British architect Norman Foster was the brain behind the ‘Berlin Brain’, a cranial-shaped 2005 masterpiece of modern architecture that houses the Freie Universität Berlin’s Philological Library. Inside are four floors sheltered within a naturally ventilated, bubble-like enclosure draped in aluminium and glazed panels. An inner membrane of translucent glass fibre filters the daylight, while scattered transparent openings allow momentary glimpses of the sky.
‘Berlin Brain’
Around Berlin
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Museumsinsel
6.64 MILES
Walk through ancient Babylon, meet an Egyptian queen, clamber up a Greek altar or be mesmerized by Monet's ethereal landscapes. Welcome to Museumsinsel …
Neues Museum
6.6 MILES
For over 60 years, not a soul was able to visit Berlin’s Neues Museum – in fact, it sat in ruins. But today it’s one of the city’s most celebrated…
Pergamonmuseum
6.64 MILES
The Pergamonmuseum is one of Berlin’s most visited historical gems and perhaps also its most controversial. This museum offers an archaeological time-warp…
East Side Gallery
7.41 MILES
The East Side Gallery is the embodiment of Berlin’s grit and guts. It’s a symbol of hope, creativity and resilience – for Berliners, but also the rest of…
Schloss Charlottenburg
4.78 MILES
Charlottenburg Palace is one of Berlin's few sites that still reflect the one-time grandeur of the Hohenzollern clan, which ruled the region from 1415 to…
Gemäldegalerie
5.09 MILES
This museum ranks among the world's finest and most comprehensive collections of European art with about 1500 paintings spanning the arc of artistic…
Reichstag
5.9 MILES
It’s been burned, bombed, rebuilt, buttressed by the Wall, wrapped in fabric and finally turned into the modern home of the German parliament by Norman…
Fernsehturm
6.99 MILES
Germany's tallest structure, the TV Tower has been soaring 368m high since 1969 and is as iconic to Berlin as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. On clear days,…
Nearby Around Berlin attractions
1. Freie Universität Berlin
0.07 MILES
The Free University is one of three public universities in Berlin, with nearly 31,500 students hitting the books in numerous buildings spread across…
2. Museum Europäischer Kulturen
0.32 MILES
Everyday culture and cultural contact in Europe from the 18th century to the present is the focus of this museum, which also examines such topical themes…
3. Freilichtmuseum Domäne Dahlem
0.44 MILES
Pat a potbellied pig or clamber on a historical tractor at this open-air museum that’s actually a modern working farm attached to a rambling manor house…
4. AlliiertenMuseum Berlin
0.73 MILES
The original Checkpoint Charlie guard cabin, a Berlin Airlift plane and a reconstructed spy tunnel are among the dramatic exhibits at the Allied Museum,…
5. Botanischer Garten & Museum
0.81 MILES
Berlin’s vast Freie Universität Berlin–affiliated botanical gardens boast 22,000 plant species. It's an inspirational spot to reconnect with nature…
6. Kunsthaus Dahlem
1.16 MILES
This private art museum in the monumental studio of Nazi-era sculptor Arno Breker presents modernist works created in Germany in the years between WWII…
7. Brücke-Museum
1.19 MILES
In 1905 Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Erich Heckel and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner founded Germany’s first modern-artist group, called Die Brücke (The Bridge)…
8. Marlene Dietrich Grave
2.23 MILES
Germany's first actress to hit the big time in Hollywood, Marlene Dietrich was born in Schöneberg in 1901. In 1992 the 'Blue Angel' moved into her final…