Museums and other Attractions

Here are some of my favorite museums .

Allied Museum

Clayallee 135 - Outpost
14195 Berlin-Zehlendorf

http://www.alliiertenmuseum.de/en/1.php

I try to visit this museum every few years.  It is not large but well worth the trip. They have a section of the Rudow Tunnel on display. It is located at the old “Outpost Theater” on Clay Allee. From here you can take bus M11 at Oskar Helene Heim direct to Andrews Barracks now called Bundesarcheive. Get off a Drakestrasse and Finckenstrasse. If you want to get in you have to tell the guard that you are doing research.

Mauer Museum

Bernauer Str. 5A  PLZ. 13355

Another  of our favorite places to visit is the Berlin Wall Memorial and Documentation Center on Bernauer Strasse.  To get there we have only taken the U-Bahn (U8) from Alexander Platz, but the S-Bahn  S1 or S2 from Friedrich Strasse to Nordbahnhof is another possibility.  See the stadtplan link below for a map of the area.

http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/de/ 

http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/guide/bernauer-str.htm

http://www.berlin.de/stadtplan/map.asp?sid=14877af4821d8b78d604f3809ce2f91a&ix=1598&iy=1614&grid=dedatlas10   

Pergamon Museum

http://www.berlin.de/orte/museum/pergamonmuseum/index.en.php.

One of the most popular attractions in Berlin, the Pergamon Museum is world famous for its archaeological holdings. The Pergamon, located on Museum Island, is really three museums in one – the Collection of Classical Antiquities (also on display in the Old Museum), the Museum of the Ancient Near East, and the Museum of Islamic Art. The Pergamon Museum’s monumental highlights are truly breathtaking to behold.

Neues Museum

http://www.berlin.de/orte/museum/neues-museum/index.en.php 

The Neues Museum  houses the archaeological collections of the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, the Museum of Pre- and Early History, as well as works from the Collection of Classical Antiquities. The most prominent feature of the exhibit, the bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, described as “the world’s most beautiful woman,” will be centrally and prominently displayed in the north cupola of the building.

Jewish Museum

http://www.berlin.de/orte/museum/juedisches-museum-berlin/index.en.php

Daniel Libeskind's Jewish Museum, built after reunification, is one of the memorable highlights of the New Berlin

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin (Also see Neue Wache in walking tour)

Fasanenstr. 24

10719 Berlin

Entrance 5 Euros

This small but unique museum is dedicated to the life and work of Berlin’s best-known woman painter – Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) - whose work was collected by Berlin gallerist Hans Pels-Leusden. Käthe Kollwitz is known above all for her haunting Expressionist character studies and harrowing images of human torment. Living in the midst of poverty and misery with her doctor husband Karl Kollwitz in the working-class district of Prenszlauer Berg she was a close and constant witness to human hardship.

Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand

http://www.berlin.de/orte/museum/gedenkstaette-deutscher-widerstand/

The German Resistance Memorial Centre, often referred to as the - Bendler Block – doubles as a monument and information and documentation centre. The permanent exhibition documenting the resistance movement against National Socialism commissioned by former Berlin Mayor Richard von Weizsäcker opened in 1989. The complex housed the headquarters of the Wehrmacht High Command from 1935 to 1944. From here Hitler addressed the issue of how to acquire more living space in the East.

The permanent exhibition is an ensemble of over 5,000 documents including photographic panels and background information about the many Germans who actively resisted or sacrificed their lives opposing the Nazi dictatorship. Some of the best known were the writer Thomas Mann, the students Hans and Sophie Scholl and the painter Käthe Kollwitz. Scenes for the film “Valkyrie” – the code name for the 1944 assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler plotted by Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg were shot on location here in 2007
Audio guides in English and other languages are available to guide the visitor through the exhibition rooms.

Stauffenbergstr. 13-14
10785 Berlin

Gendarmenmarkt  (See walking tour)

Berlin’s Deutscher Dom – not to be confused with the Berliner Dom which is the largest protestant church in Berlin – is best known as one of the three buildings which make up the spectacular ‘trinity ensemble’ in the Gendarmenmarkt square in Mitte including its twin the Französische Dom (French Cathedral) and the Konzerthaus or Concert Hall. The Deutscher Dom was erected in 1708 under Elector Friedrich III, who had crowned himself King Friedrich I in 1701 and was intent, along with his wife Queen Sophie Charlotte, in turning Berlin into a royal residence to rival Versailles.

Berlin Tour by Public Bus Line 100 or 200

An insiders’ tip to explore Berlin easily and on budget is to take the public bus 100 or 200. A ride on this double decker bus is a "Must Do" for each tourist. Head to the upper deck in the front of the bus.  In inclement weather this is a good option. Go one way on the 100 and the other way on the 200. 

The bus departs several times per hour from Zoologischer  Garten train station and ends at Alexanderplatz train station. Bus stops are numerous, so you will get a good overview of Berlin’s central district.