Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The TVsection tellsthestoryof dasIdiotenBox fromitsinfancy(whenitwasprimarily
used as a Nazi propaganda tool) to today. The 30-minute kaleidoscopic review—kind of a
frantic fast-forward montage of greatest hits in German TV history, both East and West—is
great fun even if you don't understand a word of it (it plays all day long, with 10-minute
breaks). Otherwise, the TV section is a little more challenging for non-German speakers to
appreciate. Upstairs (on the fourth floor) is a TV archive where you can dial through a wide
range of new and classic German TV standards.
Panoramapunkt
AcrossPotsdamer Strasse fromthe Film andTVMuseum, youcan ride what'sbilled as“the
fastest elevator in Europe” to skyscraping rooftop views. You'll travel at nearly 30 feet per
second to the top of the 300-foot-tall Kollhoff Tower. Its sheltered but open-air view deck
provides a fun opportunity to survey Berlin's ongoing construction from above.
Cost and Hours: €5.50, €9.50 VIP ticket lets you skip the line, audioguide-€2.50, daily
10:00-20:00, until 22:00 in summer, last elevator 30 minutes before closing, in red-brick
building at Potsdamer Platz 1, tel. 030/2593-07080, www.panoramapunkt.de .
Kulturforum
Just west of Potsdamer Platz, Kulturforum rivals Museum Island as the city's cultural heart,
withseveraltopmuseumsandBerlin'sconcerthall—homeoftheworld-famousBerlinPhil-
harmonic orchestra (admission to all Kulturforum sights covered by a single €8 Bereichs-
karteKulturforumcombo-ticket—a.k.a.Quartier-Karte—andalsobytheMuseumspass;info
for all museums: tel. 030/266-424-242, www.kulturforum-berlin.de ) . Of its sprawling mu-
seums,onlytheGemäldegalerieisamust(S-orU-BahntoPotsdamerPlatz,thenwalkalong
Potsdamer Platz; or from Bahnhof Zoo, take bus #200 to Philharmonie).
▲▲▲ Gemäldegalerie
Literally the “Painting Gallery,” Germany's top collection of 13th- through 18th-century
European paintings (more than 1,400 canvases) is beautifully displayed in a building that's
a work of art in itself. The North Wing starts with German paintings of the 13th to 16th cen-
turies,includingeightbyAlbrechtDürer.ThencometheDutchandFlemish—JanvanEyck,
Pieter Brueghel, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Frans Hals, and Jan Vermeer. The
wingfinisheswithGerman,English,andFrench18th-centuryartists,suchasThomasGains-
borough and Antoine Watteau. An octagonal hall at the end features an impressive stash of
Rembrandts. The South Wing is saved for the Italians—Giotto, Botticelli, Titian, Raphael,
and Caravaggio.
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