Berlin Travel Guide
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BERLIN TRAVEL GUIDE Made by Dorling Kindersley 29. March 2010 PERSONAL GUIDES POWERED BY traveldk.com 1 Highlights Berlin Travel Guide Highlights Brandenburger Tor & Pariser Platz The best known of Berlin’s symbols, the Brandenburg Gate stands proudly in the middle of Pariser Platz, asserting itself against the hyper-modern embassy buildings that now surround it. Crowned by its triumphant Quadriga sculpture, the famous Gate has long been a focal point in Berlin’s history: rulers and statesmen, military parades and demonstrations – all have felt compelled to march through the Brandenburger Tor. www.berlin.de/tourismus/sehenswuerdigkeiten.en/00022.html For more on historical architecture in Berlin (see Historic Buildings) restaurant and a souvenir shop around a pleasantly Top 10 Sights shaded courtyard. Brandenburger Tor Eugen-Gutmann-Haus 1 Since its restoration in 2002, Berlin’s symbol is now 8 With its clean lines, the Dresdner Bank, built in the lit up more brightly than ever before. Built by Carl G round by the Hamburg architects’ team gmp in 1996–7, Langhans in 1789–91 and modelled on the temple recalls the style of the New Sobriety movement of the porticos of ancient Athens, the Gate has, since the 19th 1920s. In front of the building, which serves as the Berlin century, been the backdrop for many events in the city’s headquarters of the Dresdner Bank, stands the famous turbulent history. original street sign for the Pariser Platz. Quadriga Haus Liebermann 2 The sculpture, 6 m (20 ft) high above the Gate, was 9 Josef Paul Kleihues erected this building at the north created in 1794 by Johann Gottfried Schadow as a end of the Brandenburger Tor in 1996–8, faithfully symbol of peace. As a model for the laurel-crowned recreating an earlier building on the same site. The house goddess of peace in the chariot, Schadow used his niece, is named after the artist Max Liebermann, who lived who subsequently became famous throughout Berlin. here. In 1933, watching Nazi SA troops march through the Gate, he famously said: “I cannot possibly eat as Hotel Adlon Berlin much as I would want to puke out.” 3 Completed in 1997 and now favoured by visiting dignitaries, Berlin’s most elegant hotel is a reconstruction American Embassy of the original Hotel Adlon. This legendary hotel, 10 The last gap in the line of buildings around Pariser destroyed in World War II, was host to the rich and Platz will be closed by 2006. A dispute between the famous, including Greta Garbo, Thomas Mann and Charlie embassy and the Berlin Senate delayed building for Chaplin (see Famous Hotels) . several years: an entire street was to be moved to satisfy the USA’s security requirements. But in the end, the DG Bank historical street stayed where it was. 4 This modern building, designed by the American architect Frank Owen Gehry, combines the clean lines of Prussian architecture with some daring elements. Akademie der Künste 5 The new building, erected between 2000 and 2005 by Günter Behnisch and Manfred Sabatke, incorporates behind a vast expanse of windows the ruins of the old art academy, which was destroyed in World War II. Today it is the home of the Academy of the Arts of the Province of Berlin-Brandenburg. French Embassy 6 In 1999–2001, an elegant new building was constructed by Christian de Portzamparc, on the site of the old embassy, which was destroyed in World War II. Its colonnades and tall windows, a homage to the former French Embassy palace, are particularly remarkable and worth seeing. Palais am Pariser Platz 7 This complex by Bernhard Winking, a successful modern interpretation of Neo-Classical architecture, is slightly hidden to the north of the Brandenburger Tor. It is worth venturing inside where you will find a café, a traveldk.com 3 Berlin Travel Guide Highlights Brandenburger Tor & Pariser Platz Practical information Pariser Platz • Map F3, K3 Tourist information • Brandenburger Tor • Map F3, K3 • 10am–6pm daily • (030) 25 00 25 Top tips • One of the best spots for a coffee break in Pariser Platz is Café Meyerbeer, in the Palais am Pariser Platz. Don’t miss its great cake display. • A small exhibition, housed in the northern side wing of the Brandenburger Tor, tells the history of the Gate. traveldk.com 4 Berlin Travel Guide Highlights Reichstag Of all the buildings in Berlin, the Parliamentary Building is probably one of the most symbolic. The mighty structure, erected in 1884–94 by Paul Wallot as the proud manifestation of the power of the German Reich, was destroyed by arson in 1933 and bombed during World War II. In 1996, the artist Christo wrapped up the Reichstag and, in 1994–9, the British architect Sir Norman Foster transformed it into one of the most modern parliamentary buildings in the world. Today it is the official seat of the Bundestag, the German parliament. Berlin governmental buildings (see Modern Buildings) Memorial for Victims of the Wall Top 10 Sights 10 Opposite the southern side of the Reichstag, a The Cupola memorial recalls the Berlin Wall, which ran only a few 1 The new Reichstag cupola by Sir Norman Foster steps away from this spot. One of the crosses affords breathtaking views of Berlin. It is open at the top commemorates Chris Gueffroy: shot in February 1989 to air the building and – a touch of irony here – to allow when trying to escape, he was one of more than 100 for the dissemination of debates throughout the country. people who died at the Wall. A ramp winds its way up to the top. Plenary Hall 2 The newly designed plenary hall is the seat of the Deutscher Bundestag, the German parliament, which Reichstag has convened here again since 20 April 1999. Technologically, the hall is one of the most advanced in the world. The federal eagle caused a row: considered Practical information too “fat”, it had to be slimmed down. • Platz der Republik 1 Portico “Dem deutschen Volke” • Map F3, K2 3 The dedication “To the German People” was • Open 8am–midnight designed in 1916, against the will of Wilhelm II. • (030) 22 73 21 52 • www.bundestag.de Restored Façade 4 Despite extensive renovations, small bullet holes from World War II are still visible in the building’s façade. Top tips Restaurant Käfer • If a meal at the Käfer restaurant exceeds your 5 This luxury restaurant next to the cupola on the budget, many stalls in the vicinity of the Reichstag Reichstag’s roof offers an excellent view of the historical sell hot dogs. centre of Unter den Linden. It is very popular and you • Large numbers of visitors come to see the may well have to wait for a seat (see Restaurants & Reichstag cupola. It is best to avoid weekends or Cafés) . to start queuing half an hour before the opening time. Tuesday is the quietest day. Installation “Der Bevölkerung” 6 Hans Haacke’s work of art “To the People” is a counterpoint to the portico inscription opposite. Memorial by Dieter Appett The Reichstag Fire 7 Unveiled in 1992, the memorial commemorates 97 When the Reichstag went up in flames on 27 Social Democratic and Communist Reichstag delegates February 1933, the Dutch Communist van der who were murdered under the Third Reich. Lubbe was arrested and charged with arson. It is, however, much more likely that the Nazis had The German Flag started the fire themselves. Adolf Hitler used the 8 The giant German flag was first raised on the Reichstag fire as a pretext to get the “Enabling occasion of the official national celebrations of German Act” passed by parliament. This allowed him to reunification on 3 October 1990. dispose of all his opponents, marking the beginning of a 12-year reign of terror. Platz der Republik 9 Celebrations often take place on the lawn in front of the Reichstag, most recently in 1996, when the building was wrapped up by Christo. traveldk.com 5 Berlin Travel Guide Highlights Zoologischer Garten Berlin’s Zoological Garden is Germany’s oldest zoo and, with over 1,400 different species, it is one of the best-stocked in the world. Animals have been kept and bred here, in the northwest of the Tiergarten district, since 1844. A total of about 13,000 animals live in the zoo, ranging from saucer jellyfish to the Indian elephant. Some enclosures are interesting buildings in their own right. In summer, a visit to the zoo is a favourite day out for Berliners, and many animals, such as the panda and baby gorillas, have become celebrities. Aquarium: www.aquarium-berlin.de Not for the faint-hearted: in the crocodile hall visitors cross a small wooden footbridge, only 2 m (6 ft) above Top 10 Zoo Sights the dozing creatures. The reptiles are fed their meat Panda Bears every other Monday at 3:30pm. 1 Bao-Bao the Giant Panda (one of the most endangered species in the world) is the greatest star of Aquarium the Berlin Zoo. He was presented to Germany by China 9 The greatest draw in the aquarium, where Caribbean as an official gift in 1980. His female partner Yan Yan is and Amazonian habitats have been recreated, are the on loan from China for breeding purposes. blacktip reef sharks and green morays. The electric eel, able to generate up to 800 volts, and the sting-rays are Monkey House also popular. 2 Monkeys and apes are at home in this house, and here you can watch gorillas, orang-utangs and Amphibians’ Section chimpanzees swinging from tree to tree and playing in 10 Poisonous snakes, bird spiders and reptiles as well the straw.