Citylinks

Intro

"My son, you are mad. You must go to Berlin." Franz von Suppé, composer (1819-1895)

We´ll admit at once that Berlin is not pretty. When Berliners gazed around themselves after WW2, there were many neighbourhoods where not one brick on top of another one could be seen. In the following decades, urban planners in both halves of the divided city showed little interest in rebuilding it the way it was. Instead, all they had in common was a deep affection for poured concrete. Yuck!

To make matters worse (and to insult the Brandenburgers equally), Berlin was built in the middle of Germany´s dullest landscape – infertile, windswept flatland, even preventing most trees from growing to a normal sizes. So! Berlin´s attractiveness is rather in its character than in its appearance. We guess you came here to indulge into a rich nightlife and to enjoy a splendid scene of culture and subculture. Maybe history is your cup of tea – there certainly happened enough of it here for a lesson or two. Finally, there is also a multi-faceted, multi-cultural and multi-maddening melting pot of three and a half million lunatics, never-do-wells, street-smarts and bonvivants – welcome to the club!

Orientation

Berlin has no “old town”, never mind the tiny “Nikolaiviertel” (between Alexanderplatz and river Spree) East Germany´s government decided to “rebuild” in the 80ies. Their material of choice was – you guess right – poured concrete. There are two city centers though! In the west around Zoo station and Ku´damm (with many shopping malls), in the east the area between Brandenburg Gate and Alexanderplatz (with all the museums, sights, tourists and thimbleriggers).

Transport

A single-ride ticket costs € 2.10, covers zones A and B (all you´ll ever need) and is valid 2 hours on all buses, night buses, trams, U-Bahn and S-Bahn. You can get off and back on where you want, change where you want, but have to reach your destination within 2 hours. A day-pass costs € 6.10 and is always valid until 3am. Stamp your ticket before the first time you use it.

Back home after a booze cruise 

On Fri and Sat nights, the U-Bahn (except U4) runs all night every 15 minutes. On weekdays, night buses go roughly along the U-Bahn lines (i.E. bus N1 instead of U-Bahn U1). There are many more nightbus lines, the nearest hub is at Hackescher Markt. Tramway lines marked with “M” run every 30 minutes all night.

Museums

The State Museums of Berlin (SMB) offer a great bargain: a 3-day-ticket (named “Schaulust”, € 19) covers all their 70 (or so) museums. It can be purchased in any SMB museum. On Thu evening, from 4 hours before any SMB museum closes, admission is for everybody.

DEUTSCHES HISTORISCHES MUSEUM
Also known as „Zeughaus“. Unter den Linden 2, Daily 10-18, € 5. A remarkable museum on German history. Has both a permanent and temporary exhibitions.
          http://www.dhm.de/ENGLISH/index.html

DEUTSCHE GUGGENHEIM (SMB)
Unter den Linden 13-15, daily 11-20. Temporary exhibitions of big-fish contemporary artists.
          http://www.deutsche-guggenheim-berlin.de/e/

MUSEUMSINSEL
Located on the island just east of the Zeughaus are the Alte Nationalgalerie (SMB) (Mon closed, Thu 10-22, other days 10-18), 19th century European art. Pergamon Museum (SMB) (daily 10-18, Thu 10-22) shows (among other things) a giant 120 meter altar frieze from Pergamon, the Gate of Miletus and the Ishtar Gate from Nebuchadnezzar´s Babylon – right, the entire thing. Altes Museum  (SMB) (daily 10-18, Thu 10-22) shows ancient Roman and Greek art.

NEUE NATIONALGALERIE (SMB)
Potsdamer Str 50 (Mon closed, Thu 10-22, other days 10-18) 20th-century European art (Picasso, Miró, Dix, Grosz etc). The building (a steel & glass cube) is designed by the famous Bauhaus architect Mies van der Rohe.
          http://www.neue-nationalgalerie.de/

JÜDISCHES MUSEUM
Lindenstr 9-14, Mon 10-22, Tue-Sun 10-20, € 5. The largest Jewish museum in Europe, a must-see. The building itself is a celebrated masterpiece of the architect Daniel Liebeskind.
          http://www.juedisches-museum-berlin.de/

HAUS AM CHECKPOINT CHARLIE
Friedrichstr 43-45, daily 9-22, € 12.50 (students € 7.50). Documents the history of the wall and escapes from the GDR.
          http://www.mauermuseum.de/

TOPOGRAPHIE DES TERRORS
Niederkirchnerstr 8, daily 10-sunset. Free admission. Open-air exhibition on the former site of the SS & secret police headquarters. 
          http://www.topographie.de/

Other Sightseeing Stuff

BUS 100 & BUS 200
If you don´t want to fork over up to € 20 for a guided bus tour, use the public buses - lines 100 and 200. They pass most sights and with a day-pass you can get off and back on as you like. With some luck, you´ll even get one of the talkative drivers who should really teach the professional guides how to entertain an audience. Both lines connect Zoo station and Alexanderplatz – Number 100 takes the route through Tiergarten while number 200 runs more southerly via Potsdamer Platz. Please mind that you won´t be the only tourist on these buses – pickpockets know that. 

THE WALL
Sorry – we got rid of it. Except for the bit now called “East Side Gallery” in Mühlenstr, between Ostbahnhof and Oberbaumbrücke.

FERNSEHTURM (TV Tower)
You can see it very well from our upper floors (and almost anywhere else in Berlin), but we strongly recommend to pay the € 7.50 for the lift to go up there. For one thing, this is the only spot in town from where you can´t see the ugly thing and the views are really stunning.

BRANDENBURG GATE
Built in the 18th century as one of Berlin´s city gates. With the wall right in front of it, it was the symbol of the cold war. On its southern flank is the new memorial to the murdered European jews.

UNTER DEN LINDEN
runs eastwards from the gate – it is our showcase boulevard, dotted with embassies, posh hotels, government buildings, the Humboldt university, the state opera and many museums.

REICHSTAG
Germany´s old – and new – parliament building just west of Brandenburg Gate. Entrance to the glass dome on top of it is free (daily 8-22), but come early to avoid the queue. Magnificent views. Next to the Reichstag building is the new Federal Chancellery, called “washing machine” for its bizarre design. No admission.

POTSDAMER PLATZ
This was urban wasteland during the cold war – apart from the wall, there was only one structure left in the entire area (“Weinhaus Huth”, Alte Potsdamer Str 5). Many Berliners were disappointed that two corporations (Sony and Daimler-Benz) were allowed to re-invent Berlin´s “middle” (Europe´s first traffic light was installed there), but at least they built their commercial utopia without destroying an existing quarter. Go and see, you make the call.

More Things to do

Badeschiff an der Treptow-Arena
Eichenstrasse 4. Summer open air cinema, winter indoor pools with a nice view (river Spree).
Cinema
Movies in original version are shown in the Sony-Center at Potsdamer Platz.
Shopping
Oranienburger Strasse for all kinds of shit. Galeria Kaufhof and Alexa (Alexanderplatz) for clothes, food and basically everything. Kastanienallee – small stores with geegaw. Schönhauser Allee – many small shops, at the end you will find the rather commercial Schönhauser Arcaden shopping mall.
Beauty / Wellness
After a long trip Wax in the City – Alte Schönhauserstrasse 33/34. Hairdresser – just follow Alte Schönhauserstrasse in direction Alexanderplatz and you find € 10 hairdressers (for wash, cut and go). Sauna – just before “Pfefferberg” on Schönhauser Allee. Massages – “Wohlfühler” – Kollwitzstrasse 75, you pay more on Sundays.

Daytrips

POTSDAM
is the capital of the state Brandenburg, it is just next to Berlin – trains from Alexanderplatz bring you there in 30 minutes. Not a single bomb fell into the city until April 1945 – they wanted to wait and see what a nuclear bomb does to an undamaged city. When it wasn´t delivered in time, the whole place was wiped out with conventional bombs in a single attack and the nukes were “tested” in Japan. Fortunately, the 18th century palaces survived. Schloss Sanssouci with its vast park is a must, Schloss Cecilienhof was where the allied conference in August 1945 was held, Orangerieschloss, Neues Palais and  Charlottenhof will make you palaced out for good.
SACHSENHAUSEN
Concentration Camp 35km north of Berlin (Take S-Bahn S1 from Friedrichstr to Oranienburg, from there it´s a 20-minute, well signposted walk) a model concentration camp was opened in 1936.  100,000 were murdered until 1945. The communists continued to use the camp until 1950 and added another 10,000 to the death toll. Open: April-Sep 8:30-18, winter 8:30-16:30, closed on Mondays!

Eat  Out & Hang  Out

Wombat´s  ultimate guide to all places REALLY worth a visit

Cafés & Restaurants

 
Nearby:
MARCUS BRÄU
Münzstr 1-3 (near Alexanderplatz), Mon-Fri from 11, Sat+Sun from 16. Decent traditional German food (like Eisbein & Sauerkraut) for small budgets, cheap beer from own micro-brewery.
MONSIEUR VUONG
Alte Schönhauserstr 46. Daily 12-24. Maybe a bit too popular for its own good (even the Lonely Planet recommends it), but still a good Vietnamese restaurant.
MARRAKESCH 
Schönhauser Allee 5. Daily from noon. Shisha bar with great atmosphere, cheap and very good oriental food, cheap cocktails.
ZOE
Rochstr 1 Mon-Fri 12-24/Sat 13-24/Sun 18-24. Ambitious Mediterranean and Asian menu, fair prices. Minimalist, stylish ambience.
BLAUES BAND
Alte Schönhauserstr 7. Daily from 10. One of the staff´s favourites,  very decent German & Mediterranean cuisine, real pancakes with maple syrup (yummie), a bit pricey but well worth it.
TRATTORIA POPOLARE
Schönhauser Allee 12. Daily from 11. Unlike so many other restaurants, they don´t even try to impress you with an oh-so-hip interior – but the friendly service and excellent food for reasonable prices convince us all the more.
MÄDCHENITALIENER
Alte Schönhauserstr 12, daily from 17. Small but good Italian Restaurant with small but good menu. Managed by girls, hence the name.
LOIS
Linienstr 60, Mon-Sat 8-20. Small (only 12 seats inside), friendly nearby American-owned café. Has lots of newspapers, espresso for 90 cent and small snacks like Brownies, Croissants and Sandwiches.

Not within walking distance, but worth the trek:
CAFÈ EINSTEIN
Unter den Linden 42  (near Brandenburg Gate) Daily 7-24. We are from Vienna so you better believe we know a thing or two about Cafés. When we are homesick, here is where we enjoy our Melange and Apfelstrudel! Nicely located on the boulevard´s sunny side, in the middle of all the sights.
VILLA RODIZIO
Milastr 2 (between U2 Eberswalder Str and Schönhauser Allee), daily from 18. Great Brazilian restaurant for die-hard beef lovers. All-you-can-eat-deals and daily cocktail happy hours (18-20 / €4,50). Large terrace.
MORGENROT
Kastanienallee 85. Tue-Sun from 11. Sat+Sun vegan brunch for € 4 - € 8. Be there by 11 (otherwise hard to get a table) and only if the night before hasn´t erased your memory. You still need to know your first name coz the barman will call you to pick up your triple espresso.
MORENA
Wiener Str 60 (U1 Görlitzer Bahnhof) Daily 9-3. Worth the trek because the coffee is delicious, because the pancakes are even better, because the service is friendly, because you´ll spend the entire afternoon having breakfast, because they have newspapers, because the music is not too loud, because they also have good tapas, because it´s never empty without being hectic. Ah!
103 BAR
Kastanienallee 49, Mon-Fri from 9 / Sat+Sun from 10. A bit pricey and always full of Berlin´s starlets and hot crowd wannabees (too cool for school) but good breakfast and salads, small but nice menu for warm food.

Pubs & Bars  

Err… there are so many lounges, clubs, pubs and bars that listing only a few on this page page is almost stupid. These are just the ones we really like. For your general orientation: most of Berlin´s nightlife is in the (former) districts Mitte (middle), north of it in Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain (east) and Kreuzberg (south).
You can have breakfast anytime before sunset. The rule is: the later, the cooler.
Most pubs and bars don´t get very crowded until 9 or 10 pm, but stay open until 3am or so – unlike in other German cities (like Munich), where most close at 1am – a ridiculous thought for Berliners. Don´t go to any clubs before midnight (unless you want to take advantage of happy hours) – some won´t even be open so early. Pah!
You will soon note that many Berliners look spectacularly underdressed. They aren´t – they spend hours with care-fully deliberating about what to wear to make them look as if they wouldn´t care about it at all – it´s the local chic.
MITTE The “Wild East” in the early 90ies, Mitte soon became gentrified and commercialized, so it´s not as cool as it used to be, but nearby Oranienburgerstr is still a good starting point for a night out. This little road boasts a wide range of pubs, bars and clubs, many of them have been there since the wild days in 1990. Tacheles (the big ramshackle former department store) is certainly worth a mention – and a visit.
PRENZLAUER BERG When Mitte became too hip (and expensive) the scene moved on to Prenzl´berg. Kollwitzplatz, Helmholdtplatz and Schönhauser Allee (esp. North of U2 station Eberswalder Str) are peppered with drinking holes. Kastanienallee is populated by the too-hip crowds, so it´s often referred to as “Castingallee”.
FRIEDRICHSHAIN was always Berlin´s blue-collar neighbourhood and is still one of the least gentrified districts. Industrial wastelands were turned into huge clubs and Simon-Dach-Str (between U5 Frankfurter Tor and U1/S-Bahn Warschauer Str) boasts about 20 no-nonsense pubs with seats for 2000 on the wide sidewalks.
KREUZBERG´s glory days were in the 80ies when the eastern districts were still in another world. Populated by immigrants from Turkey and students from West Germany, it was truly a biotope of its own kind. Although much of the scene moved to the new frontiers in the East, ageing punks still hold the line in Oranienstr (not to be confused with Oranienburgerstr in Mitte) and around U1 station Schlesisches Tor.

Nearby:
BAIZ
Christinenstr 1. Daily from 17. The sort of place you usually only find in Kreuzberg. Disgusting toilets and punkrock posters. Cheap booze and foosball table. No-nonsense people go there to drink and talk nonsense politics (or vice versa).  Movies on Sun.
WHITE TRASH    
Schönhauser Allee 6/7, daily from 18. Combining the trashiest furniture of an old Irish pub and a Chinese restaurant, serving fast food (=mostly burgers) upstairs and some punkrock downstairs to help burn the excess calories. We say: unique enough to be considered “cool”.
KULTURZENTRUM PFEFFERBERG  
Schönhauser Allee 176a. Daily from noon. Located in a former brewery, this is a mix of clubs, bars, a huge beer garden, theatre, open-air cinema and art exhibitions.
SCOTCH & SOFA
Kollwitzstr 18. Daily from 14 (17 in winter). Cocktail bar with living room ambience (lots of sofas, flower wallpaper), tiny dance floor, unintrusive music, fair prices.

 
Clubs & Lounges  

Nearby:
KAFFEE BURGER
Torstr 60 (just around the corner), Mon-Thu from 20, Fri from 21, Sat from 22, Sun from 19. The Tanzwirtschaft is not to be confused with “Burger Bar” next door. Long history: first opened in 1890 and run by the Burger family after 1936. It was a meeting point of East Berlin´s dissident scene, hence closed in 1979 “for renovation” by the state security. Re-opened in 1999 with the original design left untouched. The Tanzwirtschaft Kaffee Burger became legendary for the “Russendisco” every 2nd and 4th Sat, featuring bands from Eastern Europe.
DELICIOUS DOUGHNUTS
Rosenthalerstrasse 9. Daily from 22. Soul, Small, dark & cozy lounge, Electro & Minimal, after hours on weekends.
BASSY COWBOY CLUB
Schönhauser Allee 176a (in the Pfefferberg), Fri+Sat from 22. 30something / gasoline-drinking / on-the-rocks-sleeping clientele. Try to look cowboyish or the door will inform you on venues better matching your looks. Yee-ha! Sixties, Rock´n´Roll, Surf, Beat. Has often live music.
WEEKEND
Am Alexanderplatz 5.  Opening days/hours vary – ask reception or www.week-end-berlin.de. On levels 12, 15 and the roof – the club/lounge with a view. House, deephouse, techno and electro. Rather posh, but THE place to watch sunrise. Sunday gay.
STEINHAUS
Strassburgerstrasse 55. Fri+Sat from 22. A smallish club/lounge with terrace and a pool – no, not a pool table but a swimming pool. Music: Classics, Black Music, 80ies
8MM BAR
Schönhauserstr 177b. Daily from 21. Smallish club, hard to spot from the street. (Punk-)Rock, Electro, Indie. Own Label. Bizarre Films shown every night. Good tunes, good cocktails, good sofas, good vibes.

Not within walking distance, but worth the trek:
PANORAMABAR / BERGHAIN  
Am Wriezener Bahnhof (S-Bahn Ostbahnhof). Fri +Sat only, opens midnight. Popular with straights and gays alike. A very large techno club. Bouncers can be annoying.
TRESOR
Köpenicker Str 70. (U8 Heinrich-Heine-Str) Wed, Fri, Sat from 23. Admission € 5 (Wed) / € 10-15 (Fri+Sat). Re-opened in 2007 in a new location in a former heating plant. Techno, electro, tech-house, house.
WATERGATE
Falckensteinstr 49. (U1 Schlesisches Tor) Wed, Fri, Sat from 24. Terrace open from 20 (summer) – a perfect place to chill on the bank of river Spree. The “Koi Klub Kitchen” doles out Japanese snacks. Club with sometimes picky doors, Techno, Electro, House. Good DJs. Pricey.
MATRIX
Warschauer Platz 18. (U1/S-Bahn Warschauer Str – the club is under the U-Bahn station) Daily from 22 – Sun closed. Large club on 4 floors. Full of teens, Pop, Disco, R’n’B, Soul, Hip-Hop and Mainstream-House.
ARENA
Eichenstrasse 4. (U1 Schlesisches   Tor + 10 min walk). Large hall for concerts and clubbings in a former bus depot. Indoor pool open until midnight (Fri+Sat until 3am) during winter. Crazy clubbing freaky people – Berlin Electro, beware of picky bouncers. Lots of weird events, check www.arena-berlin.de.
GOLGATHA
Dudenstr 40 (Viktoriapark) (U7 / S-Bahn Yorckstr) April – September, daily 10-6. Enter the park at Katzbachstr / corner Monumentenstr, inside the park take the first way to the right. Named after Jerusalem´s famous crucifixion hill (Calvary for you English-speakers) to make you aware that it´s quite a hike up to Berlin´s only real beer garden – open until dawn. A perfect place to chill and get stranded – this is probably the place where the refrain for “Kreuzberger Nächte sind lang” (Kreuzberg nights are long) was invented. Apart from the main ingredient of a beer garden – beer! – some good cocktails, salads and grilled meat are also served. Sports events are shown on big screens and the place even has a small disco, just in case you want to shake your leg.

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