Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
eastern fringes, and back in what used to be
East Berlin is
Friedrichshain
which offers
some unusual architectural leftovers from the
Eastern Bloc of the 1950s, while to the north
Prenzlauer Berg
is one of the few places in
which the atmosphere of prewar Berlin has
been preserved - complete with cobbled
streets and ornate facades. It flows fairly
seamlessly into the attractive if sleepy district
of
Pankow
to the north.
Berlin's
eastern suburbs
are typified by a
sprawl of prewar tenements punctuated by
high-rise developments and heavy industry,
though the lakes, woodland and small towns
and villages dotted around
Köpenick
offer a
genuine break from the city. he leafy
western suburbs
are even more renowned for their
woodland (the
Grunewald
) and lakes (the
Havel
), with more besides: attractions include
the baroque
Schloss Charlottenburg
, with its adjacent art museums; the impressive 1930s
Olympic Stadium
; the
Dahlem museum complex
, which displays everything from German
folk art to Polynesian huts; and the medieval town of
Spandau
. Further out, foremost
among possible
day-trips
are
Potsdam
, location of Frederick the Great's
Sanssouci
palace,
and the former concentration camp of
Sachsenhausen
, north of Berlin in Oranienburg.
TOP 5 ARCHITECTURAL
HIGHLIGHTS
Hackeschen Höfe
Imagine these
pretty, restored courtyards teeming
with turn-of-the-century life.
See p.71
Jüdisches Museum
Designed by
Daniel Libeskind, this is a dramatically
awkward building for a di
cult subject.
See p.117
Olympic Stadium
On a scale to rival
Rome's Colosseum.
See p.158
Reichstag
Meaningful and deeply
impressive, irrespective of its historical
associations.
See p.37
Sony Center
The Roman atrium
reinvented for the twenty-first century.
See p.92
