Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Day of Culture
Morning
Unter den Linden begins
at
Pariser Platz
in front of
Brandenburger Tor
(see
pp8-9)
. Stroll eastwards
along the wide avenue,
past Hotel Adlon Berlin.
Then turn right into
Wil-
helmstraße
(see p116)
,
the former political nerve
centre. On the right-hand
side you will pass the
new building of the British
Embassy. In Behrenstraße
you can assess progress
in the construction of the
Holocaust-Denkmal
.
Turn left into Französische
Straße, which will take
you to
Friedrichstraße
.
Here you can shop at the
Galeries Lafayette
(see
p119)
or in the
Depart-
ment Store 206
(see
p119).
After your shopping
expedition, you may wish
to recover over a snack
lunch in the gourmet
food department, which is
situated in the basement
of Galeries Lafayette.
Quartier 206 in Friedrichstraße
Friedrichstraße
Friedrichstraße has risen to
some of the glamour and vibran-
cy it possessed before World
War II. Today, Berlin's Fifth Avenue
once again boasts elegant shops,
and some upmarket restaurants
and cafés, which have opened
here in recent years. Especially
worth visiting are the three
Quartiers 205, 206 and 207 with-
in the Friedrichstadtpassagen,
containing the Galeries Lafayette
store and Department Store 206
respectively. At the northern
end of the street is the famous
Dussmann store (books, music,
events), S-Bahn station Friedrich-
straße, as well as the former
entertainment district with the
Friedrichstadtpalast, today
housing the Metropoltheater.
d
Mitte
•
Map J-L4
Afternoon
Before you continue your
exploration of Friedrich-
straße, make a detour to
Gendarmenmarkt
with its
Konzerthaus as well as
Deutscher and Französi-
scher Dom. From here
return to
Friedrichstraße
and its modern buildings.
Walk down the street to
Leipziger Straße. Turn left
into Leipziger Straße, and
on the left you will see the
giant structure of the for-
mer Ministry of Aviation.
Today the Federal Ministry
of Finance is based here.
From here you can
retrace your steps to
Unter den Linden or return
to Gendarmenmarkt.
An evening meal at the
Asian restaurant
Lang-
hans
(see p121)
is highly
recommended.
Holocaust-Denkmal
This new memorial, officially
called “Memorial to the Killed
Jews of Europe , serves as
Germany's national Holocaust
memorial. After years of debate,
US star architect Peter Eisenman
completed the memorial in 2005.
It is comprised of a large field
with dark grey steles of varying
heights up to 2 m (6 ft) high,
which symbolize the six million
Jews and others murdered by
the Nazis in their concentration
camps between 1933 and 1945.
Underneath the memorial there
is an information centre which
explains the causes and history
of the genocide.
d
Ebertstr.
•
Map L3
115
