Berlin Travel Guide

The demolition of the Wall on 9 November 1989 marked the dawn of a new era for Berlin - an era in which the most significant elements have been the reunification of Germany in 1990, the decision regarding the location of the capital in 1991 and the relocation of government and parliament to the traditional centre of the nation - in the heart of Berlin. This transfer was completed in 1999.
Berlin - in the very heart of Europe - has been, since time immemorial, a focal point for travellers from all over the world. In the 1930s, Potsdamer Platz carried a greater volume of traffic than any other square in Europe.
It was here that the first traffic lights were installed, the replica of which can be admired at this same spot. After nearly three decades of desolation caused by the Wall, Potsdamer Platz has implemented new traffic engineering and town planning visions for the Berlin of the third millennium.
This area mirrors the re-emergence of and sweeping changes to the entire city. After reunification Berlin is, geographically speaking, at the interface between East and West in Europe.

The Berlin Wall earned the city a sorry reputation around the world for almost 30 years. What little remains of it can be seen in the East Side Gallery, on Bernauer Straße, next to the Preußischer Landtag and in Prenzlauer Berg.
Berlin has long since emerged from the shadow of the Wall, however. More than 14 years after it came down, the city, subsequently regarded as the "workshop of unity", has reinvented itself.
It is now associated with top-class architecture, modernity and a fast pace of life. The German capital, whose profile will continue to change, is more attractive than ever for tourists.
During the approach to the city Berlin already offers visitors a fascinating landscape with its expansive lakes, parks and forests. More than one-third of the city area is taken up by parks, forests and water.
The largest lake is the Müggelsee with a water area of 750 hectares. A chain of lakes like the Tegelersee and the Wannsee is interspersed across the city; they are connected by a system of rivers (Havel and Spree) and canals.
It is a well-known fact that the "Athens" on the river Spree has more bridges than Venice. Berliners can travel by boat from their city to the North and Baltic Seas.
Berlin is Germany's "greenest" metropolis - in other words, there are more woods, parks and cultivated areas in the inner city here than in any other large town.
The proverbial "Berlin air" owes its clarity in part to the many inner city parks such as the Botanical Gardens, the Zoological Gardens (the largest in Europe both in terms of size and variety of species) and the Tiergarten.
It was not by chance that in 1988, Berlin was officially designated Europe's "City of Culture".
Unofficially, it still holds this title. Cultural events of international standing are a permanent feature of everyday life in Berlin: The internationally-acclaimed film festivals, 135 theatres, 3 opera-houses and a host of variety theatres and music halls. Berlin's world cultural ambassador - the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra - has a true global player at its head. Sir Simon Rattle is their principal conductor and artistic director.

The range of musical entertainment includes cabaret performances in various folklore taverns and a notable rock and jazz scene with many clubs and major events. Berlin's "Waldbühne" is the finest open-air theatre in Europe.
During the summer months, it attracts up to 22,000 patrons each evening to various events ranging from classical and rock music to film shows.
Berlin is noted for its unique variety of museums, including many collections relating to archaeology and the history of art.
They document the 6,000 years of the development of civilisation in countries ranging from Europe to the Far East. On the Spree there are more museums than rainy days - a total of 175, 16 of them alone have opened in the last five years including the interactive multi-media The Story of Berlin, the Film Museum on Potsdamer Platz or the Jewish Museum. Besides that Berlin got another spectacular new exhibition building As was the case with the Jewish Museum bearing the unusual signature of Daniel Libeskind, the architecture of this new building is also attracting great attention.
The American star architect I.M. Pei designed the extension to the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German History Museum) in the centre of Berlin. Another milestone was the reopening of the Alte Nationalgalerie on 2 December 2001 on the famous Museum Island. The numerous museums and collections also include some curiosities like, for instance, a laundry museum, a hemp museum, the sugar museum or the erotic museum.
Back in the Roaring Twenties Berlin was already the stage for world literature and the Romanisches Cafe at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was the main meeting place for writers and poets. Today, Berlin is once again deemed to be a centre of German language literature.
It is not just a forum for international literary encounters through the work of the Literary Colloquium Berlin, the German Adacemic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Academy of the Arts but also a forum for publishing houses, the press and the media. The international architecture exhibitions of the 1950s and 1980s met with worldwide interest beyond expert circles and served as inspiration for other cities thanks to the extraordinary architectural and urban development achievements.

The construction work on the German capital has further raised the standing of the city on the international stage and attracted investors from all over the world (cf. Potsdamer Platz or Friedrichstadt arcades).
When it comes to fashion design Berlin has become a centre in particular for young and avant-garde fashion. Berlin is once again on the way to doing its reputation justice as a city of fashion. This is documented in the many trade fairs.
With its International Congress Centre (ICC) the congress and trade fair city, Berlin, has had a unique congress building for more than 20 years. The congress and trade fair city, Berlin, ranks amongst the best in the world as the participant and visitor figures clearly confirm. Empirical surveys have shown that in 2002 a total of 100 000 events with more than six million participants were staged on the Spree.