As most people know, Berlin was divided into two parts- East Berlin and West Berlin. A wall separated the two parts of the cities between 1961 up until its fall in 1989.
To find out more information and learn about the history of the wall, go to Potsdamer Platz where there are information boards, as well as old parts of the wall on display.
Information boards giving a brief history lesson
Potsdamer Platz is just a small walk from the Brandenburg gate, so it is worth it!
Interestingly, all of the parts of the wall displayed here are covered from head to toe in chewing gum. I didn’t understand the significance and never found out why!
Berlin is well known for its graffiti and street art. I think it gives real character to the wall, and makes it more interesting for visitors!
Graffiti on the wall
An absolute must: visit the East Side Gallery. It is over a kilometre long, and has paintings on from many artists. Having started in 1990, there are now over 100 paintings on it.
East Side Gallery
There is a lot of graffiti on the wall, often covering up the paintings. It has ruined many paintings, but, as I mentioned before, does add to the character of the wall.
Take a look through the slideshow at some of the many paintings from the wall:
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The East side gallery is situated in the East of Berlin, on the Warshauer Straße metro stop (u-bahn and s-bahn). It is situated along the river, with lots of cool bars. So make the most of it if you head over there! The Oberbaum bridge is also right next to it, to conveniently fit in another Berlin landmark!
Oberbaum Bridge
Oberbaum Bridge River View
And if you can spare a little bit more time, particularly in the summer, Badeschiff Arena is a great concept- incorporating a beach, bar, pool and club all in one place. It is a short walk from the East Side Gallery, and well worth it!
Badeschiff Arena
That just about caps off Berlin- a truly magnificent city!
Visit all of the monuments in the centre of Berlin
Take a trip to the various Schloss (castles) in and around Berlin
Go to the top of the Dome in the German Parliament Building- the Bundestag
Visit the Olympic Stadium- which has a lot of history, and some great views of the city
Head over to the East Side Gallery to see remnants of the Berlin Wall
How could I write a post about Berlin and not start with this famous speech?! Berlin is in the east of Germany, and with so much modern history to its name, I would recommend doing a little reading up about the city before you visit, as I did!
Map of Germany
So I took a little trip to Berlin in the summer. I took the TGV from Lyon to Paris, then flew with Air Berlin. I’ve got to say, I was very impressed with Air Berlin- a free snack and soft drink, and I even got to watch the Looney Tunes (it seems rare nowadays to have TV’s on such short flights!).
Something that hit me immediately- the prices of everything- so cheap! Arriving in Berlin was a bit of a shock: 2,40€ from Tegel Airport to the city centre via public transport. Drinks in bars were incredibly cheap- 2€ for a pint of beer. We ate out for less than 10€ every night. It was great!
So packing a huge city like Berlin into a 4 day trip- is it possible? Most certainly. Although the transport system in Berlin is very good and efficient, I decided to make the most of the sunshine, put my trainers on, and walk around the city to see all of the monuments.
Starting point: Alexander-platz. It is the first building I noticed- the tallest structure in Berlin. It is also central- and so easy to walk to many other monuments from here.
Alexander-platz
Alexander-platz sunset
From Alexander-platz, we took a stroll down to Museumsinsel (Museum Island). And it is exactly what it says on the tin- a very small island full of museums. The buildings were all striking- very old but all very grand.
Altes Museum
However one thing that I was very quick to notice- the buildings all seemed dirty and unkept. In Lyon, often buildings will have scaffolding up for a few weeks during the year to clean the front and make the building look very clean, so perhaps this is why these buildings appeared run-down to me.
Berliner Dom
Next, we headed to the Tiergarten area: Berlin’s biggest park, situated right in the centre of the city. The Bundestag is the German Parliament building, and it really is huge!
Reichstag/Bundestag
If you get the chance, book up early to go to the dome inside the Bundestag, it’s a great view! There are visits to see inside the actual parliament building itself, I was just unfortunate enough to be there in the only week that it was closed!
Up close
A 2 minute walk from here was the world famous Brandenburg Gate, or, as someone kept insisting I say- Das Brandenburger Tor.
Das Brandenburger Tor
Next, something that my friends from Berlin told me that many people miss, or are simply oblivious to: A memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. I guess in a way it is a very simple memorial, but so powerful and effective as well. I would describe it as a maze- and it would be very easy to get lost in here! You just don’t realise how high the monuments rise, or how low the ground goes.
Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas
Continuing down this road took us exactly along where the Berlin wall had been- separating East and West Berlin. We evntually reached Potsdamer Platz, which shows off how far Berlin has come since the communist era. The huge modern skyscrapers are a symbol of capitalism and modern Germany, as can be seen in the background of the photo above.
Further into the centre of the Tiergarten Park are a couple more striking monuments. First of all is the Siegessäule (Victory Tower). Please note: Don’t be stupid and run across the very busy roundabout like we did- best to use the underpasses!
Siegessäule
The Bundespräsidialamt (Office of the Federal President) is a short walk from here, and worth a look, it is a very beautiful building. The actual mansion is called Bellevue.
Bellevue
A final recommendation would be to visit the Olympiastadion. The Olympic Stadium was home to the famous 100 and 200 metre wins by Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics. It was renovated for the 2006 Football World Cup. It is absolutely imperative to go to the bell tower, for an incredible view of the stadium with the city glowing in the background
Olympiastadion
So these were the main sites that I visited in 2 days in Berlin. Whilst it felt rushed getting around the city, it was relaxing enough to appreciate each place I went to.
There will be more posts coming with the other things I got up to in Berlin. We visited a couple of castles where I took a lot of beautiful pictures. There is also the East Side Gallery, an old part of the Berlin wall which remains, with many hundreds of art murals. I think this deserves its own post as I took so many photos! Here are a couple of teasers to bring you back next time 😉
