Kollwitzplatz is a classic Gründerzeit square in Berlin, framed by elegant old buildings and a small, welcoming park. The atmosphere feels lively yet relaxed, with tree-lined paths and benches that invite a slow wander. It sits within a well-preserved neighborhood that reflects the city’s 19th-century architecture while evolving with modern life.
Kollwitzstraße crosses the square and brings much of the energy. Cafés and restaurants line the street, filling the area with the sounds of conversation and clinking cups from morning to late evening. Sidewalk seating, weekend brunch crowds, and family-friendly spots add to the everyday rhythm.
Since the late 1990s, Kollwitzplatz has been widely discussed in Germany as a symbol of gentrification. Rents, businesses, and the neighborhood’s character have shifted over time, reflecting broader changes across Berlin. The square’s polished look and busy dining scene often serve as a reference point in debates about urban development.
Every Sunday, a flea market spreads across the square, drawing locals and visitors. Known as one of Berlin’s best-attended weekly markets, it highlights international delicatessen foods alongside craft items and design pieces. Stalls might offer cheeses and olives, pastries and preserves, or street food from different culinary traditions, creating a relaxed, social weekend ritual.
Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kollwitzplatz
The museum’s treasures include the sculpture collection with works of art from the middle ages to the 18th century. The Bode museum is best known for its Byzantine art collection and the coin cabinet.
The longest moving refracting telescope is 21 m long with a lens diameter of 68 cm. This giant telescope was built in 1896 by Dr. Freidrich Simon Archenhold but is now part of the Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin. It was the place where Albert Einstein presented his Theory of Relativity to the public in 1915.
Specializes in 19th-century painting and sculpture; Monet, Manet, Cézanne, C. David Friedrich and other important 18th- and 19th-century artists are well-represented.
Jewish cemetery and lapidarium with old tombstones.
It is the only hemp museum in Germany; you can see the history of hemp, the culture and use of it. You can see hemp grow. There is a cafe downstairs, with an open WiFi access. Everything going on here is legal - including the hemp growing under artificial light (a low THC strain grown with a special permit) - but they do not refrain from political commentary on the legal situation of cannabis in their exhibits.
The meeting point of one of the leading oppositions against the GDR regime and is a great Neogothic church. Also the only ecumenical Lord's supper with Protestants and Catholics together took place in the Gethsemanekirche (2003).
The oldest museum of its kind in Germany which, despite great losses during the World War II, still possesses one of the world's primary collections of European applied art. There are two sections to the collection: one located at the Kulturforum in Tiergarten, the other at Köpenick Palace.
The synagogue in the backyard of an apartment house is one of the biggest in Germany.
Became famous from the film named after this street. During the Cold War, the street was split, with one section belonging to East Berlin and one to West Berlin.
The longest stretch of the Berlin Wall still in existence, painted by artists in 1991 and restored in 2009, after years of decay. At Mühlenstraße, next to the river Spree. The murals are painted on the east side of the wall after the fall of Communism; so they are not from the Cold War, during which murals could only be painted on the west side. Make sure not to miss the famous mural of a car seemingly crashing through the wall with Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker kissing above it. It is actually on the back side of the gallery (it is facing away from the street.) It is just inside the entrance of the Eastern Comfort Hostel, near the east end of the gallery.
Also known as "Picasso und seine Zeit", this not so large, but precious museum hosts a very good collection of paintings and sculptures signed by Picasso, Klee, Matisse, Giacometti, and others from the first decades of the 20th century.
The complex consists of eight interconnected courtyards. Plenty of designer boutiques can be found here.
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.
Experience the Stasi Secret Police Prison first-hand. Tours are compulsory. Some of the tours are done by former inmates.
Berlin's oldest church (1230) is a 3-nave hall church. It is in the centre of an area destroyed by bombs in the war which was then turned into a faux "old town" by the East German authorities called Nikolaiviertel. The area is more a hodge-podge of relocated buildings than an authentic reproduction, and the newly-built 1988 apartments that attempt to "harmonize" with the older buildings are embarrassing. The church is one of the only structures that was renovated rather than rebuilt. It is best known for a sandstone sculpture called the Spandauer Madonna (1290), but there are other interesting pieces here. When the church was destroyed in 1938 and rebuilt in the 1970s, the communist officials intended to use it as a museum, which did not open until 1987. The museum includes sacred textiles and religious sculpture from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. The Nikolaikirche is the showplace of the Nikolaiviertel, which isn't saying much.
The Bendlerblock building complex has long held ties to the German military, first serving as the offices of the Imperial German Navy and today housing the Berlin offices of the Ministry of Defense. It was here where, on 20 July 1944, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and other officers led a coup that sought to remove Hitler and the Nazis from power. They failed and were summarily executed in the courtyard, where a memorial stands for these men who are considered German heroes by many. Inside the building you'll find the German Resistance Memorial Center, a permanent exhibit dedicated to the July 20 plot and other individuals in the German resistance.