Visiting Berlin

[nicoo]

Hello everybody, after visiting Normandy an short spell in Paris I'll be staying in Berlin for 5-6 days. I was so inmersed in planning the Normandy trip (not done yet) that I still haven't pinpointed places to visit in Berlin. If you've been there or know some interesting place (WWII related or not) that I must visit please let me know! It can also be a place on the outskirts of town where I can go and be back in the day.
I've already scheduled a visit to U-995 in Laboe and to Herr Gerisch (ex-uboat crewman) in nearby Angermünde. Is there any concentration camp next to berlin that I can visit?
Thanks for the input!

[Vid]

http://www.ghwk.de/engl/kopfengl.htm

[tracman]

Berlin, where to start? In light of the city's unfortunate history, you'll have to work a bit harder to find TR related things... A lot of ex-TR buildings now house government offices and the like and are off limits, but you can see them from the outside. Of course, there is tons of Cold War history, and the city is wonderfully covered by public transportation that makes use of a car superfluous (plus, it's expensive to drive and park). You can and should also rent a bike, because the city is dead-flat, and bike lanes are everywhere.

When you get to Berlin ( or before, if you can find it), get the book by Matthias Dornath entitled Bunker, Banken, und Reichkanzlei - Architekturfuehrer in Belin 1933-1945. I've seen it in English. It's a must.

Over 5-6 days, consider visiting:

The German History Museum in the old armory (Zeughaus) by the Berlin cathedral (Berliner Dom). The section on the TR is good.

Unter den Linden past Friedrichstrasse to the Brandenburg Gate. Continue towards the Victory Column (Siegessaeule) to the Soviet war memorial, flanked by two large field guns and two T-34/76s. If Soviet things are your bag, visit the cemetary in Treptow Park, in the SE of the city.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, corner of Behrenstrasse/Ebertstrasse, a block from the Brandenburg Gate and across the street from the new US Embassy. The under ground museum is worth it.

Further up towards Potsdamer Platz is the area where the Fuerherbunker complex used to be. It is now taken up by ex-East German apartments, forlorn and overgrown parking lots, and some modern offices that house German Federal State offices. A few placards tell you where you are relative to the thing, but don't expect anything otherwise, as there is zero interest in Germany in keeping traces of this, irrespective of historical interest, alive as it is sure to serve as some sort of gathering point for very disturbed individuals.

Corner of Leipzigerstrasse/Wilhelmstrasse is the old HQS of the Luftwaffe, now the German Finance Ministry. A few blocks away is the "Topographie des Terrors" exhibit, on the former grounds of the Gestapo HQS on what was Prinz Albrecht Strasse. This is sobering and definitely worth the visit.

Tempelhof airport and the Olympiastadion are worth seeing, but again, you can't visit them unless there's an event going on. Tempelhof closed in 2008 in any event: it's now a large park.

There is a good exhibit of the slave-labor camps in Berlin, housed on the ground floor of the city's social services administration building at Fehrbelliner Platz (in fact, those buildings were TR constructions for the Reichsarbeitsdienst, if memory serves). It may be only in German though, I can't recall...

Things to REALLY do include:

The Pergamon Museum, with the Pergamon altar and the Ishtar Gate of ancient Babylon. If you don't know what these are, do a quick search, and it's blatantly clear why you have to see this.

The Story of Berlin Museum on the Kurfuerstendamm provides an excellent overview of the city's long history, culminating in its last display in nuclear bunker deep under the city.

Haus am Checkpoint Charlie Museum, a private museum to those who risked their lives for freedom during the Cold War. The checkpoint outside is a copy, the original is at the Allies Museum on the Clayallee in western Berlin, 10 miles away. That latter museum is excellent.

The Reichstag - a MUST do. The tour guides are fantastic, and you will also see Russian wartime graffiti that has been preserved. The view from the dome is splendid.

The DDR Museum - on the Spree, provides a good idea of what life was like in the former DDR. For some of us, the real fun is hearing visitors relive their past and comment on "the good old days." This is called Ostalgia in German, a pun on nostalgia and the German word for "east," namely "Ost."

Alexanderplatz - typical Soviet-style buildings abound, and it's there that the final demonstrations took place to result in the Fall of the Wall on 09 November 1989. Speaking of the Wall, its location is outlined on city streets. A few token pieces remain, four at Potsdamer Platz, two at Leipzigerplatz, a few around the Wilhelmstrasse, one in the US Embassy courtyard, a row of them on the S-Bahn tracks to Pankow. A field of them waits to be crushed at a concrete factory in Teltow and lie in a field. There is otherwise little left of the former border crossings.

Hang out at Kollowitzplatz in Pankow, off the U2 line. The Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood shows a bit what Berlin used to be like, and that spot is ringed by neat whimsical shops and bars/restaurants.

Take a guided boat tour on the Spree starting at the Nikolaiviertel.

Spend a day visiting the historic Babelsberg studios, which rivalled Hollywood's back in the day and where many recent films have been made: the props to Das Boot are still there.

Rent a bike and tour around Potsdam - from Sans Souci to the Russian quarters to the Glienickebruecke (aka Spies Bridge) - where Francis Gary Powers and Nathan Sharansky, among others, were traded - and then along the Wannsee back into Berlin. You can take your bike on the train to Potsdam, and return from the Wannsee station...

Two shops to visit:

Berliner Zinnfigurer - Knesebeckstrasse 88 is the best military bookstore in Berlin, with a huge array of titles in German, English, and French, as well as a host of other languages. The staff is super.

Militaria Antik und Kunst - under the arcades at the Friedrichstrasse train station, in the Berlin antique market. Mostly TR stuff at dealer prices. Most come from scavenger hunts in eastern Germany by the owner's husband, and it sometimes has really surprising things. As with any shop, don't expect the owner to be an expert on everything, and while she will tell you what is repro and what isn't, you are best armed with your own knowledge. I've picked up some very cool stuff there at a fair price over the years, especially books, documents, and manuals. Don't be afraid to very politely haggle, although I'm not sure of her English proficiency...

Hope this helps start things off: I've served as a tour guide in Normandy as well, so feel free to PM me if you want to review some ideas.

Hello everybody, after visiting Normandy an short spell in Paris I'll be staying in Berlin for 5-6 days. I was so inmersed in planning the Normandy trip (not done yet) that I still haven't pinpointed places to visit in Berlin. If you've been there or know some interesting place (WWII related or not) that I must visit please let me know! It can also be a place on the outskirts of town where I can go and be back in the day.
I've already scheduled a visit to U-995 in Laboe and to Herr Gerisch (ex-uboat crewman) in nearby Angermünde. Is there any concentration camp next to berlin that I can visit?
Thanks for the input!

[Don D.]

13 Stewardt Str 7 in Dalhem. That's my old quarters from my time as a truck driver in an admin unit. can you check and see if i turned out the lights when I left?

[Drew]

I would suggest checking out the reich in ruins site as it has a lot of cool locations that you can check out. I enjoyed seeing the former LSSAH kaserne, it became Andrews barracks for the Berlin Brigade.

[Gran Sasso]

Dont forget the airforce museum at Gatow

[Johnny- skip]

I would check out an organisation called Berliner-Unterwelten. When i was last In Berlin i did a couple of trips with them, one trip was down an old airraid shelter located underneath Gesundbrunnen train station the other trip was inside one of the flak towers. They do some trips in English but mostly in German , but that was a few years ago.

John

[bratwurstdimsum]

That underworld tour is still there and It is a MUST! The flak tower tour is also fascinating

[-Ray-]

It's also a trip to see all the patchwork on the buildings from shrapnel and projectile damage. Just walk down any street and you'll see plenty of reminders.

A nice place to visit in any capacity.

-Ray-

[mr bridger]

I would check out an organisation called Berliner-Unterwelten. When i was last In Berlin i did a couple of trips with them, one trip was down an old airraid shelter located underneath Gesundbrunnen train station the other trip was inside one of the flak towers. They do some trips in English but mostly in German , but that was a few years ago.

John

Top tour and a must do, I did it on last visit meeting point is 5 minutes from the Gesund Brunnen Center,

[slayer]

Highly recommend these tours, also join a free walking tour most of these start from the Brandenburg Gate and there quite good for an overview of the main sites and also to get your bearings on where things are, enjoy Berlin it's a great city.

That underworld tour is still there and It is a MUST! The flak tower tour is also fascinating

[nicoo]

Thank you very much! Now I have a considerable amount of places to see, that tour to the underground and flak tower specially!

[Jägermarty]

Dont forget the airforce museum at Gatow

The Luftwaffe museum just goes from strength to strength

[feldpost 58]

Hi,

Very helpful thread with plenty of good ideas for places to visit, my partner and I are off to Berlin for a few days in July.
Hope the weather is better than in Northern England!

Best wishes,

John.

[Bulletguy]

Hello everybody, after visiting Normandy an short spell in Paris I'll be staying in Berlin for 5-6 days. Is there any concentration camp next to berlin that I can visit?

Sachsenhausen is in the Oranienburg districtict on the outskirts of Berlin. I've visited eleven camps and rate Sachsenhausen higher than Auschwitz which is too commercialised. It's a worthwhile visit.

http://www.stiftung-bg.de/gums/en/index.htm