Berlin Trip Overview
In contrast to bus tours, on an individual taxi sightseeing tour you have the opportunity to stop almost everywhere – be it for a photo shoot, be it for a snack or a break, be it for a coffee. Or for a longer tour to take a closer look at an object or to have it explained to you (Berlin Cathedral, Hackesche Höfe, Brandenburg Gate, Gendarmenmarkt, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, KaDeWe are recommended, for example). According to your interests and wishes! And in contrast to a walking tour, you don’t just see a tiny section of our city. So combine the best of both perspectives with a taxi tour, just like I’ve always done with friends and relatives. Here you can immerse yourself in Berlin districts (Kieze) such as Kreuzberg or Friedrichshain. And enjoy the luxury of being picked up personally from your accommodation in the S-Bahn-Ring. And all in a real Berlin luxury taxi SUV!
Additional Info
Duration: 3 to 4 hours
Starts: Berlin, Germany
Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
Explore Berlin Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Berlin, Berlin, Germany
In contrast to bus tours, on an individual taxi sightseeing tour you have the opportunity to stop almost everywhere – be it for a photo shoot, be it for a snack or a break, be it for a coffee. Or for a longer tour to take a closer look at an object or to have it explained to you (Berlin Cathedral, Hackesche Höfe, Brandenburg Gate, Gendarmenmarkt, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, KaDeWe are recommended, for example). According to your interests and wishes! And in contrast to a walking tour, you don’t just see a tiny section of our city. So combine the best of both perspectives with a taxi tour, just like I’ve always done with friends and relatives. Here you can immerse yourself in Berlin districts (Kieze) such as Kreuzberg or Friedrichshain. And enjoy the luxury of being picked up personally from your accommodation in the S-Bahn-Ring. And all in a real Berlin luxury taxi SUV!
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Pass By: Potsdamer Platz Tiegarten, 10785 Berlin Germany
Actually, the right place, which was laid out as an octagon by the soldier king in the 18th century (in contrast to the Karree, the Pariser Platz and the Rondell, today’s Mehringplatz), the Leipziger Platz, is located at the end of the street of the same name before the city gate, that led to Potsdam and was therefore also called that. The now more well-known square, the Potsdamer, was already outside and was and is again largely an intersection with lots of traffic. While 100,000 vehicles drove by here every day in the 1920s, the day and night life raged here with amusement restaurants and more. Today the well-known buildings of Mercedes (then Daimler-Chrysler) and the Sony Center are located here, at the beginning of the striking glass tower for the management of Deutsche Bahn. Nearby important hotels (like the Ritz Carlton) and new amusements. That’s how it was intended, but it doesn’t really want to unfold from the retort, even the Spielbank Berlin wants to leave, the musical is already.
Stop At: Brandenburg Gate, Pariser Platz, 10117 Berlin Germany
It’s actually on Pariser Platz, at least from the other side. If the city of Berlin were an apartment, this place would be the so-called parlor. In other words, the room where guests are happy to take them to show the most beautiful sides of the city. But why so much, the surrounding buildings were destroyed by war and demolition in the later decades, all that was left was the Brandenburg Gate. It was about as isolated as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. But it wasn’t planned that way. There was no way to get to the gate from either side, a very thick wall stood from the west, and the East Berliners were separated by a fence from the east. The remaining part of the Hotel Adlon was finally blown up. After the fall of the Wall, it was decided to rebuild everything here, but modernized in style, only in cubature as before. Now the Liebermannhaus, the Academy of the Arts, the French and American embassies are gathered here again.
Duration: 5 minutes
Pass By: Reichstag Building, Platz der Republik 1, 10557 Berlin Germany
Magnificent Wilhelminian building, even if criticized by it as a chat room or monkey house. Therefore also built outside and away from the city. Historically valuable, after all, the Red Army soldiers placed their flag on the building as a symbol of victory. Even if the famous photo of it is only reproduced. Then for decades it was largely ignored in the so-called free West Berlin – only 5 m away from the Wall, it was not allowed to be used for official Bundestag sessions. If so, to elect the Federal President, for example, a reprimand from East Berlin followed immediately. Completely gutted in the nineties and completely redesigned for the reunified Bundestag with now over 700 members. Not to forget the iconographic wrapping action by the artist Christo. The Reichstag dome, put on new glass after the architect had only planned a kind of gas station roof at this point, it now represents the new Berlin.
Pass By: Paul-Lobe-Haus, Platz der Republik 1, 10557 Berlin Germany
This building is the so-called engine of parliament; all parliamentary work takes place here. In Parliament, only the closing speeches are held; the actual discussion and voting takes place in the committees. There is plenty of opportunity for this in every bulge in the over 200 m long building on three floors. And as a glass parliament you can even see it from the outside. Only the EU and secret committees sit in the largest rotunda facing the Spree above the two restaurants – and cannot be seen from outside.
Pass By: Bundeskanzleramt der Bundesregierung, Willy-Brandt-Str. 1, 10557 Berlin Germany
Colossal building, with a height of 36 m, ten floors and a total of 500 office rooms for over 300 employees, not exactly small. The White House would fit eight times. The only bigger ones are palaces for presidents. The Chancellor has her office in the top left corner. In the rotunda above there is an official apartment for her, which she does not use. As you know, she lives across from Museum Island. The official apartment is also rather impractical, with bathroom and bedroom across the street with about 200 m² of usable space.
Pass By: Berlin Central Station, Hauptbahnhof, Europaplatz 1, 10557 Berlin, Germany
Largest crossing station in Europe, that’s what the railway itself says and tells of 300,000 passengers who change trains here every day. Well that’s hard to check. But in fact the train station is already huge in its dimensions, with 8 underground tracks and just as many above ground. In between huge halls, a total of 5 levels, and many, many shops. And so that they got enough visitors, the former most important train station in West Berlin, namely the Bahnhof Zoo, was downgraded to a regional train station without a stop for the ICE. To the horror of the Charlottenburg etc, who now had another journey – felt like nowhere. Because the new central station (Berlin never had one, only terminal stations in all directions) was only on the Stadtbahn (which was once built to connect most of Berlin’s train stations). The underground only got a stub up to the Brandenburg Gate (it is being extended), and underground digging is still going on at the S-Bahn.
Pass By: Humboldthafenbrücke, Mitte, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Here we pass the east-west border again. In the port, which was already a restricted area at that time, the first deaths occurred after the wall was built. Günter Litfin was shot backwards while trying to swim through the harbor. His brother mourned him until a few years ago – in one of the last remaining watchtowers at the Invalidenfriedhof.
Pass By: Haus der Bundespressekonferenz, Schiffbauerdamm 40, 10117 Berlin, Germany
A modern building, with a striking large giant window in the middle. Behind this, the government is surveyed once or twice a week by accredited journalists from the capital. They then sit in front of a blue wall, which is also easily reflected here in the facade.
Pass By: Invalidenstraße, Berlin, Germany
Today important ministries – for economy and traffic – are lined up here in significant buildings with an eventful history. The Palais am Invalidenpark – formerly for war casualties who were admitted here – was also used for an execution court in GDR times, in which death sentences were passed. For a long time it was also a military hospital. On the way to the Ministry of Transport – a Bavarian minister has always resided there for years – we see a piece of sunken wall on the left. This is art – because it wasn’t there at all, but behind us at the level of the bridge. On the right hand side we can already see many of the old clinic buildings of the Charité, the largest university hospital in Europe. In the foreground is the medical-historical museum, nearby is an “anatomical theater” from the Baroque era, in which animals were dissected as object lessons even before medical students.
Stop At: Memorial of the Berlin Wall, Bernauer Strasse 111, 13355 Berlin Germany
For a long time it was away from the tourist stream, the official memorial of the city of Berlin to the wall. Everyone flocked to Checkpoint Charly, but there is only one privately run museum dedicated to the escape attempts. Today it’s different, but why was this part on Bernauer Strasse on the border with Wedding chosen? There have been many spectacular escape attempts here – with tunnels. Because it was also possible here at Prenzlauer Berg (otherwise you would already drink in Berlin in about 1m depth). In addition, there was an original piece of the Berlin Wall, preserved on the initiative of the pastor of the parish that was cut by the wall here and whose historic church was blown up at the end of the 1980s. This was framed by metal mirror surfaces, in expectation that the city would soon close the fallow land on the death strip. But here too: wrong, you can still see the strip through the city clearly, now also protected.
Duration: 10 minutes
Pass By: U Rosenthaler Platz, 10119 Berlin, Germany
This has now become a hotspot – not just for tourists who find hotels and hostels all around here. There is also – unlike in many other places in the former East – warm food all night long during the week, and not just as a snack. Bars and nightlife are also all around, even if not the big clubs (almost all of them are now near the water, i.e. near the Spree), but there are small, hip shops right here in Torstrasse. By the way, it’s called that because it was a kind of city limits road (part of a ring), where the 17 city gates stood at weddings until the 19th century. Jews were also allowed to enter through the Rosenthaler Tor, as well as through the Hallesche Tor at the southern end of the city at that time. Immediately behind this gate we come to the so-called Spandauer Vorstadt, which is why many Jews settled there.
Pass By: Friedrichstrasse, Berlin Germany
One of the most famous and longest streets through the city of Berlin: Friedrichstrasse. From here it runs in a straight line south to Kreuzberg, where it ends at today’s Mehringplatz – and thus at Hallescher Tor. It has quite different sections, here is the somewhat dingy northern end, which is currently being spruced up. The Tacheles, which actually stands on Oranienburger Straße, extends over here, as it was originally a shopping gallery before department stores became fashionable. Today it’s the other way around. A small new district is being created here on an area that could hold some villages.
Pass By: Friedrichstadt-Palast, Friedrichstr. 107, 10117 Berlin Germany
West Berliners like to mockingly call it Revueplatte, since it has provided a lot of amusement since it was built, and that when the house is often sold out. Much attention is also paid to the large in-house productions. And people like to advertise the longest stage in the world (even if it is not as deep as the one in Las Vegas), after all it also contains a retractable swimming pool or a rotating ice surface. In any case, that much is certain, two 80 revue dancers’ legs fit nicely next to each other.
Pass By: Berlin Friedrichstrasse Station, Georgenstr. 14/17, 10117 Berlin Germany
This station was the only one from which there was an onward journey from East to West Berlin during the time of the Wall, for example also for the Paris-Moscow Express at the time. Or also for the departure of East Berliners, but then without a return ticket. Which is why this station was also used for adventurous escape attempts, which, however, were not always successful. Otherwise, the whole station was criss-crossed by barriers and customs checkpoints, with Stasi observation corridors in the middle – if you are interested in this and more, you will find the original reconstructed next door in the so-called Palace of Tears. This was so called because the East Berliners had to say goodbye to their relatives there, and often for seemingly forever.
Pass By: Unter den Linden, Berlin Germany
This magnificent boulevard was the first of its kind in Berlin. Actually designed as a tranquil bridle path, it led from the Berlin Palace to the west, through the Brandenburg Gate into the hunting grounds, today’s zoo. These were also reserved for the elector personally and exclusively. When the city expanded to the west – the nucleus was the island in the Spree and the eastern side, where the Nikolaiviertel is today – the Jagdweg was expanded into a considerable boulevard. When it came to the question of how to plant it, there was no agreement between nut trees and linden trees. As you can see today, the linden trees prevailed, otherwise today the street was called Unter den Nüssen … Originally lined with aristocratic palaces, today there are important and prominent buildings from the State Library to the Humboldt University and the State Opera. Only the remaining cafes on the median are cozy.
Pass By: Russische Botschaft, Unter den Linden 63-65, 10117 Berlin Germany
After the war, the Soviet Union had the largest foreign representation in Europe built here. Its size was supposed to document who was in charge here in the center of Berlin, at that time the American, British and French embassies on Pariser Platz were all in ruins. Contrary to the von den Linden statutes, according to which all buildings should be aligned flush with the street, this type of palace allowed itself an inner courtyard. It was supposed to please Stalin in everything – but unfortunately it is not known whether he ever set foot in it, let alone stayed the night there. At least nothing would have been missing, even for the attached school there is a swimming pool and ballrooms and so on anyway. But Stalin was also a paranoid all his life. To this day used for the successor states of the USSR called GUS.
Stop At: Gendarmenmarkt, 10117 Berlin Germany
German and French cathedral, theater, concert hall, this square is rightly described by many as the most beautiful square in Berlin. Today’s concert hall (formerly built as a theater) is nicely framed by the two so-called domes. Namely the German and the French cathedral. However, they are neither bishop’s seats nor cathedrals, but simple meetinghouses that Frederick II had embellished with a cathedral-like tower, supposedly according to his own design. The left church, the German cathedral, is no longer used as such, but contains a museum for the parliamentary history of Germany. The one on the right, the French cathedral, is still used by a Reformed congregation that holds services in French on Sundays. Behind it a small Huguenot museum, because it was these refugees who were allowed to build their church here. They only had to live further outside in Moabit. Rebuilt in GDR times.
Duration: 5 minutes
Pass By: Bebelplatz 1, 10117 Berlin Germany
So-called commode (Royal Court Library), St. Hedwig Cathedral, State Opera, Humboldt University together form the Forum Fridericianum. In today’s Hotel Club the Rome, the SPD and KPD were forcibly united. Therefore, the name August Bebel, the founder of the SPD, may also fit. Otherwise, the square used to be called simply Opernplatz, which would also fit better. In the middle of the square, you can easily walk across it, unless there is a crowd of people there, a glass window in the floor that points to an empty library. Here on May 10, 1933, all books unsuitable from the Nazi point of view were burned. With the Humboldt University opposite, the square forms a nice square, as the Berliner says. Because this building was also built as a palace, namely for the younger brother of Friedrich II, Heinrich. A few years after his death, it was used as the nucleus of the royal Friedrich Wilhelm University, today Humboldt University.
Pass By: Neue Wache, Unter den Linden 4, 10117 Berlin Germany
For many, the spectacle under the linden trees used to be: the changing of the guard at the new guard, the East Berlin soldiers then walked up and down here at goose-step. That is long gone now, but actually this guard housed the castle guard, at least a small part of it. Formerly a kind of eternal flame inside (actually made of glass, but looks like this when the light falls), today a pièta, an enlarged form of the sculpture by Käthe Kollwitz, who mourned her son who died after only a few weeks in the First World War. Today a place of mourning for all victims of war and tyranny, therefore often statesmanlike wreaths here, especially after the national memorial day in November.
Pass By: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Unter den Linden 2, 10117 Berlin Germany
The German Historical Museum is located in the former armory. This traditionally contains the “toys” for men in case of war, ie war implements. Gladly also those captured by the enemy. As a result, a war weapons museum developed from this, and in GDR times also a military history museum. After the fall of the Wall, the decision was made to set up a central museum of German history here, after the groundbreaking had already fallen where the Chancellery is today. Then the story came in between … The house itself was completely refurbished after the fall of the Wall, and especially the frescoes outside and also in the inner courtyard of the building make many shiver, because they are replicas of death masks of dying warriors. Andreas Schlueter, the builder of the baroque Berlin Palace, drew here as a sculptor.
Pass By: Kronprinzenpalais, Unter den Linden 3, 10117 Berlin Germany
This building and the neighboring Kronprinzessinnenpalais are often overlooked – when all the giant objects on Unter den Linden are named, they quickly go under. In fact, their most important purpose was that which is already hidden in the name: Not only were crown princes and princesses born here, but they also grew up here and not infrequently gave birth to them themselves. The two palaces are connected by a corridor. Since the Kronprinzessinnenpalais is so close to the State Opera, it was often used as an opera cafe, and it is currently being used as an exhibition space. The Kronprinzenpalais is still being used by the administration for the reconstruction of the City Palace / Humboldt Forum.
Pass By: Humboldt Forum, Schloßpl., 10178 Berlin, Germany
There was simply nothing here for decades, a large parking lot, sometimes used for merrymaking and hype. The Berlin palace of the Berlin electors, later kings and later emperors, has stood here for centuries. Burned out during the war and not extinguished, its silhouette was nonetheless unbroken and was partly used inside after the war, for example for exhibitions on how things should go on with Berlin after the war. Nevertheless, the East Berlin gentlemen had it blown up for months, regardless of all criticism from home and abroad, because it represented an icon of the North German Baroque. Before the demolition, it was documented in detail with photographs, it now allows an externally exact reconstruction, the Schlueter inner courtyard is also reconstructed in great detail. The non-European art collections and those of the Humboldt University are to be added to the otherwise modern concrete building. Planned opening in sections as the Humboldt Forum 2020/2021
Pass By: Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin – Centrum Judaicum, Oranienburger Str. 28 – 30, 10117 Berlin Germany
Here we see a no-stopping ban on the right, bollards and also policemen with submachine guns in their arms. A sure sign of a Jewish facility in Berlin, because it is not without reason that they are guarded day and night. In the facade you can see Moorish style elements, the whole thing is crowned by a golden dome. Unfortunately, the church itself, which offered space for up to 3000 believers, was destroyed in the war. The front building, a kind of entrance portal, was at least started to be rebuilt in Eastern times. In it today a worth seeing exhibition on Jewish life in Berlin. But be careful, the security measures at the entrance are similar to those in the airport. The synagogue was built to replace an older synagogue nearby, at a time when Prussia offered Jews equal civil rights and people wanted to proudly present their own culture. Even the iron chancellor Bismarck appeared for the inauguration in 1866.
Stop At: Die Hackeschen Hoefe, Rosenthaler Str. 40/41 Hakerscher Markt, 10178 Berlin Germany
Today they are like a nucleus of this area, which is particularly popular with tourists. Dilapidated in GDR times and partly used as a warehouse, this courtyard ensemble was the first to be restored after the fall of the Wall and shines in its old Art Nouveau charm. The courtyards were built in 1908 as a kind of showcase courtyard area. Here life and work were supposed to mix in an exemplary manner, small factories, printing houses and workshops offered work, and the atria were large enough and green enough that one could also live on the upper floors. You can admire all of this again today in its original splendor, although the workshops have been replaced by shops with selected, partly self-made goods. KPM (Königliche Porzellan Manufaktur) also exhibits its porcelain here, and in the same courtyard you will also find the products of the famous East Berlin Ampelmännchen.
Duration: 10 minutes
Pass By: Rotes Rathaus, Rathausstr. 15 Judenstr. 1, 10178 Berlin Germany
The Red City Hall is not called that according to the governing mayor’s party book; this has the same function in Berlin as the Prime Minister in other countries. But of course for the red bricks. In East Berlin times, the East Berlin magistrate also sat here (incidentally with a Lord Mayor, as was common in all of Berlin until 1945) and the West Berlin ruler sat in the Schöneberg Town Hall. Built in the neo-Gothic style, you can also visit it free of charge, at least some interesting rooms, including a room with many plaster casts of well-known statues. Erected in the 1870s, it of course soon became too small and therefore the so-called town house with a towering dome was built diagonally behind it. The oldest town hall in Berlin stood not far from here on the then so-called long bridge, today’s Rathausbrücke, in the middle as a connection between two cities, namely Berlin and Cölln.
Stop At: Nicholas Quarter, Rathausstrasse 21, 10178 Berlin Germany
Recommended tour with Nikolaikirche, Knoblauchhaus and much more. Here you can experience old Berlin, at least the backdrops are right, because that was exactly the intention of the declared reconstruction in the eighties (i.e. still in GDR times), when in truth there were only three houses here, and only the walls of the Nikolaikirche without roof and spire. In addition, 2000 apartments were to be accommodated on this tiny area, a feat of the architect. We approach from the outside at a height that is typical of Berlin and, as it were, zoom into an increasingly older, almost baroque Berlin. With the end of the Nikolaikirche, the oldest in Berlin, today a city museum. In the immediate vicinity is the original Knoblauchhaus, furnished in the most beautiful Biedermeier style and also shows the family life of a cloth maker family free of charge. In addition, typical Berlin restaurants beckon with a view of the Spree, in the middle of St. George as he kills the dragon.
Duration: 10 minutes
Pass By: Alexanderplatz, 10178 Berlin Germany
Everyone talks about Alexanderplatz today – it would be funny to talk about Ochsenplatz, even if that was the original name, probably because they were traded in exactly the same here. Actually already outside the oldest city walls, it was an eastern extension including St. Mary’s Church. The origin of the square can actually be found where the forecourt in front of the Galleria Kaufhof is today. During the GDR era, they wanted a socialist redesign here in the sense of a Russian prospectus: With plenty of space for all those marching, preferably including tanks and other types of weapons, surrounded by modern buildings that somehow stood for the modernity of socialism, from the House of Tourism to over the house of electrical engineering to the house of the teacher. And in the middle of it the television tower, to this day the highest in Germany, as evidence of socialist engineering and construction.
Pass By: Karl-Marx-Allee, 10178 Berlin Germany
On both sides you will experience the “confectioner’s buildings” of the former Stalin-Allee. Renamed after the dictator’s death, the so-called workers’ palaces were also controversial: After the target increase and wage cuts, the workers moved to the House of Ministries (now the Ministry of Finance) on Wilhelmstrasse. This culminated in the uprising of June 17, 1953, which was brutally suppressed by the GDR authorities with Soviet tanks. Today the Stalinist buildings have been renovated and are the longest monument mile in Germany.
Stop At: East Side Gallery, Muehlenstrasse 3-100 Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, 14167 Berlin Germany
The longest remaining part of the Berlin Wall (1600 m), and actually not a real “front wall” at all. Because the brightly smeared wall that the West Berliners could touch should theoretically have been on the other side of the river. But you could save yourself that here, there was a back wall, which here resembles the Berlin Wall to the icing on the cake (3.60, high, the sewer pipe ring at the top so that you cannot jump up). Originally closely guarded and snow-white, it was painted with current motifs by 180 artists from all over the world after the fall of the Wall in 1990: the Trabbi driving through the wall, the Brezhnev-Honecker kiss. Renewed several times in the meantime, but the ravages of time have gnawed at this monster of history.
Duration: 5 minutes
Pass By: Oberbaum Bridge, Am Oberbaum 1, 10243 Berlin Germany
Almost a landmark of Berlin, and if not, then at least of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg double district, this east-west district that is only connected by this bridge. Distinctive through the two medieval towers, it was once the city limits to the east: the so-called Oberbaum (on the upper reaches of the Spree) floated in the water to prevent ships from passing through at night. Because it was also a customs border, as you can easily see from the coat of arms on the towers: on the left the Brandenburg eagle, on the right the Berlin bear. Today a popular connection on the party mile from Schlesisches Tor to Warschauer Strasse with the RAW (Reichsbahn-Improvement Works) area. There is always something going on. Incidentally, the subway runs upstairs on the 1st floor, hidden behind battlements, then there is car and bicycle traffic, and below there is shipping.
Pass By: Oranienstraße, Berlin, Germany
One cannot imagine what it would look like here if the plans of the road planners from the 1960s had been realized: A wide motorway route would cut through the city, with a motorway intersection on Oranienplatz in front of us. Pretty old buildings, small restaurants and trendy shops that line the street today would have all disappeared. Including the alternative culture that is characteristic of Kreuzberg to this day and that defines its flair. Although it has long been gentrified, it has the highest rental growth rates in Berlin.
Pass By: Kottbusser Tor, 10999 Berlin, Germany
The development from the 1970s is particularly striking: as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon advertised, this concrete monster quickly degenerated as a housing estate for the new guest workers, mainly from Turkey. Therefore renamed from NKZ – New Kreuzberg Center – in Little Istanbul. Actually, it was supposed to shield the motorway that would have run through Oranienstrasse here and completely destroyed the old buildings. What also called the squatters on the scene around 1980: They moved into the vacated houses, some of which were still full of furniture and carpets. It is not least thanks to them that we still have so many of the old buildings here in Kreuzberg that are in great demand and have been renovated for a long time.
Pass By: Mariannenplatz, Mariannenpl., 10997 Berlin, Germany
The former Deaconess Hospital Bethanien was once built on the green meadow at the gates of Berlin. Fought for later in the 1970s, against demolition plans and partly occupied, it later served as an artist’s house. After they too were confronted with occupiers from the left-wing scene, they moved out and founded a new artist’s house with the help of the patron Berggrün in Kottbusser Straße. The rest of the building is now used for a music school. The historic pharmacy of Theodor Fontaine, the later well-known author about the Mark Brandenburg (Berlin area) can also be visited free of charge.
Stop At: Engelbecken, Engeldamm, Berlin Germany
It’s worth a short stop here. The wall was right here, almost within reach for the Kreuzbergers above the sidewalk. Behind the death strip, with raked sand. Then another wall, then East Berlin. Only about 50 m away from the west, and yet inaccessible. You can hardly imagine today, where a park has now been created again. Incidentally, in an original canal bed, the Luisenstadt Canal. Here he made a bend towards the Spree, which is why the water flowed poorly and the barges (with bricks and beams for the construction of the city) had to be towed. That means horses pulled the boats and they were brought to the Engelhöfe to rest. There they resided on several floors, which is why these huge elevators are still outside today. Today various media service providers have settled in the courtyards.
Duration: 5 minutes
Stop At: Checkpoint Charlie, Friedrichstr. 43-45, 10969 Berlin Germany
That was the Allied checkpoint. Charly (C) because, according to the American alphabet, the other two were in Helmstedt (A for Alpha) and Drei-Linden (B for Bravo). And as an Allied control force, you were allowed to drive through here without being monitored by the Soviet occupying power or their East German henchmen. When they wanted to do it differently in October 1961, shortly after the Wall was built, a major threat arose: 8 tanks hit both sides, a fingerprint away from World War III. Which is why these events affected the whole world. So it’s not surprising that travelers from all over the world look around here – and don’t see much anymore. A replica sentry box from the 50s, the original from the 80s are in the Allied Museum. A temporary museum of the Cold War, on a still-wasteland. And the privately run Wall Museum, with a collection of curiosities related to escape attempts.
Duration: 5 minutes
Pass By: Niederkirchnerstraße, Leipzig, Germany
Here is a last, short, but original wall remnant, right in the city center. Wallpeckers did the rest here, which is why the “anti-fascist protective wall” is very perforated and does not seem threatening. The eastern rulers felt so safe here that they did without the usual death strip. After all, there were only convinced party soldiers in the neighboring House of Ministries (now the Ministry of Finance) and the planning office (now the House of Representatives). One thought. And then there was a spectacular escape attempt by means of a cable car from the former Luftwaffe house (built for Hermann Göring in the 1930s) over to the west. Together with the wife and baby, they managed to escape, observed by the Stasi, but they did not intervene. Believing it might just be an exercise by the Soviets.
Pass By: Topography of Terror, Niederkirchnerstrasse 8, 10963 Berlin Germany
Located south of the remains of the wall, there is now an excavation site with an information hall. In the 80s there were slopes and undergrowth here, and Suspender Harry (called himself that), a West Berlin unique, allowed Berliners to drive through the wilderness without a driver’s license. Until a lecturer and her student started digging up Nazi history in Berlin. They found remnants of the cellars in which the Nazi security organs (SS, Gestapo, police, etc.) interrogated and
