The Berlin-Mitte Travel Guide

Altes Museum

Altes Museum, Berlin
[ source: Wikipedia ]

The Altes Museum (Old Museum), is one of several internationally renowned museums on Berlin's Museum Island in Berlin, Germany. Since restoration work in 1966, it houses the antique collection (Antikensammlung) of the Berlin State Museums. The museum was built between 1823 and 1830 by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the neoclassical style to house the Prussian Royal family's art collection. The Egyptian and Papyrus collection on the upper floor includes the world famous bust of Queen Nefertiti – a name which translates as the beauty who has come - dating from 1340 BC, one of Berlin’s top highlights.

Hours: daily 10am - 6pm, Thursday 10am - 10pm.

Admission: Adults 8 €, Concessions 4 €.

Berlin Cathedral

Interior of the Berlin Cathedral
[ source: Wikipedia ]

The Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral), completed in 1905, is Berlin’s largest and most important Protestant church as well as the sepulchre of the Prussian Hohenzollern dynasty. This outstanding high-renaissance baroque monument has linked the Hohenzollerns to German Protestantism for centuries and undergone renewed phases of architectural renovation since the Middle Ages. First built in 1465 as a parish church on the Spree River it was only finally completed in 1905 under the last German Kaiser -Wilhelm II. Damaged during the Second World War it remained closed during the GDR years and reopened after restoration in 1993.

Known as the Hohenzollern family tomb, over ninety sarcophagi and tombs are on display including those of the Prussian Kings – Frederick I and Sophie Charlotte, by Andreas Schlüter, impressively cast in gold-plated tin and lead. Other important works of art are the baptismal font by Christian Daniel Rauch and the Petrus mosaic by Guido Reni. The Dome’s organ with over 7000 pipes is a masterpiece and one of the largest in Germany. A visit to the Dome requires climbing 270 steps but the viewing gallery is worth it for great views of Mitte. The 114m-high Dome is sided by four towers and the interior is rich with New Testament and Reformation period elements.

The Dome is a well frequented venue for concerts and readings. Guided tours are available. The entrance fee includes autoguides in a variety of languages.

Hours: Monday - Saturday 9am - 8pm (Winter until 7pm)Sunday and Public holidays 12pm - 8pm (Winter until 7pm.)

Admission: Adults 5 €, Concessions 3 €.

Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate
[ source: Wikipedia ]

The Brandenburg Gate is one of Berlin’s most important monuments – a landmark and symbol all in one with over two hundred years of history. A former symbol of the divided city, it drew visitors who used to climb an observation platform in order to get a glimpse of the world behind the Iron Curtain, on the other side of the barren death-strip which separated east from west Berlin, geographically and politically. It was here that on June 12, 1987, Ronald Regan issued his stern command to his cold war adversary admonishing him with the words: Mr. Gorbachov – tear down this wall!. The speech delivered to West Berliners was also audible on the east side of the Gate and echoed President von Weizsacker’s words which translate as: The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed.

The Brandenburg Gate was erected between 1788 and 1791 according to designs by Carl Gotthard Langhans whose vision was inspired by the Propyläen in Athens’ Acropolis. Prussian sovereign Friedrich Wilhelm II was looking for a suitable architectural statement to enhance the approach into the Boulevard Unter den Linden. The classical sandstone work is one of the masterpieces of this era and is the only surviving one of 18 previous city portals. The Quadriga, a sculpture representing the Goddess of Victory, by Johan Gottfried Schadow which can be spotted from a long distance was erected on the Gate in 1793.

Bode Museum

The Bode Museum, Berlin
[ source: Wikipedia ]

The Baroque Bode Museum, the fourth museum to be built as part of Berlin’s Museum Island, was completed in 1904. Intended as a museum for European Renaissance art, it was named after its first director Wilhelm von Bode (1845-1929) in 1956. Reopening to the public in October 2006, the museum brought together the sculpture and Byzantine art collection.

The museum’s treasures include the sculpture collection with works of art from the middle ages to the 18th century. Of particular interest are the halls devoted to the Italian Renaissance with the glazed terracottas by Luca della Robbia and other masterworks from Donatello, Desiderio da Settignano and works from the German late Gothic school. The Bode museum is best known for its Byzantine art collection and the coin cabinet. There are over 150 paintings to be seen with a particularly strong presence of Roman and Byzantine works from the 3rd to the 15th century A.D. from regions from the Mediterranean basin ranging from Byzantine Constantinople, Greece and the Balkans to north African countries and Russia’s iconographic art.

Hours: Monday - Sunday 10am - 6pm, Thursday 10am - 10pm.

Admission: Adults 8 €, Concessions 4 €.

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin
[ source: Wikipedia ]

Checkpoint Charlie, along with Glienicker Brücke (Glienicker Bridge) was the best known border-crossing of Cold War days. The sign, which became a symbol of the division of Cold War Berlin and read like a dire warning to those about to venture beyond the Wall – YOU ARE NOW LEAVING THE AMERICAN SECTOR – in English, Russian, French and German - stood here. It is today an iconic marker of territorial boundary and political division. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, it signified the border between West and East, Capitalism and Communism, freedom and confinement. The spot remains a must see sight in Berlin with huge historical and emotional resonance, even accounting for the fact that there is remarkably little left to recall the atmosphere of pre-1989 days. An enormous amount of debating went into deciding what should be left here and preserved for Berliners and visitors to see in the future.

The wooden barrack where visitors to the Russian Sector (East Berlin) were once obliged to pass through for vetting was removed. Reconstruction has included a US Army guardhouse and a copy of the original border sign. The original white booth which served as the official gateway between East and West can be seen in the Allierten Museum in Berlin-Dahlem. The Museum, known as Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, contains the best documentation available on the many escape attempts from East to West. The original Checkpoint sign is exhibited here.

Deutscher Dom

Deutscher Dom, Berlin
[ source: Wikipedia ]

Berlin’s Deutscher Dom – not to be confused with the Berliner Dom which is the largest protestant church in Berlin – is best known as one of the three buildings which make up the spectacular trinity ensemble in the Gendarmenmarkt square in Mitte, including its twin the Französische Dom (French Cathedral) and the Konzerthaus or Concert Hall.

The Deutscher Dom was erected in 1708 under Elector Friedrich III, who had crowned himself King Friedrich I in 1701 and was intent, along with his wife Queen Sophie Charlotte, in turning Berlin into a royal residence to rival Versailles. It was known as the Neue Kirche (New Church) and only later referred to as the German Church. It is considered remarkable because of its five-sided floor plan. No church services are held here.

Hours: Tue-Sun 10am - 7pm, (October - April 10am - 6pm). Admission is free.

Old National Gallery (Alte National Galerie)

Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), Berlin
[ source: Wikipedia ]

The Alte National Galerie houses one of the most important collections of 19th century painting in Germany and includes masterpieces by Caspar David Friedrich, Adolph Menzel Edouard Manet Claude Monet, not to mention Auguste Renoir and Auguste Rodin. Amongst the most important highlights are K D Friedrichs Der Mönch am Meer (from 1810) Arnold Bröcklin’s Die Toteninsel (1883), Adolph Menzel’s Flotenkonzert Friedrich des Großen in Sanssouci (1852) and Edouard Manet’s Im Wintergarten (1979).

The Alte National Galerie is one of the five museums forming the ensemble known as Berlin’s Museum Island – a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Museum was built between 1866 and 1876 and restored in neoclassical style by Friedrich August Stüler in the style of a Greek temple.

Hours: Tuesday - Sunday 10am - 6pm, Thursday 10am - 10pm.

Admission: Adults 8 €, Concessions 4 €.

Marienkirche (St. Mary's Church)

Marienkirche (St. Mary's Church), Berlin
[ source: Wikipedia ]

St. Mary's Church, known in German as the Marienkirche is located on Karl-Liebknecht-Straße (formerly Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße) in central Berlin, near the Alexanderplatz. Its exact age is not known, but it was first mentioned in German chronicles in 1292. It is presumed to date from earlier in the 13th century. It was originally a Roman Catholic church, but has been a Lutheran Protestant church since the Protestant Reformation.

Along with the Nikolaikirche, the Marienkirche is the oldest church in Berlin. The oldest parts of the church are made from granite, but most of it is built of brick, giving it its characteristic bright red appearance. This was deliberately copied in the construction of the nearby Berlin City Hall, the Rotes Rathaus. During World War II, it was heavily damaged by Allied bombs. After the war the church was in East Berlin, and in the 1950s it was restored by the East German authorities.

There is a striking statue of Martin Luther outside the church. The Marienkirche also contains the tomb of Field Marshal Otto Christoph von Sparr. Carl Hildebrand Freiherr von Canstein, the founder of the oldest Bible society of the world, the Cansteinsche Bibelanstalt, was buried here in 1719.

Hours: November - March: daily 10am - 4pm. April - October: daily 10am - 9pm.

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