Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MEMORIAL
GEDENKORT WEISSE KREUZE
(White Crosses Memorial; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Reichstagufer; Bundestag)
The Berlin Wall ran right behind the Reichstag. The southern bank of the Spree River still
belonged to West Berlin, while the water itself was already East Berlin territory. In 1971, a
group of citizens established this memorial consisting of seven white crosses to commemor-
ate East Berliners who died in their attempt to escape to the west.
BUILDING
HAUS DER KULTUREN DER WELT
(House of World Cultures; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 030-397 870; www.hkw.de ; John-Foster-Dulles-
Allee 10; cost varies; exhibits 11am-7pm Wed-Mon; 100, Bundestag, Hauptbahnhof)
This highly respected cultural centre showcases contemporary non-European art, music,
dance, literature, films and theatre, and also serves as a discussion forum on Zeitgeist-re-
flecting issues. The gravity-defying parabolic roof of Hugh Stubbins' extravagant building,
designed as the American contribution to a 1957 architectural exhibition, is echoed by
Henry Moore's sculpture Butterfly in the reflecting pool.
Computerised chime concerts ring out at noon and 6pm daily from the nearby 68-bell
carillon, and live concerts take place Sundays at 3pm from May to September (also at 2pm
in December).
STREET
STRASSE DES 17 JUNI
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Brandenburger Tor, Brandenburger Tor)
The broad boulevard bisecting Tiergarten was named Street of 17 June in honour of the vic-
tims of the bloodily quashed 1953 workers' uprising in East Berlin. It originally linked two
royal palaces and was turned into a triumphal road under Hitler.
The section between the Brandenburger Tor and the Siegessäule (Victory Column; 1km
west of Brandenburg Gate) turns into a mega-party zone on New Year's Eve and for such
festivals as Christopher Street Day.
MEMORIAL
SOWJETISCHES EHRENMAL TIERGARTEN
(Soviet War Memorial; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Strasse des 17 Juni;
Brandenburger Tor,
Branden-
burger Tor)
The imposing Soviet War Memorial is flanked by two Russian T-34 tanks said to have been
the first to enter the city in 1945. It was built by German workers on order of the Soviets
and completed just months after the end of the war. More than 2000 Red Army soldiers are
buried behind the colonnade.
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