Regattastrecke Berlin-Grünau

The memorial site stretches along the full 1.5-km length of Bernauer Straße. The listing marker points to the visitor centre. Various monuments can be found along the entire length of the street, documenting nearby escape attempts and tunnels; captions are in German and English. The documentation centre across the street on Bernauer Straße/Ackerstraße is excellent (although most of the documentation is in German). The viewing platform next to the documentation centre gives you a tiny hint of the true scale of the Wall and how terrifying the "no man's land" between the two sections of walls must have been. The monument (that you can see from the platform) is a complete section of 4th generation wall - both inside and outside sections, and you can peer through from the east side to see the remains of the electric fence and anti-tank devices in the death strip. It really helps you understand what an incredible feat it was to get from one side to the other -- and why so many died doing it. The memorial site is often missed by tourists but an absolute must for anyone interested in this part of the city's history. It's a memorial to those who died crossing, so you won't, fortunately, get the tackiness of the Checkpoint Charlie area; instead you will be left with a haunting feeling of what life with the wall may have been really like.Bernauer Straße is a street with a great deal of Wall history: it came to tragic prominence on August 13, 1961 when East German authorities closed the border and the street (with houses in the East but the street in the West). Border guards walled the doors and windows shut to keep Easterners from escaping by jumping out the window while Westerners (including police and fire brigades who brought life nets to help catch refugees) looked on in horror. The first recorded Wall-related death - the notorious Peter Fechter case (he bled to death in the "no-man's-land" with both sides unwilling or unable to help him) - was here, as was one of the famous tunnels and the famous photograph of the GDR border guard leaping over the barbed wire.

Berlin's biggest lake and popular resort for bathing and watersports. You can also travel there by tram, which is an experience by itself.

Started in the 15th century and finished in the mid-18th century, the baroque palace was the residence of electors, kings and emperors until 1918, when it became a museum. The palace was badly damaged during World War II and later razed in 1950, replaced by the GDR with a modernist Palast der Republik. The Palast was in turn gradually dismantled at the turn of the century, as it was discovered to contain asbestos and its former function of housing the GDR parliament became obsolete. Berlin has started in June 2013 construction on a new version of its historic Stadtschloss. The Schlüterhof, an inner courtyard, was also rebuilt. The building opened with a delay in 2021 with museums inside and a roof terrace with a good view. Among the Berlin museums this is perhaps the most controversial due to reconstruction of a monarchist palace being seen as a questionable political statement and due to the fact that many of the exhibits were sourced from German colonies under ethically questionable circumstances leading to demands to return some or all of them to their places of origin.

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 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.

Museum established in 1888, with a collection of 3,500 instruments.

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.

A man-made hill of about 120 m in the Grunewald, created after the Second World War from debris of the city. On top is the Field Station Berlin, a former US listening station. Inside the building complex you can see lots of graffiti art. The hill can be accessed without any restrictions and is free; however, the building complex is surrounded by fences and requires a ticket (tours are available as well).

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.

Want to feel like one of the angels in Wim Wenders' classic film Der Himmel über Berlin (a.k.a. Wings of Desire)? Climb to the top of Gold-Else, as the statue of Victory on the top of the Victory Column is known. Just don't jump off if you're not actually an angel. Unfortunately there is no elevator, so be prepared for 285 steps to the platform at 50.7 m.Else was built to commemorate Prussian military prowess in the wars against Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1870-71), and moved to her present location by the Nazis. Five roads run into a traffic circle called Grosser Stern, in the centre of which is the Siegessäule. Else is visible from much of the city district known as Tiergarten. At the base of the statue are reliefs of war scenes representing the conflicts which this monument memorializes. The Allies forced Germany to take those panels down in 1945, but they were remounted in 1984 and 1987. It also served as a backdrop for a speech by then senator Obama in 2008, after his request to speak in front of Brandenburger Tor caused a political debate in Germany.

The former Imperial General Post Office, now Museum for telecommunication and post with many interesting historical objects.

This museum describes the procedures applied by the East German secret police. Every Friday to Monday, there is a guided tour in English at 15:00 (5€).

Also known as "der hohle Zahn" (the Hollow Tooth), this church in Breitscheidplatz is a memorial to Kaiser Wilhelm, and one of Berlin's most famous landmarks. Thick walls and plain decor mark it as neo-Romanesque, but with what's left of the Gedächtniskirche, it's tough to distinguish it as any one style. Allied bombing left only one tower standing on 22 November 1943, but a new location for worship designed by Egon Eiermann was completed in December 1961 (it's the octagonal structure with blue stained glass windows). There is a small memorial museum beneath the tower filled with artifacts from the original church, which was built from 1891-95 to architect Franz Schwechten's specifications.Controversy arose after the war over the various options presented by the half-ruined cathedral - should it be torn down completely and rebuilt? Or should the destroyed sections be left standing as a memorial? The four major sections of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (central space, foyer, new tower and chapel) surround the ruined tower of the old church bridge and show the time gap between old and new. Mosaics and other remnants from the old church serve as a monument against war.

The district town hall was the main town hall for West Berlin during the Cold War. The freedom bell (a present from the American people) and several memorials from that time can be found here. On the main balcony in 1963 U.S. President John F. Kennedy made his famous statement, "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’". On 10 November 1989 Helmut Kohl (chancellor (Bundeskanzler) 1982-1998) and Willy Brandt (former Bundeskanzler and mayor of Berlin) cheering the crowd as they saw the end of the Berlin Wall the night before. The town hall is an emotional place for most people in Berlin (especially West Berlin).

This castle is one of Berlin's oldest castles and where Prince Carl used to reside. Be sure to check out Glienicke Bridge, the bridge that became renowned for the exchange of Western and Eastern secret agents. You can also visit Glienicke Park.

Built by Hitler for the 1936 Olympic Games, this is one of the better examples of Nazi neoclassical architecture (laying claim to the legacy of Rome, fasces and all) and is still used for sporting events. At those Olympics, African-American athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals, a party-spoiler for Aryan superiority. It's the home of soccer team Hertha BSC - they were relegated in 2023 and now play in 2. Bundesliga the second tier. In 2024 this stadium hosted games in the UEFA Euro Finals, including the final itself. For a glimpse of the Olympiastadion in its original state, seek out Leni Riefenstahl's movie Olympia - clips are shown in the Kinemathek and elsewhere.