Berlin

The Berlin Wall went up on 13 August 1961. A symbol for a divided city and a divided Germany, and the Cold War. For 28 years the Wall divided the city. Much of it still remains to explore and experience.

Situated in a building designed by this movement's founder, the excellent museum follows its history and houses the biggest Bauhaus collection anywhere in the world.

Tailor-made tours can be arranged to see the many fascinating buildings that Berlin has to offer. Groups can get a unique insight into the history of the city and the many changes it has gone through over the years.

This place of worship currently houses the Schinkel-Museum - a collection of the artist/architect's work. Despite the building being badly damaged in World War II, it has been successfully restored to its original neo-gothic style, and was reopened in 1987.

Designed by Daniel Libeskind, this is of the Berlin's most prominent and recognisable landmarks. This was his first major project and brought him worldwide recognition. Since this he has gone on to design the Master Plan for Ground Zero in New York.

The New National Gallery, (otherwise known as the "temple of light and glass") is the home of 20th century European painting and sculpture ranging from classic modern art to art of the 1960s. The impressive collection includes works by Edward Munch, Kirchner, Pablo Picasso, Klee, Feininger, Dix and Kokoschka.

By comparison, the Alte National Galerie (Old National Gallery) boasts one of the largest collections of 19th century sculptures and paintings in Germany as expressed by Peter Cornelius, Friedrich Overbeck, Philipp Schadow and Wilhelm Veit (the latter who were commissioned to paint frescoes on the story of Joseph for the "Casa Bartholdy" in Rome). There are also countless highly regarded Impressionist paintings. Nineteenth century sculptures are currently on show in the Altes Museum. They include the famous marble sculpture of the two Prussian princesses by Johann Gottfried Schadow and works by Berthel Thorwaldsen, Ridolfo Schadow, Reinhold Begas and Adolf von Hildebrand.

The Pergamon is without question one of the worlds largest archaeological museums. A feature is the stunning original frieze of the Pergamon Altar, which depicts the epic battle between the gods and giants, which is one of the greatest artistic legacies of classical antiquity.

The Museum of Prints and Drawings possesses one of the largest collections of lithographs anywhere. Universally regarded as one of the world's finest collections of graphic art, the museum houses 110,000 drawings and about 550,000 prints.

Germany's first Museum of Applied Art was founded in 1867. From 1921-44 it was housed in the Berlin City Palace and after the Second World War a part was moved to the Palace at Kapenick. The remainder was housed provisionally in Charlottenburg Palace until the new museum in a purpose-built building in the Culture Forum at Kemperplatz was finally declared open in May, 1985. This new museum now displays exhibits from all spheres of European applied art, from the early Middle Ages to the present day. Exhibited on four floors are ceramics, porcelain, glass, bronzes, gold enamel and work by Byzantine goldsmiths, silver vessels, furniture, clocks, textiles, embroidery, decorative carpets

Kathe Schmidt Kollwitz was a German painter, printmaker, and sculptor whose work offered an eloquent and often searing account of the human condition in the first half of the 20th century. Her empathy for the less fortunate, expressed most famously through the graphic means of drawing, etching, lithography, and woodcut, embraced the victims of poverty, hunger, and war. Initially her work was grounded in Naturalism, and later took on Expressionistic qualities.Kathe Kollwitz was born in Konigsberg in 1867 and died in Moritzburg near Dresden in 1945 after living and working in Berlin for more than 50 years. This museum presents her work on four floors and offers an incomparable insight into her expressions concerning the human condition.

Housed in a former railway station, this museum hosts a diverse cross section of temporary exhibits and retrospectives. While the 'meat' in its sandwich is the Marx Collection, which includes works by Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein and others. The museum also has a very extensive bookshop. (Outgoing tip: pay a visit after sunset, when the building is lit up, by a superb light installation by Dan Flavin).

The museum's unusual name derives from its initiators: Deutsche bank and the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation. You'll find it on the ground floor of the Deutsche Bank premises. It hosts three to four important exhibitions each year, many of which showcase a work specially commissioned by an artist (maximum group size: 30).

The museum is devoted exclusively to the group of artists called "Brucke". The group was founded in 1905 in Dresden by four students: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Fritz Bleyl, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Erich Heckel. It is the oldest of the German groups of artists to have a decisive impact on the development of 20th century art. The "Brucke"s pictorial language and its critical attitude towards traditional academic painting fostered the movement, which was later called expressionism. The Brucke-Museum in Berlin, whose collection is entirely devoted to the works of the "Brucke" artists, demonstrates the birth of modernism in a unique way.

This museum bears the name of its founder Karl H. Brohan who generously gave his private collection to the city of Berlin on his 60th birthday. It excels in Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Functionalism (1889-1939). The collection has two areas of primary interest: decorative arts and painting. It also possesses an extensive collection of porcelain, in addition to metal work (maximum group size: 20).

Interdisciplinary museum for Berlin art from 1870 to the present day: painting, graphic arts, sculpture, video, photography, multimedia, architecture, archive of artists. Exquisite and comprehensive collections from Zille, Grosz, Dix, El Lissitzky, Gabo, Vostell and many more. Allow a minimum of 90 mins.

This highly respected museum hosts a diverse programme of international travelling exhibitions. Topics range from the historical to the contemporary (developments in industrial furniture design and related fields, for example). Exploring the relationships between design and architecture, the fine arts, society and different cultures, a visit to the Vitra is always engaging

The building in Spreebogen is the largest and most modern crossing station in Europe, combining striking architecture with the user-friendly infrastructure of modern day transport. Every day, over 1000 long-distance, regional and rapid transit trains call at the 14 platforms on two different levels,and this being Germany, the trains depart on time!

The history of Berlin from the National Socialist period through the war and the airlift and right up to reunification is reflected in the Tempelhof Airport building, which is a registered historical monument. The airport, construction of which began in 1923, became German Lufthansa's home airport in 1926, placing it at the centre of a worldwide route system. Planning for the massive complex of buildings that still exists today commenced in 1935; while they were occupied starting in late 1937, they did not begin being used for air traffic until 1945. Berlin natives grew fond of the airport above all because of its importance during the 1948-49 airlift. Over the course of approximately two hours, our tours will take you to the most interesting parts of the huge building, including the Film Bunkers and railway tunnel, which was used to repair damaged aircraft in WW2.

BeWag offer plant tours in two of their eleven Berlin power plants. The biggest power plant Reuter West CHP plant is coal fired and the most modern gas fired power plant is Mitte CHP plant, which is located in the city centre.

From 1966, BMW transferred the production of motorcycles step by step to Berlin which was finished in 1969. From that day, every BMW motorcycle was built at the Berlin site. This factory in Spandau is offering free guided tours for visitor groups (groups must be no less than 10 and no more than 30 people)

This attraction shows the visitor how the world-renowned table services, gifts and accessories begin life, from the initial design concept to the completed artefact. Groups will witness the whole manufacturing process from moulding, slip casting, turning and garnishing, to the cutting out of baskets and the glazing up to pattern painting.

Behind-the-scenes opportunity at the TV and radio studios once used as a transmitting station by the Russians, then handed over to the West. Tours offer a fascinating and generous insight into the daily workings of the studios. Recent visits have included a tour of the filming of a popular German soap opera and a quiz show. The visit lasts approx 90 mins.

This museum has unparalleled documentation of the history of German cinema from 1895 to 1980. Contained in the elegant former Marstall (royal stables) it has rooms full of famous props, costumes, set-designs and projection screens. There are two permanent exhibitions: A journey through the history of film: the cinema pioneers, silent film divas, and Films in the Weimar Republic and National Socialism, Marlene Dietrich, in exile in Hollywood, and post-war German film (Hertzog, Fassbinder etc)

Berlin is very proud of its film studios which are older than Hollywood. Visitors are granted extensive access and can even see a current soap opera or TV programme being recorded and wander around the various film sets, relatively informally, observing the workings (filming schedule permitting). The first Marlene Dietrich films were produced here and the studios were also used by the Nazis to make their propaganda films. The guided tour offers an individual insight into filmmaking craft and special effects. The tour includes a shuttle drive through the Media City Babelsberg, a screening at the Action Cinema as well as a tour of one of the Filmpark exhibitions. (Allow a minimum of 2 hours)

Equally poignant and fascinating, the Wallmuseum-Haus at Checkpoint Charlie Museum. The Wall Museum Haus at Checkpoint Charlie displays a permanent exhibition on the staggering history of the Berlin Wall and on the international fight for human rights, including many objects used by fugitives and their helpers in their escape.

Many Nazi concentration camps have been preserved and opened to the public as memorials to what happened and how. It is estimated that 35,000 victims died here. Sachsenhausen is the one nearest to Berlin (35 km away). There is a museum, memorial hall and cinema where a film about the history of the camp is shown hourly, on the hour. The camp prison still stands, as does one barrack block, which has been restored. A visit to a former concentration camp is both compelling and challenging (and some say should be compulsory, if only to remind each of us how inhuman humans can be)

Visits to the Reichstag buildings are only possible when parliament is not in session. Art and architecture tours are possible at weekends. Larger groups can be taken in the Plenary Hall only or can go up to the glass dome. Entrance is by appointment only and you should be prepared to queue for up to an hour.

The scene of Jesse Owen's triumph over the Aryan race. Berlin's Olympic Stadium was constructed from 1935-36 for the 1936 Olympic Games. In 2006 the stadium hosted the final match of FIFA World Cup Germany 2006. The building has a two-story pier: the Marathon Gate and a monumental staircase lead to the upper level. The site's conception is characteristic of the architecture of the Third Reich, and the Olympic Stadium remains typical of this style. Today, it hosts major events and concerts featuring international stars.

The New Synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse which houses the Centrum Judaicum remains one of the most important focuses for Jewish Berliners. In addition to being a popular place of worship, it periodically hosts changing exhibitions and one permanent exhibition, "Open ye the gates" The New Synagogue 1866-1995, which recounts the history of the synagogue itself and the associated history of Jewish life in Berlin. The building also contains an extensive archive of Jewish history.

The Bebelplatz is a public square where in 1933 it became the site of the infamous book burning ceremony in which 20,000 books by Jewish authors were set alight. The ashes of knowledge have today given way to a glass plaque, which commemorates the book burning by the Nazi party and youth groups.

This beautiful villa and surrounding grounds on the lake is the site of the conception of Hitler's 'Final Solution' were drawn up. Today there is a museum about the Holocaust, with a large exhibition, and a memorial to the millions who died. {Most information is in English including translations of documents}.

'The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe' in the centre of Berlin is Germany's central Holocaust memorial site, a place for permanent remembrance and commemoration of an estimated six million victims. The Memorial consists of the Field of Stelae designed by architect Peter Eisenman and the underground Information Centre and is maintained by a Federal Foundation. The Field of Stelae is open to the public both day and night.

The German Resistance Memorial Centre is a site of remembrance, political studies, active learning, documentation, and research. An extensive permanent exhibition, a series of temporary special exhibitions, events and a range of publications that document and illustrate often ignored German resistance to National Socialism. The Centre's goal is to show how individual persons and groups took action against the National Socialist dictatorship from 1933 to 1945 and made use of what freedom of action they had.

A simple plaque marks the site of the Fuhrer Bunker, where Hitler spent the last few months of World War Two. An information panel provides images and a chronological map of the events of 1945.

A complete history of the Berlin Wall and a chance to see remaining parts of it. General background information on the historical-political situation and more detailed information on the Berlin Wall are provided through various media. Information is presented in both German and English

The Berlin Wall went up on 13 August 1961, a symbol for a divided city and a divided Germany, and the Cold War.For 28 years the Wall divided the city. Today you can still find some traces of the building. Most tours begin down the former main boulevard of East Berlin to reach the longest stretch of Berlin Wall still remaining - more than 3,300 feet (1 kilometre) of graffiti-painted Wall. Cycle tours are a swifter method of seeing more of what remains of the iconic division between the East and West.