Berlin Things to Do Tips by fipsi

Built between 1894 and 1905 under Emperor Wilhelm II as the main Prussian protestant-church it houses the tomb of the Hohenzollern-Dynasty.

The with mosaiques decorated dome reaches 75 meters. If you go up to the top of the church you have a nice view over the city. don't miss that!!

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Address: Karl-Liebknecht-Straße, Berlin-Mitte
Directions: S-Bahn: Hackescher Markt
Website: http://www.berliner-dom.de

...you find on the areal of the "Topography of Terror", an outdoor museum about Nazi-terror.

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Address: Niederkirchnerstraße

Berlin's landmark number one was built between 1788 and 1791. This first classicistical work of this kind in Berlin is 26m high (with quadriga), 65.5m wide and 11m deep. The middle gate, that is 5.6m wide, was reserved for the royal family. The other four gates are 3.8m wide and dedicated for the public transport. Today, the gates are part of a pedestrian zone.

The quadriga with Eirene, the god of peace, was erected in 1793. After the French victory over Prussia Napoleon let it move to Paris. As the French lost a battle in 1813 it one year later came back to its origin. Eirene was reinterpreted and now the statue is seen as Victoria, the god of victory. The quadriga was destroyed in World War II, the only relict is a horse-head, now to be seen in the Märkisches Museum. In 1958 a new quadriga moved to the top of the historic gate.

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Address: Pariser Platz, Berlin-Mitte
Directions: S-Bahn: Unter den Linden, Bus 100

The Sony Center consists of seven buildings that all are united by one huge round roof in 40m height, that really looks impressive! Under that roof you find cafes & restaurants, a Sony-store, cinemas and the Film Museum.

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Address: Potsdamer Platz, Berlin-Tiergarten
Directions: U-Bahn: Potsdamer Platz
Website: www.sonycenter.de

Constructing the palace of Charlottenburg took more than 100 years. Planned in order to become quite a small palace it now has a length of 505 meters. Not only the palace, but also the park are worth a visit. The whole areal was heavily damaged in World War II, the restauration works took a long time....

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Address: Luisenplatz 1, Berlin-Charlottenburg
Directions: Bus X9, 109, 145, 210

The Emperor Wilhelm-Church was constructed between 1891 and 1895 in the Neo-romanic-style. In 1943 it was bombed. After World War II the Berliners discussed long whether to pull the ruin down in order to build a new church, or not. As it soon became a war-memorial and a landmark of West-Berlin they decided to leave it as it was and added a modern church right next to the ruin (1951-1961).

Inside you find mosaics of the old church as well as a nail-cross from the cathedral of Coventry, that had been destroyed by German bombs during World War II.

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Address: Breitscheidplatz, Berlin-Charlottenburg
Directions: U-Bahn: Zoologischer Garten
Website: http://www.gedaechtniskirche.com (German only)

The Victory Column is 69 meters high and was erected 1873 in memory of victories against Danmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1870/1871) on the Königsplatz (Kings Square), where some years later also the Reichstag was built. The Nazis moved the column 1938 into the Tiergarten which was part of the plan to create a new Berlin, "Germania". There you still find it today, and I think it would not suit bad to its original place....

On the column you find canons of the three defeated countries and a mosaic that symbolizes the union of the German Empire in 1870/1871.

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Address: Straße des 17. Juni, Berlin-Tiergarten
Directions: U-Bahn: Hansaplatz, S-Bahn: Tiergarten, Bus 100

This building really has a varied history: 1894 inaugurated, 1933 burned down, 1945 shooted down, and since 1990 It is again the Parliament of united Germany.

You must drive and go up the modern dome that was designed by British architect Norman Foster. Try to be there when they open the building (that's at 8 o'clock, I think) as during the day the queue usually is very long (enlarge the picture)!

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Address: Platz der Republik, Berlin-Tiergarten
Directions: Bus 100

Constructed between 1909 and 1930, it is one of the oldest museums of its kind. The three sections are the Antique Collection, the Museum of Islamistic Art and the Museum of Vorderasien (i'm sorry, don't know how to translate that....).

It is famous for the altar of Pergamon (that gave the museum its name) and the Ishtar-gate of Babylon with its procession-street. Even if you are not really interested in antique stones you should not miss it. Nevertheless the museum needs a restauration. So hurry up before they close it for a long time!

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Address: Bodestraße, Berlin-Mitte
Directions: U-Bahn: Friedrichstraße

The most beautiful square I saw in Berlin! On two sides you have churches that look very similar (the French church and the German church), on another side you find one Berlin's most beautiful theaters (Schauspielhaus) and in front of the theater there is quite a nice monument for Friedrich Schiller.

The name comes from a regiment of guards ("Gens d'armes") that had its station and its stables there. The poet E.T.A. Hoffmann lived at that square from 1815 to 1822.

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Address: Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin-Mitte
Directions: U-Bahn: Stadtmitte