Historic places to visit in Berlin?

Question

I'm taking my partner to Berlin for 5 days in October.

He's a massive fan of German history specifically n**i/SS Armies. My question is where would be the best places for me to take him?

And before you say it he is NOT a n**i/ Sympathizer. He's jsut fascinated by the structure of how they ran things, he's massively into his history, main subjects being the Zulu Period and WW2!

Answer 1

Yes, Checkpoint Charlie is a "cold war thing" but it's very important and a part of German (and European) history.  Also try to see the Berlin Wall, while there's still some of it left.  

If you want to see the "n**i Airport", go and see Berlin Templehof airport, before they close it.  It was supposed to be one of Hitler's greatest architectural triumphs, although he never saw it through to completion.  There are still several traces left from its violent n**i history, although these days it's more famous for having taken part in the Berlin Airlift.

Understandably, there are few traces of Hitler's Berlin (he wanted it renamed "Germania") left these days, although many of the main streets and some buildings are still visible.  I would advise buying a book and reading it before you go.  

Try to avoid saying that you're interested in n***s and the SS - this will get you into a LOT of trouble in Germany (even if you're not a sympathiser).  Doing the "Hitler salute" is an arrestable offence, even if you're a) foreign and b) joking.  You can say that it's a very interesting period in history and maybe talk about the battles, but that's about it.  The German people suffered a great deal under Hitler's regime and the vast majority have no warm feelings towards him at all.  You have been warned!

Answer 2

the old piece of berlin wall is good

Answer 3

You are absoluteley correct. The Checkpoint Charlie and its museum are Cold War things and nothing to do with the Third Reich.

Berlin is full of stuff relating to the Cold War but in the city itself there is not much relating to the Second World War. I suppose that post-war they just wanted to forget it and re-build as fast as they could.

Around the central area (get a BVG Welcome Card as soon as you arrive, it's travelcard that you use on RE trains, S+U Bahn, busses and trams) you can easily get to:-

Berlin was supposed to be protected from air raids by three enormous towers called Flakturms. These things were truly huge and would have done credit to any respectable Norman castle builder. When built they were about the size of the central keep (the White Tower) of the Tower of London.

They were at Friedrichstain; The Tiergarten (by the Zoo) and  Humboldtshein. These towers were vitually indestructible and survived the air raids (which they couldn't prevent) and the Russian seige; only surrendering when they couldn't exist any more inside.

The towers were built as three sets of two. One of the pair was huge and contained radar and command centres; the other was enormous and carried the anti-aircraft batteries.

After the war they were all completely demolished except for part of the Humboldtshain gun tower. You can get to it from Gesundbrunnen S-Bahn station. The rubble from the demolished part has been piled up around the surviving part so it doesn't look so impressive now.

When you look at this remember that it was originally a cube as tall as it is wide. That's big.

You must also visit the remains of the Anhalter Bahnhof station. It was smashed beyond repair during the war. There is a nearby S-Bahn station.

All that is left of this terminus station is part of the front wall. Even now you can see that this was a maginficent building in the real turn-of-the-century railway terminus style. When you see pictures of what it used to be like you will be even more impressed.

Not far away from this is the Technology Museum. Part of that is built in the old roundhouse of the engine shed that served Anhalter Bahnhof. This museum also contains several things from the War, including a ships engine recovered from a sunken Royal Navy vessel.

Visit the Reichstag. It survived the war in very bad condition but is well worth a visit now. Because of the queues to get through the airport-style security checks you should allow a couple of hours alltogether but it's well worth it. An evening visit to the dome on top is even better.

The Jewish Holocaust Memorial near Potsdammerplatz is a collection of black monoliths. It's supposed to be "meaningful" but I guess that I'm just empathic enough to understand it.

Underneath this is part of the old Fuhrerbunker; but you can't go in, the entrance is destroyed.

In Treptower Park is the Soviet War Memorial. This was built during the early days of the Cold War but it does commemorate the WW2 Soviet dead. This is a Very Impressive Monument to Soviet Power and no doubt left the East Germans in no doubt as to who Won.

It's about 5 minutes walk from Treptower Park S-Bahn station. While you are near the station have a drink in one of the charming little "cafe" huts on the riverside. If it's a sunny afternoon you may find it 'romantic'.

Near the Zoo is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. This is the one with the broken tower. Inside there is an interesting exhibition of photographs and models showing the central area before and after the bombing destroyed it.

Go to the Natural History Museum (Invalidenstrasse). This building still shows the pock marks of wartime activity if you look closely. It was in the old Russian Sector and much of East Berlin was not properly patched up after the war.

Going east from the Brandenberg Gate (still has some wartime chips and holes if you look closely and which is very close to the Reichstag and the new Hauptbahnhof) is the road "Unter Den Linden". This is wide boulevard that was used by the old Brandenbeg kings and by Der Furher for grand cermonial parades. Use your imagination.

While you are in Berlin make sure that you try out some of the more modern attractions.

Unless you already know the city then the simplest way of planning this is to look through the Discount book that comes with your Welcome Card. If you work your way through this then you'll sample most of what the city can offer and save a lot of money too.

For eating I really recommend the restaurant "Deponie 3" (follow link for details). This is 5 minutes from Freidrichstrasse S-Bhf, under a railway viaduct arch so you can't miss it. It's probably the best value and most welcoming eating place in the city centre.

If you fancy something different then eat at the "Thai Inside" (follow link for details). This is a very unassuming place near Alexanderplatz S-Bhf, but your taste buds will be your friends for life after eating there.

For drinking please NEVER buy any of the "international" branded lagers. Always buy the locally brewed stuff. It's excellent. Berlin has loads of micro-breweries so there are many different flavours to sample. As a start I suggest the Georgbrau at Lustgarten.

It's not all good eating.

Berlin "fish and chips" seem to be sold by people who have heard about fish and chips, but never actually seen any.

Don't bother with Berlin Curryworst unless you want to eat an orange rubber saussage with pink mildly spiced tomato sauce dribbled over it. These things probably contributed to their wartime defeat.

Whatever you do please don't  

Follow the links below for more information.

Enjoy.

Answer 4

Absolutely see the Haus am Checkpoint Charlie.

We took a walking tour (very affordable).  It covered many sites, most from that era.  We learned a lot that we would not have learned otherwise (such as that one U-bahn station's walls feature the red marble that was previously used in Hitler's office).  The tour was conducted in English - our guide was American-born but had lived in Berlin for 8 years.

It left in the morning from Zoo Station.  We found out about it because people were handing out flyers for it there the previous evening.  This was before the new train station was built, but due to the central location, I assume it still leaves from Zoo Station.

You *might* consider seeing Templehof Airport if you have extra time.  It was intended to be the main air gateway to the n**i empire.  The entry hall is gigantic.

Answer 5

I think that these two walking tours would be very interesting for you guys:

Third Reich Berlin

http://www.insidertour.com/tours.php/cat...

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Memorial Tour

http://www.insidertour.com/tours.php/cat...

In addition, there are sometimes tours in the n**i-built air-raid shelters, leaving from the Gesundbrunnen station:

http://berlinerunterwelten.de/en/003/003...

And there is currently also an exhibition about Hitler's architectural plans:

http://berlinerunterwelten.de/en/001/001...

In addition, to that, there are several museums worth visiting, that refer to that period:

- The Topography of Terror

http://www.topographie.de/en/index.htm

- The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe

http://www.holocaust-mahnmal.de/

- Ploetzensee Prison Memorial

http://www.gedenkstaette-ploetzensee.de/...

- The German Historical Museum has a part about Nazism in its permanent exhibition

http://www.dhm.de/ENGLISH/

There are many other memorials and even museums around town (which is why a Third Reich Tour, as I have suggested, would be very efficient).

Answer 6

I spent a week in Berlin and I would highly recommend taking the FREE walking tour of Berlin.  You meet up at the Dunkin Donuts across the street from Zoo Station I think around 8 or 9am.  Don't eat at the DD, go next door and have some of their bakery that was freaking amazing and cheaper than DD!!!

I would recommend that tour.  Its a few hours and they take you all around Berlin and explaining to you the history of the city.  Its a great start to get yourself familiar with the area and then you can always ask questions to the tour guide.  At the end you can tip the guy how ever much you think he should get.  I would tip b/c hes out there for several hours showing you around town!

Visit the s*x museum out there, its pretty cool!

Theres the Jewish memorial and also the Russian Memorial as well with the original tanks that came through Berlin as well. If you take the tour they will tell you all about everything!

Reichstag's is a MUST! and its FREE!

Go through the Teardrop Garden is amazing and I believe the largest park in a city in the world!

When you take the FREE tour, you can sign up for other tours they offer, I took the 3rd Reich's Tour and they showed you all the places about WWII and also show you where Hitlers Bunker once was among other places that was involved in WWII. They show you the plans of what Hitler wanted to build after WWII as well, which is HUGE and amazing that he thought of it... they show you that at the local library!

Check out Brandenburg Gate too, right on the corner there is a hotel and thats where Michael Jackson hung his baby off the balcony!  And a cool bank with a nice structure inside. That again is free to visit and next to Brandenburg Gate

Answer 7

Hitler museum is best.

Answer 8

Checkpoint Charlie.