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Escalators Connecting The Shops To The Platforms
The TV tower viewed from Alezanderplatz
Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Berlin, entrance gate to Treptow War Memorial
i'm going to berlin and i was wondering if its possible to visit another city in germany by train just for an overday, i mean leave berlin in the morning and come back at night the same day?
Technically its possible, if it's worth it? I am not so sure unless you are on a business trip or just must see some old friend.
Leipzig is about 1 hour, Hamburg about 1.5 hours by train.
You can find timetables here: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
dresden is two hours by nonstop train. great castles, great museums, good churches, lovely opera house all in an extremely compact area easily accessed from the train station. lots of nearby restaurants for convenient lunch. we loved dresden.
The question is how long you will be in Berlin.
With less than 1 week I would not suggest any day trip beyond Potsdam (just outside of Berlin).
http://www.potsdam-tourism.com/
Potsdam and Sansucci are good places to do a day trip.you could take the ferry ride one way.it is very enjoyable,
Although Dresden is very compact I would not go further than Leipzig. By train it takes a little more than 1 hour one way, so you would not lose too much time for the travel. Leipzig is a wonderful place and has a lot less tourists than Dresden, so it might even be more enjoyable.
A railway/S-Bahn trip to Potsdam takes between 26 and 40 minutes one way.
Try going to some of the other less known cities in the former East. Halle and Erfurt are both wonderful. Each has great architecture. Not sure how long it takes, but check with DB. Cheers.
chttp://www.bahn.com/i/view/index.shtml
Halle is 2 hours one way, Erfurt 2.5 hours one way. That is why previous posters suggested cities closer to Berlin.
Up until 1989 the city of Berlin and actually the whole of Germany was divided into East and West. Right through the city there was a big wall. It stretches from Ostbahnhof station to the Oberbaumbrücke. Nowadays big pieces of the wall are stil there. Many artists spray the wall with beautiful art. Unfortunately I don't have a good example to show this art to you.
That Karl Friedrich Schinkel sure got around in Berlin! What's more impressive is that he could design in more than one style. Not only was he a master as the austere neo-classicism that helps define "Unter den Linden," he also helped to popularize the neo-Gothic in Germany. This church, just one block to the south of Unter den Linden, is reputed to be the earliest example of 19th century Gothic Revival in Prussia.
It's been decommissioned as a Church, as now serves as museum of early modern and Baroque sculpture in Germany. It's worth getting a ticket just to have the chance to see the beautiful interior of the structure, which has been carefully restored after much alteration (and destruction) over the years. Werderstrasse; the museum is open 10 am - 6pm Tues. through Sat.
I actually haven't been here yet, but we bought some people tickets as a present. What is it? a giant swimming pool with ultramodern speakers equipped so you can go swimming and listen to some ***in music (eh, sorry that was rather crude). It is touted as an "entirely new sound experience" and you can float in salt water and watch all the pretty lights. I like the idea, it's like observatories with laser lights and pink floyd, only here you are surrounded by lots of floating german people
Update 9 November 2009
In my tip I have written about fading colours. This is no more the case. The Eastside Gallery has been repainted by the artists for today's celebration of the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Wall. So again it is in mint condition. Just wonderful news. The upgrade came at a huge cost of 4.2 million Euro.
After a long day this can become a long walk. The stretch of the Wall along the northern bank of the river Spree (in former East Berlin) and Mühlenstraße is 1.3 kilometres long.
But you will not regret the walk from Oberbaumbrücke to Ostbahnhof, as this open air gallery is spectacular. Spectacular with one reservation: Many of those open air paintings on the concrete slabs of the Wall, the so-called hinterland Wall, created by internationally renowned artists, are fading or even peeling off. And some have been defaced by some primates’ primitive graffiti. So some of the paintings are not recognisable anymore.
Others have been redone or restored lately – and those are spectacular. For example the one with the border controls, including the kiss of the spiritual brothers, this horrible intimate kiss of Erich Honecker and Leonid Breshnev. I hope other artists come back as well and freshen up their work, so this spectacular Gallery keeps on attracting people.
Some of the paintings did not make much sense to me, they were just nice and colourful. But most of them incorporated the artists’ ideas about separation and reunification, some very obviously, other messages more sophisticated. Some are very critical, others hilariously funny.
As this part of the Wall was along the route international protocol visitors took to East Berlin’s airport Schönefeld, it was constructed of the better looking L-shaped slabs that were used for protecting GDR from the Western conspirators. The artists started their painting jobs in 1990.
What annoyed me a bit were the open air bars behind the slabs of the East Side Gallery. They block off the views over the Spree and to Oberbaumbrücke. You cannot buy and have a drink every some metres, just to be allowed to look over the river. So those bar owners have created a new kind of wall, blocking off people who want to enjoy both sides of Berlin. Well – at least you are free to look if you pay… ;-)
Went to sage on boxing day - friday night and fantastic. The crowd were young and hip and the music was pumping from three different rooms. Would recommend it for a great night out. Bit more funky and smart if you want to impress. Tight door policy so you will need to dress up.
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