Welcome to Berlin! visitBerlin.com Includes five city tours Hotels, Tickets, Information +49 (0)30-25 00 25 visitBerlin.com © Iko Freese/drama-berlin.de © Iko Die Perlen der Celopatra der Perlen Die Photo: Photo: » … the most rebellious and unconventional of the city’s three opera houses.« [NEW YORK TIMES] All performances with english surtitles! (030) 47 99 74 00 Welcome to Berlin! 3 Getty Images, Photo: bluejayphoto Photo: Getty Images, Berlin – modern, creative and cosmopolitan Contents Berlin is unique. This 3.6-million metropolis in the heart of Europe TOP 5: See 4 stands for innovation and new TOP 5: Experience 6 ideas, lived freedom, and creating TOP 5: Tour 8 tomorrow’s future today. It attracts Fast track Berlin 8 people from around the world – a place which international politicians, Museums 10 renowned scientists and scholars, and Berlin Wall 12 successful artists all call home. Berlin Shopping 14 can look back on a chequered history, Berlin 24/7 16 even in the recent past. Yet today TOP Events 18 Germany’s capital city has reinvented The Basics itself, and is now a world city with an inimitable feeling for life. Getting here and around 25 Berlin WelcomeCard 26 With famous museums and three Berlin Tourist Info 27 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a Addresses A–Z 28 lively international art scene and Berlin’s transport network 30 trendy shopping districts, this is a place to stroll and explore. Berlin’s nightlife is also a living legend: Visit us at: clubs, bars and discos with no official closing time. Creativity and inspiration are vibrantly alive at this visitBerlin.com former East-West interfac e, and facebook.com/visitBerlin freedom and tolerance a lived reality. facebook.com/Berlin twitter.com/visitBerlin Discover Berlin – a diverse, exciting youtube.com/Berlin metropolis in the heart of Europe instagram.com/visit_Berlin where you can always expect the visitBerlin.de/blog unexpected! Welcome to Berlin! #visit_berlin 4 TOP 5: See Photo: Dagmar Schwelle Dagmar Photo: German Parliament Photo: Dagmar Schwelle Dagmar Photo: Photo: Dagmar Schwelle Dagmar Photo: Berlin Wall Memorial Site Schwelle Dagmar Photo: Museum Island dept Photo: Welcome to Berlin! 5 TOP 5: See P Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) Visit Berlin’s world-famous land- mark – the Brandenburg Gate. After the fall of the Wall, this became a symbol of German reunification. P Reichstag (German Parliament) Since 1990, the historic Reichstag building has housed the German Parliament. The publicly accessible modern glass dome offers a stunning 360° panorama of the city. P Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall) The Wall was the inner German border through the heart of the city, and came to symbolise the Brandenburg Gate division of Germany and the Cold War. Trace the course of the Wall through the city – a route marked by the remains of the Wall and border complex and a double row of cobblestones. P Museumsinsel (Museum Island) The world’s largest museum ensemble is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The five museums on the island house a fascinating display of over 6,000 years of art and cultural history. P Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) This charming baroque palace, the largest surviving residence of the Prussian kings in Berlin, also has romantic palace gardens and a Charlottenburg Palace charming landscaped park. 6 TOP 5: Experience Book your TV Tower ticket online now and skip the queues to enjoy fantastic views across the city! visitBerlin.com Berlin TV Tower Photo:Getty Images, Photo: Rafael Dols Photo: Pierre Adenis Berlin Philharmonic Tickets for boat and city tours – book now! Berlin Tourist Info, on T+49 (0)30-25 00 25 or visitBerlin.com Boat tour through the government quarter Photo: Dagmar Schwelle Welcome to Berlin! 7 TOP 5: Experience P The bird’s-eye view from P Berlin from the water the Fernsehturm (TV Tower) Relax and let the city slide past. At 368 metres high, Berlin’s TV Explore Berlin on a boat trip along Tower is Germany’s highest the Spree and Havel rivers or to building. Ultra-modern elevators Müggelsee lake and enjoy viewing speed you to the observation floor the sights, river banks and beaches where you can take a seat in the from the water. Sphere Restaurant, relax and enjoy spotting the city sights - while the P The legendary KaDeWe restaurant slowly revolves for the gourmet department perfect ‘all round’ view! Surrender to temptation! Visit the sixth floor of the European Photo:Getty Images, Photo: Rafael Dols Photo: Photo:GettyImages, P A concert by the Berlin Philharmonic mainland’s largest department store with its array of food bars and cafés, Enjoy one of the world’s leading as well as culinary specialities from symphony orchestras, with a around the world, including 1,300 global reputation forged by cheeses and 2,400 wines. Photo: Pierre Adenis Pierre Photo: conductor Herbert von Karajan and continued today by Kirill P Berlin’s famous Petrenko. currywurst snack Berlin offers the entire spectrum The classic Berlin currywurst of music and theatre: opera, sausage – outside crispy, inside musicals, revue shows and firm, and served with a tasty curry- around 150 large and small style sauce. Rock your taste buds stages providing a top cultural at Konnopke’s Imbiss under the programme. elevated railway in cool Prenzlauer Berg or in Kreuzberg at Curry 36 on Mehringdamm. Photo:KaDeWe Photo: Dagmar Schwelle Dagmar Photo: Berlin’s currywurst snack Koschel Philip Photo: KaDeWe 8 TOP 5: Tour TOP 5: Tour Fast track Berlin Savour your first coffee of the day at the Fernsehturm (TV Tower) 1 while enjoying the magnificent views 207 metres up. Take in the famous Weltzeituhr (the World Clock) on Alexanderplatz 2 before strolling to the Berliner Dom 3 and viewing Berlin’s cathedral church with its magnificent dome. The tour continues down Berlin’s renowned Unter den Linden boulevard 4 with its impressive array of historical buildings and monuments. At Markgrafenstraße, turn left and you’re just a few minutes away from the beautiful Gendarmenmarkt 5. With its elegant ensemble of concert hall and churches – the Konzerthaus and the Deutsche and Französische Dom – the square’s harmonious design is inspirational. This is the perfect view for lunch at one of the many restaurants and cafés lining the square. Refreshed and restored, follow the crowds down Französische Straße and cross the popular Friedrichstraße. Head straight on to the Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) 6 with its field of stelae open on all sides. Berlin’s signature sight of the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) 7 is only a few steps away. To the west, the Siegessäule (Victory Column) 8 towers over the trees in Tiergarten park. Brandenburg Gate is very close to the Reichstag 9, home to the German Parliament. The publicly accessible glass dome (advance registration required bundestag.de/en/visittheBundestag) has stunning views Welcome to Berlin! 9 Tickets for Berlin’s most popular attractions – book now! Berlin Tourist Info, T+49 (0)30-25 00 25 or at visitBerlin.com across the city centre, the modern architecture of the nearby government buildings, and down to the highrises at Potsdamer Platz a. There, the contemporary designs of the Sony Center’s glass façades, the Potsdamer Platz quarter and the Kollhoff Tower at Potsdamer Platz 1 are defining the face of modern Berlin. Potsdamer Platz is within easy walking distance of the Kulturforum b ensemble, with the Philharmonie, the Staatsbibliothek (State Library) and the Gemäldegalerie (Old Master Paintings) art gallery. You can now walk on – or rest your feet on the M29 bus – and head through Berlin’s embassy quarter, past the Bauhaus Archive to the City West. Kurfürstendamm boulevard c is the heart of the western city. At Breitscheidplatz, the ruins of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church) d together with the new church from 1961 commemorate the horrors of World War II. Berlin Zoo e, Germany’s oldest zoo, is close by. With around 1,500 species and over 20,000 animals, it is ranked among the zoos with the most species in the world. From here, take the 109 bus on Kurfürstendamm to finish your tour at the palace of Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) f with its lovely baroque garden and grounds. More on Berlin’s sights at visitBerlin.com 10 TOP 5: Tour Museums Start out with a hands-on experience of life in former East Germany in the DDR Museum (GDR Museum) 1. Take a simulated ride in an original Trabi car through a Berlin tower-block estate, or eavesdrop on a Stasi interrogation. Then cross the nearby Karl-Liebknecht-Brücke to the world- renowned Museumsinsel (Museum Island) 2. Enjoy the spectacularly restored Neues Museum (New Museum) 3, immersing yourself in the world’s oldest cultures and marvelling at the beauty of the bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. From here, the baroque building housing the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum) 4 is just a few steps away. The collection showcases 2000 years of German history, from a 4th-century Gothic silver clasp to the 1994 agreement on the Allied forces withdrawal from Germany. Now head down Unter den Linden to take the U6 line from Friedrichstraße to Kochstraße and the Jüdisches Museum Berlin (Jewish Museum Berlin) 5. This impressive and highly- modern museum, built like a broken Star of David, presents a journey of discovery across two millennia of German-Jewish history and culture. The Berlinische Galerie 6 is literally just around the corner. Dedicated to the best in the arts in Berlin since 1870, the museum showcases everything from painting and sculpture to photography and multimedia art.