The building of one of Berlin’s oldest breweries stands along the Spree as a striking piece of industrial history. Its red brick façades, ornate gables, and tall windows show the craftsmanship of a different era. Protected as a heritage site, the former brewery tells the story of a city that grew with industry, innovation, and beer.
The complex blends functional design with decorative detail. Brick patterns frame doors and arches, metal fittings hint at machinery once inside, and a chimney rises like a landmark. Even without production noise, the site keeps an atmosphere of work and skill. Light catches the brickwork at different times of day, revealing textures and lines that photographers love.
As one of Berlin’s early breweries, the place once powered daily life with barrels headed to taverns and street corners. Cellars stored cooling ice, courtyards bustled with carts, and fermentation rooms filled the air with a warm, malty scent. The preserved structures make it easy to imagine the rhythm of shifts, the clink of bottles, and the hum of engines.
Set beside the river, the site connects industrial architecture with waterside calm. Trees line the banks, and boats move slowly along the Spree. The contrast between solid brick walls and moving water adds a quiet drama, turning the old brewery into a scene that feels both urban and timeless.
Like many historic industrial sites in Berlin, the brewery has shifted roles over time. While production has stopped, the buildings remain as a cultural marker, protected for their design and history. This transformation allows the past to stay visible in a modern city, where new uses can fit into old walls without losing their character.
The complex consists of eight interconnected courtyards. Plenty of designer boutiques can be found here.
This museum is perhaps something you wouldn't expect in a major metropolis and truth be told it owes its existence in part to partition (when West Berlin schoolkids couldn't go to the surrounding Brandenburg countryside to experience rural life). Opened in 1975 it is an attempt to recreate as faithfully as feasible a medieval farming village from roughly the era of Berlin's founding (12th or 13th century). The village that existed at this place 800 years ago was not called "Düppel" back then as that name was only applied in the 1860s after the Prussian victory over Denmark at Dybbøl which was rendered into German as "Düppel" and applied to the area to honor a member of the Prussian royal family who owned land there.
Gothic church, the second oldest (built in late 13th century) of the historical centre of Berlin. It's the highest church tower of Berlin (about 90 m), but seems rather small beneath the gigantic TV tower. The church tower was built in the late 18th century by Carl Gotthard Langhans, the architect of the Brandenburg Gate.
The Bayerischer Platz is the centre of the Bayerisches Viertel ("Bavarian district", with many streets named after Bavarian cities), which was destroyed a lot more during World War II (about 60%). Somewhere around there Albert Einstein lived once. You’ll find several memorial signs providing information about the Nazi regime's persecution of gays and Jews.
Nice church near Unter den Linden/Museum Island, finished in 1830 by Schinkel in English Neogothic style. Nice exhibition inside (neoclassical statues and an exhibition about Schinkel's life and work upstairs).
The Gemäldegalerie contains an astounding array of paintings, including works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Goya, Velasquez and Watteau. The collection contains works from the old Bodemuseum on Museumsinsel in the East, now closed, and the former Gemäldegalerie in Dahlem. Its strong points are German paintings of the 13-16th centuries, Netherlandish painting of the 15th and 16th centuries, Flemish paintings of the 17th century, and miniature paintings of the 16th-19th centuries. In the newer section of the museum, designed by architects Heinz Hilmer and Christoph Sattler, there is enough space to display 1,150 masterpieces in the main gallery and 350 in the studio gallery - of the almost 2,900 pieces in the European painting collections. Established in 1830, the newly built gallery from 1998 has about 7,000 sq m of exhibition space (a complete tour of the 72 rooms covers almost 2 km).
Museum of Contemporary Art located in former Hamburger Bahnhof train station. Big halls filled with artworks made since 1960s. In 2004 Rieckhallen, former Lehrter Bahnhof, was opened and now provides exhibition space for the Friedrich Christian Flick Collection. Free public guided tours (in English): Sa and Su at 12:00.
Heritage listed Art Nouveau railway station and charming surrounding city square.
A small castle in late classical style. It was built 1868 by Martin Gropius (uncle of the Bauhaus-founder and other architects, the von Siemens family changed the castle a bit around 1900 and they enlarged the dimensions of the park, which is today renovated and nice to wander around when the sun is shining. Located within a few minutes' walking distance from Biesdorf station (take the S5 from the city centre) or Elsterwerdaer Platz station (U5).
It was a museum of applied arts and a listed historical monument since 1966, and it is now a well-known Berlin exhibition hall.