Districts and
sightseeing in Berlin.
Berlin – is the capital of Germany, has the status of federal lands. Located in north-eastern Germany, and is one of 16 states included in the Federal Republic. After London, Berlin – is the second largest city in the EU. Administrative the city is divided into 12 districts (Bezirk), separated by 95 regions (Ortsteil).
The most popular and favorite district
among tourists, is the historic center – Mitte, where you will find museums, various
government agencies, a lot of historical and architectural monuments: the Reichstag – is the place for meeting of
Parliament, Alexander Square
(Alexanderplatz) – is one of the most famous squares in Berlin; Nikolaiviertel – is a dock with
pleasure boats along the River Spree, nearby Gothic architecture of the XIV
century – The Church of St. Nicholas
(Nikolaikirche) and the famous Berlin TV
Tower are situated, Red Town Hall (Rotes Rathaus); French Cathedral (Französischer Dom); New Synagogue (Neue Synagoge) and the Museum Island (Museumsinsel) - is the
largest museum complex in the world and the World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This
museum complex includes the Pergamon Museum, the Old Museum, the New Museum,
Old National Gallery, Bode Museum and the Museum Island.
Many establishments: the Bundestag, the Federal Government of Germany and embassies are also located here. Be sure to include in your tour program one of the most important and most famous boulevards - Berlin's Unter den Linden (Unter den Linden – «under the lime trees»). After walking along Unter den Linden, we start to understand the meaning of statement, written by the famous German poet Heinrich Heine: «And in fact, I do not know more magnificent view, than the one, that open from the bridge in the direction of «lime», here one beautiful building displaces another». The street will take you from Paris Square (Pariser Platz) to the Palace Bridge (Schlossbrücke) across the river Spree, next street after Unter den Linden is the street Karl Liebknecht-Straße, where you also may find many famous sightseeing, such as: the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor), the Humboldt University (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), the Palace of Crown Prince (Kronprinzenpalais), which is now a museum, the Palace of Princess (Prinzessinnenpalais), which is now a gastronomic complex, the Berlin State Opera (Opernpalais), and well-known Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom).
Many establishments: the Bundestag, the Federal Government of Germany and embassies are also located here. Be sure to include in your tour program one of the most important and most famous boulevards - Berlin's Unter den Linden (Unter den Linden – «under the lime trees»). After walking along Unter den Linden, we start to understand the meaning of statement, written by the famous German poet Heinrich Heine: «And in fact, I do not know more magnificent view, than the one, that open from the bridge in the direction of «lime», here one beautiful building displaces another». The street will take you from Paris Square (Pariser Platz) to the Palace Bridge (Schlossbrücke) across the river Spree, next street after Unter den Linden is the street Karl Liebknecht-Straße, where you also may find many famous sightseeing, such as: the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor), the Humboldt University (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), the Palace of Crown Prince (Kronprinzenpalais), which is now a museum, the Palace of Princess (Prinzessinnenpalais), which is now a gastronomic complex, the Berlin State Opera (Opernpalais), and well-known Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom).
This district is a remarkably place, as for permanent residence and, as for
temporary, because there are a lot of food stores and hardware stores, which is
not so common in other European capitals, and what will make your staying in
the center of the city, more comfortable.
Tiergarten district – is the central and one of the greenest areas in Berlin. The waste territory most of which is occupied by parks. In this region you will find the famous central square – Potsdamer Platz, the government region, Bellevue Palace (Schloss Bellevue) – is the residence of the Federal President of Germany, the Memorial to the War Soviet Dead, in memory of the 20 thousand Soviet soldiers killed during the capture of Berlin.
For tourists, who like outdoor activities, will really appreciate a huge central park in Berlin – Tiergarten park, covering an area of 125 hectares. People come here to ride a bike or roller skates, play soccer, spend time near lake Noyerzee (Neuer See), where during the warm period, you may go boating or during winter period, go ice-skating, but in any season you may relax in a cozy cafe, named after the lake. As well as visit the famous Berlin Zoo (Zoologischer Garten Berlin), which is the largest zoo in Europe, where you may get acquainted with 15.000 different animals, and 1,500 species. Website:www.zoo-berlin.de In
this district of Berlin you will also find many different Trade and
Entertainment Centers for all tastes and budgets.
Tiergarten district – is the central and one of the greenest areas in Berlin. The waste territory most of which is occupied by parks. In this region you will find the famous central square – Potsdamer Platz, the government region, Bellevue Palace (Schloss Bellevue) – is the residence of the Federal President of Germany, the Memorial to the War Soviet Dead, in memory of the 20 thousand Soviet soldiers killed during the capture of Berlin.
For tourists, who like outdoor activities, will really appreciate a huge central park in Berlin – Tiergarten park, covering an area of 125 hectares. People come here to ride a bike or roller skates, play soccer, spend time near lake Noyerzee (Neuer See), where during the warm period, you may go boating or during winter period, go ice-skating, but in any season you may relax in a cozy cafe, named after the lake. As well as visit the famous Berlin Zoo (Zoologischer Garten Berlin), which is the largest zoo in Europe, where you may get acquainted with 15.000 different animals, and 1,500 species. Website:
Charlottenburg
/ Wilmersdorf district – is one of the most expensive and
fashionable district of the city. After the war, Charlottenburg was the center
of the West Berlin, where business and commercial life of the city was
concentrated. Here you will find the Berlin Stock Exchange, the Berlin
exhibition center, business center Neues Kranzler Eck, a large number of office
buildings, shops and boutiques, the main street of West Berlin – is
Kurfürstendamm. But the queen of the district is without no doubt - Charlottenburg
Palace (Schloss Charlottenburg) - one of the finest examples of Baroque
architecture in Germany, with its picturesque park, which is located behind the
palace. The palace was built on Frederick’s I wife order, Queen Sophia
Charlotte, as a summer residence, and was named Littsenburg (Lietzenburg). But
little by little, the summer residence turned into a massive and beautiful
palace. In the palace you will find many interesting and beautiful rooms:
Porcelain room with Chinese and Japanese collections, the White Room and the
Golden Gallery, rooms with French and Rococo paintings, rooms with royal
utensils and beautiful handmade jewelry boxes, decorated with precious stones
etc. To know the interesting fate of the palace will help you the audio guide,
which is included in the ticket price of 14 €. The visiting of the palace may
take half of the day, but it proves to be worth, and you will enjoy in full measure the elegance and the beauty of
Charlottenburg.
Not far from the palace you will find the bus stop for double-decker tour
buses, which will give you a great opportunity to see the main sights of the
city. You may buy a day ticket for 16 €, or two days tickets for 22 €.
Westend
district – is a special part of Charlottenburg, takes its name from
the fashionable district of London, WESTEND. Here you will find a unique
mixture of country villas, first class apartment and commercial buildings with
offices, restaurants and shops.
Prenzlauer
Berg district – is one of the fastest growing
districts in Berlin. It is very popular district among high society of the
city, creative young people and actors. Here you will find many boutiques of
young designers, art galleries, restaurants and cafes.
Zehlendorf
district – is considered to be the most expensive, prestigious, and
the green area of the city, located in 20 minutes from the center of Berlin.
During the warm period you may visit the famous Lake - Grosse Wannsee with its beach Shtrandbad, where Yacht
Regatta are held quite regular, as well here you may see the fabulous
theatrical performance, which without doubt will enjoy both children and
adults. You can also visit the 800 years German
village, completely reconstructed by archaeologists. Nearby a small
botanical garden is located.
Spandau district – is the most western
district of Berlin. For tourists it will be very interesting to visit - the
historic center Alt-Spandau and the
central pedestrian zone, with old buildings, several museums, shops, boutiques,
cafes and restaurants. There is also situated 36-meter Julius tower, with the observation deck.
Steglitz
district - is located in the south-west of Berlin. Here, shopaholics
may find huge shopping centers with cafes, restaurants and bars. In this
district you will find a harmonious mixture of avant-garde buildings such as: Bierpinsel building and Holocaust Memorial (Spiegelwand).
Reinickendorf district – is a residential district of the city, in the west and north-west of Berlin. There are many parks, lakes and canals. Tegel airport is situated in this region.
Kreuzberg
district. This district was divided by the wall, and even after the
distraction of the wall, the life in this region is still divided into two
parts, the first relatively calm and bourgeois - western part of the district,
also known as Kreuzberg-61, and a second part - eastern Kreuzberg-36, the
concentration of Creative Youth and Turkish immigrants.
Chamissoplatz district – is a part of
Berlin, where you will plunge into the atmosphere of old Berlin. The buildings
along the streets near the square were built in the XIX century, and today
consider as the monuments. Also in this district you may visit several
interesting museums: the Jewish Museum
and Berlin gallery, where you will
find an interesting collection of paintings relating to 1870, as well as a huge
collection of graphic works, photographs and architectural models, about 15,000
exhibits. Not less interesting will be to visit the information exhibition
center and the open-air museum - Topography
of Terror (Topographie des Terrors).
Friedrichshain
district – is a district in the heart of Berlin, with excellent
infrastructure, and the excellent place for spending your free time, for
example in Friedrichshain People's Park
(Volkspark Friedrichshain), covering an area of 49g., which is made according
to the model of the English landscape park. Park was named in honor of King
Frederick II, where you may find his four meter bronze bust. In this park, you
may not only have a rest from the daily routine, but also admire the
architectural monument of the Fairytales fountain. For fans of graffiti in this
district, art gallery is located in the open air along the river Spree. East Side Gallery – is the part of the
Berlin Wall, which was destroyed in 1989. About 1316 meters in length of this
Wall was preserved. In 1990, after the opening of the border between East and
West Berlin, painters from all over the world, went to Berlin and started to
paint the rest of the wall fragment, as a symbol of hope, joy and spirituality
of freedom. Now there are one hundred and six graffiti paintings, all of which
were performed by 118 artists, representing 21 countries. The pictures tell us
about the political events in Germany. Nearby to this gallery, one of the
largest concert halls in Berlin - Arena
O2 World is situated, where you also may spend your time to the full. This
district is also very popular among young people, with its creative cafes and
clubs.
Schöneberg district – is described as favourable district for staying, first because it is situated quite close to the main streets of the West Berlin, second it is considered as inexpensive district of the city. This district is good for tourists, because here you will find wonderful gardens, beautiful fountains, good cafes, pubs and bars. Every year, one of the weekends in June, here the gay parade – Motzstraßenfest is held, a very interesting event, which attracts thousands of tourists.
Tempelhof district – is located in the south of Berlin. The district is quite popular among Berliners and constantly being resurfaced. The main inhabitants here are the native Berliners. Among the main attractions are the old Tempelhof airport in Berlin (which is now a monument, here in 2008 in the air flew the last plane); Tempelhof Field; Ulshtayna’s House (Ullsteinhaus); Tempelhof Hall; Village Church in Tempelhof; Tempelhof Harbour (Hafen Tempelhof); Shopping center «Tempelhofskaya harbor» (Tempelhofer Hafen); Mary Hill Top (Marienhöhe); Cultural Center UfaFabrik.
Marzahn
district – is situated in the East of the city. The district
consists of the so-called mini-regions, like: Ortsteilen Biesdorf, Kaulsdorf
and Mahlsdorf. Marzahn district – is the former East Berlin suburb, a symbol of
social realism. It is a residential district and from the point of view of the
tourists, this district isn’t interesting for visiting, except one large park
complex «Gardens of the World», made
in oriental style.
Lichtenberg
district – is located in the east of the city. It is relatively new
area of the city, appeared in 2001. The district combines a modern and
national-traditional periods. In this area, you will see absolutely different
style of architecture, which is not typical for Berlin. Lichtenberg is located
5 km from Alexanderplatz and 7 km from the central bus station.
Köpenick
district – is the most picturesque districts of Berlin,
located in the southeast of the city and far away from the center. Berliners
consider this district one of the most popular. From daily routine, they prefer
to spend free time here, because this district is very similar to the resort
vacation. Sandy beaches, surrounded by forests, a great opportunity to practice
all kinds of water sports, ideal for swimming and scuba diving, surfing, and
the beauty of the local landscape make Köpenick ideal for having rest, almost
suburban life.
Pankow
district – is located in the north of Berlin, now Pankow – is quiet,
green, prestigious district. Residential areas are located along the spacious
gardens; people here led a measured respectable German life. Among the places,
which are worth for visiting are: House
Cavaliers (Kavaliershaus), Shenhauzen
Palace, where concerts, exhibitions and presentations are held, as well as
the Evangelical Church of Hope
«Hoffnungskirhe» (Hoffnungskirche), and the park Schönholzer Heide, where the Soviet
War Memorial is located (German Sowjetische Ehrenmal in der Schönholzer
Heide).
