Unter den Linden - Looking eastward and other Berlin, Germany General Tips

Favorite Thing: A grand boulevard with a grand view - the Berliner Dom (cathedral dome) and the Fernsehturm (the gigantic radio tower) oddly complement one another from this perspective!


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Favorite Thing: Designed in the Neo-Baroque style, and built in the early 20th Century, the State Library is home to an official collection that dates back to the 1600s.


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Favorite Thing: Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835) was a Prussian attorney and scholar of the early 19th century. He and his brother Alexander (1769-1859) helped to found Berlin University. (The institution was renamed in their honor in 1949.)

This main administration building, however, was constructed in the middle of the 1700s for Prince Heinrich, the younger brother of Frederick the Great.


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Favorite Thing: One good thing about visiting Berlin in wintertime - the chance to see the bluest of blue skies! Berlin's classic architecture is seen to its best advantage on these clear crisp days.


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Favorite Thing: The statue in the courtyard of Humboldt University is of Hermann Helmholtz (1821-94), Professor of Physics here from 1871 until his death. He was an important mathematician and biologist as well, and made significant contribution to the fields of thermo- and electro-dynamics.

In the 19th century, Berlin was easily one of the most important centers of intellectual activity in the world.


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Favorite Thing: The Zeughaus on Unter den Linden is a genuine masterpiece of the north German baroque. It was built to be an Armory during the reign of the first King of Prussia, Frederick I, and dedicated in 1706. Now it is home to the Deutsches Historisches Museum - the German History Museum. Currently this section of the museum is closed for renovation, but the new wing - designed by I.M. Pei - is still open.


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Favorite Thing: Just off Unter den Linden, a bit behind the Neue Wache, the "Palais am Festungsgraben" is a dignified 18th century town house. Inside is a handsome marble concert hall, and the popular Tadjik Teahouse. (I had hoped to go to the Teahouse, but it didn't fit in with my schedule on this trip. Maybe next time.)


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Favorite Thing: What is it? A new "Wrapped Museum" project by the conceptual artist Christo? Or simply another stage in the much-anticipated but painstakingly slow reconstruction of "Museum Island"?

It's the "Neues Museum" - which isn't really all that new, having been constructed in the 1840s to alleviate overcrowding in the "Altes" Museum. When it's all done, Berlin's Egyptian treasures (including Nefertiti) will be housed here.


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Favorite Thing: The Altes Museum has one of the most striking facades of any museum in the world. I didn't get a chance to go inside to see the collection of Greek and Roman arts, but I enjoyed the perspective of the structure's grand exterior.

It was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the 1830s - the great architect also responsible for the Neue Wache and the Friedrichswerder Kirche, among other structures in Berlin. Schinkel was partly responsible for giving this section of Berlin its stately air of neo-classical authority.

The portico of the Altes Museum is 87 meters high, supported by 18 massive Ionic columns. The bowl in front of the museum was originally intended for the building's lobby, but apparently it was too heavy to carry inside, so they left it outdoors as the centerpiece of the Lustgarten, or Pleasure Garden. (The bowl weighs over 70 tons.)


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Favorite Thing: Two large equestrian statues flank the entrance steps to the Altes Museum.


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