Berlin Germany Hotels

Berlin Germany Travel Information

Marcus Hochstadt

Did you know that Berlin Germany has more than 140
Museums? Did you know that this city has more than 1,400
bridges, and besides all that more than 100 additional places
of interest? Read on to discover.

With about 3,400,000 inhabitants, Berlin is the largest City in
Germany. It is 38 kilometres long and 45 kilometres wide.
Consider that Berlin has a lot of suburbs and districts. As you
know, the city was divided in its history. You will still recognize
that there is/was East-Berlin and West-Berlin so it has a “City
East” and a “City West”.

Arrival is possible with four different options.

1. By aircraft – Berlin has three airports.

2. By train – it’s a junction of the German Rail Network.
Example, the station “Bahnhof Zoo” is located within Belin Mitte
(City East), thus you have "instant access" to a lot of sights and
pubs.

3. By Car – All motorways to Berlin lead to the “Berliner Ring”.
From there you can get to the inner city on various access
roads.

4. By Bus – it’s a well-priced and comfortable way to travel to
this (or any other) city. The “Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof” (ZOB –
Central Bus Station) is situated near the Exhibition Centre
(ICC), in Charlottenburg, City West. From there, you have
connections to over 350 destinations in Germany and Europe!

Now, shall we get started? Okay, c'mon, take my hand, let's go
sightseeing! :-)

Reichstag
The Reichstag was constructed from 1884–94 by Paul Wallot,
is the seat of the German Bundestag or federal government
and, with its new transparent dome, one of the biggest crowd-
draws in Berlin. Its colorful past reflects the turbulence of
German history since the 19th century. From 1994–99, the
Reichstag was reconstructed and extended by the Architect Sir
Norman Forster. He decided to add an accessible transparent
dome, inwhich you can walk through and "participate" and view
how political decisions are made. One says, "We (the
government) want to show that we have nothing to hide". Go to
http://www.smart-travel-germany.com/berlin.html for further
information of this monumental building.

Friedrichstrasse
This is the most legendary street in the whole city. It combines
the architecture of the New Berlin with the tradition of the
"Golden Twenties". In the Twenties, the 3.5 km long street was
the location for pleasure palaces, cafés, theatres and variety
theatres such as the famous "Wintergarten". After the division of
the city, the Wall also cut through this street. The world famous
Checkpoint Charlie was located at the border of the districts of
Kreuzberg and Mitte and thus at the border of East and West
Berlin. Not only visitors but also the employees from the new,
chic offices, agencies and media centres all enjoy the urban
spirit and New York flair of the new Friedrichstrasse.

Checkpoint Charlie
From 1961 to 1990, Checkpoint Charlie was the only border
crossing point for the Allies, foreigners, employees of the
Permanent Representation, and officials of the GDR. And it was
the place where Soviet and American tanks stood face to face.
Today, the checkpoint is commemorated by a border sign and
a soldier’s post.

Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral)
This impressive building was the court church of the
Hohenzollern Dynasty. It was also conceived as a protestant
answer to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It was built during the
reign of Kaiser Wilhem II, end of 19th Century. Following
extensive damage to the building during the Second World War,
a simplified reconstruction took place from 1975–93. The
Christening and Marriage Chapel contains the altar painting
"Miracle of the Pentecost" by K. Begas the Elder. The royal crypt
of the Hohenzollern contains around 100 burials of five
centuries.

Alexanderplatz
Its short name is "Alex," and it's the most famous square in
Berlin. It was almost completely destroyed in the World War 2. It
has also the big TV Tower which dominates the square, the
Fountain of International Friendship, and the World Time Clock.

Fernsehturm (TV Tower)
This is the highest building in Berlin and one of the biggest
attractions. It has a height of 368 metres. When you go up to the
viewing platform (at a height of 203 metres), you have a perfect
view over the whole city you will never forget.

Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate)
This is the true symbol of the city. Because it was situated in
the no man's land just behind the wall, it also became a
symbol of the division of the city. After the fall of the Wall, the
Gate was reopened on December 22nd, 1989. It is just
amazing to walk through this huge and historical building.
Would you like to know how the gate looked like in the year
1770? Or in 1969? Go to http://www.smart-travel-germany.
com/brandenburg-gate.html for further information. There you
will find the gate's history, and some pictures.

Fortunately, since October 22nd, 2002, the Brandenburg Gate
remains closed for cars, cabs and busses. So now you can
better enjoy the renewed beauty of the Pariser Platz, which
forms the link between the Brandenburg Gate and the
magnificent "Unter den Linden" boulevard.

Unter den Linden
It's called as the magnificent boulevard of Berlin Germany. It is
surrounded by trees, which it was not all the time. Hitler
ordered the linden trees to be chopped down so that the road
could be widened and integrated into the east-west axes.
However, by the end of the Second World War, the avenue was
a wasteland of ruins. Today you can not recognize this part of
history. Unter den Linden has been beautifully and well
developed and reconstructed.

I strongly recommend using the S-Bahn to go there (station
"Friedrichstrasse"). It's just amazing when you recognize how
the S-Bahn passes between two of the five Museums.

Museumsinsel (Museum's Island)
Considering that Berlin has more than 140 museums, this
area is
just a tiny part of it. But, the consort of museums found on the
Museum Island is a unique cultural inheritance which unites five
important museum buildings into a heterogeneous but
harmonic
ensemble on the River Spree. The oldest museum complex in
Berlin
suffered more than 70 % destruction in the Second World War.
The
painstaking work of restoration is a long way from being
completed. The island contains the following five edifices:

Alte Museum, built in 1830. Its interior, particularly
the domed rotunda, creates a wonderful atmosphere for the
sculpture exhibited and the collection of ancient
artworks.

Neue Museum, built from 1843-1859, to relieve the Alte
Museum. The interior design presents the history of humankind.
It is decorated in historical styles which relate directly to
the objects exhibited and the epochs they represent.

Alte Nationalgalerie, built from 1867-1976 as a 'Temple of
the Sciences'. The building, with its large external staircase
and bronze statue of Friedrich Wilhelm IV. on horseback, was
rebuilt in the 1950s and has been undergoing expensive
restoration since 1997.

Bodemuseum, built end of 19th century. With its imposing
dome and splendid entrance hall, the building seems to
traverse
the Spree like a ship. The interior contains several rooms,
whose are individually created in a style appropriate to the
epoch exhibited there.

Pergamonmuseum, built in 1930, 100 years after the first
edifice on this island. It contains the Roman gate from Milet,
the Altar of Zeus from Pergamon, and the Processional Avenue
and
Gate of Ishtar from Babylon.

If you, however, would like to see more museums than these
four
alone, I recommend buying the "3-day Museumpass," which
cost 12
EUR (reduced: 6 EUR). With it you can visit 70 of the 140
museums on three consecutive opening days.

What the Museum Island means to the UNESCO, is the Erotic
Museum for adults. But let's see what (else) amazingly we will
discover today.

Erotik Museum
This "museum" lies on the corner of the seediest-looking block
in Berlin. The museum in its exhibits honors the "queen of the
Rubber Willy" herself, Beate Uhse. It's a household name here
in Germany. Her life is documented from her days at the
"Deutsche Luftwaffe" to pictures of her at the helm of a large
speedboat. This septuagenarian opened the world's first shop
devoted to "marital hygiene," ultimately championing the right to
sell contraceptives. Today she still heads the world's largest
sex-related merchandising business. Downstairs are video
cabins filled with middle-aged men in raincoats and a "sex
superstore."

However, you start out on the third floor and work your way
down (there is no sexual pun intended). Eventually, it is hard to
believe, that it has become the fifth most visited museum in
Berlin. The museum shelters 5,000 sexual artifacts from
around the world. Asian and Indian miniatures of erotic
positions; African fertility masks; large carved phalli from Bali;
or some Chinese wedding tiles from the 18th and 19th century
that were supposed to provide sexual education to a newly
married couple. Life-size dioramas explore topics such as
fetishism and S&M. Well-worth visiting.

Gendarmenmarkt
Gendarmenmarkt is considered as Europeans most beautiful
square, so a must see for every tourist. Here you will find three
historical buildings; the "Konzerthaus" (Concert House), the
"Deutscher Dom" (German Cathedral), and the
"Franzoesischer Dom" (French Cathedral).

The square was laid out from 1688 to the plans of J.A. Nering. It
was originally known as Linden Markt, then Friedrichstädtischer
Markt or Neuer Markt. Because the square was used by a
curassier regiment "gens d'arms," from 1736–82, complete
with sentry boxes and stables, the name Gendarmenmarkt
arose. From 1777, the square was developed according to
unified plans drawn up by Georg Christian Unger. It was badly
damaged in the Second World War. On the occasion of the
250th anniversary of the Prussian Academy of the Sciences
(Akademie der Wissenschaften), it was renamed "Platz der
Akademie." In 1991, its previous name was restored.

Konzerthaus
The Konzerthaus is the new building designed by Karl Friedrich
Schinkel to replace the Nationaltheater built from 1800–02 by
Karl Gotthard Langhans, which was burnt to the ground in
1817. The conception of the Konzerthaus integrates the
remains of Langhan's rectangular building and adds a higher,
wider, gabled solidium in the center, complete with an ionic
columned hall projecting at the front. Following its destruction
in the Second World War, the building was initially only made
safe, and the systematic restoration of the original design only
began in 1979. Since its reopening in 1984 it has served not as
a theatre, but as a concert hall.

Deutscher Dom
The German Cathedral was built from 1701-08. M. Grünberg
planned it, and Giovanni Simonetti built it. From 1780-85,
during the redesigning of the Gendarmenmarkt, Carl von
Gontard added the domed tower onto the cathedral. The
cathedral was destroyed in the Second World War as well.
However, it had been reconstructed and rebuilt. The reopening
was on October 2nd, 1996, five years after the reunification.

Franzoesischer Dom
The Französische Friedrichstadtkirche was built from 1701-05
by Cayart. He designed it as a church for Berlin's Huguenot
community. From 1780-85, the imposing tower of the French
cathedral (Französischer Dom) was added to plans by Unger
and Gontard as part of the redesigning of Gendarmenmarkt. In
the World War 2, the cathedral was badly damaged. However,
from 1977 on it was rebuilt and reconstructed.

And, how was the journey? Did you shoot enough photos? I
hope so... :-) And did you recognize, that I gave you 11 instead
of 10 tips? Good! :-)

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BERLIN GERMANY