Our last post about visiting Berlin was about Flughafen Tempelhof, the Siegessäule, the Brandenburger Tor and Checkpoint Charlie ("Checkpoint C"). Let's dig deeper into Berlin!
Berliner Mauer Gedenkstätte
The Berliner Mauer Gedenkstaette is located on Bernauer Strasse. The last piece of the Berlin Wall, as it looked in the 1980s, can be seen here. Strange to see how 'big' or 'wide' the area around the actual wall was. When you see this you'll get a grasp of what it was like to be there in those days: you couldn't just cross from east to west like you would cross the street. Just one word: impressive.
Address: Bernauer Straße 119, 13355 Berlin
Fernsehturm
The Fernsehturm (TV tower) can be seen from most points in Berlin. The viewing platform is located at a height of 203 meters. Above the viewing platform is a restaurant that rotates slowly. The restaurant revolves completely in half an hour. The tower was constructed between 1965 and 1969 by the government of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It was intended to be both a symbol of Communist power and of the city. The tower is open to visitors all year round. The elevator with which visitors can go up goes from bottom to top in 40 seconds.
Address: Alexanderplatz, 10178 Berlin
GDR museum
It is a small museum that is often busy because of school children. Nevertheless, it is interesting and instructive to take a look at how people lived in East Berlin during the GDR. Don't plan an entire afternoon for this, but take a visit while you are in this beautiful neighborhood. The museum has different themes, for example: the border, traffic, the Stasi, purchasing products, building, living, education, fashion, leisure and vacation. Unlike many other museums, you can touch and use a large part of the collection. One can sit down in a Trabant, take a seat in the living room, take clothes out of the closet and put them on and look at the school notebooks in a book bag. Only a few objects are displayed in display cases.
Address: Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 1 Berlin
Hackescher Hofe
Although the Hackescher Markt is very touristy, it is a must-see place. The facades look beautiful and on a beautiful summer day it is good to relax on one of the many terraces. The Hackescher Markt is also a great starting point to explore the rest of the neighbourhood. Hackescher Markt station was opened on February 7, 1882, making it the oldest station of the Stadtbahn.
Hachekscher Markt station is, and rightly so, a protected monument and is characterized by its brick design. Under the station roof are several cafes that have their terrace on the Hackescher Markt. The station is named after the nearby Börse (fair). On May 1, 1952, the name of the station was changed to Marx-Engels Platz, to a square near the Palast der Republik. Since this square is not exactly in the vicinity of the station, the name caused a lot of confusion. On May 31, 1992, the station was given its current name, which the tram stop near the station had already carried for some time.
Address: Rosenthaler Straße 40-41, 10178 Berlin
Please check out this GDR era newspaper or enjoy our map of the GDR in Russian:
Newspaper, Neues Deutschland, Germany (DDR), Oct 24 1973.
Map, GDR (ГДР), USSR (CCCP), 1971.
Next time, among other places, we'll go to the Stasi Museum and a prison used in GDR times. Read the post about visiting Berlin and GDR things here.
