Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
display explains.) Lounge in DDR movie chairs as you view a subtitled propaganda film
or clips from beloved-in-the-East TV shows (including the popular kids' show
Sandmän-
nchen
—”Little Sandman”). Even the meals served in the attached restaurant are based on
DDR-era recipes.
Cost and Hours:
€6, daily 10:00-20:00, Sat until 22:00, just across the Spree from Mu-
seum Island at Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 1, tel. 030/847-123-731,
www.ddr-museum.de
.
• Continue walking down Unter den Linden. Before crossing the bridge (and leaving Mu-
seum Island), look across the river. The pointy twin spires of the 13th-century Nikolai
Church mark the center of medieval Berlin. This
Nikolaiviertel
(Viertel means “quarter”)
was restored by the DDR and trendy in the last years of communism. Today, it's a lively-at-
night riverside restaurant district.
Asyoucrossthebridge,lookleftinthedistancetoseethegilded
NewSynagogue
dome,
rebuilt after WWII bombing (described later).
Across the river to the left of the bridge, directly below you, is the
DDR Museum
(de-
scribedearlier). Justbeyondthatisthegiant
SASRadissonHotel
andshoppingcenter,with
a huge aquarium in the center. The elevator goes right through the middle of a deep-sea
world. (You can see it from the unforgettable Radisson hotel lobby—tuck in your shirt and
walk past the guards with the confidence of a guest who's sleeping there.) Here in the cen-
ter of the old communist capital, it seems that capitalism has settled in with a spirited ven-
geance.
In the park immediately across the street (a big jaywalk from the Radisson) are grand-
fatherly statues of
Marx and Engels
(nicknamed “the old pensioners”). Surrounding them
are stainless-steel monoliths with evocative photos that show the struggles of the workers of
the world.
Walk toward
Marien Church
(from 1270), just left of the base of the TV Tower. An
artist'srenderinghelpsyoufollowtheinterestingbutveryfadedold“DanceofDeath”mural
that wraps around the narthex inside the door.
The big red-brick building past the trees on the right is the
City Hall,
built after the re-
volutions of 1848 and arguably the first democratic building in the city.
The 1,200-foot-tall
TV Tower
(Fernsehturm) has a fine view from halfway up (€12,
daily March-Oct 9:00-24:00, Nov-Feb 10:00-24:00,
www.tv-turm.de
)
. The tower offers
a handy city orientation and an interesting view of the flat, red-roofed sprawl of Ber-
lin—including a peek inside the city's many courtyards
(Höfe)
. Consider a kitschy trip to
the observation deck for the view and lunch in its revolving restaurant (mediocre food, €12
plates, horrible lounge music, reservations smart for dinner, tel. 030/242-3333). The retro
