Märkisches Ufer: In 1960s the GDR designated this river bank as an ‘island of tradition’. Several historical buildings that stayed in the way of new development projects were moved here: number 10, the Ermeler house, built in 1770 and number 12 built in 1740. The rest of the houses were built here: number 16 in the 1780s, number 18 in 1741, number 20 in 1874.
Groundbreaking Neues Bauen building: Former administration building of ADGB (confederation of German trade unions) designed by Max Taut and Franz Hoffmann. It is one of the first buildings where concrete frame was used as the main design element. Its plan became a model for the Neues Bauen (New Building) movement and helped Max Taut gain prominence as its leading architect.
Foreign Ministry: The front part of the Foreign Ministry is a modern transparent building, with an atrium open to the public and a coffee shop inside. The bulk of the Ministry is housed in the imposing second building, built for the Reichsbank (the central bank) in 1933-1934. It was one of the first major construction projects of the Third Reich. The current design won over modernist proposals by Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who were condemned by the Nazis as “building Bolshevism”. The building is even larger as it appears – it has three underground stories, where gold stolen from all over Europe was stored during the war and now Foreign Ministry’s archive is housed. From 1958 to 1990 the building served as headquarters for East Germany’s Communist Party.
Residential Estate on Hussitenstrasse: Hussitenstrasse 4 is the remnant of the huge residential complex built in 1904 by a charitable building society. The architectural styles of the courtyards were supposed to illustrate the development of Berlin: Romanesque, Gothic, Nuremeberg style, Renaissance, Baroque, Wilhelmine. But more important than architecture was provision of comfortable and affordable accommodation to the rapidly growing population of the city. All apartments had its own kitchen and bathroom, which was unusual for that time. Most of the complex was destroyed during the war, but one can still go through the Romanesque, Gothic and Nuremberg courtyards.
Regina Jonas: First Female Rabbi: At Krausnickstraße 6 a plaque commemorates the first female rabbi in the world, Regina Jonas. She gave sermons in many synagogues of Berlin, up until her deportation in 1942 to Theresienstadt. There she continued her work as a rabbi and also provided psychological help, especially to the newly arrived, who were under a state of shock and despair. After two years at Theresienstadt she was deported to Auschwitz where she was murdered.
Rosenstrasse Protest: Here a unique event in the history of the Third Reich took place: a public protest against the deportation of Jews. Initially, Jews that had ‘Aryan’ wives were kept at work in factories, safe from concentration camps. But in 1943 after the defeat at Stalingrad, the Nazis were determined to make Germany ‘Jew-free’. Making arrests all over Berlin, they transported hundreds of Jewish men who had ‘Aryan’ wives into an administrative building of the Jewish community that previously stood at this square. Soon the wives gathered in front of it, demanding the release of their husbands. They stayed here for days, even after the SS threatened to shoot. Their men were released.
Lise Meitner Monument: Lise Meitner was one of the physicists who discovered the nuclear fission. She was the first woman to become a full professor of physics in Germany. After losing her position because of the anti-Jewish laws, she fled to Sweden in 1938. This monument by Anna Franziska Schwarzbach was erected here in 2014.
Amalienpark: A residential park built in 1897 and named in honour of the princess Anna Amalie of Prussia, a composer and sister of the king Frederick the Great (you can find her on Spotify!) One of the best known East German writers, Christa Wolf, lived here. A sculpture in your memory, “Mask of Medea”, by Christine Dewerny is installed in front of her house. At the entrance there is a composition “Seated Couple” by Carin Kreuzberg.
Early Bruno Taut Building: One of the earliest buildings of Bruno Taut, whose most famous works in Berlin are the Modernist Housing Estates (UNESCO World Heritage Site). Here he designed the facade together with Franz Hoffman, the building plan is by Arthur Volgdt. The original facade is preserved only on the Bürknerstraße.
Slender-Bender: Slender-Bender project combines renovation and construction. The wing of the run down old building was renovated and a three-story penthouse was added on top. Adjacent to it, on the narrow site left empty by war, a new futuristic seven-story building was erected. Architects: Deadline.
Unité d'Habitation of Berlin: Le Corbusier’s contribution to the International Building Exhibition 1957. It is a version of a building that he had previously built in Marseille and Nantes. Corbusier’s original idea included a self-contained city with a kindergarten, stores and social services. However the Berlin authorities cancelled everything except the building itself.
Checkpoint Charlie House: Part of this house belongs to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. It was a contribution of Peter Eisenmann and Jaquelin Robertson to the International Building Exhibition 1987 in the West Berlin. Peter Eisenmann would later built the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The building consists of two superimposed grids. One is aligned with the border of the former Friedrichstadt block, the other with the geographical directions. The history is played against the present, where the Berlin wall separates the East and the West.
Friedrichswerde Church: Friedrichswerde Church (1824-1830) by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, probably the architect who shaped Berlin the most. His usual style is Neoclassical, but Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm IV wished for ‘Old German’ Gothic style. The result is a fascinating mixture of both. Unfortunately the church is now cornered by modern buildings of the rebuilt Mitte, with little space to quietly admire the architecture. Moreover, it is closed since 2012 due to structural damage.
Chamber Music Hall: Chamber Music Hall of the Berliner Philharmonie, designed by Edgar Wisniewski according to the sketch left by his teacher Hans Scharoun, the famous architect of the main building. Because of its smaller proportions it’s much easier to comprehend than the iconic main building, and the architectural style is very similar.
Berlin Wall Watchtower: Only two watchtowers from the Berlin Wall remain – this one was preserved thanks to the efforts of Jürgen Litfin, the brother of Günter Litfin, who was the first one to be shot while trying to flee to West Berlin, in 1961. Instead of the wall there is now a nice promenade along the Spree and a district called Europacity is being built on the other side.
Ida-Simon-Palais: Ida-Simon-Palais on the Spree, opposite the Museum Island, was built in 1911 as a clinic for girls and women who didn’t have social insurance and couldn’t afford to go to a private doctor. It was funded by Ida Simon, who left 300,000 marks in her will to be used to “support women and girls irrespective of their beliefs, who suffer from acute or chronic health problems”. Now the building consists of luxurious apartments.
Nordsternhaus: Nordsternhaus in Berlin-Schöneberg. It’s an office building built by Paul Mobes in 1914 for the insurance company Nordstern, with 900 workplaces. It was heavily damaged during the war. In 1945, because of the uncertain situation in Berlin, the company moved its staff to Cologne. Since 1950s it has been occupied by the government authorities of Berlin. It now houses Berlin’s Senate Department for Justice.
Mirrored Wall Memorial: The Mirrored Wall is a memorial to the deported Jews from Berlin-Steglitz and to the former Synagogue. Inscribed are the records from the deportation lists with names and addresses of local Jewish residents. The memorial was erected after a prolonged political fight in the local parliament - CDU, FDP and The Republicans formed a coalition against it. Their resistance was only overcome when the construction senator Wolfgang Nagel from SPD ordered it to be built, in 1995.
Former Jewish Orphanage: The first orphanage was opened in 1882, intended to house Jewish children who escaped the pogroms of 1881-82 in Russia. Later it housed orphanages from Berlin. After the fire damaged the original building, the current one was erected in 1912-13 by Alexander Beer. Following the pogroms in 1938 the director Kurt Crohn succeed in bringing many children to the Netherlands and the UK. In 1942 the orphanage was forcibly closed, remaining children and teachers were deported to the concentration camps. It reopened after extensive restorations in the 2000s as a district library and a school.
Luisenbad Library: Bibliothek am Luisenbad. The history of the place dates back to 1760, when baths were opened here in then rural Gesundbrunnen district. Swimming pool, restaurant, cafe, beer garden and cinema were later added. Baths were destroyed during the bombing in 1945, other buildings demolished in the 1970s. The remains have been integrated into a modern library building, designed by Rebecca Chestnutt and Robert Niess. The library is filled with natural light and surrounded by a reading-garden.
Former Artisan’s Association: Another place in Berlin full of history: built in 1905 for an artisan’s association, this house became a seedbed of revolutionary labour movement. Rosa Luxembourg, Karl Liebknecht, Wilhelm Pieck and Clara Zetkin among others spoke at the meetings here; including the first public meeting of the Spartacus League. During the time of National Socialism the association was banned, and the building complex was used as a labor camp. In the GDR, workshops of the Maxim Gorki Theater were located here. Finally in 1996 it was reopened as an independent theater Sophiensaele with Sasha Waltz as director.
Ullsteinhaus: Ullsteinhaus is a remarkable example of Brick Expressionist architecture. It was built by Eugen Schmohl (also architect of the Borsigturm) for an Ullstein Verlag, a publishing company. In 1934 the business of the Ullstein family was aryanized. The company was renamed “Deutscher Verlag” and the building “Deutsches Haus”. After the war the publishing house was restored to the family. Now the building is being used by a variety of companies, but the symbol of the Ullstein Verlag, an owl, is still there.
Wall Memorial in Invalidenpark: Wall memorial in Invalidenpark: the park had not been used since the war, after it’s church had been destroyed and the Wall had been built nearby, until the reconstruction we can see today was completed in 1997. The main feature is Sinking Wall fountain, which the architect Christophe Girot described as “track in the future”.
Mossehaus: Mossehaus in Berlin’s Newspaper district. The original sandstone building was erected in 1900-1903, commissioned by one of the most successful German publishers Rudolf Mosse. It was damaged during the revolutionary unrest in 1919. The reshaping was done by the famous Erich Mendelsohn, who gave it a dynamic, futuristic form. Parts of Erich Mendelsohn’s structure were destroyed during the war. The building was renovated in 1992-93.
Former AEG factory: The former manufacturing complex of the electrical company AEG is a perfect, quiet place in Berlin Mitte to reflect on the modern economic history. It was designed by Peter Behrens, who was the first to create monumental, spacious “temples” of industrial production, of which this place is an example. Now its buildings belong to Technology and Innovation Park Berlin. The vast courtyard is accessible from Voltastraße and Gustav-Meyer-Allee. One can almost hear the sounds of the factory when the wind whistles in the old vents.
Chapel of Reconciliation: The Chapel of Reconciliation, built in 1999, stands where the Church of Reconciliation, a late 19th century construction, stood before being demolished by the GDR in 1985. The Berlin Wall ran directly in front of the church, separating it and its parish in the French sector. It is also a rare example in Germany of a public building made of clay (the inner wall).
