Kreuzberg has a split personality: while its western section (around Bergmannstrasse) has an upmarket, genteel air, eastern Kreuzberg (around Kottbusser Tor) is a multicultural mosaic and raucous nightlife hub. You'll find more after-dark action along with some Cold War relics (including Karl-Marx-Allee, East Berlin's showcase socialist boulevard) in student-flavoured Friedrichshain across the Spree.
East Side GalleryLANDMARK
The year was 1989. After 28 years, the Berlin Wall, that grim and grey divider of humanity, finally met its maker. Most of it was quickly dismantled along the Spree, but a 1.3km stretch became the East Side Gallery, the world’s largest open-air mural collection. In more than 100 paintings, dozens of international artists translated the era’s global euphoria and optimism into a mix of political statements, drug-induced musings and truly artistic visions.
Jüdisches MuseumMUSEUM
In a landmark building by American-Polish architect Daniel Libeskind, Berlin's Jewish Museum offers a chronicle of the trials and triumphs in 2000 years of Jewish history in Germany. The exhibit smoothly navigates through all major periods, from the Middle Ages via the Enlightenment to the community's current renaissance. Find out about Jewish cultural contributions, holiday traditions, the difficult road to emancipation, and outstanding individuals such as the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, jeans inventor Levi Strauss and the painter Felix Nussbaum.
StasimuseumMUSEUM
The former head office of the Ministry of State Security is now a museum, where you can marvel at cunningly low-tech surveillance devices (hidden in watering cans, rocks, even neckties), a prisoner transport van with teensy, lightless cells and the obsessively neat offices of Stasi chief Erich Mielke.
Stasi Prison
MEMORIAL
Victims of Stasi persecution often ended up in this grim remand prison, now a memorial site officially called Gedenkstätte Hohenschönhausen. Tours reveal the full extent of the terror and cruelty perpetrated upon thousands of suspected regime opponents, many utterly innocent. A new exhibit documents the history of the prison. To get here, take tram M5 from Alexanderplatz to Freienwalder Strasse, then walk 10 minutes along Freienwalder Strasse.
City West & Charlottenburg
The glittering heart of West Berlin during the Cold War, Charlottenburg has been eclipsed by historic Mitte and other eastern districts since reunification, but is now trying hard to stage a comeback with major redevelopment around Zoologischer Garten (Zoo station). Its main artery is the 3.5km-long Kurfürstendamm (Ku’damm for short), Berlin's busiest shopping strip. The main tourist attraction is the nicely restored Schloss Charlottenburg.
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