also an impressive display of wedding tiles, Chinese silk paintings that were used to teach young women about sex.

6. Potsdamer Platz

Potsdamer Platz symbolises the meeting of the past and the future for Berlin. During the Nineteen twenties and thirties Potsdamer Platz was a cosmopolitan, dynamic cultural attraction not just for Germany, but also for the whole of Europe. During 1943 the whole area was razed to the ground by bomb attacks and after the war it became a no mans land separating the American Russian and British sectors of the city. It was again desolate wasteland during the period that the Berlin Wall. Once the wall came down it made a large piece of land free for development and massive construction projects were carried out in the 1990's.

With typical Teutonic efficiency the Germans began to create a massive residential area with a large area designated for the entertainment industry, in short the best tourist attraction available. It has become home to the Berlin film academy and the film museum as well as over forty cinema screens.

7. Museumsinsel (Museum’s Island)

As this name suggests the setting for this group of museums’ is an island set in the River Spree, in the area of the city, which was East Berlin. Museum’s Island is a concept to brilliantly unite five of the cities most famous museums, as I have explained most of Berlin was destroyed in the Second World War. This group of museums is now recognised as a world heritage cultural sight, its function to demonstrate how museum have evolved from 1830 to 1930. The building project is far from completion but it can be seen how the styles are an example of an era and how that style was reflected as a contemporary work. Collectively they house a series of art collections that was amassed by a series of Prussian Kings, which was separated and shown in various assorted places over the city during the cold war.

The following information is to be taken as a guide, as the work is still being undertaken, consequently exhibitions are being moved. At the time of going to press this article is accurate regarding the museums below, but it can change. My advice, use it as a broad guide and seek more modern and current information from a tourist office on your arrival in Berlin. I regret any inconsistencies but given the nature of the work being taken it is unavoidable, and in the author’s opinion as it is a world heritage site it is too important to be omitted.

The Alte Museum (Old Museum)

The Alte Museum Built in 1830 it is the oldest of the group and has a typical domed glass roof, which was constructed to give the appearance of light and space to its sculptures.

The Neue Museum (New Museum)

The Neue Museum was completed in 1859 and it was built to house the growing collection of sculptors displayed in the Alte museum. However it has developed as a museum of humankind. The interior of the museum was recreated to reconstruct the era that it represented. It was completely destroyed during the war apart from its exterior walls and the idea is to have the building completed by 2009. Once completed and despite its name,
it is intended that it show its original collection of Egyptian and pre history art.

The alte Nationbgalerie (The Old National Gallery)

Built by Stüler and completed in 1876 its purpose was to exhibit what was then contemporary German art, the private collection of banker Joachim H. W. Wagener, but his collection of nineteenth century art has been added to making it one of the most comprehensive exhibits of its type in Germany.
It houses some of the greatest works of the late nineteenth and early twentieth Century including the sculptor Rodin, the painting s of the French master include Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, and Paul Cézanne. It houses impressive exhibits of Adolph von Menzel, Anselm Feuerbach, Arnold Böcklin, Max Liebermann and Lovis Corinth.

The Bodemuseum

This building with its new Baroque style has an imposing dome and magnificent entrance hall depict the style of museums at the turn of the Century. The interior was built to reflect the style of its contents, so the exhibits are housed in such a way that the complete room makes a statement. Nowadays this concept is normal but it was a bold concept for its time. Since 2006 it has housed the national coin collection, the Museum of Byzantine Art and the works from the Gemäldegalerie or the old masters gallery.

The Pergamon museum

The Pergamon museum was constructed to house original size replicas including the Pergamon Altar. Situated in what is today modern Turkey at Bergamon, it was actually built in ancient Greece. The original structure had the second largest library in the ancient world second only to the famed Library at Alexandria. In the first century AD, the Christian Church at Pergamon was one of the Seven Churches to which the Book of Revelation was addressed (Revelation 1:12, ).