BERLIN ATTRACTIONS GERMANY

BERLIN SIGHTSEEING

Berlin Attractions & Sightseeing - There are so many attractions in Berlin that there is something for everyone. The city has no definite center and attractions are dotted all over. The great majority lie east of Brandenburg Gate, on either side of Unter den Linden. There is less on offer in West Berlin's center. Berlin is filled with monuments of Prussian grandeur and reminders of a divided country. After the Berlin Wall was pulled down in 1990 more than a hundred streets were reconnected, and signs of the Wall’s existence have almost disappeared. Traffic now passes through the Brandenburg Gate from the West, and Alexanderplatz has become one of the city’s focal centres. The site of Check Point Charlie is now a museum, and visitors can see a chunk of the Wall decorated by local artists.

There are numerous museums, galleries and theatres in Berlin. Many of the city's older buildings have now been restored. Berlin Cathedral and the five state museums on Museum Island have been returned to their original glory. There are numerous gardens, lakes, woodlands, and parks, covering one-third of the city. Small farms still exist within the city limits.

The Brandenburg Gate
Pariser Platz, 10117
The Brandenburg gate, the last remaining gate of the Berlin Wall, is regarded as one of the greatest symbols of German unity. It is marks the western end of the Unter den Linden. The statue on top of the arch represents Nike driving her chariot. It was built between 1788 and 1791 and has twelve Doric columns.

Checkpoint Charlie:
Friedrichstraße 43-45
Telephone - +49 30 253 7250
Hours: Daily 9am to 10pm
The border crossing point in the wall dividing West and East Berlin is now a shrine to the wall’s memory with the addition of a museum. For nearly thirty years, it was the only crossover point between East Berlin and West Berlin. The soldier’s post can be visited, made famous in so many films, and you can be photographed under the border sign. Admission for Adults €9.50.

Jewish Centre
Lindenstraße 9-14
TeleTelephone - +49 30 25993 300
Hours: Monday to Thursday 8 am to 4 pm, Friday 8 am to 1 pm.
The Great Synagogue was destroyed on Kristallnacht 1938 and the Jewish Center was built on its site in 1959. It was restored in the 1990s and contains the Moorish Dome, a Jewish Centre, and the Old Jewish Cemetery.

Spandau Citadel
Telephone - +49 30 3549 44200
Hours: Tuesday to Friday 9am to 5 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 5 pm.
This sixteenth century fortress is surrounded by a moat and is the oldest building in Berlin that isn’t religious. Guided tours of the Spandau Citadel are available at the weekend.

The Berlin Wall
Niederkircherstrasse and Bernauerstrasse
The Berlin Wall was built almost instantly in August 1961 to divide the city in a concrete way and to stop the passage of people from East to West Berlin. It quickly became a a symbol of the Cold War. With a height of almost 4 meters it stood there dividing the city until 1989.t had an average height of 3.60m, was 155km long and divided the city until 1989. Most of the original wall was torn down butg there is a memorial with some bits of the wall.

Charlottenburg Palace
Spandauer Damm 20-2414059
Telephone - 030-320-911
Hours: 9 am to 5pm. Closed Monday.
The Palace was built in the seventeenth century and is the oldest surviving Prussian palace in Germany. Very ornate, the rooms are crammed with furnishings and paintings dating from the 17th and 18th Centuries. T he east wing houses a collection of romanticist paintings and the west a collection of ancient art and artifacts. There are guided tours so you may wish to take one of these to learn the full history of the place.