Berlin

Aerodynamic Park

This aeronautical experimental park on the grounds of Germany's first air field Johannisthal consists of a group of several individual technical monuments such as the walkable Großer Windkanal (High-speed wind channel, 1932–34), the Trudelturm (Fatty tower), a vertical wind tunnel for spinning tests (1934–36), the Schallgedämpfter Motorenprüfstand (Sound-insulated engine test bed, 1933–35) and the Isothermische Kugellabore (Adlershofer Busen, Isothermal spheric laboratories, 1959–1961), which are about 500 metres away from the other monuments.

Akazien-/Goltzstraße

Restaurants abound here, with cuisines ranging from Afghan to Nepalese and Thai, plus several pizzerias and sandwich places. Prices are low, especially compared with other locations in the tourist centre of Berlin. Around Eisenacher Straße (extension of Goltzstr.) you’ll find even more bars and cafés situated in the basements of nice old houses. During World War II, this part of Berlin was not destroyed by bombs as much as other parts of Berlin, so you can get an impression of how 19th-century Berlin's architecture looked.

Alt Lübars

One of the most authentic and oldest villages (1247) in the outskirts of Berlin, it looks the same way it did some hundred years ago. Take S-Bahn 1 to Waidmannslust and then bus 222 to Alt-Lübars.

Alte Nationalgalerie

Old National Gallery

Specializes in 19th-century painting and sculpture; Monet, Manet, Cézanne, C. David Friedrich and other important 18th- and 19th-century artists are well-represented.

Admission: €10, discounted: €5, children under age of 18 free

Altes Museum

The main floor houses the antiquities collection in an ongoing exhibit called "Neue Antike im Alten Museum" (New Antiquities in the Old Museum). Directly through the front door, entering from the Lustgarten (Pleasure Garden, now under reconstruction), there is a domed rotunda with red and white cameos, Greek-style, with statues of the gods. To reach the Hildesheim silver collection, go to the back of the rotunda, turn left, walk through the long gallery and turn left into a small room at the end.

Admission: €10, discounted: €5, children under age of 18 free

Altstadt Köpenick

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.

Aquarium

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.

Closed · opens 9 am tomorrow·Adult €15.50, student €10.50, family ticket €41

Archenhold Observatory

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. Friedrich 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.

Museum: Wed-Sun 14:00-16:30. Guided tours: Thu 20:00; Sat Sun 15:00·Free, guided tour €6

Art Center Berlin Friedrichstraße

Four floors of exhibitions with a relatively good variety of genres and artists. A very nice oasis of calm from the busy Friedrichstraße.

Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung

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.

Wed-Mon 10:00-17:00·Sa-M €7/€4; W-F €6/€3

Bayerischer Platz

The Bayerischer Platz is the centre of the Bayerisches Viertel ("Bavarian district", with many streets named after Bavarian cities), which was destroyed a lot more during World War II (about 60%). Somewhere around there Albert Einstein lived once. You’ll find several memorial signs providing information about the Nazi regime's persecution of gays and Jews.

Bendlerblock

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.

Mon-Wed Fri O9:00-18:00, Thu 09:00-20:00, Sat Sun and holidays 10:00-18:00·Admission and guided tours are free of charge

Bergmannstraße

K61

Like Oranienstraße a street full of shops, cafes and restaurants, but in the other, more middle-class part of Kreuzberg.

Berlin Musical Instrument Museum

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

Berlin Wall Memorial

Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer

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 fam

Memorial grounds daily 08:00–22:00. Visitor Centre and Documentation Centre: Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, Mon closed·Free; guided tour €3.50

Berlin from below

Berliner Unterwelten

Go on guided tours below Berlin to the World War II bunkers, flak towers, Cold War defence shelters, etc.

Several daily tours 10:00-16:00 in different languages

Berlin sculpture

Once part of the Skulpturenbulevard project, this sculpture was made for the 750th anniversary of Berlin (in 1987). It consists of four steel tubes looping but not touching each other, symbolizing the division of the city.

Berliner Bürgerbräu

The building of one of Berlin’s oldest breweries is a ravishingly beautiful and heritage-protected industrial monument.

Berliner Dom

Berlin Cathedral

The city's Protestant cathedral and the burial place of the Prussian kings. You can climb to the top and get a view of the city.

Mon-Sat 09:00–20:00, Sun and holidays 12:00–20:00·€7, concessions €5

Berliner Funkturm und Messehallen

Radio Tower Berlin and Messe)

150 m high lattice tower with open-air observation deck 124 m above ground.

Tower viewing platform: Mon 10:00–20:00, Tue–Sun 10:00–23:00, limited access during trade fairs·Tower viewing platform: €5, concession €2.80

Berlinische Galerie

A museum of modern art, photography and architecture. Its collection focuses on art created in Berlin.

Wed-Mon 10:00-18:00·Adults EUR 8, concessions EUR 5, under 18 free. Every first Monday of the month €4. Reduced admission if you show a ticket from the nearby Jewish Museum

Bierpinsel

Turmrestaurant Steglitz

The Bierpinsel ("beer brush") is a building in Steglitz which resembles an observation tower and is famous for its pop-art appearance. The futuristic, landmarked building was built from 1972 to 1976 and has since been used as restaurant, night club, bar, radio station and art café.

Bode-Museum

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.

Fri–Wed 10:00–18:00, Thu 10:00–20:00·Admission: €10, discounted: €5, children under age of 18 free

Boxhagener Platz and surroundings

Boxhagener Kiez

The area around Boxhagener Platz is filled with bars, cafes and small shops. Boxhagener Platz itself is a small park with a playground and a cafe, and the nearby Simon Dach Straße is filled with cheap bars and restaurants. At the weekend you can find many places that serve the famous, cheap Berliner brunch. On Sundays there is a small flea market worth strolling around

Brandenburg Gate

Brandenburger Tor

The only surviving Berlin city gate and a potent symbol of the city. This is the point where Straße des 17. Juni becomes Unter den Linden. The gate was designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans in 1791 and was intended to resemble the Acropolis in Athens. The Brandenburg Gate now symbolizes reunification, after dividing East and West Berlin for decades. This is the site of Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev open this gate, Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall" speech.

Open now · open 24 hours·Free

Bröhan Museum

A small but interesting collection of decorative arts from the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods

Brücke-Museum

Works from the Dresden art collaborative called "Die Brücke".

Wed-Mon 11:00-17:00

Buchstabenmuseum

Like the name says, this museum showcases letters that have been used in signage as well as entire signs, illuminated and non-illuminated with focus on Neon sign.

Thu-Sun 13:00-17:00·Adults €12, reduced price €6.50

Bundeskanzleramt

Federal Chancellery

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.

Charlottenburg Palace

Schloss Charlottenburg

One of the oldest buildings in Charlottenburg and actually the reason for the whole city to be built.

Apr-Oct: Tue-Sun 10:00-17:30; Nov-Mar: Tue-Sun 10:00-16:30·€10, reduced €7