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]]>In this map I marked remains of Berlin Wall in the city and memorials. Please contact me if I missed something.
View Berlin Wall remnants in a larger map
You should plan full day if you want to visit all sites, museums and memorials on the route.
Start from the East Side, where East Side Gallery is located. Take a train or S-Bahn to Ostbahnhof station and you’ll find the wall a 100 meters from the station exit. It is longest continuous section of the wall stretches about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) long. Some wall paintings are the same I saw during my first visit, but some of them are new, so you can find something new even if you visited this part of the wall before.
At the end of this section cross Oberbaum Bridge and after short walk you’ll reach Schlesisches Tor U-Bahn station. Take a train to Kochstraße station (change from U1 to U6 line at Hallesches station). This is where you’ll find Checkpoint Charlie, Wall Museum –The Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie (€12.50) and until end of 2013 you can visit Asisi Panorama (€10), which shows daily life in the Berlin divided by wall.
Take a short walk (~300 meters / 1000 ft) West on Zimmerstraße and you’ll reach about 200 meters of wall still standing. On other side of wall Topography of Terror museum is located. During Second World War Secret State Police Office was located on these grounds and you can visit different exhibitions with history of this place. Admission is free.
Take another S1 or S2 train at Potsdamer Platz to Nordbahnhof station. You can find some photos and history of the station, which was called “ghost station” during Wall period as none of trains were stopping there and was passed by Western trains traveling from one end of West Berlin to the other. Outside the station there is Berlin Wall Memorial with names who were killed during attempts to escape from East into West side of Berlin.
There is another small remains of the wall near Liesenstraße and Gartenstraße junction about one kilometer (0.6 miles) North from Nordbahnhof station, but I didn’t visit that part and just took a look on Google Street view
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]]>If ever a place deserved the ‘city of contrasts’ epithet, it has to be Berlin. Classical architecture mingles happily with ultra-modernist creations, while avant garde artists rub shoulders with opera stars. Though careless visitors can find the city costly, those who plan their trip to the German capital can make their money last.
The Reichstag building was constructed in 1894 to house the Reichstag – the parliament of the German Empire. The building fell into disrepair during World War Two, after which it was restored. Its most striking feature is now the glass dome at its apex, which provides visitors with a 360-degree view of the surrounding Berlin cityscape.
A must-visit for anyone who is studying the German language in Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate is situated just west of the city centre and has become a symbol of German unity. The neoclassical triumphal arch is one of Germany’s most iconic landmarks and has acted as the stage for many significant events over the past two centuries.
Built in 1961 to separate West Berlin and East Berlin, the Berlin Wall served to stop East Germans fleeing to democratic West Germany during the post-World War Two period. The wall was removed in 1989, save for a one-mile stretch on Mühlenstraße in the suburb of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.
Visitors are able to see first-hand the barrier that served to divide a city and ultimately create its unique modern dynamic.
Originally a hunting ground in the 18th century, the Tiergarten is Berlin’s largest park and a place to unwind during the summer. For those hoping to learn a language, the gardens are a great to meet new people and practise a little German.
Built in 1995, Potsdamer Platz is a collection of modernist architecture housing everything from shopping centres to cinemas.
For those that like guided tours but resent paying for them, New Berlin offers a free daily three-and-a-half hour tour of the capital. The expert-led tours depart from outside of the Dunkin’ Donuts by the Zoologisher Garten and in front of the Starbucks by the Brandenburg Gate.
Museum Island is situated on the river Spree in the Mitte district of the city and is home to five internationally significant museums, as well as being a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe is a five-acre site filled with 2,700 tomb-like slabs of concrete arranged in a grid. Designed as a tribute to the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, the memorial was created by architect Peter Eisenman.
Visitors can find more information about the holocaust at the information centre situated beneath the memorial.
The Protestant Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was originally built in the 1890s, but was badly damaged during bombing in 1943. The tower has been preserved as a war memorial.
Art lovers will enjoy the plethora of galleries and street art around Hackescher Markt – a square in the central Mitte locality of the city.
Berlin is a fascinating city for a short break, and also an excellent environment for learning to speak the German language. For more information about German courses, visit the ESL website.
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