Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ing services, tel. 030/2026-9136,
www.berliner-dom.de
.
The cathedral hosts many organ
concerts (often on weekends, tickets from about €10 always available at the door).
Across Unter den Linden from Berlin Cathedral is a big lawn that for centuries held
the Baroque palace of the Hohenzollern dynasty of Brandenburg and Prussia. Much of
that palace actually survived World War II but was replaced by the communists with a
blocky, Soviet-style “Palace” of the Republic—East Berlin's parliament building/entertain-
ment complex and a showy symbol of the communist days. The landmark building fell into
disrepairafterreunificationandwaseventuallydismantledin2007.Aftermuchdebateabout
howtousethisprimerealestate, theGermanparliament decidedtoconstructtheHumboldt-
Forum,ahugepublicvenuefilledwithmuseums,shops,galleries,andconcerthallsbehinda
facadeconstructedinimitationoftheoriginalHohenzollernpalace.Witha€1.2billionprice
tag, many Berliners consider the reconstruction plan a complete waste of money.
Thetemporary
Humboldt-Box
hasbeensetuptohelpthepublicfollowtheconstruction
of the new Humboldt-Forum. The multiple floors of the futuristic “box” display building
plans and models for the project (€4, daily 10:00-20:00, after that free entry to terrace-café
until 23:00, tel. 01805-030-707,
www.humboldt-box.com
). On the top floor, the terrace-café
with unobstructed views over Berlin serves coffee, desserts, and light food until 18:00, and
a dinner menu after that (€5-15 lunch dishes, €15-22 dinners).
The recommended Spree River boat tours depart from the riverbank near the bridge by the
Berlin Cathedral. For details, see
here
.
• Directly across the bridge from Museum Island, down along the riverbank, look for the...
▲
DDR Museum
Although this exhibit began as a tourist trap, it has expanded and matured into a genuinely
interesting look at life in former East Germany (DDR). It's well-stocked with kitschy every-
day items from the communist period, plus photos, video clips, and concise English ex-
planations. The exhibits are interactive—you're encouraged to pick up and handle anything
that isn't behind glass. You'll crawl through a Trabant car (designed by East German en-
gineers to compete with the West's popular VW Beetle) and pick up some DDR-era jokes
(“East Germany had 39 newspapers, four radio stations, two TV channels...and one opin-
ion.”). The reconstructed communist-era home lets you tour the kitchen, living room, bed-
rooms, and more. You'll learn about the Russian-imported
Dacha
—the simple countryside
cottage (owned by one in six East Germans) used for weekend retreats from the grimy city.
(Others vacationed on the Baltic Coast, where nudism was all the rage, as a very revealing
