Berlin's Instagrammable

The Haus der Kulturen der Welt ("House of the World's Cultures") in Berlin is Germany's national center for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts, with a special focus on non-European cultures and societies. It presents art exhibitions, theater and dance performances, concerts, author readings, films and academic conferences on Visual Art and culture. It is one of the few institutions which, due to their national and international standing and the quality of their work, receive funding from the federal government as so-called "lighthouses of culture."

The Victory Column is a monument designed by Heinrich Strack, after 1864 to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War, by the time it was inaugurated on 2 September 1873, Prussia had also defeated Austria and its German allies in the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and France in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), giving the statue a new purpose.

The Brandenburg Gate, a monumental gate built in the eighteenth century as a symbol of peace, is Berlin's most famous landmark. During the Cold War, when the gate was located right near the border between East and West Berlin, it became a symbol of a divided city. But when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the Brandenburg Gate instantly became the symbol of a reunified Berlin. The Brandenburg Gate is situated at the end of Unter den Linden, a grand boulevard that cuts through the center of Berlin. The gate was originally part of a wall surrounding Berlin and was the main entrance to the city. It is the only gate that remains of this former city wall.

The Gendarmenmarkt is a square in Berlin and the site of an architectural ensemble including the Konzerthaus (concert hall) and the French and German Churches. In the centre of the square stands a monumental statue of Germany's renowned poet Friedrich Schiller. The square was created by Johann Arnold Nering at the end of the seventeenth century as the Linden-Markt and reconstructed by Georg Christian Unger in 1773. The Gendarmenmarkt is named after the cuirassier regiment Gens d'Armes, which had stables at the square until 1773. During World War II, most of the buildings were badly damaged or destroyed. Today all of them have been restored.

With 500 ha of parks and 150 buildings constructed between 1730 and 1916, Potsdam's complex of palaces and parks forms an artistic whole, whose eclectic nature reinforces its sense of uniqueness. It extends into the district of Berlin-Zehlendorf, with the palaces and parks lining the banks of the River Havel and Lake Glienicke. Voltaire stayed at the Sans-Souci Palace, built under Frederick II between 1745 and 1747. Immerse yourself in the history and present time of the former royal capital and garrison town with its many palaces, gardens, and historic quarters. Be inspired by the illustrious attractions of the Unesco World Heritage while underway on a round tour of the city.

Formerly this iconic bridge marked the border between East and West and there was a time when it was closed to all civilians. The Cold War parties sometimes exchanged spies here. Today the bridge separates the districts of Kreuzberg and can be crossed. Berlin counts 916 bridges (that's more than twice as much as Venice) and this is arguably the most beautiful one. It´s situated at a scenic spot of the river Spree and makes for taking perfect pictures to both sides of it.

Teufelsberg is a man-made hill in Berlin, Germany, in the Grunewald locality of former West Berlin. It rises about 80 metres (260 ft) above the surrounding Teltow plateau and 120.1 metres (394 ft) above the sea level, in the north of Berlin's Grunewald Forest. It was named after the Teufelssee (i.e. Devil's lake) in its southerly vicinity. The hill is made of rubble, and covers an under-construction Nazi military-technical college (Wehrtechnische Fakultät). During the Cold War, there was a U.S. listening station on the hill, Field Station Berlin.

Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Berlin Hbf) is the German capital's main station, located in the heart of Berlin just 10 minutes walk from the Reichstag and 15 minutes walk from the Brandenburg Gate. The impressive glass-and-steel station was formally opened in 2006, finally giving Berlin a single main railway terminal.

The monument to the Soviet soldier in Berlin’s Treptower Park is, probably, the most well-known Soviet war memorial outside Russia. The 12-meter high soldier, standing on the remains of a broken swastika, holds a little girl he has saved (such cases really took place) in one hand and a sword in the other. According to the first plan of the sculptor Evgeny Vuchetich, he was due to hold a machine gun, but Stalin suggested a sword instead.

"The Brain of Berlin", that is how an English architect Sir Norman Foster called a new philological library of the Free University of Berlin in 2005. The building resembles a colossal glass egg put on one side. It is actually hollow inside, and the stories are made by four tiers of undulating galleries whose pattern looks like brain convolutions. The climate system in the building meets all environmental requirements: fresh air intake through the vent lights is computer controlled, and the heating system uses the heat of the warm surfaces, so the microclimate inside the building is good for readers.

Berlin is home to one of Germany’s largest urban parks, the Großer Tiergarten, a 210-hectare green space filled with gardens, small lakes, dense foliage and tucked-away locations perfect for having a picnic. Tiergarten is a locality within the borough of Mitte, in central Berlin (Germany). Notable for the great and homonymous urban park, before German reunification, it was a part of West Berlin.

Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947–1991). Located on the corner of Friedrichstraße and Zimmerstraße, it is a reminder of the former border crossing, the Cold War and the partition of Berlin. The barrier and checkpoint booth, the flag and the sandbags are all based on the original site – and are a popular subject for photos. It’s no wonder that Checkpoint Charlie is one of the sights of Berlin that you really should see.

Berlin Cathedral (German: Berliner Dom) is the short name for the Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church (German: Oberpfarr- und Domkirche zu Berlin) in Berlin, Germany. It is located on Museum Island in the Mitte borough. The current building was finished in 1905 and is a main work of Historicist architecture of the "Kaiserzeit".

The Berliner Philharmonie is a concert hall in Berlin, home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Philharmonie lies on the south edge of the city's Tiergarten and just west of the former Berlin Wall. The Philharmonie is on Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße, named for the orchestra's longest-serving principal conductor. The building forms part of the Kulturforum complex of cultural institutions close to Potsdamer Platz. The Philharmonie consists of two venues, the Grand Hall (Großer Saal) with 2,440 seats and the Chamber Music Hall (Kammermusiksaal) with 1,180 seats. Though conceived together, the smaller hall was opened in the 1980s, some twenty years after the main building.

Charlottenburg Palace is the largest palace in Berlin, Germany. It is in the Charlottenburg district of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough. The palace was built at the end of the 17th century and was greatly expanded during the 18th century. It includes much lavish internal decoration in baroque and rococo styles. A large formal garden surrounded by woodland was added behind the palace, including a belvedere, a mausoleum, a theatre and a pavilion. During the Second World War, the palace was badly damaged but has since been reconstructed. The palace with its gardens are a major tourist attraction.

The Bebelplatz (formerly colloquially Opernplatz) is a public square in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. The square is located on the south side of the Unter den Linden boulevard, a major east-west thoroughfare in the city centre. Don’t miss Micha Ullman’s spatial installation: a library with empty shelves commemorates the book-burning at Bebelplatz. While strolling across Bebelplatz you'll come across people staring at the same spot on the ground. When you get closer, you see a glass plate set in the paving stones, and below it an underground room with empty bookshelves.

The Pergamon Museum houses original, reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate of Miletus. Both of these extraordinary artifacts were transported from Turkey, and since its opening in 1930, there has been controversy over the legitimacy of the acquisition of the collection. When the Pergamon Museum was severely damaged during an air strike at the end of the Second World War, many objects were stolen. Although many of the major pieces were safely secured, the Red Army collected all of the loose museum items, either as war booty or for safekeeping from the looting and fires that were then raging in Berlin.

Potsdamer Platz was a famed Berlin cultural center before the Second World War. It was severely bombed during the war because it was near Hitler's bunker. The area became a no-man's land during the cold war. After the Fall of the Berlin Wall, in 1989, it was re-developed with the aim of recovering its pre-war cultural role. All traces of the hot and cold wars were to be erased. The Sony Platz section of the Potsdamer Platz re-development was designed as a mixed-use project with space for office, retail, entertainment, residential, and hospitality uses.

In the south-eastern corner of Berlin you will find the residential settlement of Neu-Venedig. Just like in Italy, the Müggelspree branches into canals. With its five canals and 13 bridges it might not be quite as big as its Italian inspiration, but it’s at least as charming, and you’ll feel it as soon as you arrive in Neu-Venedig in Köpenick, a true hidden gem.

The East Side Gallery is one of Berlin’s most historic landmarks that has also been turned into an artistic landmark. The gallery is located on Muehlenstrasse and is accessible from both Warschauer Strasse and Ostbanhoff. The 1.3 kilometer part of the Berlin Wall is the longest part that is still largely intact. The East Side Gallery is visited at all times of the day and night by visitors, locals, and people spilling out of the nearby clubs, such as Berghain or Watergate. Across the road sits Berlin’s largest arena, the Mercedes Benz Arena, which is used for many events in the city ranging from ice hockey to sold out concerts.

Berlin's Potsdamer Platz is the most striking example of the urban renewal that turned Berlin into the "New Berlin" in the 1990s although it is not, strictly speaking, a square. The area today consists of the three developments known as Daimler City (1998), the Sony Centre (2000) and the Beisheim Centre (2004), which literally transformed the dormant wasteland where the Berlin Wall stood between east and west Berlin until 1989.

The Fernsehturm is a television tower in central Berlin. Close to Alexanderplatz in Berlin-Mitte, the tower was constructed between 1965-69 by the government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was intended to be both a symbol of Communist power and of Berlin. It remains the latter today, as it is easily visible throughout the central and some suburban districts of Berlin. With its height of 368 meters (including antenna), it is the tallest structure in Germany and the second-tallest structure in the European Union.

The Berlin Zoological Garden is the oldest and best-known zoo in Germany. Opened in 1844 it covers 35 hectares (86.5 acres) and is located in Berlin's Tiergarten. With about 1,380 different species and over 20,200 animals, the zoo presents one of the most comprehensive collections of species in the world.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Alexanderplatz was one of the busiest squares in Berlin. Its current appearance is mostly the result of the efforts of the former government of East-Germany to use the square as a showpiece of Socialist architecture. Despite recent attempts to make the square more attractive, Alexanderplatz is still a concrete island enclosed by large buildings and can come across as rather soulless. Chances are however that you'll end up here at some point during your stay in Berlin since it's a significant traffic and shopping hub. And the TV-tower on the southern edge is visible from almost anywhere in Berlin.

A place of contemplation, a place of remembrance and warning. Close to the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin, you will find the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. In 1999, after lengthy debates, the German parliament decided to establish a central memorial site, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The competition to design it was won by the New York architect Peter Eisenman. The memorial was ceremonially opened in 2005.

The Reichstag officially: Deutscher Bundestag - Plenarbereich Reichstagsgebäude pronounced is a historical edifice in Berlin, constructed to house the Imperial Diet (German: Reichstag) of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Diet until 1933, when it was severely damaged after being set on fire. After World War II, the building fell into disuse.