Stephanie & Christof
Things To Do
General resources
Berlin sometimes gets lost in the shadow of other major European cities but it has certainly had its place in history. Many of the sights relate to 3 major time periods: Fredrick the Great and the Prussian Empire, World War II and the Cold War. You can see examples of all three with just a stroll around the inner city. Rick Steves has an audio tour you can download for free via his Rick Steves Audio app. Also check out the Visit Berlin website https://www.visitberlin.de/en
Sights
Brandenburg Gate: Icon of Berlin which was inaccessible during the Cold War since it sat inside East Berlin. Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe: Located near the Brandenburg Gate it is an open-air memorial and also has an information center. East Side Gallery: Remaining stretch of the Berlin wall is now a one-mile-long art installation. Alexander Platz: Center of Berlin where you can see odes to the Communist past of East Berlin including statues of Marx and Lenin and the TV tower. Checkpoint Charlie: reconstructed guard station of the gate from West to East. Schoss Charlottenburg: If you can’t get out to Potsdam and want to visit a palace, this is worth a visit. Potsdam: If you are spending more time in Berlin, a trip to nearby Potsdam is worth it to see Frederick the Great’s Sanssouci Palace and the New Palace. You can also visit Cecilienhof where the Postdam Conference was held. Buy tickets in advance.
Main Neighborhoods and Streets
Unter den Linden: The street takes you from the Brandenburg Gate to Alexanderplatz. You’ll pass the Berlin Dom (cathedral), the rebuilt Prussian palace now called the Humboldt Forum, and several other landmarks. Side streets will take you to the Museum Island and to the Gendarmenmarkt with the French and German cathedrals. Near Gendarmenmarkt you can visit some amazing chocolate shops including a Ritter Sport store where you can make your own and a local chocolatier called Rausch. You can walk along the Spree or take a boat tour. Hackescher Markt and Hackescher Hofe: Part of the old Jewish part of Berlin and the interconnected courtyards of working class. Lots of interesting stores and cafes. Also see the Stolpersteinen (stumbling stones) which commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. Prenzlauerberg: One of the neighborhoods near city center that is filled with pretty old buildings and good restaurants and cafes
Main Neighborhoods and streets cont.
Potsdammer Platz: South of the Brandenburg Gate, Potsdammer platz is home to skyscrapers, shopping and museums. Interesting museum about German cinema and an art museum (Gemaldegalerie) of European masters. Tiergarten: Berlin’s Central Park. It’s a great place to rent a bike to ride through the park and eventually wind up at the Berlin Zoo. The Zoo is one of the best in the world and worth a trip if you are in town for more than a couple of days. You’ll pass by several monuments including the Victory column. Kurfurstendamm (Ku’damm): This was the center of Berlin during the time of the wall. It is worth visiting to see the KaDeWe, a department store with everything (like Harrods). You can also see the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church which was bombed during WWII.
Museums and exhibits
The Reichstag, Germany’s historic Parliament Building: In addition to lots of history it has an amazing glass dome on top which is worth seeing. You definitely need to reserve this ahead of time and will need your passport. Book in advance at www.bundestag.de Museum Island: There are several impressive museums. The most famous is the Pergamon with antiquities and will probably require a reservation if you want to visit – pre-purchase timed tickets. If you plan on visiting only one museum during your time, this would be the one. The Neues Museum has Egyptian items including the bust of Nefertiti. If you do want to visit more than one museum, it is worth it to get a museum pass – book online at www.smb.museum or at the Visit Berlin website. Berlin Wall Memorial: exhibits lined up along Bernauer Str starting at Nordbahnhof S-bahn station
Chris and Steph's favs
Flohmarkte and Wochenmarkte: Berlin has a ton of great outdoor markets filled with yummy food, antiques, and art. We recommend Mauerpark Flohmarkt (Sunday), Boxenhangerplatz weekend market (Saturday for food and art/ Sunday for antiques), or Kollwitzmarkt (Kollwitzstrasse Saturdays) Englebecken to Landeswehrkanal: Right next to our apartment is a beautiful walk that takes you from Englbecken (a nice little lake/garden complete with cafe) through hipster Kreuzberg to the canal (Landeswehrkanal). Here you can get a taste of what our life in Berlin is like Markthalle 9 and Lausitzerplatz: Steph's fav place in Berlin. Tradtional markethall in Berlin and beautiful little square to sit and eat your market haul. If you are there on a Thursday, they have a street food night with a bunch of different options Cafe am neuen See: Take a walk around Tiergarten and then take a break at the Biergarten at Cafe am neuen See. Probably the prettiest beer garden in Berlin
Where to eat
If you have eaten in a German restaurant in the US, you have mostly eaten Southern German cuisine. Berlin is a real melting pot so you can really get any type of food in the city. To get a true taste of Berlin, you really should try the following: Currywurst mit Pommes Frites rot/wiess: A sausage covered in a curry sauce, sprinkled with curry powder served with French fries with ketchup and mayo. There are stands all over the place but a really good one is near where we live (ask!) And pay with cash usually. Doner kebab: In the 1950’s many Turkish guest workers came to Berlin and brought their food with them. It is now considered quintessential Berlin street food (like gyros with lots of veggies on a pita-like bread.) Berliner Weisse: A low alcohol wheat beer with a shot of either raspberry or woodruff – very refreshing on a hot day. Chris and Steph's fav restaurants: Zimt und Zucker, cafe Anna Blume, Austria, House of Small Wonder, Drei Schwestern, Cocolo, Lebensmittel in Mitte,