15 Must-See Places on Berlin Walking Tour

My question was :: should I go on a Berlin walking tour or not? I met a German woman on a cruise once and we were talking about her country. I told her I was planning a trip to Germany and asked where she suggested I should visit. “Go anywhere but Berlin,” she said. “You won’t enjoy it there. Go to the Black Forest, go to the south.” She was pretty adamant so I thought hard about what she said. For about a minute. And then just decided to follow my heart and go to Berlin after all. And I am so glad I didn’t listen to her.

Deciding on a Berlin walking tour, our guide is pretty amazing. She was a university student working her way through school giving tours of East and West Berlin. Informative and helpful, she showed us the places in Berlin that I really needed to see before I even realized I needed to see them. It was a pretty emotional learning experience for me. I was so caught up with what I was seeing as I walked the streets of Berlin that I found myself lagging behind the group and at one point lost them. HA! I’ll tell you about that a little later.

But when I returned home after this amazing Berlin walking tour I felt the need to dig my head into the history books. OK, maybe not the books but I went online. [I am so thankful for the internet where you have access to information about anything and everything … right at your fingertips. Literally.]

And I’ve included some of what I learned here in this post. You’re welcome.

Stop #1 :: Hackescher Markt

Our Berlin walking tour started near Hackescher Markt which is a complex comprised of eight interlinked courtyards. It has residential apartments, offices, shops and restaurants and is one of the most visited locations in Berlin-Mitte (central).

We immediately headed over the bridge to Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site. And we walked through an absolutely beautiful covered walkway.

And here is a bronze model of Museum Island.

Stop #2 :: Old National Gallery

The Old National Gallery is one of five museums are located on Museum Island.

During the division of Germany the 19th-century paintings that had survived the war were housed in the New Gallery starting in 1968. After the fall of the Berlin Wall the growing collections were united in their original building now called the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery). The building was closed for reparations on the damage the war had caused in 1998 as well as the addition of new rooms. The Old National Gallery re-opened in 2001 marking its 125th anniversary.

What remains are some of the columns, wrought with bullet holes, that reveal how violent a time it was and what Berlin has come through. It was surreal to see this.

Stop #3 :: Altes Museum

Also on Museum Island you will find internationally renowned Altes Museum, one of the most important buildings of the Neoclassical era.

The monumental eighteen ionic columns, the expansive atrium and inviting staircase, the rotunda adorned with antique sculptures and an explicit reference to Rome’s Pantheon :: such signs of architectural refinement had previously only ever been seen in buildings designed for royalty and nobility. Definitely a highlight on this Berlin walking tour.

Today the museum showcases its permanent exhibition on the art and culture of the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans. Until 1845 it was called the Royal Museum. The building itself is stunning and is in a great location.

Stop #4 :: Berliner Dom

Last stop on Museum Island is this magnificent neorenaissance-style Berliner Dom [Cathedral] which is relatively new, inaugurated in 1905. There is a large open lawn with a fountain across the street that’s great for a picnic or just taking a break in the gorgeous surroundings.

Tip :: This Berlin walking tour did not include a trip up to the top of the dome. I really wish I had made time on our way back to go up. I hear the view from there is unmatched. So I definitely recommend you do it.

Stop #5 :: Deutsches Historisches Museum [DHM]

Back on the mainland, the next stop on our Berlin walking tour was the DHM which is comprised of two buildings :: the old building was constructed between 1695 and 1730 and is one of the oldest surviving structures in Berlin. The modern annex was built between 1998 and 2003, dedicated to the DHM’s temporary exhibitions.

I was lucky to get a great shot of the old and new with the Berliner Dom between in the background.

Stop #6 :: St Hedwig’s Cathedral

Located on the Bebelplabtz this was the seat of the Archbishop of Berlin built between 1747 to 1773 and the most important Catholic sacral building in the city. The church was Berlin’s only Catholic house of worship until 1854 and the oldest Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese.

The Church was an important resistance center during WWII :: Father Bernard Lichtenberg who headed the movement was assigned as pastor and referred to as the “gutter priest from Berlin” by SS second-in-command Reinhard Heydrich due to his work amongst the poor in 1920’s Berlin.

Lichtenberg was considered a nuisance for his public and outspoken denunciation of Nazi concentration camp conditions and openly addressed the treatment of his Jewish brothers and sisters in his sermons. Today he is remembered as one of the German heroes of the Holocaust and is buried in the Crypt. I wish our Berlin walking tour had brought us there.

Stop #7 :: Bebelplatz

Bebelplatz is a public square in the Mitte district best known for the infamous Nazi book burning ceremony of 1933 where 20,000 books were burned. The blacklisted authors included Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Heinrich and Klaus Mann, Rosa Luxemburg, August Bebel, Bertha von Suttner and Stefan Zweig. Many of the vilified and persecuted writers had already left Germany and gone into exile when the book burning took place.

Bebelplatz was named after August Bebel, a founder of the Social Democratic Party in the 19th century.

A glass commemorative plate set into the ground reveals symbolic empty bookcases large enough to hold 20,000 books that were burned at the behest of the Nazis.

Stop #8 :: Deutscher Dom

What the locals call Bundestag aka “New Church” on the Gendarmenmarkt is located across from the French Cathedral built between 1701-1708. Deutsche Dom was destroyed in the bombing of WWII and rebuilt between 1977-1988. The dome was topped by a statue symbolizing the victorious virtue.

Such a magnificent piece of architecture.

Stop #9 :: Checkpoint Charlie

Our Berlin walking tour next brought us to Checkpoint Charlie which is one of the 3 crossing points [named A Alpha, B Bravo, C Charlie] from East to West Germany after the construction of the Berlin Wall and a symbol of the Cold War. By 1962 it became the only crossing point.

It was also the venue of a standoff between America and the Soviet Union with their tanks facing each other on either side of the checkpoint when an American diplomat was refused a visa soon after the building of the Wall. 

A replica of the original booth stands with a sign that says “You are now leaving the American Sector…” on the opposite side of the sign that says “You are now entering the American Sector…”

Stop #10 :: Berlin Wall

Constructed by the German Democratic Republic [GDR, East Germany] starting on 13 August 1961 the Wall cut off West Berlin [by land] from virtually all of surrounding East Germany and East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989. Between 1961 and 1989 the Wall prevented almost all such emigration.

The wall symbolized the lack of freedom under communism. It symbolized the Cold War and divide between the communist Soviet bloc and the western democratic, capitalist bloc. Berlin was on the frontline in the Cold War struggle between the superpowers.

It’s unbelievable to me that all this was going on in my lifetime and ongoing even after I graduated from high school. We didn’t really study much of this in school as I remember or perhaps I just wasn’t paying attention to politics back then. I do remember when the Wall came down but there was so much going on in my life that I just didn’t realize or feel its impact. I don’t have many regrets in life but I do regret not caring more about this when it was happening. I am thankful that this Berlin walking tour opened my eyes.

Stop #11 :: Topography of Terror

The Gestapo and SS headquarters was the building where people who were regarded as a threat to the Nazi regime were questioned, tortured and killed. Only the cellars survived the WWII bombings. In 1987 a group of students excavated the cellars of the Gestapo Headquarters with their bare hands and the objects they found there form the outdoor exhibition that is today known as the Topography of Terror. The museum aims to show the world how people were tortured to death without a fair trial by a totalitarian regime. There is also a covered exhibition complex and a library adjacent to the outdoor display. 

The Topography of Terror Museum is a monument to liberty and the aim is to illustrate that democracy and civil rights need to be defended on a daily basis. It chronicles the war crimes committed by the Nazi regime in a blatant abuse of power.

Stop #12 :: Hitler’s Bunker

It is surreal to say the least to find yourself standing on the spot where the final collapse of the Third Reich played out just a 3-minute walk from the Brandenburg Gate. It compelled me to dig deeper into this horrific time in history and subsequently found this easy-to-read account of that time. If you’re interested you will find some really great detailed information about Hitler and his Nazi regime here.

I reached down onto the ground and picked up a rock that will serve as a reminder to me that I am so blessed to live in a free country and never have to suffer under communism.

Stop #13 :: Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

This was the most awe-inspiring stop on our Berlin walking tour. Also known as the Holocaust Memorial :: a 19,000 square meter site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs, one for each page of the Talmud arranged in a grid pattern. Apparently the slabs are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere. An attached underground “Place of Information” holds the names of all known Jewish Holocaust victims. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was inaugurated on May 10, 2005, sixty years after the end of World War II, and opened to the public on May 12 of the same year.

It was here that I was so entranced in the thought of these innocent people being slaughtered that I didn’t realize how much time had gone by. I was really emotional and the reason for the video. I couldn’t even imagine being in that environment at that time in history. And to think this occurred in my lifetime, not that long ago.

When I finally realized that I was no longer with the group I began walking toward where I “thought” we were supposed to meet up. HA! I was walking in the opposite direction. About 10 minutes later I see Roydio walking toward me with his hands up in the air. “Where were you?” “Right here,” I said. “I knew you’d come looking for me!”

Normally I would have been panic-stricken at the thought of being lost in a foreign city. Roydio certainly was. But that day all I had in my mind was the thought of this horrific event that was the demise of over 6,000,000 Jews. And to think some say the total persecutions at the hand of the Nazi’s comes closer to 17,000,000. I have the memory of what happened here engrained in my heart and I will never forget.

I said a prayer for all of the families who suffered under this evil. God help us to always remember so that it never happens again.

Stop #14 :: Pariser Platz

The Pariser Platz was a grand square located behind Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate with many important buildings surrounding it. It was laid between 1732 and 1735 and was simply called “the square” at first, before being renamed in honor of the services of the Prussian army in the defeat of Napoleon. Notable structures that flanked the square were the French and American Embassies, the Academy of Arts and the Aldon Hotel which was once the finest in Berlin at the time.

In divided Germany the square was an abandoned space that divided Berlin. Today, Pariser Platz is being restored to its former glory by the city government.

Pariser Platz is an important tourist meeting place in unified Berlin. Many walking tours start or end here. Visitors can rent bikes for touring and take horse cart rides around the city from here.

Stop #15 :: Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate flanking the square is an important monument, Berlin’s best-known landmark and a symbol with over two hundred years of history. After the Berlin bombings during WWII the Brandenburg Gate was severely damaged by bombing raids and artillery fire yet remained standing.

Brandenburg Gate as a symbol of unity

The Brandenburg Gate [Brandenburger Tor] is the only remaining gate of a series through which one formerly entered Berlin. Vehicles and pedestrians could travel freely through the gate until the Berlin Wall was built on August 13, 1961. The Wall was erected cutting off access from West Berlin.

However, 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. When the Revolutions of 1989 occurred and the Wall fell the gate symbolized freedom and the desire to unify the city of Berlin.

How can I describe Berlin? Interesting. Beautiful. Horrific. Infamous. Monumental. Awe-Inspring. Tumultuous. Mind-blowing. Unforgettable.

I was surprised to have come away with such reverence and awe after experiencing Berlin for the first time. I came away with more questions than answers. It was like taking a course in university but never passing the exam for a lack of understanding. The walking tour really inspired in me the need to dig deeper into the throes of this city’s history. Some of what I learned is in this post but there is so much more…

“…traveling :: it changes you.”

Berlin is one of those cities in the world that is dichotomous. On the one hand I left awestruck and sad. And on the other hand I was glad to have gained more knowledge and empathy for those who suffered so much after visiting this iconic place. Does that make sense? This is one of the things about traveling :: it changes you. And your world expands as you travel and is as big as you want it to be.

Some of the places I’ve traveled have touched me deep down in my soul. Berlin definitely is one of those places for me. If you get the chance to visit Berlin I highly recommend it. Perhaps it will change you too…

Read Also ::

10 Other Things That Make Berlin Special