|
Page 1 of 2
Berlin has more to offer than almost city in Europe. It may be Germany's largest city, but there are more trees and parkland here than in Paris and more bridges than in Venice. With hundreds of construction cranes dotting the city, Berlin - once again the capital of the nation - is undergoing breathtaking changes, making it an exciting and dynamic destination.
The centre of 19th-century Prussian military and industrial might, this great city finally reached maturity in the 1920s, only lo be bombed into rubble in WWII. After the war, the Potsdam Conference sealed Berlin's fate by allowing the victorious powers - the USA, Britain, France and the Soviet Union - to occupy separate zones.
In June 1948 the city was split in two when the three western Allies introduced a western German currency and established a separate administration in their sectors. The Soviets then blockaded West Berlin from June 1948 to May 1949, but an American-led airlift kept the city going. In October 1949 East Berlin became the capital of the GDR. The construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 prevented the drain of skilled labour (between 1945 and 1961 four million East Germans were lured westward by higher wages and political freedom).
On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall opened, releasing a flood of East German refugees. Yet after more than a decade of integration, the city's two halves are still adjusting - eastern neighborhoods such as the Scheunenviertel are Berlin's new artistic and cultural centres, while outlying areas with their grim Communist-era apartment blocks are as bleak as ever.
Orientation
The ruins of Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtnis-Kirche, a memorial church on Breitscheidplatz, a block away from Zoo train station, are a useful landmark in central Berlin. The tourist office and hundreds of shops are in the faded Europa-Center at the northern end of the square. The Kurfurstendamm runs 3.5km south-west from Breitscheidplatz. To the north-east, between Breitscheidplatz and Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), is the vast Tiergarten city park.
Some of the city's finest museums are in Berlin-Mitte; the best landmark here is the monstrous Fernsehturm (TV Tower). Unter den Linden, a fashionable Mitte avenue, and its continuation, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse, extend eastwards from Brandenburger Tor to Alexanderplatz, once the heart of East Berlin.
South of here, in areas once occupied by the Wall, the largest construction site in Europe continues hammering away on Potsdamer Platz. What used to be Checkpoint Charlie is now almost lost amid new construction.
THINGS TO SEE AND DO
State museums (denoted by SMB) have free admission on the first Sunday of every month and are closed on Monday. Some require you to buy a day pass (4/2 € adults/ concession), valid for all SMB museums on that day. If you want to overindulge on museums, the Drei-Tages-Touristenkarte (8 €) gives unlimited access to SMB museums over three consecutive days. Cards can be purchased at the museums.
|
