From beer gardens to abandoned airports and amusement parks, Tripbod Jeroen reveals 10 of the greatest alternative points to see and do in Berlin.
things to do in Berlin
1. The Berlin Wall Memorial
A good place for more information on the Berlin Wall as well as the division of Germany will be the official Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse, north of the centre. The border ran right across the façades of the houses here, and after the inhabitants were evacuated and the lower floors were bricked up, people still were able to flee the GDR by jumping out of the top floors. The data centre shows films of the making of the wall, and there's a view tower overlooking a short stretch of wall which has been restored towards the original, brutal look. Walk across the back for a peek at the 'death strip' through the gaps inside the rear wall.
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Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer
Bernauer Strasse 111 & 119, Mitte
Tel. 49 30 46798 6666
www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de
Open 9: 30am-7pm, Nov-Mar 9: 30am-6pm. Closed Mon (outdoor exhibition open 24hrs).
Admission free
Berlin Wall Memorial © Jeroen van Marle
Berlin Wall Memorial
2. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is undoubtedly among the best in the world. Directed by Englishman Sir Simon Rattle, it performs regularly in Berlin, and tours the world extensively too. The orchestra's home is the striking yellow tent-shaped Philharmonie near Potsdamer Platz. Its interior with seating terraces all around the stage was revolutionary if it opened half a century ago. Don't miss the free Tuesday lunchtime concerts by renowned and upcoming musicians; arrive 30-45 minutes early and carry something soft to sit down on, as the audience sits in the lobby floor!
Berliner Philharmonie
Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße 1, Berlin-Tiergarten
S/U Potsdamer Platz
Tel. 49 30 2548 8999
www.berlin-philharmonic.de
Lunchtime concerts: 1pm, 3 Sept - 14 June 2014
Berlin Philharmonic, Axel Lauer / Shutterstock.com
3. Three panoramic places
There are several places to get great panoramic views across town, although berlin may be a relatively flat city with only a handful of high-rise buildings. The Panoramapunkt on top of the brick Kollhoff tower on Potsdamer Platz is my favourite city centre viewpoint. Europe's fastest elevator it zips you 100 metres up for views of Berlin's new and old centre, and it also features a café and exhibition. Just south from the centre, the monument near the top of the Kreuzberg hill in Viktoriapark is Berlin's highest natural point; buy some beers in a Spaeti shop and walk up over the romantic waterfall at sunset. Within the Neukoelln district, the newest Klunkerkranich 'cultural rooftop garden' on top of a mall parking garage includes a bar, DJs, live music and parties with fabulous views over Berlin.
Panoramapunkt
Potsdamer Platz 1, Berlin-Mitte
Tel. 49 30 2593 7080
www.panoramapunkt.de
Open daily 10: 00-20: 00
S/U-Bahn: Potsdamer Platz
Viktoriapark
Kreuzbergstrasse
U-Bahn: Mehringdamm
Klunkerkranich
Karl-Marx-Strasse 66, Berlin-Neukölln
U-Bahn: Rathaus Neukölln
Open Fri 16: 00-24: 00, Sat/Sun 14: 00-24: 00.
www.klunkerkranich.de
Victoriapark, Kreuzberg © Jeroen van Marle
Victoriapark, Kreuzberg
4. Have a tour having a difference
There are dozens of tours around Berlin’s tourist sights, but I really enjoy joining small tours around the outlying districts. The history is no less interesting, and you'll get insights into normal daily life inside the city. Slow Travel Berlin, an internet site written by Berlin-lovers, organises district walking tours that truly spend some time for in-depth exploration of Prenzlauer Berg, western Kreuzberg or Wedding. Finding Berlin is an additional website by Berlin enthusiasts that spawned tours; join their 'Little Istanbul' walk that also includes chats with Turkish shop and bakers owners in Neukoelln, or perhaps the 'Life & Styles' tour, exploring eastern Kreuzberg using vintage fixed-gear bicycles.
Slow Travel Berlin
www.slowtravelberlin.com
Finding Berlin Tours & Vintage Bike Rental
Schlesische Straße 29/30 (2nd courtyard), Berlin-Kreuzberg
U Schlesisches Tor
Tel. 49 176 9933 3913
www.findingberlin-tours.com
woman riding bike, Berlin
5. Markthalle 9
Only a couple of Berlin's 13 market halls survive, and the beautiful 'number 9' hall in Kreuzberg, dating back to to 1891, was recently revived having a lively weekly farmers' market; I live nearby and it's a great place for fresh regional food. But there's more: the Kantine restaurant serves excellent organic lunches every day, there's a well known street food market every Thursday evening and then there tend to be special markets on Sundays, dedicated to local crafts or sweets. If that isn't enough reason to drop by, the new Heidenpeters microbrewery sells its ales on market days. By the Puecklerstrasse exit, the famous Weltrestaurant Markthalle is a lovely place for a schnitzel, or a beer on the terrace.
Markthalle 9
Eisenbahnstrasse 42, Berlin-Kreuzberg
www.marthalle9.de
Weekly market Fri/Sat 10: 00-18: 00, Streetfood Thursday 18: 00-22: 00.
U-Bahn: Goerlitzer Bahnhof
Weltrestaurant Markthalle
Puecklerstrasse 34, Berlin-Kreuzberg
Tel. 49 30 6175 502
www.weltrestaurant-markthalle.com
Markthalle 9, Berlin © Jeroen van Marle
Markthalle 9
6. Clärchens Ballhaus
Generations of Berliners have danced the nights away at Clärchens as it opened in September 1913. Here normal Berliners could have fun and maybe dance using the male or female with their dreams. The front of the building, now a terrace, was bombed in the war, though the photos at the entrance show that very little has changed over the last 100 years. Nowadays, Clärchens is Berlin's last real dance hall, with great pizza and German dishes, and themed dance nights (tango, salsa and foxtrot etc - free admission) on weekdays. The legendary schwoof parties (€5) take place at weekends, when there's live music, and you're welcomed on the wardrobe by Günter who started working within the mid-1960s.
Auguststrasse 24, Berlin-Mitte
www.ballhaus.de
S-Bahn Oranienburger Straße
Open daily 11: 00-02: 00, Fri/Sat 11: 00-04: 00
7. Tempelhofer Freiheit Park
Every time I take visitors onto the runways of the former Tempelhof Airport and there's two kilometres of wide empty runway in front of them, their eyes always begin to sparkle, though visiting a former airfield may not sound very exciting. Tempelhof airport was built-in the 1930s to get the world's most innovative airport and one of the world's largest buildings. Later, the Americans used it as a military airport, and it played an important role in saving West Berlin through the 1949 Soviet blockade. The 1200-metre-long terminal building can be used for tours and events, as the airfield continues to be transformed into a park for lying in the sunshine, kite boarding, cycling and jogging roller-blading, dog-walking and barbecuing. It is best to come across bike to take full advantage of it!
Tempelhofer Freiheit Park
Several entrances; S/U-Bahn Tempelhof and U-Bahn Boddinstrasse are handiest.
Open sunrise to sunset, admission free.
www.tempelhoferfreiheit.de
Tempelhof © Jeroen van Marle
Catch the wind: Tempelhof
8. Possess a beer in Berlin's new microbrewery scene
Bavaria may have Germany's most famous beer brands, but Berlin has a long tradition of brewing too. Lately several exciting new brewers have setup shop. Hidden inside a Wedding student housing complex, Eschenbraeu is worth visiting for the home-brewed beers and flammekuchen pies. In the Friedrichshain district, the Hops & Barley bar attracts a young crowd. Closer to the centre, Brauhaus Lemke is a nice brewpub. But my favourite places for any beer are the Prater Garten, the oldest Biergarten in the city, serving their own Prater Pils and also the relaxing Cafe am Neuen See which serves Bavarian beers and overlooks an attractive boating lake in Tiergarten Park.
Eschenbraeu
Triftstrasse 67, Berlin-Wedding
U-Bahn: Leopoldstrasse
www.eschenbraeu.de
Hops & Barley
Wühlischstraße 22-23, Berlin-Friedrichshain
S/U-Bahn: Warschauer Strasse
www.hopsandbarley-berlin.de
Brauhaus Lemke
Dircksenstrasse, S-Bahnbogen 143, Berlin-Mitte
S-Bahn: Hackescher Markt
www.brauhaus-lemke.com
Prater Biergarten
Kastanienallee 7-9, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg
U-Bahn: Eberswalder Strasse
www.pratergarten.de
Café am Neuen See
Lichtensteinallee 2, Berlin-Tiergarten
S/U-Bahn: Zoologischer Garten
www.cafeamneuensee.de
beer, Berlin
9. Go urban exploring
Photographers, graffiti-artists and the plain curious are all drawn to Berlin's many abandoned and ruined places, and lots of websites are committed to this 'urban exploration'. Southeast of the city centre within the Treptow district, the first kind Spreepark theme park is one of the most spectacular examples; the Ferris wheel and many rides are slowly being swallowed from the forest, and will be visited on the tour or simply by wandering in. On the western side of the city, there's the former CIA listening post on Teufelsberg hill. Further afield, explorers look for your Olympic Village as well as the Beelitz Heilstätten hospital and lots of Nazi or Soviet military areas.
Spreepark
Neue Krugallee, Berlin-Treptow
S-Bahn: Plänterwald
www.berliner-spreepark.de
Spreepark © Jeroen van Marle
Spreepark
10. Party on at a festival
Berliners prefer to celebrate outside during the warm summer. However the festival season starts off every year in the midst of winter with the Berlinale Film Festival in February, which sees 1000s of Berliners and foreigners retreat to warm cinema halls to watch the best new film releases. The outdoor season kicks off on May 1 using the MyFest street festival in the Kreuzberg district. Berlin's main street party will be the multicultural Karnaval der Kulturen parade in late May. Pay attention to live music at stages throughout town during Fete de la Musique, on 21 June, while late June sees the massive Christopher Street Day gay parade. Finally, the city's main landmarks and buildings are majestically lit up through the Festival of Lights in October.
Berlinale Film Festival
www.berlinale.de
MyFest
www.myfest36.de
Karnaval der Kulturen
www.karneval-berlin.de
Fete de la Musique
www.fetedelamusique.de
Christopher Street Day parade
www.csd-berlin.de
Festival of Lights
www.festival-of-lights.de