Nikolaiviertel

Museumsinsel & Alexanderplatz


Commissioned by the East German government to celebrate Berlin's 750th birthday, the twee Nicholas Quarter is a half-hearted attempt at recreating the city's medieval birthplace around its oldest surviving building, the 1230 Nikolaikirche. The maze of cobbled lanes is worth a quick stroll, while several olde-worlde-style restaurants provide sustenance.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Museumsinsel & Alexanderplatz attractions

1. Zille Museum

0.03 MILES

Like no other artist of his time, Heinrich Zille (1858–1929) managed to capture the hardships of working-class life in the industrial age with empathy and…

2. Knoblauchhaus

0.03 MILES

This private late-baroque home features a series of painstakingly restored period rooms that impart a sense of how the well-to-do lived, dressed and spent…

3. Museum Nikolaikirche

0.04 MILES

The late-Gothic Church of St Nicholas (1230) is Berlin’s oldest surviving building and is now a museum documenting the architecture and history of the…

4. Hanf Museum

0.08 MILES

This eight-room exhibit examines the many uses of hemp as well as its cultural, practical, medicinal and religious significance in various cultures going…

5. Museum Ephraim-Palais

0.09 MILES

Once the home of Veitel Heine Ephraim – court jeweller and coin minter to Frederick the Great – this pretty, pint-size 1766 town palace hosts changing…

6. Neuer Marstall

0.13 MILES

The 1901 neobaroque Neuer Marstall by Ernst von Ihne once sheltered royal horses and carriages. In 1918 revolutionaries hatched plans to topple the…

7. Rotes Rathaus

0.14 MILES

The Rotes Rathaus (Red Town Hall) is the seat of Berlin's governing mayor and a red-brick neo-Renaissance pile completed in 1869. Outside, note the…

8. Neptunbrunnen

0.2 MILES

This elaborate fountain was designed by Reinhold Begas in 1891 and depicts Neptune holding court over a quartet of buxom beauties symbolising the rivers…