Germany Guide
Berlin
As heart of the Prussian kingdom, cultural centre of the Weimar Republic, headquarters of Hitler's Third Reich and a key frontline flashpoint in the Cold War, Berlin has long been a weather vane of European – and world – history.
World War II may have left the city devastated to such an extent that there was serious debate about leaving it in ruins, but in the following years the city did a remarkable job rebuilding. Reconstructions of its sixteenth-century core exist in the Nikolaiviertel, while nearby stand many rebuilt nineteenth-century buildings from the time when the city prospered as capital of the Second Reich. Little from the Third Reich has survived, and no one has cared to rebuild it, with the notable exception of the 1936 Olympic Stadium.
The rest of Berlin is the product of post-war rebuilding, when the city was divided – ideologically and physically – by the Berlin Wall. West Berlin became a capitalist showcase of subsidized experimental architecture – the Philharmonie and the Neue Nationalgalerie for example – while in the east vast projects such as the Karl-Marx-Allee apartment blocks and radical TV tower were hymns to socialism. On both sides the era also produced vast housing estates, soulless prefabricated dwellings that remain reality for thousands of Berliners.
During the Cold War, West Berlin's unorthodox character made it a magnet for bohemians who flocked here attracted by a military service loophole and huge West German subsidies that funded a cutting-edge arts scene. Non-Germans came too, lured to Germany by promises of work, and to Berlin by its tolerance. Turks, Greeks and Italians arrived in the 1960s making Berlin Germany's most cosmopolitan city – reflected in the excellent variety of cuisines on offer.
Since November 1989, when the Wall fell, there has been friction between those from the east and those from the west who quickly moved into the best parts of the eastern city. The German government brought a host of stimulating contemporary building projects when it moved back, but you don't have to go far to find shabby areas untouched by federal funding. As the mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, proudly proclaims, Berlin is "poor but sexy".
This is not a city where you can simply stroll and absorb the atmosphere; it has several main drags and no clear centre. Most visitors begin in the central and most historic Mitte district, along the city's premier boulevard, Unter den Linden, and at key sights such as the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. This is where the Berlin Wall once stood and where modern buildings have long since sprouted, but it's also the fringes of Berlin's nineteenth-century imperial showpiece quarter, and its attendant statemuseums. Mitte also boasts tthe Nikolaiviertel, and the old centre of East Berlin, with its windswept plazas around Alexanderplatz. Spandauer Vorstadt, the old Jewish quarter, is the best-preserved nineteenth-century neighbourhood in the centre. Southwest of Mitte, commercial City West straddles sedate Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Schöneberg. Further out, Charlottenburg features the Baroque Schloss Charlottenburg – Berlin's pocket Versailles – and the iconic 1930s Olympic Stadium. Schöneberg is Berlin's oldest gay village, while Kreuzberg and its happening former East Berlin neighbour, Friedrichshain are nonconformist districts good for nightlife. Also in the former East and just as hip is Prenzlauer Berg, whose cobbled streets preserve the atmosphere of prewar Berlin. Berlin's suburbs offer the former Stasi headquarters and prison in Lichtenberg, and the dense Grunewald forest.
Highlights
1 The Reichstag The view from the Reichstag's glass cupola provides a great handle on the city.
2 The Pergamonmuseum The Greek Pergamon Altar and Babylon's Ishtar Gate are among the spectacular antiquities in this world-class museum, one of many great collections in Berlin.
3 Berlin Wall Memorial See the Wall as it once was in the only remaining, completely preserved section.
Museum passes and tickets
Berlin‘s state museums ( 
www.smb.museum ) are gathered at the Museum Island and in groups in the Kulturforum and Charlottenburg. As well as the basic museum entrance ticket (€4–10) tickets for each group can be bought; called a Bereichskarte (literally "area ticket"; €6–14), this provides admission to all museums in a grouping on the same day. Even better value is the three-day ticket (€19), which covers all the state museums and some of Berlin‘s private museums too – a total of seventy museums. Entry to all state museums is free during the last four hours of opening on Thursdays, but these and other museum opening hours are notoriously changeable and seasonal so check the website first. In all cases special exhibitions cost extra. Most exhibits are only in German, but some collections provide explanations and information sheets in English and many have excellent, multilingual audio tours included in the entrance price – though these cost around €4 at times when admission is free.
Tours
1 Original Berlin Walks 
030/301 91 94 www.berlinwalks.com Walking tours of the city, with special interest tours such as the Third Reich, Jewish life, Potsdam and Sachsenhausen.Price: Around €12
2 Insider Tours 030/692 31 49 www.insiderberlintours.com Walking tours covering a variety of subjects including the Third Reich and Jewish life, with longer trips to Potsdam and Sachsenhausen. Also cycling tours.Price: Around €12
3 New Berlin Tours 030/510 50 03 01 www.newberlintours.com In addition to the usual specialist walking tours, New Berlin offer a city-centre tour that's technically free, though generous tips are expected. Also cycling tours. Price: Most tours aound €12
4 Fat Tire Bike Tours 030/24 04 79 91 www.fattirebiketoursberlin.com Guided four-hour pedals around central Berlin astride a beach-cruiser bike. Price: €18
5 Velotaxi 030/44 31 94 28 www.velotaxi.de Tours taken in a rickshaw with driver. Price: €15
6 Severin + Kühn 030/880 41 90 www.severin-kuehn-berlin.de City bus tours. Price: About €18 for 2hr
7 Tempelhofer Reisen 030/752 40 57 www.tempelhofer.de City bus tours. Price: About €18 for 2hr
8 Reederei Riedel 030/61 65 79 30 www.reederei-riedel.de An hour-long Stadtkernfahrt boat tour (€7.50); a three-hour Brückenfahrt (€15), which runs a loop around central Berlin; and day-trips (€17) out to the Pfaueninsel and the Wannsee in the west of the city, and to the Müggelsee in the east.
9 Berlin Wassertaxi 030/65 88 02 03 www.berliner-wassertaxi.de Cheap city-centre boat jaunts.
10 Trabi Safari 030/27 59 22 73 www.trabi-safari.de City tours in a Trabant, a cute 26-horse power GDR fibreglass car. Price: From €30 per person per hr
11 Kart 4 You 0800/750 75 10 www.kart4u.de Insanely fun go-kart tours; 3hr,Price: €49
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