Kollhoff Tower stands on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, a bold brick high‑rise that recalls classic skyscraper style while anchoring a modern city square. Designed by architect Hans Kollhoff and completed in 1999, the building blends stepped Art Deco lines with contemporary materials, creating a strong silhouette among glass and steel neighbors.
Panoramapunkt occupies the tower’s upper floors and rooftop. The viewing terrace sits 101 metres above ground, opening wide views across Berlin’s landmarks—from the Brandenburg Gate and Tiergarten to the TV Tower at Alexanderplatz. Clear panels and open-air corners let city sounds drift up, adding a sense of scale to the panorama.
Access is part of the experience: Europe’s fastest elevator carries visitors from the lobby to the 24th floor in seconds. The swift ascent becomes a brief, thrilling prelude to the skyline reveal at the top.
Potsdamer Platz was once a busy pre‑war crossroads, later a divided no‑man’s‑land during the Cold War, and today a symbol of reunification and urban renewal. From Panoramapunkt, this layered history becomes visible at a glance. Informational displays trace the square’s transformation, while outdoor plaques align sightlines with key buildings and districts.
The tower’s reddish brick facade is articulated with deep window bays and vertical ribs, giving texture that changes with shifting light. At street level, cafes, shops, and cinema crowds underscore the square’s steady energy. Above, the terrace offers a calmer perch, where trains glide into the nearby station and traffic lines the boulevards below, sketching the daily rhythm of the city.
Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kollhoff-Tower
This outdoor and indoor history museum documents the terror applied by the Nazi regime. It is on the site of buildings which during the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 were the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS, the principal instruments of repression during the Nazi era.
German historical museum covering everything from pre-history up to the present day. One can spend many, many hours here! The building from 1695/1730 was the Zeughaus (Arsenal) until 1876.
Oderberger Straße is known for its beautiful and generous Gründerzeit architecture, as well as its cafés and restaurants. Since before Germany's reunification the street has been the desired place for alternative folks and avant-gardists, but the area has seen continual gentrification since the early 2000s.
From 1941, 12,000 tons of concrete in a 15-m-high and 20-m-diameter cylinder were built to test the load-bearing capacity of the Berlin soils (turns out glacial sands are no good basis for gargantuan architecture) for Albert Speer's Germania buildings. Too massive for later blasting, this is one of the more bizarre remains of the Third Reich.
Designed by Hans Poelzig in 1929, it is the first self-contained broadcasting house in the world and it is still in use today.
Millions of visitors leaving East Berlin by train said tearful goodbyes to their friends and relatives from the East at this former border checkpoint. Hardly a year after the wall came down, the building was turned into a nightclub until it was forced to close in 2006. It re-opened as a museum in September 2011 and now houses a permanent exhibition that brings the absurd normality of everyday life in the divided city back to life.
Small park in the heart of West Berlin. Great place to chill on a sunny day. There are many great cafés and restaurants nearby. Linger over a coffee here and watch people passing by.
The town hall of Berlin is known as such because it is made of red brick, not due to its former political persuasion. There are nice Prussian rooms inside, which are worth a look.
In 1893 the authorities of Berlin issued the artistic entrance to the National Park Friedrichshain. The fountain of fairy tales was commissioned by the National Park and later designed by Ludwig Hoffmann.
The former Imperial General Post Office, now Museum for telecommunication and post with many interesting historical objects.
The Gendarmenmarkt is a square in the Friedrichstadt with the Konzerthaus (concert hall) and in front of the statue of Germany's poet Friedrich Schiller, the Neue Kirche (New church) and the Französischer Dom (French cathedrals). Berlin’s Deutscher Dom on the magnificent Gendarmenmarkt square is not to be confused with the Berliner Dom. It was built in 1708. Since 1992 a German Parliament exhibition can be seen here entitled “Paths, Loosing Track and Detours” or the development of parliamentary democracy in Germany – ways and roundabouts. No religious services are held here. The French cathedral houses the Hugenottenmuseum. It represents the ongoing influence on Berlin by the Huguenots who emigrated from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Crown Prince Friedrich William encouraged them to settle here because most of them were skilled workers or otherwise useful to the kingdom. One memorable artwork, in room nine of the museum, pictures Crown Princess Dorothea exclaiming "But he's a refugee!" upon being presented a very valuable set of jewels by Pierre Fromery. The generally agreed-upon view of refugees as poor, without resources let alone diamonds, was blown apart by the talented French Protestants forced to leave their country due to religion. One of the most notable effects of having such a large French population was their influence on the infamous Berlin dialect. Berlinerisch words such as Kinkerlitzchen (from French "quincaillerie" - kitchen equipment) and Muckefuck (from French "mocca faux" - artificial coffee, though that etymology is not universally accepted) are unique to the area. The Französischen Dom (cathedral) itself was built to resemble the main church of the Huguenots in Charenton, France, destroyed in 1688. It has housed the museum since 1929. Closed till 2019
The zoo in the former East Berlin is more spacious than its West Berlin counterpart, the historic Berlin Zoo and has been open for some 50 years. The Tierpark has nearly as many animals, but fewer reptiles and aquatic animals. It appears rather like a park with animals than a classic zoo, in fact it is one of the biggest zoos in Europe. There is an old castle from the late 17th century in the northeast of the Tierpark (Schloss Friedrichsfelde).
This abandoned amusement park with its iconic large Ferris wheel opened in the German Democratic Republic in 1969. After its closing in 2002 the rotting theme park and its apocalyptic atmosphere became a target of international media coverage, amongst others by the New York Times. In 2016 it was announced that the venue will be restored and reopened as an art and culture park.