Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tower is quite trendy these days, so it can be crowded (your ticket comes with an assigned
entry time). Built (with Swedish know-how) in 1969 for the 20th anniversary of the com-
munist government, the tower was meant to show the power of the atheistic state at a time
when DDR leaders were having the crosses removed from church domes and spires. But
when the sun shined on their tower—the greatest spire in East Berlin—a huge cross was re-
flected on the mirrored ball. Cynics called it “The Pope's Revenge.” East Berliners dubbed
the tower the “Tele-Asparagus.” They joked that if it fell over,they'd have an elevator to the
West.
Farther east, pass under the train tracks into Alexanderplatz. This area—especially the
formerKaufhofdepartmentstore(nowGaleriaKaufhof)—wasthecommercialprideandjoy
ofEastBerlin.Today,it'sstillalandmark,withamajorU-andS-Bahnstation.Theonce-fu-
turistic, now-retro “World Time Clock,” installed in 1969, is a nostalgic favorite and a pop-
ular meeting point. Stop in the square for a coffee and to people-watch. It's a great scene.
• Our orientation stroll or bus ride (this is the last stop for bus #100) is finished. From here,
you can hike back a bit to catch the riverboat tour, take in the sights south of Unter den
Linden, venture into the colorful Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood, or consider extending this
foray into eastern Berlin.
Karl-Marx-Allee
ThebuildingsalongKarl-Marx-AlleeinEastBerlin(justbeyondAlexanderplatz)werecom-
pletely leveled by the Red Army in 1945. As an expression of their adoration to the “great
Socialist Father” (Stalin), the DDR government decided to rebuild the street better than ever
(the USSR provided generous subsidies). They intentionally made it one meter wider than
the Champs-Elysées, named it Stalinallee, and lined it with “workers' palaces” built in the
bold “Stalin Gothic” style so common in Moscow in the 1950s. Now renamed after Karl
Marx, the street and its restored buildings provide a rare look at Berlin's communist days.
Distances areabitlongforconvenient walking, butyoucancruise Karl-Marx-Allee bytaxi,
or ride the U-Bahn to Strausberger Platz (which was built to resemble an Italian promenade)
and walk to Frankfurter Tor, reading the good information posts along the way. Notice the
Social Realist reliefs on the buildings and the lampposts, which incorporate the wings of a
phoenix (rising from the ashes) in their design. Once a “workers' paradise,” the street now
hosts a two-mile-long capitalist beer festival the first weekend in August.
The Café Sibylle, just beyond the Strausberger Platz U-Bahn station, is a fun spot for a
coffee,traditionalDDRice-creamtreats,andalookatitsfreeinformalmuseumthattellsthe
story of the most destroyed street in Berlin. While the humble exhibit is nearly all in Ger-
man, it's fun to see the ear (or buy a €10 plaster replica) and half a moustache from what
was the largest statue of Stalin in Germany (the centerpiece of the street until 1961). It also
provides a few intimate insights into apartment life in a DDR flat. The café is known for
Search WWH ::




Custom Search