Berlin

Walking route in the central region

Time to explore Berlin!

And as a good city explorer, my itinerary was all on foot!

The places where I went and, therefore, put this script together are: Mitte , Unter Den Linden , Alexander Platz , Friedrichstr and Potsdamer Platz .

Before exploring, let’s talk a little bit about Berlin:

The federal capital is also the most populous city in the country and within the European Union it is surpassed only by the capital of England, London.

Berlin does not assume a prominent role only at the regional level, on the contrary, it is one of the main centers for the dissemination of information, culture, politics, among others. Berlin is also home to representatives from almost every country in the world, since it is possible to meet people from approximately 180 different nations.

Berlin’s history is ancient and dates back to the 13th century when it was first registered, before as the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia. After the Second World War (1939-1945), Berlin was divided due to the emergence of East Germany and West Germany, which had East Berlin and West Berlin respectively.

As there was a large flow of people from the east to the west, the communist leaders built what became one of the greatest symbols of human intolerance, the Berlin Wall, which was installed in 1961, this building was 150 kilometers long.

In 1989, when socialism was showing signs of weakening, the eastern side of Germany implemented several political measures that led to the historic landmark of the fall of the Berlin Wall, definitively uniting the two Germans, and automatically the city of Berlin, a fact that unfolded in 1990.

Culturally, Berlin offers a series of entertainment such as operas (three), theaters (150), games house, museums (170), which daily host around 1,500 cultural events. ( source )

Let’s go for the walk …

I left the hostel around 9 am and decided to have my coffee at Friedrichstr station.

One nice thing to warn is that Berlin is a cheap city, compared to other European capitals, eating and getting around the city is very affordable.

To eat cheap, the big metro stations like Alexander Platz, Friedrichstr, among others are excellent.

Unter Den Linden

This street starts at the Brandenburg Gate and during its journey to Museumsinsel (Museum Island) there are many interesting things going on.

It is one of Berlin’s main avenues, with several shops and museums (one of which is the world famous Guggenheim). There you will also find souvenir shops and luxury car stores that are incredible!

This street intersects with Friedrichstraße which is another way in this style, of big stores, but we will talk about it later.

Almost on the island of museums, on the left side of those who are going up the street you can see Humboldt University , where Einstein studied. It is the oldest university in Berlin, founded in 1810.

Opposite the university, across the street is the Berlin State Opera and the spot where Hitler’s high dome burned many books – an estimated 20,000 – (see more about this historical fact in the post ) that could “harm” the Reich (Bebelplatz).

On the university side, even before crossing the bridge to Museum Island, there is the German History Museum ( Deutsche Historisches Museum ) which is very interesting, and the exhibitions are always good.

Museumsinsel

All the museums on the island are worth it, all of them, but the problem is time to make this visit complete.
If you are available to visit, follow some beautiful directions: Pergamon Museum , Neues Museum and the  Bode Museum .

On the Museum Island is also the Duomo of Berlin , a place to take your breath away.

Berlin Cathedral can be visited every day of the week. From Monday to Saturday it is open from 9am to 8pm and on Sundays and holidays it is open from 12pm to 8pm. During the months of October until March the closing is a little earlier, at 19h.

Right next to Berlin Cathedral is being rebuilt the Berlin Palace (Berlin Schloss) that was destroyed in the war. This project is being funded through donations.

When the route from Unter Den Linden and the Museum Region ended, I went to another important point in Berlin, Alexander Platz .

Alexander Platz

• Going towards Alexander Platz there is a very pleasant place to visit: Mariannen Platz . There you will also find the city hall building ( Rothaus  – red house);
• The Berlin antenna, or Berliner Fernsehturm (translated from German, “Berlin television tower”), is a signal broadcasting tower located on Alexander Platz. In addition to being a tourist attraction, that is, you can pay and climb this tower, there is also a restaurant on top of it, which runs. You can check the values ​​for access on this link ;

• Alexander Platz is just “behind” the Berlin antenna, and is a great place to eat Bratwurst (bread with sausage), typical German food that some “street vendors” sell in this place (they carry a plate on their shoulders).
• At Alexander Platz is the Urania-Weltzeituhr , a large clock that shows the names of different cities in the world with their respective hours, a mandatory and classic photo in Berlin.

• • Alexander Platz is also an excellent place to shop, especially for electronics at the store called Saturn ;
  • Close to the square is the Alexa shopping mall , which has another large electronics store, Media Markt .

  After the tour in the heights at the Berlin Tower, a tour to know the world time, at Alexander Platz, on the Weltzeituhr clock, and after eating bread with sausage – Bratwurst – it was time to return to Unter Den Linden and continue on direction of Friedrichstr .

  Friedrichstraße

  Friedrichstraße intersects with Unter Den Linden and has thousands of stores, including a Gallery Lafayette designed by Jean Nouvel.

After I passed the famous Gallery I headed towards Checkpoint Charlie . This site was the main crossing point for the Berlin Wall for soldiers, foreigners and diplomats of the Allies. The famous “Now you’re leaving the North American sector” sign is still standing, reminiscent of the Cold War that divided Berlin between 1961 and 1989. There is also a replica of a guardhouse, reminiscent of the fear and anxiety with which the inhabitants of Berlin lived together daily.

On the side of this guardhouse is the Mauer Museum , dedicated to details of this time lived by the city.

At Checkpoint Charlie, I had a lot of fun with the fictional guards around. I took pictures, played with them and went on my way.

Judisches Museum

Next stop Judisches Museum.

After a walk of approximately 20 minutes I was already in front of the museum dedicated to Jewish culture.

Entrance fee to the Judisches Museum: 8 euros (September / 2016)

Since opening in 2001, the Jewish Museum in Berlin has become one of the main attractions, and is one of the most visited museums in the city. It is also the largest Jewish museum in Europe and its permanent exhibition shows the visitor two millennia of German-Jewish history, the relationship between Jews and non-Jews as well as the ups and downs of this relationship.

I stayed in the place for almost 2 hours and, after having some very interesting experiences, I went on to my last two “stops” on the second day in Berlin.

Before the stops the hunger was already tight, so I looked for a place to eat.

My entire route was done on foot, as I like to live the cities I visit in this way, but they are great distances, so if you don’t like the walks I recommend making a short subway route before visiting these places ( interesting post about the system transport network). For more information visit this link .

As I said before, hunger “hit”, and on the way to the penultimate point of interest, I stopped at the Mall of Berlin to eat and relax my feet a little.

I even a beautiful pad thai, rested, recharged and headed for Potsdamer Platz .

Potsdamer Platz

Potsdamer Platz has a very important historical value, as it was completely bombed during the Second World War and became the focal point between the American, Soviet and British sectors.

This square in the German capital is a completely renovated part of the city. There you will find several buildings by renowned architects, including the Berlin Philharmonic and the Sony Center , the two highest ‘towers’ in Berlin.

At that moment it was already night and I went to my last stop: the  Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (in German: Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas). I knew that the night was not very interesting to visit, and that during the day it would be easier to see, but as I was on the way to the hostel, I decided to stop by and take the last photos of the day. And that’s what I did!

In this memorial you will find 3 thousand concrete blocks and it is intended to remember one of the darkest episodes of humanity: the systematic murder of millions of Jews during the rule of the 3rd Reich, in the 1930s and 1940s.

The script was closed.

UFA! I walked a lot!

Check also our Complete Tour in Berlin – 4 days in the German capital

• Bus Sightseeing
• Berlin Tours
• Hop-on Hop-off Bus
• Bike Green in Berlin
• Berlin’s Official Tourism Website
• Berlin Tours
• Bus Sightseeing in Berlin
• Bus Sightseeing in Berlin
• Bus Sightseeing in Berlin
• Mall of Berlin
• Berlin Olympic Stadium
• Brandenburg Gate Museum
• Berlin Museums
• Berlin blog (research source)