Attractions in Berlin

If there’s one thing you can agree on, it’s that you certainly won’t have a boring Berlin. The huge city is packed with plenty of attractions and points of interest, for adults and children, that your biggest problem will be choosing what to do first. The history of Berlin, and of Germany in general, puts it at an advantage over other places – many of the attractions are mainly related in one way or another to German history, but you will not only find history in Berlin, but also rich culture, parks and nature, interesting public spaces and of course restaurants and bars Plenty just waiting for you to come and drink real German beer.

The list in front of you is long, but it is still the tip of the fork when it comes to attractions in Berlin that never ceases to surprise even after you have visited it several times:
Historical sites
Berlin is steeped in historical sites, which serve as evidence of difficult times, of many and very dramatic changes in it (as quite a few people will point out) and to a certain extent also those, which are a place for optimism, a place for hope that the difficult reality can turn into another. Here are a number of historical sites in Berlin that are recommended to include when visiting it:

The Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) – is one of the most prominent and important symbols in the whole of Germany, and no less than that – in the capital Berlin. The Brandenburg Gate is a well-photographed and well-known attraction among the crowds of tourists who come to it, and since it was established in 1788, it has seen many changes and upheavals. It is located in the well-known Paris Square and was formerly the official and main entry point of Berlin. The gate is high and very impressive and hard to miss, from near and far. Its height is about 26 meters, the width of the gate is about 65.5 meters, while its thickness reaches about 11 meters. The gate has 12 pillars, each 15 meters high, with spaces between them that allow passers-by to pass. The gate was built as a sign of peace and commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II. At the upper end of the gate we can see a chariot with four horses and the goddess of victory – Victoria, with an olive branch. In 2000 the gate was renovated and is known as one of the most popular tourist sites in the city.

The Reichstag building – this impressive building, which is hard to miss while wandering through the central streets of Berlin, also serves as a very important tourist attraction in Berlin, both thanks to its unique appearance and thanks to its important historical story. The height of the Reichstag building reaches about 47 meters and its total area is 13,290 square meters. This building currently houses the German parliament (the Bonstag) and in the distant past was used as a gathering place for kings and important nobles. 19th century – Reichstag, when the contemporary parliament, the Bundestag, began to sit in it from 1999.

The building is right in the center of the city, not far from the Brandenburg Gate and it was erected as a symbol of the unity and union of the representatives of all the German principalities. In 1933, the building was set on fire (the Nazis blamed the communists for setting the building on fire), which led to anti-democratic laws and orders that contradicted the constitution. In the end, the same parliament sitting in the building continued to exist for another six years and at the end of World War II this important building was a symbol of the victory of freedom and hope over Nazi Germany. You can visit the building itself by appointment and even visit the restaurant located on the roof of the building. You can participate in guided tours, held on site, which also require advance registration.

Checkpoint Charlie (Checkpoint Charlie) – this transit station, although it does not include an impressive architectural structure or special elements that add grace and interest to it, is one of the most important attractions in Berlin, a historical site, which serves as part of the story of the city itself. Checkpoint Charlie is the most famous border crossing in the Berlin Wall, which separated, during the Cold War, between the western part of Berlin and the eastern part and it was used as such for about 28 years until the disintegration of the Eastern Bloc and the reunification of Germany in 1989. Today it serves as a station Passing this as a tourist site for everything, even though we are not visually impressive. His story and everything he stands for are what draw crowds of all ages to him.

Being a very prominent crossing point in the wall, Check Point Charlie starred in many spy films and quite a few thrillers. Near the point, where a small cafe (“Adler”) was located, security personnel who used to monitor the eastern part of the city, as well as many curious visitors, visited. Over the years there have been quite a few incidents at the point itself, including a confrontation between American tanks and Soviet tanks (in 1961), attempts by locals to escape from the eastern part of the city to the western part, bloody demonstrations and more. In November 1989, Check Point Charlie was opened for crossing between the two parts of the city, but until 1990 and the reunification of Germany, it continued to serve as an official crossing point for diplomats and foreigners. Near this point there is a private museum and you can also see the original remains of the Berlin Wall.

Sections of the Berlin Wall – The Berlin Wall, an important historical testimony to a dark time, served as a buffer between two parts of the city: the western part of Berlin and the eastern part. The Long Wall, whose construction was completed in 1961, reached a total length of 155 kilometers and separated the western enclave of Berlin, which was in the center of the eastern part of the city, from this dominant part. Since it was built, crowds tried to break through it and move to the other side (mostly, from the eastern part to the more democratic and freer western part) and some were even shot to death, until the wall became one that was not a crime at all.

On November 9, 1989, the wall fell, which became one of the most defining and important events in Germany as a whole and in the democratic world in general. The fall of the wall led to the official reunification of Germany in 1999 and Berlin returned to being the capital city. Today, several parts of the wall in question remain, which themselves serve as an attraction that draws visitors to it. One of the sections is considered to be the longest remnant of the wall (it reaches a length of 1.3 km) and is located in the eastern part of Berlin, on the street Muhlenstrase. This part, as well as other parts of the wall, are decorated with colorful and beautiful graffiti inscriptions, for which artists from all over the world are responsible.

Brandenburg gate sites