A Cultural Day in Berlin
A visit to Berlin should be about more than steins of beer and wurst.
That’s because it is a city filled with culture, art and history with a huge number of places and areas to explore, so much so you will need to plan what you would like to see because you won’t be able to cram it all into 24 hours.
From the historic to the relatively new, post-unification developments, Berlin is home to some fascinating museums, art galleries, architecture and cultural venues.
Of course, the Brandenburg Gate, which had for so long been the separation between East and West, is a must-visit on any trip to Berlin. History in abundance surrounds the famous landmark with stories of joy and sorrow in equal measures from Germany’s historic past. Checkpoint Charlie, the notorious crossing point until the wall was brought down, is now the tourist centre and a good starting point to walk the Berlin Wall.
Go to a Museum
Museum Island, an area featuring five of Berlin’s most important venues located in the Spree river, is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site and is not to be missed. The Altes Museum and Neues Museum (The Old and The New), Pergamon Museum, which has reconstructions of the Pergamon Altar, two-storey Roman Gate of Miletus and the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, The Alte Nationalgalerie and the The Bode Museum can be explored on a day pass for the most amazing of experiences.
Explore the City’s History
The Jüdisches Museum tells the story of Berlin’s Jewish history, while the Denkmal für die Ermordeten Juden Europas is also known as the Holocaust Memorial and pays tribute to the Jews of Europe. See the blocks placed in rows as tributes to those who lost their lives.
The Deutsches Historisches Museum, the Bauhaus Museum and Filmmuseum Berlin are other places to trace the city’s rich and diverse history, while the Topography of Terror is an interesting outdoor museum which has been created on the site occupied by Special Services and the Gestapo office during wartimes.
See an Art Gallery
If it is Berlin’s art culture you are interested in exploring, a trip to the KW Institute for Contemporary Art on Auguststrasse is a must to see for a mix of exhibitions, screenings and contemporary displays. Just a stone’s throw away is the Eigen Art gallery, and the Neugerriemschneider on Linienstrasse brings together more than 60 of the best artists in one stunning exhibition.
Enjoy views of the city from the Reichstag, home of the German parliament and a must-visit in itself, or Fernsehturm, the towering structure rising high above Alexanderplatz.
