Museum Berggruen

A museum showing the Western side of the Cold War.

A bronze fountain by Reinhold Begas. It was erected in 1891 as a present from the city of Berlin to the Kaiser. Neptune, trident in hand, presides over the square supported by sea-nymphs with webbed feet carrying him on a seashell. Denizens of the deep (a seal, an alligator, snakes and turtles, among others) spray water at him in homage while languishing mermaids pour water into the fountain, clutching sea-nets overflowing with marine bounty.

1938

The old town of Köpenick is surrounded by water. Especially noteworthy are the Köpenick Palace which houses a museum of applied art and the Neogothic town hall.

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.

One of the few windmills in Berlin is located in Marzahn. After registration one can visit it and have a look at the functions of the windmill. To get there, take the S7 or S75 until "Springpfuhl" station, then the tram 8 or M18 until "Alt-Marzahn".

In this house the surrender of Germany was signed on May 9th, 1945, ending WWII in Europe. This museum describes the history of the war between Germany and the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1945 and the GDR/German-Russian relationship ever since. Historic rooms, permanent exhibition and special exhibits.

Exhibits include the Egyptian and Prehistory and Early History collections. It houses the famous bust of Nefertiti (the legality of its acquisition is still contested by the Egyptian state which is trying to get it back, so you might want to hurry to see it there).

This would be a perfectly ordinary neighbourhood of Berlin or perhaps neighbouring Potsdam visible only on maps that show the border between Berlin and Potsdam if not for its history. While the Berlin border during German partition included a number of enclaves and exclaves, this is the only place where a significant number (some 300 people) ended up on an "island" of West Berlin surrounded by East German territory. Some complicated corridor solutions were applied for people from Steinstücken to be able to get to West Berlin proper without the need for lengthy border formalities. These days, like before partition, people in Steinstücken tend to use the services of Potsdam more than those of Berlin on a day-to-day basis.

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.

At a former Luftwaffe and Royal Air Force (RAF) airfield, RAF Gatow. The museum's focus is on military history, particularly the history of the Luftwaffe of the Bundeswehr, with a collection of more than 200,000 items, including 155 aeroplanes, 5,000 uniforms and 30,000 books. There are also displays (including aeroplanes) on the history of the airfield when it was used by the RAF. Aircraft include reproductions of Otto Lilienthal's gliders, of World War I planes such as the Fokker E.III, and World War II planes such as the Bf 109 and Me-262, as well as at least one aircraft of every type ever to serve in the air forces of East and West Germany. Most of those postwar aircraft are stored outside on the tarmac and runways, however, and many are in bad condition. There are long term restoration projects, including a Focke-Wulf Fw 190. RAF Gatow is notable as the "missing third airport" of West Berlin. Each sector used to have its own airport; the French sector had Tegel, the American sector had Tempelhof and the British had Gatow. However, RAF Gatow never saw much traffic of any kind, was more kept as a political statement than for transportation value, and thus was shut down after reunification. Tempelhof, after having been shut down for civilian traffic from 1975 to 1981, closed for all flights in 2008, while Tegel shut down in November 2020.

There are three huge collections housed within this grand building: the Collection of Classical Antiquities, the Museum of Near Eastern Antiquities and the Museum of Islamic Art. The Pergamon Museum was the last museum built on Museumsinsel (Museum Island) and was intended to house the great acquisitions brought to Germany by archaeologists of the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The museum's best-known attraction is the Pergamonsaal. The Pergamon Altar (165 BC), from the eponymous Asia Minor city-state, is three stories high and served as the entrance gate to an entire complex. It is astounding both because of its size and extremely precise detail, especially in a frieze which shows the gods battling giants. The entire room is the same colour as the building's stone, making the details on the frieze section stand out even more. Facing the stairs, on the left hand side of the room there is a small-scale model of the altar which allows the viewer to see where the frieze segments would have been mounted. A 1:300 scale model of Pergamon city is on the right side of the room. The monumental market door of Milet has just been restored.Every first Sunday of the month, many museums in Berlin are free of charge. Sometimes a reservation is necessary in advance. For more information, see Museums Sonntag Booking.Since 2018 there is also a huge 360° panorama of Pergamon in another museum building, which is included in the Pergamon-only ticket.

The Schöneweide forced labor camp (GBI-Lager 75/76) on Britzer Straße is a complete ensemble, which makes it a rather unusual site in Berlin. Of the original thirteen housing barracks erected between 1943 and 1945, eleven are still standing today. Six barracks on the western part of the former camp grounds belong to the Documentation Center on Nazi Forced Labor.

The heart of Friedrichshain and its nightlife with numerous cafés, bars and restaurants along its entire extent and also in the side streets.

The building houses the personal offices of the Chancellor and the Chancellery staff. The Berlin Chancellery is one of the largest government headquarters buildings in the world. By comparison, the new Chancellery building is ten times the size of the White House. A semi official Chancellor's apartment is on the top floor of the building. The 200-m², two-room flat has thus far only been occupied by Gerhard Schröder chancellors since then have lived elsewhere. It is usually not possible to visit the building, but on occasion there are tours, usually around August. The building was deliberately designed in a way to symbolize the German constitutional system - it's in the line of sight of the Bundestag and lower in height, symbolizing the role of parliament in controlling government and "the people's house" being the higher power in the relationship between the two. Or at least that's the idea.

The large square in front of the Brandenburg Gate contains the French and American embassies, the rebuilt Hotel Adlon, and the new building of the Academy of Arts.

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.

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 main street of former East Berlin. It is a big avenue, featuring neoclassical East German buildings, fountains and lakes.