I'm visiting Berlin in august. What should I check out there?
Posted Jul 24, 2009, 8:35 PM UTC
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The wall.
Wait a second...
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Pubs in East Berlin.
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World War II and Holocaust memorials and museums.
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Cold war relics: checkpoint charlie, etc.
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Brandenburg gates.
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The giant angel statue in the middle of a roundabout in the middle of a park. It's extremely awesome and famous, but I can't remember the name. You'll find it through google if you care, though. I think it's in a direct line of sight from Brandenburg gates, or something like that.
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Zoologischer Garten
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Hmm...there are probably more. I'll try and think about it.
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Good suggestions!
The giant angel statue in the middle of a roundabout in the middle of a park.
That's the Siegessäule or victory column in the middle of the Tiergarten.
I'd also specifically recommend the huge, stark [Soviet war memorial in Treptower Park](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_War_Memorial_(Treptower_Park%29).
Also, the KaDeWe or Kaufhaus des Westens ("Department Store of the West") is continental Europe's largest department store (and the second largest in Europe, second only to Harrods). Worth checking out if you visit the Kurfürstendamm (which you also should).
EDIT: Formatting.
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- Ahem, where is this East Berlin? It is pretty difficult today to see where the wall used to be. Most of the tourist stuff is in the former East. There are great pubs in Friedrichshain, for example.
3 . The public relics are mostly fake. Put up for the sake of tourism. (It's not the original checkpoint). The Checkpoint Charlie Museum has many original exhibits.
7 . Sandemann's Free Tour of Berlin (good for the first day)
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Buy a guidebook or map. Unlike any other city, they don't provide free maps.
The Bundestag/Reichstag (parliament building) dome provides a nice view over the city. It's free. Go early in the morning or at night.
I enjoyed Unterwelten. They offer tours to bunkers, to the subway system with stories about how to escape East Berlin through the sewage system... (only in German. The English tour is about Nazi stuff. Cannot comment on this one)
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Unterwelten was great. They now offer four tours in English, I've taken 1-3 (WW2 bunker, Flak tower, Cold War bunker) and especially loved the Cold War one. And the English guide is amazing, very funny guy.
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I did a bike tour with Fat Tire bike tours and really liked it. It's owned by an American and our tour guide was from the states. Berlin was fantastic!
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Seconded, had a great time with Fat Tire. The guides (and bikes) are great and you see a ton of the city. They do a nice pub crawl some nights too.
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There is a free walking tour that starts at 11 next to the starbucks near the Brandenburg gate. It takes you through most of the city. If you go to the East side gallery don't bother trying to take a piece of the wall because they patch up all the holes with new cement so you're not getting any of the original wall.
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Red Light District.
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http://www.kulturprojekte-berlin.de/en/projects/20-years-since-the-wall-came-down/
Ah, August. This November marks the 20 years since the fall.
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Check out the train to Amsterdam.
Oh and, http://wikitravel.org/en/Berlin
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I've been there but I was four years old so maybe some other time.
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Find random walls, point and say sternly, "Mr. Gorbachev: Tear. Down. This. Wall."
Do this at least every other block.
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I'll try to remember that one.
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There's a big Jewish Quarter full of happy German Jews.
Er, well, there was.
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I Just found out there is a Bodyworlds exhibition in Berlin. I'm also going to check out the DDR Museum and maybe something on the museum island.
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[deleted]
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Wrong century, wrong city.
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i loved all the graffiti on the remains of the wall. Some of it new, some of it old. Also see checkpoint charlie, there is a museum there now.
seconded on the checkpoint charlie museum (as well as the wall)!