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| Fancy a trip? |
...Neat and clean as all the areas of Germany I have seen so far. An example of this tidiness is the very good condition of toilets at bars, restaurants and public toilets. There are also attendants that watch over the facilities who would appreciate a tip as a token of gratitude.
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| Cafe where to wave to the boats which cross the Spree |
Berlin became the capital city of Germany after the reunification and moving all the political and official institutions from Bonn to Berlin cost more than 18,000,000,000 € ! at that time!
However, works are endless in Berlin. Everywhere I laid my ayes on, there was something going on: scaffoldings, tunnels, bulldozers... A kind of showing off message for the rest of Europe?
ROAD
The German Bundesautobahnen (abbreviated 'BAB') are the motorways in Germany.
German motorways have no speed limit, but the advisory is 130 kph. Accidents or car crashes are not that common as it could seem. 7.2 road fatalities per 100,000 motor vehicles in comparison to France (12) or Spain (10; car crashes have become one of the first causes of death!) both countries with very strict speed limits.
In 2012 autobahn network has a total length of 12,845 kilometres which ranks as the 4th longest highway system in the world behind China, the United States, and Spain.
Tips for those who intend to drive a rental car in Germany:
On the contrary of many parts of Spain where drivers are not very polite and don't pay attention what lane they are running, in Germany the right lane must be used when it is free and the left-hand lane is generally reserved for overtaking, so drivers driving left lane for too long when other lanes are free could be fined.
Something that must be avoided as could be considered as a coercing situation is forcing drivers on the left lane to change lane i.e by flashing. Not very respectful attitude.
TRAIN
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| Hauptbahnhof |
Cafes, shops and many other various services are spread along its multi-level structure, partly in a tunnel, made of glass, concrete and iron.
AIR
Schöenefeld Airport SFX is expanding to become Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Tempelhof airport was already closed on october 2008 and Berlin's Tegel will be as well.
All air traffic will be concentrated on the Berlin Brandenburg Airport, Southeast of the city from October 2013.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport will offer travellers and companies a high-tech airport with international connections, direct motorway access, and a train station underneath the terminal building from where the airport shuttle will take only 20 minutes to travel into the Berlin city centre.
It is believe that Berlin Brandenburg Airport will improve life in the region as hundreds of thousands of residents won't longer have to live with aircraft noise due to the closing of Tegel and Tempelhof airports.
From the airport there are bus and tram services to town. Another option is getting a rental car previously booked online with British Car Hire.
Tegel TXL
Tegel does not have any rail or U-Bahn connections and the fare zone of buses VBB is A.
It is scheduled to close in 2013, when it will be replaced by the new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER).
As Schöenefeld Airport, British Car Hire rental vehicles suppliers are located at the terminal building.
BY BOAT
Berlin has an extensive network of rivers, lakes and canals. River Havel and Spree are most navigable and as a consequence of that, ferry transport, inaugurated in 1896 is part of the transport offer of Berlin.
Did you know that Berlin city, with its 1,700 bridges, has more bridges than Venice itself!
One of them was designed by the famous Spanish architect, who has designed art works world-wide: Calatrava.
CULTURAL OFFER
MITTE borough encompasses Berlin's historic core and includes some of the most important tourist sites of Berlin like Museum Island, Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden, Potsdamer Platz, the Reichstag and Berlin Hauptbahnhof, most of which were in former East Berlin.
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| Palace of Tears |
Friedrichstrasse Bahnhof known as "Tränenpalast" or "Palace of Tears" was a border where many goodbyes were said when people crossed to West Berlin.
There is a permanent photography exhibition at the platform between lane 1 & 2 about the stages of the station through its history. There are also pictures about the construction and falling of the wall.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
Considered by many as controversial and even unnecessary, it is a monument to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. It consists on 9,000 sqm site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs displayed in a grid pattern. It is placed South of the Brandenburg Gate.
MUSEUMS
Since 1999, "Museums Island" is located in the UNESCO-listed Heritage due to its cultural and architectonic complex unique in the world.
Schloss Charlottenburg
Dated on 1699, the largest palace in Berlin and former theatre is now a building that hosts the Museum for Pre- and Early History, whit items from the Troy excavations from XIX century. Gardens are opened to the public and can be visited for no charge.
Altes Museum
Berlin’s oldest museum (1830) is located opposite at the Lustgarten (which means Pleasure Garden) and is home of very important Greek and Roman holdings.
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| Altes Museum presides the Lustgarten |
Along the Kupfergraben channel, this building designed to be like a temple, is home to sculptures and paintings dated on the XIX century.
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| Greek design for the Old National Gallery |
Pergamonmuseum
One of the most popular attractions in Berlin, the Pergamon Museum is world famous for its archaeological holdings. The Pergamon is divided in three museums – Classical Antiquities, Ancient Near East, and Islamic Art.
In the first one, there is the 2nd century BC Pergamon Altar, a Hellenistic masterpiece which gives its name to the museum; and the "Market Gate of Miletus" is an example of Roman architecture.
and completing the group,
Bode-Museum, building of three wings and dominating dome which exterior facades border the banks of the river Spree where a Sculpture Collection,a Numismatic Colletion and Gemäldegalerie works (Old Master Paintings) are displayed.
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| Rent a bike from the Guggenheim |
Located at the ground floor of the Deutsche Bank premises on the boulevard Unter den Linden, between the Brandenburger Gate and The Museums Island. The Deutsche Bank was founded in 1870 and owns the largest company art collection in the world (over 50,000 works)
THE WALL Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer
Chantting the motto "We are the people, we are a nation" Berliners from both Eastern and Western sides overthrew the iron wall. There was not violence, not a bullet because people refused to.
The symbolic impact of what happened on the 9th November 1989 will remain for History and on the awareness and collective memory of the Germans.
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| Wall along the Spree |
The wall is now used by graffiti painters as the canvas for their art.
Also quirky bar YAAM facilities can be found next to the wall and along the river Spree, offering a garden area, real beach sand volleyball and basket courts. The walls are decorated with graffitis, of course and the music played is kind of reggae.
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| Yaam bar's garden |
PRENZLAUER BERG
Cozy residential neighbourhood North Est AlexanderPlatz where many University buildings can be found. I must say that even when Berlin local authorities keep the streets and the parks very well maintained, I was surprised to see that a little garden in this area was absolutely filthy. See photo...
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| Perhaps the only messy garden in Berlin |
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| Karl Marx Street's facade |
HUMAN
Occupies the whole ground floor of one of the skyscrapers in the corner of the Alexanderstrasse and the quality of the clothes and other stuff as bags and even toys is unbelievable. So far the best second hand shop I have ever been in.
After a long day walking, recovering strength can be done in the beer garden called "Biergarten", where good deals or menu of the day are offered. Have a look at my big steak with its garnish for only 6.90€!
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| Meal-Deal on Wednesdays |
The amenity that Wednesday was the traditional music band playing live. It was worthy to see the couples the joined them, moving around the hall keeping in step.
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| In Biergarten, the smallest beer glass size is a pint! |
ANGELA MERCKEL's HOME
The Chancellor's Office building, with the Chancellor's garden and park (Bundeskanzleramt and Kanzlergarten) can easily photographed from a boat when sailing the Spree.
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| Chancellor's |
REICHSTAG home of the Bundestag
It was opened in 1894 and seriously damaged by the bomb attacks during the II World War. Refurbishment started in the 60's was not complete until 1990 when the architect Sir Norman Foster led the works.
The dome made of glass provides the main room where the Bundestag is reunited with light.
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| Foster designed the dome |
New Parliament building, opposite shore of the Reichstag
It is called Marie-Elisabeth Lüders House. The construction started in April 1997 and it serves as the scientific service- and infrastructure centre of the Parliament. In addition it accommodates a post office and a sports area.
Marie-Elisabeth Lüders houses the parliamentary scientific library and German National Library. It happens to be the 3rd biggest Library in the world.
The main function of the Paul-Löbe House building is to provide departments with support functions for parliamentary work in the Reichstag.
ZOOLOGISCHER GARTEN
also Aquarium. To buy the tickets follow the link Zoo Berlin
If you take the boat down the Havel from Berlin to Potsdam you’ll sail past Peacock Island, a nature preserve with diverse landscape styles and picturesque structures built about two hundred years ago. This island was the origin of Berlin’s zoos.
With the German unification Berlin passes to have two zoos, as Tierpark was built before. Between the two and the aquarium, the animal population is the more diverse and rare than any other city.
VICTORY COLUMN
It is located at the 17 Juni Strasse, not far from the Brandenburg Gate.
It was designed to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War. Before it was inaugurated on September 1873, Prussia had also won the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and the Franco-Prussian War, so the column became a symbol of the magnificence of Prussia.
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| Nazis moved from its original location |
TIERGARTEN
In 1800 this park was used as a hunting area. During the II World War as the population needed wood to keep their homes warm, they were allowed to cut down the trees. After the war, there were only a few hundred of trees left and nowadays the garden has been fully reforested.
Embassies
Along the Avenue Unter den Linden many offcial buildings are located.
One of the most magnificent is the Russian embassy. Many of the other countries have established their representatives in facilities along the Tiergartenstrasse, surrounded by trees and gardens.
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| There are more than bears in Berlin... |
After II World War, the church was partially demolished and the authorities decided not to refurbish it so it will be a reminder of what happened during the warlike conflict.
Just by the old one, a new modern style was built. The interior is a hexagon of blue glass windows that fakes the feeling of being inside an aquarium.
BRANDENBURG GATE
The only remaining gate of the series through which Berlin was entered is now the entry to Unter den Linden, the boulevard which formerly led directly to the city palace of the Prussian monarchs.
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| L'arc du triumph? Puerta de Alcalá? Victoria's Gate? |
POSTDAMMER PLATZ
I was walking by Cancun Bar and happened to hear the music. I felt immediately like going in as the lounge looked very welcoming, a kind of Irish pub despite the Mexican name. Make sure you order a Franziskaner beer instead of one branded "Kapuziner" as I did... The result of my bad pronunciation of this word was that I got a "cappuccino" coffee!
Daimler is the highest skyscraper.
Sony building is the most emblematic.
Beisheim and Park kolonnaden complete the set of emblematic buildings,which many of them serve as facilities for the Berlinale festival.
There is a Lego shop in the inner shopping centre which was advertised at that time by a huge giraffe made of Lego pieces.
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| It's even got eyelashes! |
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| Interior of Sony complex |
SOLAR BAR
14th floor high, this bar has two levels. The first one is a chic restaurant ideal for dinner before going upstairs and enjoying a drink in a very fashionable atmosphere. It offers almost 360º views over Berlin and it especially charming in the evenings as the lights are low inside and the city can be seen in all its splendour.
As the entrance is for free and they even provide clients with a free wardrobe service, it is highly recommended to visit this bar instead of paying the 12€ entry in the Fernsehturm. Just a thought...
CATHEDRAL Berliner Dom Am Lustgarten, 1.
The Berlin Cathedral has never been a cathedral in the actual sense of that term since it has never been the seat of a bishop. The bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg is based in St. Mary's Church and Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. St. Hedwig's Cathedral serves as seat of Berlin's Roman Catholic metropolitan bishop.
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| Berliner Dom viewed from Saint Nikolai |
ALEXANDERPLATZ square
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| Currywurst at 1.35€! |
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| Oooops, I forgot to shoot the huts! |
Also, there is always the chance of getting a wurst on the move asking one of the several guys who carrying them in an amazing portable bbq!
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| Madrid's Pirulí twin |
Fernsehturm
I consider the 12€ entry a bit too much, but it is fair to say that the views are incredibly awesome. With its height of 368 meters, it is the tallest structure in Germany. When the sun shines on the Fernsehturm's tiled stainless steel dome, the reflection usually appears in the form of a cross. This effect was neither predicted nor desired by the planners. Berliners immediately named the luminous cross "Pope's Revenge". The structure was also called "St. Walter" (from Walter Ulbricht).
Neptunbrunnen
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| Town Hall behind the fountain |
The Roman god Neptune is in the center. The four women around him represent the four main rivers of Prussia: Elbe, Rhine, Vistula, and Oder. This fountain is also in the centre of the square, facing the Fernsehturm and both St Mary Church and the Town Hall, right and left.
Rotes Rathaus
Red City Hall is the town hall of Berlin, located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It was built between 1861 and 1869.
Marienkirche
Karl-Liebknecht-Straße. Its exact age is not known, but it was first mentioned in German chronicles in 1292. It is the seat of the bishop of the Evangelical Church.
Humboldt-Box am Schloßplatz
Opposite the Old Museum, the Humboldt University research cube also stands near to the cathedral. The Box is blue and wonky, standing over a huge barren lawn where once was the Palace of the Republic, the Capitol, and even before the City Palace. There are not remains left.
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| Lollipops |
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| Wonky Humboldt |
Behind the Humboldt Box, there is a esplanade where a monument made of bright colourful lollipops can be visited also seen from the opposite shore of the Spree. Those fans of chupa chups will find the way i have renamed the exhibition very accurate when looking at the photo I took...
Kurfürstendamm
The avenue with four lines of plane trees runs for 3.5 km (2.2 mi) through the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough in Western Berlin. It branches off from the Breitscheidplatz near Bahnhof Zoo and the ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and leads southwestward through the Charlottenburg district. At the junction with Joachimstaler Straße it passes the Café Kranzler, successor of the Café des Westens, a famous venue for artists and bohémiens of the pre-World-War-I era. High amount of shops and boutiques can be found both sides of this avenue.
SAINT NIKOLAI
Destroyed during the II World War was rebuilt by the communists occupiers trying to imitate the original shapes and materials.
Many little antique shops with lovely and sometimes quirky decorative articles.
In the heart of this little area Nikolaikirch the oldest church in Berlin is erected showing the two twin towers of green roof.
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| Saint Nikolai twin towers |
BUNKERS Brunnenstraße, 105.
There are more than 3000 underneath the city. A guide will lead the excursion throught the tunnels of the Underwelten Museum.
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| Posh dome in posh Postdam |
on the River Havel, 24 kilometres of Berlin city centre, is the capital of the state of Brandenburg and until 1918 the residence of the Prussian kings and German Kaisers. Getting Postdam is also possible by road, driving on one of the several motorways that served the city, and by train on the S7 S-Bahn line.
Due to Its religious tolerance, Postdam was a centre of immigration, attracting people from many different parts of Europe.
Around the city there are a series of interconnected lakes and unique cultural landmarks that I will enumerate now:
The most popular attraction in Potsdam is Sanssouci Park, the largest World Heritage Site in Germany.
The German court adopted the French as official language as they considered it so polite and posh. The name of this complex "Sanssouci" comes from the French "sans souci" as the King Frederick the Great wanted to live in a palace place here "without worries".
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| Made of wood home of an architect studio |
The New Palace (Neues Palais) is a much larger palace than Sanssouci, having over 200 rooms. Nowadays it houses parts of the University of Potsdam.
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| New Palace |
The Roman Baths (Römische Bäder), not original from the Roman Empire but built in 1829-1840.
The Chinese Tea House (Chinesisches Teehaus), built in a Chinese style, the fashion at XIX century.
Three gates from the original city wall remain today.
The oldest is the Hunters' Gate (Jägertor)
The Nauener Tor was built in 1755 and close to the historic Dutch Quarter.
The ornate Brandenburg Gate gives entrance to the western old town.
The Old Market Square (Alter Markt) is Potsdam's historical city centre.
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| French Church |
The palace was severely damaged by bombing in 1945 and demolished in 1961 by the Communist authorities.
In 2002 the Fortuna Gate (Fortunaportal) was rebuilt in its original historic position, which marks the first step in the reconstruction of the palace.
The Old Market Square is dominated today by the dome of St. Nicholas' Church (Nikolaikirche), built in 1837 in the classical style.
The eastern side of the Market Square is dominated by the Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus), built in 1755
North of the Old Market Square is the oval French Church (Französische Kirche), erected in the 1750s by Boumann for the Huguenot community.
Another landmark of Potsdam is the two-street Dutch Quarter (Holländisches Viertel), an ensemble of buildings that is unique in Europe, with about 150 houses built of red bricks in the Dutch style. It was built between 1734 and 1742 under the direction of Jan Bouman to be used by Dutch artisans and craftsmen who had been invited to settle here by King Frederick Wilhelm I. Today, this area is one of Potsdam's most visited districts. Buildings are just a couple of levels high and many tunnels lead to interior courtyards where coffee shops and charming little restaurants are awaiting the visitor in their flowery decoration.
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| Wallhalla venues from 1738 |
East of the Alexandrowka colony is a large park, the New Garden (Neuer Garten), which was laid out from 1786 in the English style. The site contains two palaces; the Cecilienhof, and the Marmorpalais (Marble Palace) Also nearby is the tropical botanical garden called Biosphäre Potsdam.
SOME OTHER THINGS TO NOT MISS...
BERLINALE 07-17.02.2013
The average of films shown during the history of the festival is 400 per year. The venues are located around Postdammer Platz, where also hotels like Marriot, Ritz or Carlton host the festival visitors.
But the Berlinale is not only about films shown on a screen and celebrities shown on a red carpet... They also provide weak film industries with funds and offer amateur directors to stay in Berlin working with mentors and experts: This connection between Berninale and market is a sole characteristic of the festival.
Friedrichshain
The Punk neighborhood. It can be found along Karl-Marx alle and Frankfurter alle. For those who arrive by metro, the stop is U5 SamariterStrasse. From here, when facing the Fernsehturm, framed by the Frankfurter Tor; on your right and parallel to the main avenue, Rigaerstrasse, the official punk street is located.
Apart from the houses they occupy, there are many bars they manage. One of them is accessed through a sewer. This sewer is placed under the bars called "Fishladen" and "Das Loch".
The Ramones Museum
Punk rock legends The Ramones come from New York, but their biggest fan might just be from Berlin. Florian Hayler collected hundreds of Ramones-related items, and attended more than 100 Ramones concerts, then decided to collect his expertise and souvenirs in a museum. It debuted in 2005, a year after the death of founding band member Johnny Ramone.
The current museum opened in October 2008 after a move and an expansion. On display are childhood photos of the group, gig set lists, fliers from the band’s early days and a vast collection of concert t-shirts. If you bop ‘til you drop, the Ramones Museum’s Café Mania has drinks, snacks and light meals on offer.
The museum, located just off Oranienburger Strasse near art house Tacheles and the New Synagogue, also hosts movie screenings, acoustic shows, and Ramones-related special events.
Trabi Safari is a trip around the city during what you drive your own Trabi. The very popular car in the East once is now back to gladness of nostalgic fans of East vehicles.
Trip on a boat
There are many companies operating along the river Spree offering excursions for one hour or so. A recorded explanation will give the main information in German and there are also devices for those individuals from other nationalities. Catering and drinks are also available on board.
As these services are offered by all of them, do not mind walking and finding out the timetable and the fares from a few of them so you will be sure you will get the best deal!
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Uxia Olsson
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