There are many places in Berlin you shouldn’t go and others you simply have to go to. What’s wonderful about this city is the sheer wealth of places which fall into both categories. Kaserne Krampnitz is most certainly one of them. Abandoned in 1992 by the Russians in the wake of German Reunification, this former military training school has been lying idle ever since, its ever-increasing overgrowth disturbed only periodically to make films such as Enemy at the Gates and Inglorious Basterds.

You won’t find this huge site mentioned in any of your travel guides, and the high unfriendly wall around it doesn’t exactly encourage unannounced guests, but visitors brave enough to venture in will be stepping in the footsteps of those history would rather forget.

The Nazis moved their army riding and driving school here from Hannover in 1937. Of course, lessons ended with the loss of the war, and their victors remained at the site until the fall of the Berlin Wall made them redundant too. Abandoned barracks, creepy club houses and former corridors of power now await exploration.

Be very careful! It has been rumoured that security keeps a watchful eye over the site and the legality of camera-clutching onlookers wandering around has yet to be tested in a court of law. (It’s not on my ‘To Do’ list.) A sign outside warns potential trespassers: “Betreten und Befahren verboten!” Of course, I could never condone trespassing or anything so naughty. If anyone asks, I didn’t send you…

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Kaserne Krampnitz | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Krampnitz | Outer – South&West
24 hours daily. Well…

More than 20 years after it was taken down, the Berlin Wall continues to be the city’s principal attraction for visitors.

The success of sights like Checkpoint Charlie and the recently repainted East Side Gallery has convinced the city powers to rebuild it – some of it at least – as a memorial on Bernauer Straße, where a section of the original Wall still stands.As expected, flocks of tourists eagerly make their way to the site, perhaps in their hurry overlooking a discreet installation in the former “ghost station” of Nordbahnhof.

Pictures and placards in German and English tell the incredible tales from the division of the city’s public transport system and the madness which ensued once the Wall went up in 1961. (The 50th anniversary of its construction took place on August 13th last.)

Barbed wire and bricked-up entrances were the order of the day, as the East German government sealed off all possible escape routes to the West, creating these ghost stations where trains passed through East Berlin on their way from one section of West Berlin to another. Passengers could only glimpse out at the dimly lit eeriness patrolled by border guards as they whizzed by.

Stories of courageous escapes, explanations, diagrams and multimedia all feature in this fascinating but small exhibition of the crazy realities of life in the shadow of the Wall. Best of all – it’s free!

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Nordbahnhof | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Gartenstraße | Mitte
24 hours daily

As city squares go, they don’t come much uglier than Alexanderplatz. Surrounded by a rash of imposing GDR-style unimaginative blocks, with perhaps Berlin’s ugliest fountain plonked in the middle, this is not the place to come for a romantic stroll. Much like the “Friendship Between Peoples Fountain” in fact, Alex looks terrible but means well.

Its real beauty engages on a more personal level thanks to the excitement of people milling around, the tourists and punks, the trams trundling through, and the tempting (even for vegetarians!) smell of roast Bratwurst which emanates thanks to the sausage sellers scattered around. Effectively the centre of a decentralised city, Alexanderplatz changes to suit the seasons and the whims of the people at any given time.

In November 1989, the largest demonstration before the fall of the Berlin Wall took place here and was pivotal to the fall of the East German regime. Its biggest gatherings these days occur at the various fairs and markets which call it home throughout the year. Glühwein-swilling at Christmas, chocolate-swilling at Easter, and beer-swilling any other time, there’s always something for swillers to swill!

Overlooked by the Fernsehturn, Alexanderplatz is also home to the funky World Time Clock, erected in 1969 and a popular meeting place for Berliners since. I presume this is so they know exactly how many minutes late you are. Germans don’t like to be left waiting as I’ve found out on numerous occasions, but thankfully for latecomers, Alex has plenty of distractions.

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Alexanderplatz | Art & culture, Relaxing, Shopping | Free
Alexanderplatz | Mitte
24 hours daily

For me one of Berlin’s most fascinating sites is also one of its lesser-known – the former Stasi Prison in Hohenschönhausen. A tour of this so-called “detention facility” with one of its former inmates helps lift the lid on the chilling methods of East Germany’s secret police as they sought to protect their raison d’être. It never fails to cast a shiver down my spine.

Some 250,000 political prisoners passed through its doors over 40 years, many never to be heard from again, before it was finally shut down on October 3rd, 1990. Ordinary people were subjected to all sorts of unthinkable psychological torture, with the prison authorities becoming sadistic experts in interrogation and intimidation.

East Germany’s Ministry for State Security (Stasi) had been set up to protect the socialist state and it did so with brutal efficiency. Anyone could be snatched without warning, and kept for months in total isolation with only the prospect of further interrogation to break the monotony. Many former prisoners later died of leukemia-related illnesses, believed to have been contracted from X-ray machine radiation. Some of those who survived now offer guided tours so the terrible secrets of a dark past can be revealed and never forgotten.

Most of the tours are in German, but excellent tours in English are available daily. It really is a fascinating insight into the inner workings of a state in constant paranoia. Registration is now in a new office opposite the prison.

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Stasi Prison | Art & culture, Relaxing | Tour € 5
Genslerstraße 13A | Outer – North&East | +493098608230
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 15:00, Sat – Sun 10:00 – 16:00, Tours in English daily at 14:30

Germany is little more than 230 years old but it’s certainly made its mark on history in this time. Examining the complicated but fascinating past of this nation of kingdoms, duchies and city states, and the factors which spawned its existence, is the Deutsches Historisches Museum, looking back over 2,000 years of the Germanic peoples.

“Wir sind ein Volk” (We are one people) is an oft-used slogan, particularly before the reunification of East and West Germany in 1989, but I’ve come to realise “Germans” are anything but. It seems Germany is made of a mish-mash of different peoples, cultures and traditions. Berliners pride themselves on being different for one.

A turbulent past certainly provides plenty of material when bringing it all together in the Zeughaus, Unter den Linden’s oldest building.

Various thematic temporary shows compliment the permanent exhibition on three floors over 10,000 square metres. In effect, it’s principal aim is to show the natives what makes them tick: “To help the citizens of our country to gain a clear idea of who they are as Germans and Europeans, as inhabitants of a region and members of a worldwide civilization.”

As I said already, there’s no lack of material. It’s a history barely plausible and shocking at times, but always compelling.

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German Historical Museum | Art & culture | Day ticket € 6
Unter den Linden 2 | Mitte | +493020304444
10:00 – 18:00 daily

Prying into East Germany’s deepest darkest secrets at the Stasi Museum offers a scarcely-believable glimpse into what it must have been like living under its communist regime. What was once (not all that long ago) the headquarters for the dreaded Ministry for State Security (Stasi) now houses a remarkable collection showcasing the incredible means by which this secret police force spied on its own citizens and engaged in espionage and counter-espionage abroad.

You couldn’t make it up – set up by the political dictatorship to quell opposition and keep a population under control, the Stasi developed an insatiable curiosity to know absolutely everything. By the time the fall of the Berlin Wall brought an end to its shady dealings, it had 91,015 employees and gone through 175,000 informers.

Cameras and microphones were hidden in places no honest cameras or microphones should be found, and some of these are now on display – camouflaged briefcases, a watering can, a dustbin, a pen, a flippin’ tree trunk. Even a camera designed to look like a coat button! The Stasi also developed the means to track people by their own particular scents. As I said, you couldn’t make this stuff up.

Following renovation last year, you can now visit Erich Mielke’s office. He was the last Stasi head honcho before the whole thing went belly up with the fall of the Wall.

There’s only limited information in English, though the hidden camera/microphone exhibits have explanations. Even if you could understand the rest, you wouldn’t believe it anyway.

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Stasi Museum | Art & culture | Ticket € 5
Haus 1, Ruschestraße 103 | Outer – North&East | +49305536854
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 18:00, Sat – Sun 14:00 – 18:00

The old building which has housed the c/o Gallery since 2000 is the ancient imperial post office. Especially at night the big illuminated entrance impresses the passerby.

Founded by a designer, a photographer and an architect the gallery became one of the biggest private art institutions in Berlin. This year the “International Forum For Visial Dialogues” celebrates its 10th year.

Temporary exhibitions present the artworks of upcoming and famous photographers. The specific of the location is that the showrooms and the halls aren’t renovated so the rooms contrast with the exhibit. Take a look at the bathrooms in the first floor where old and new design collides in a very interesting way. Antique Columns in the hall and an ornate tiled floor are special details which make this gallery so like-able. Currently the gallery celebrates its 10th year of existence.

Here you can find the English program of the current exhibitions. Admission is € 10.00, but reduced is only € 5.00 (for students, children). 

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c/o Gallery | Art & culture | Entrance adults € 10.00
Oranienburger Straße/Tucholskystraße | Mitte | +493028091925
11:00 – 20:00 daily

The futuristic appearing building of the Bauhaus-Archiv is a real landmark in the urban landscape of Berlin. Combining two houses and a bridge on which you can walk “over” the house makes the museum a special playground of architecture. Planned by the Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius in 1964 and built up in 1976-79 in a modified version the white building is a hidden eye-catcher on the bank of the Landwehrkanal.

The Archive/Museum attends to research and retrospection of Bauhaus architecture, art and design in the 20th century. It is the worldwide biggest collection of originals of the classical modernity. In a permanent exhibition which will be showed in December again, you can only see a part of the collection but the most interesting Bauhaus examples of architecture, furniture, ceramics, metal, photographs as well as artworks of the famous Bauhaus teachers Gropius, Itten, Klee, Feininger, Kandinsky, Albers, Schlemmer, Moholy-Nagy and van der Rohe.

Here you can find information in English about the permanent and the special exhibitions.

For a deposit of €10.00 you can rent an audio guide that explains the samples in your language. On wednesday, thursday and friday the entrance fee is one euro cheaper.

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Bauhaus-Archiv | Art & culture | Entry fee +/- € 7.00
Klingelhöfer Straße 14 | Tiergarten | +49302540020
Wed – Mon 10:00 – 17:00

The Knorrpromenade is a narrow, short street – or better: a little esplanade – in the middle of the quarter Friedrichshain. After you had a walk on the Boxhagener Platz (check the Boxhagener Platz flea market article) and after some creamy cupcakes at Cupcakes you shouldn’t miss to look for this little idyll.

The houses were built in 1911-1913 to attract more wealthy people in this worker’s area. Today it is the last example for a bourgeois housing complex in Friedrichshain. The now listed buildings are all individual because they were planned by different builders.

On the southern entry to the street you will find the rests of an old gate with ornaments. When I walk through this quiet homely allee I always get the same feeling: I want to live here! In this place the world seems still fine.

Since spring 2011 an independent organisation was founded to renovate the destroyed Ornamental gates at the entry near Wühlischstraße. On their website you’ll find many beautiful photos and more about the history of this small allee.

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Knorrpromenade | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Knorrpromenade | Friedrichshain
Daily

Berlin is not only a historical city of the long 20th century but holds also relicts of an anterior time. For example the Zitadelle Spandau which is one of the most well-preserved Renaissance forts in Europe. The old medieval castle was rebuilt in the 17th century in a “neo-Italian manner” by the elector Joachim II. In 1839 it was changed again in a neo-classical style.

The oldest parts of the Zitadelle are the donjon Juliusturm and the Palais which were built in the 13th and 15th century. During World War II the area was used for military purposes.

The ancient arsenal houses a nice museum and it is definitely worth it to climb the wooden stairs of the Juliusturm. On the top you have a beautiful view over the west of Berlin where nature and city are close to each other. At the end of the day you should have a break in the historic tavern where you can enjoy the rustic atmosphere while eating with your hands (open every day from 11:00, Sunday from 10:00).

The Zitadelle Spandau offers also many activities for kids: Discovering the Middle-age, art classes in the Kunstbastion (School of arts), puppet theatre and many more events. Just have a look at the programme.

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Zitadelle Spandau | Art & culture, Music, Festivals & events | Entrance € 4.50
Am Juliusturm | Outer – South&West | +49303549440
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 17:00