This open-air museum offers a surprising sight in a big city. It began during the years of Berlin’s division, when schoolchildren in West Berlin could not travel to the Brandenburg countryside to learn about rural life. The museum opened in 1975 with a clear goal: to show what a medieval farming village might have looked like around the time Berlin was founded, in the 12th or 13th century.
Buildings, tools, and daily routines are presented as faithfully as possible to the medieval period. The site brings together archaeology, historical research, and traditional crafts to recreate fields, workshops, and homes. Visitors can see how farming, cooking, and work were organized centuries ago, using methods and materials known from that era.
Eight hundred years ago, the medieval village that once stood here did not carry the name “Düppel.” That name appeared only in the 1860s, after Prussia’s victory over Denmark at Dybbøl. The Danish place name was adapted into German as “Düppel” and used for this area to honor a member of the Prussian royal family who owned land here. The museum site, therefore, combines a medieval past with a much more recent name.
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).
This area was Gay Central during the Weimar Republic, and it is today. But of course all are welcome. There is a diverse mix of restaurants and stores, several of which are open till midnight or later every day. The U-Bahn station has a superstructure and towers that echo the appearance of the Art Nouveau Neues Schauspielhaus across the street, now the Metropol, where radical left-wing dramas used to be presented in the 20s and 30s, and it is lit in rainbow colors.
Take a stroll for a few kilometers along this canal which runs right through the heart of Kreuzberg. It's peaceful and mostly traffic-free, but full of life in summer. Some parts are lined with bars and restaurants with terraces. Sit on a bench or terrace and watch the world go by on a summer evening.
Arguably the most beautiful bridge in Berlin and the only connection between Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg. As signage on the bridge indicates, it was built twice - once in the 1890s and once in the 1990s. Before reunification the border ran where the bridge now is.
With an impressive, circus-tent-like roof over its courtyard and remains of the pre-war Hotel Esplanade incorporated into the modern structure.
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.
Closed for renovations; the temporary Bauhaus-Archiv is at Knesebeckstraße 1-2 in Charlottenburg. Building designed by Walter Gropius. Inside a museum, library, cafe and shop.
A small but interesting collection of decorative arts from the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods
The largest aquarium in Germany with over 9000 animals that are presented on three storeys in a historic building. Aquarium Berlin is found on the premises of the Zoo, but can also be visited separately. One of the best places on a rainy day with children.
A remarkable medium-sized classical castle by the famous K.F. Schinkel built 1820 to 1824, also called "Humboldtschlösschen", because Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt (and their family) lived here once. Still privately owned.