Building sights in Berlin
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Kammergericht
West of Kleistpark, the imposing 1913 Kammergericht was the courthouse that staged the notorious show trials of the Nazi ‘people’s court’ against the participants – real and alleged – in the July 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler. Led by the fanatical judge Roland Freisler, hundreds of people were handed their death sentences; many were executed at Gedenkstätte Plötzensee, now a memorial site. Freisler, alas, was crushed to death by a falling beam in the court building during an air raid in February 1945, thereby avoiding what would undoubtedly have been a starring role at the Nuremberg Trials. After the war, the Allies used the building first as the seat o…
reviewed
-
Köpenick Rathaus
With its frilly turrets, soaring tower and stepped gable, Köpenick’s town hall exudes a fairytale quality but is actually more famous for an incident back in 1906. It involved an unemployed cobbler named Wilhelm Voigt, who managed to make a laughing stock of the Prussian authorities: costumed as an army captain, he marched upon the town hall, arrested the mayor, confiscated the city coffers and disappeared with the loot. And no one questioned his authority! At least for a while. Although quickly caught and convicted, Voigt became quite a celebrity for his chutzpah. Today a bronze statue of the Hauptmann of Köpenick guards the town hall entrance. There’s an entire exhi…
reviewed
-
B
DZ Bank
The Brandenburger Tor stands sentinel over the elegant Pariser Platz, which was completely flattened in WWII, then spent the Cold War trapped just east of the Berlin Wall. Look around now: embassies, banks and a luxury hotel have snapped up the city’s priciest real estate and hired top architects to rebuild in style and from the ground up. California-based deconstructivist Frank Gehry, for instance, masterminded the DZ Bank at No 3, which packs a visual punch past those heavy doors. You’ll only get as far as the foyer but that’s enough for a glimpse at the vast atrium with its bizarre free-form sculpture vaguely reminiscent of a fish but actually a conference room! Next…
reviewed
-
Isherwood Building
Today’s celebs may prefer posh Mitte or Zehlendorf as their place of residence, but throughout the 20th century Schöneberg was where ‘it’ was at. In 1929 Christopher Isherwood moved to this pretty residential building from London to escape the sexual oppression in England and to live out his homosexual fantasies. His experiences and impressions – as well as the looming threat of the Nazis – are vividly chronicled in The Berlin Stories, which was adapted into the play ‘I am a Camera’ and later became the basis of the musical Cabaret starring Liza Minelli as Sally Bowles.
reviewed
-
C
Flughafen Tempelhof
Aviation pioneer Orville Wright flew over its grassy field in 1909, Lufthansa ran its first scheduled flights from here in 1926 and in 1948–49 it had its finest hours during the Berlin Airlift. Lord Norman Foster called it ‘the mother of all airports’. Imposing and foreboding, the massive compound you see today was the brainchild of Nazi architect Ernst Sagebiel and is reportedly the world’s second-largest building after the Pentagon. Although a place of legend and mythology, Tempelhof airport finally closed amid much controversy in late 2008.
reviewed
-
Bowie Apartment Building
Today’s celebs may prefer posh Mitte or Zehlendorf as their place of residence, but throughout the 20th century Schöneberg was where ‘it’ was at. If you want to see where David Bowie and Iggy Pop bunked in the late ’70s, make your pilgrimage to the doorstep of a ho-hum apartment building at Haupstrasse 155. Bowie and Pop frequently hung out at the nearby Café Neues Ufer (Hauptstrasse 157), one of Berlin’s oldest lesbian and gay joints, when it was still known as ‘Anderes Ufer’.
reviewed
-
D
Staatsratsgebäude
With the Palast der Republik dismantled, Erich Honecker’s former HQ, the State Council Building, is the only remaining GDR structure on Schlossplatz. It’s now a business school and of interest only for its arched portal from the demolished Prussian city palace. The GDR honchos decided to spare it because it was from its balcony in 1918 that their ideological godfather Karl Liebknecht proclaimed (in vain) a Socialist republic.
reviewed
-
E
Shell-Haus
Looking like a giant upright staircase, the eye-catching Shell-Haus is one of the most famous office buildings created during the Weimar Republic. Designed by Emil Fahrenkamp in 1931, it was one of Berlin’s earliest steel-frame structures and is concealed beneath a skin of travertine. Its extravagant silhouette is best appreciated from the southern bank of the Landwehrkanal. It’s now the headquarters of a local gas company.
reviewed
-
F
Heckmann Höfe
For a retreat from the urban frenzy, skip on over to this idyllic courtyard complex linking Oranienburger Strasse with Auguststrasse. Kick back with cake and cappuccino in the café or listen to the trickling fountain while sprawled on a bench. There are also some unique shops here, including the Bonbonmacherei, an old-fashioned candy kitchen, and Sterling Gold, which specialises in retro ball gowns.
reviewed
-
Gotisches Haus
Whoever built this late-medieval Gothic House must not have been hurting for money, for it’s made of stone not wood, as was customary in those times. One of the oldest residential buildings in Berlin, this well-preserved Altstadt gem sports ornate net-ribbed vaulting on the ground floor, which houses the Spandau tourist office and changing exhibits on art and history.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
G
Hackesche Höfe
Thanks to its congenial mix of cafes, galleries, boutiques and entertainment venues, this attractively restored complex of eight interlinked courtyards is a major tourist magnet. Court 1, festooned with patterned art nouveau tiles, is the liveliest, while Court VII leads off to the whimsical Rosenhöfe with a sunken rose garden and tendril-like balustrades.
reviewed
-
H
Weinhaus Huth
This dignified structure, dwarfed by its postmodern neighbours, is the only eyewitness to the pre-WWII Potsdamer Platz. Designed in 1912 by Conrad Heidenreich and Paul Michel, it was one of the first steel-frame buildings in town and miraculously survived both WWII and the Berlin Wall. On the 4th floor are the breezy galleries of the Daimler Contemporary.
reviewed
-
I
Humboldt Universität
Marx and Engels studied and the Brothers Grimm and Albert Einstein taught at Berlin's oldest university, housed inside a former royal palace since 1810. Booksellers usually set up by the main entrance, below the statues of its founder, philosopher Wilhelm von Humboldt, and his explorer brother Alexander.
reviewed
-
J
Arminius Markthalle
Moabit’s few charms can be explored on an easy stroll. From Turmstrasse U-Bahn station, the area’s commercial spine, head northwest to the Arminius Markthalle, the most authentic among Berlin’s three surviving fin de siècle market halls.
reviewed
