»Berlin: open city« sets the stage for a nascent »New Berlin« by presenting ten suggested routes. These routes were deliberately selected for their wealth of themes; it is the aim of each route and of all of them collectively to show the diversity of the city and the people who live in it and with it. The variety of architectural styles, squares and city districts, ranging from the realisation of an entirely new urban centre from scratch to the restoration of neglected historical buildings. Planning was based on the latest technology in the field of ecological building and the buildings which have been constructed are intended to satisfy the requirements of sustainable urban planning for the 21st century. But visible scars also remain for the time being. Far from being complete, the development of Berlin will continue to progress towards a future which can only be seen in outline at present. Certainly not a task to be completed in ten years, rather one which will take a number of generations.
The »New Berlin« also remains a city of contradictions: sophisticated innovative architecture of the 21st century interspersed with buildings of no significance, socially deprived areas bordering luxury shopping streets, ugly roadways in close proximity to inviting parks, seemingly derelict areas suddenly giving way to districts full of vital, urban life - a fascinating juxtaposition concealing nothing and, instead, revealing the specific character of the metropolis of Berlin.
A juxtaposition which makes the city what it is, gives it a distinctive character. And it is this intricate jumble itself which can provide the breeding-ground for creativity, innovation and unconventional ways of life.
During 1999 and 2000 the projects dating from the last ten years to restore or convert buildings and construct new ones will be marked and briefly explained by means of special signs along the routes. A route map is posted at the starting point of each route - close to an underground or S-Bahn (city railway) station. Signs relating to the individual building ensembles have been installed along the way and provide explanatory information in the form of ground plans and brief descriptions. In addition, there are signs on individual buildings and structures. However, this guide does much more than marking points of interest in the city. It not only provides further information on the individual buildings included in the routes, but also draws attention to places of historical significance which lie along these routes. In this way, the routes through the »New Berlin« are also a brief outline of the history of the city.
The following sections provide some nice ideas for walking tours.
The government and parliament district. (ca. 8,4 km)
In and around the government district: Route 1 follows the transformation of Berlin into the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. It takes us through the new government and parliament district and through the three very different districts of Moabit, Tiergarten and Mitte. As we follow the tour, we pass through approximately 400 years of city history.
Moabit, on the northern side of the Spreebogen (a deep curve traced by the River Spree), is among the oldest districts outside the historical city. For a long time, the character of the district was shaped by the presence of the armed forces and industry. Thus, for example, up to the early 19th century, powder magazines and a hospital for plague victims were located here on the outskirts. The urban development of the adjacent residential area with its population of small and medium-sized craft enterprises made it »respectable«. It went into decline in the decades when Berlin was divided by the Wall. The prison used to be the most striking feature of Moabit. Since the mid '80s, however, it has undergone carefully planned redevelopment, with vacant and under-utilised industrial and trading sites being transformed into service and trading enterprises. Owing to the changes that have taken place, its proximity to the River Spree, the Tiergarten Park and the new Government district within the Spreebogen Moabit has been upgraded to an unforeseen extent.
The route passes the apartments for Federal Government employees in Moabit Werder and continues to nearby Bellevue Palace, the main residence of the Federal President, and the newly constructed Federal President's Office. The route then continues along the Spree to the former Congress Hall and traverses the Tiergarten to the government and parliament district within the Spreebogen. With the »Band des Bundes« a large scale urban-development project is being completed to establish a home for both parliament and the government in Berlin. Connecting the Chancellor's Park in the west with the Federal Chancellery and the deputies' offices in the Alsen and Luise Blocks (Paul Löbe and Marie Elisabeth Lüders House) in the east, it symbolises the unity of East and West Berlin after they were divided for forty years.
With the construction of the government and administration buildings, the century-long history of planning and construction within the Spreebogen - from a prestigious residential quarter and forum during the Wilhelminian Empire and the Weimar Republic - has come to a happy end. For the first time in the history of German democracy, both the parliament and the government will have direct contact with one another at one place. With the conversion of the Reichstag into the new German Bundestag (the Federal Parliament), the Platz der Republik (Square of the Republic) will regain its former significance. As a result the Spreebogen has thus become the country's political centre, whilst the Soviet Monument in the centre of the capital city stands as a reminder of the history of Berlin, Germany, Europe and the world.
The newly constructed Kronprinzen Bridge re-establishes the link between the Tiergarten and Berlin Mitte districts. The Bundes-Presseamt (Federal Press Office) and the German public television company (the ARD's capital studio) have chosen to locate themselves between parliament and Friedrichstrasse S-Bahn station. Route 1 crosses the renovated Marschall Bridge and traverses an old district with heterogeneously designed buildings dating from the early 19th century as well as streets lined by »slab buildings« from the 1970s. It continues past the Charité University Clinic, whose surrounding grounds are idyllic in places, and the renowned Deutsches Theater. At the newly designed square before the Neues Tor (New Gate), our route encounters the old northern border of Berlin's historical city centre. There it takes us into Invalidenstrasse and past the ministries of economics, building and transport which are located in old buildings and new extensions. After crossing the reconstructed Sandkrug Bridge, which served as Invalidenstrasse Checkpoint for many years, the route passes the Museum for Contemporary Art at Hamburger Bahnhof station and ends at the construction site of Lehrter Bahnhof railway station. Europe's largest interchange station for Inter-City Express routes in all directions is under construction here. The station will link the European railway network with the city railway and underground lines. In the year 2004, Berlin will have a central station for the very first time.
Berlin courtyards and the »city of stone« (ca. 7,3 km)
In and around the Hackesche Höfe: Route 2 begins at Hackescher Markt, Berlin's bustling new pleasure centre, taking us through the oldest surviving residential area and centre of craft enterprises and into the heart of the densely built-up 19th century »city of stone«.
Spandauer Vorstadt in the north of the vast S-Bahn (city railway) network is bordered by Friedrichstrasse in the west, Torstrasse in the north and Prenzlauer Allee in the east. Its name is a geographical reference to the town of Spandau to the west of Berlin. Most of the old street network has been preserved in its original form, as one of the surviving testimonies to the historical city centre of Berlin dating from the 17th century. Consequently, in 1993, Spandauer Vorstadt was officially declared a development area worthy of preservation.
In contrast to the once splendid area in the south between the S-Bahn and Alexanderplatz, Spandauer Vorstadt and the Sophienviertel, in particular, were always conspicuously poor areas. This was the home of small craftsmen and workers employed in the wool and silk industries as well as, from 1671 on, the so-called Schutzjuden (Jews granted protection by the Prussian ruler). Auguststrasse was popularly known as the »Armengasse« (Poor Lane), whilst Grosse Hamburger Strasse was called »Toleranzstrasse« (Tolerance Street) because of the diverse religions which coexisted peacefully there. The former Jewish Cemetery, the Protestant Church of Sophia and the Catholic hospital of St. Hedwig as well as the former »Volkskaffeehaus« (People's Coffee House) and the older residential houses still suggest something of the atmosphere once prevailing in this district. The former Wertheim Department Store and the mail transport office building in Oranienburger Strasse, in contrast, testify to Berlin's evolution into a 20th-century city.
Route 2 takes us through countless inner-courtyards containing many new buildings and conversions. Trade, culture and dwellings form an urbane unity here. Many of the courtyards are extremely well executed instances of the revival of what is now frequently regarded as a prime example of urban mixed-use of the past. The noisy small and large machines of old have meanwhile given way to environmentally compatible handicraft and cultural enterprises. Galleries have been set up in the floors that used to accommodate wareho, uses and production halls. The Hackesche Höfe and Sophie Gips Höfe are merely the best-known and most splendid among the numerous courtyards that will be traversed on route 2. A glance at the stairwells and court facades is certainly worthwhile, since it gives one an opportunity to see the exemplary results achieved through the cooperation between Berlin preservationists and investors.
The urban character of this dist, rict has also been shaped by the recent alternative culture, which was beginning to create its own scene even before the Wall was opened up: in empty and derelict old houses such as the Kunsthaus Tacheles in Oranienburger Strasse and the Hackesche Höfe. Furthermore, Jewish life, which has traditionally been an essential part of the district, has also undergone a mild renaissance around the New Synagogue and the Centrum Judaicum with cafés, restaurants, shops and museums. However, the continuing trend towards ever more pubs and restaurants is a challenge to urban planners to ensure that the district is not paralysed by monoculture. Now in the process of a social transformation, Spandauer Vorstadt as a whole provides an example of gentrification. The ennoblement of both properties and their use is putting pressure on indigenous social classes and tending to force them out of the area.
Route 2 leaves Spandauer Vorstadt at Oranienburger Tor and traverses an old quarter that playe, d a significant role in the industrial history of the city. Chausseestrasse was the cradle of the mechanical-engineering industry (Egells and Borsig) in Berlin. The route takes us on to the Berlin Wall Memorial Site at Bernauer Strasse and continues along Anklamer Strasse, Brunnenstrasse and Ackerstrasse, which are among the longest and oldest streets in Berlin. These streets once went beyond the city limits. The route comes to an end in the middle of the 19th century »city of stone« at Rosenthaler Platz.
Between myth and future (ca. 6,6 km)
Potsdamer Platz and the surrounding area: Route 3 takes in three phases of the more recent history of urban design and development in Berlin. It b, egins at the principal event of the nineties in Berlin, the development of Potsdamer Platz following the opening of the Berlin Wall. From there, it goes back in time to the Cultural Forum, which documents the urban design ideals of the '50s and '60s, namely the idea of an open-plan city, the »urban landscape«. Following this excursion into the past, it once again touches on the '90s in the vicinity of Potsdamer Platz and then moves on to the attempts of the IBA 87, the International Building Exhibition held in Berlin in 1987, to reintroduce architecture to the principles of planning adopted in block developments. The route ends at Mehringplatz in the municipal district of Kreuzberg; this square is an excellent example of the way in which inspired Baroque architecture was replaced by crude and massive structures.
The controversy in 1991 surrounding the development of Potsdamer Platz marked the beginning of the reconstruction of the centre of Berlin. Under discussion were all fundamental parameters of significance in the urban development project of the century with which Berlin has been faced over the last ten years. One of the most controversial issues was the question as to whether the city of Berlin would succeed in asserting public interests against the interests of the investors. Consideration had to be given to matters of road planning such as a north-south tunnel under the Tiergarten park as well as to reducing the ratio of private cars to local public transport to 20:80 per cent in the entire city centre for ecological reasons. Potsdamer Platz was also to be made easily accessible by rail. Another point of dispute was whether Berlin was to have a new high-rise district here, which would be a counterpart to Alexanderplatz, which is the eastern boundary of the city centre, or whether it might be possible to set history aside and make a new start with radically avant-garde visions. The development at Potsdamer Platz is a compromise between these differing proposals. The homogenous development of buildings with glass facades at the Sony site is reminiscent of an »American« plaza. In contrast, the streets and buildings around the public square named after Marlene Dietrich are in keeping with the traditional conception of a »European« city. The Potsdamer Platz Arcades are a compromise between a public street and a shopping mall. And Potsdamer Platz itself is to become the focal point of the new high-rises.
The Cultural Forum is in sharp contrast. Its design reflects the efforts of the post-war generation in the '50s and '60s to replace the historical city of the 19th century, where very different forms of use were in close proximity to each other, by spatially separate »function bands« for living, working, shopping, politics and culture and to create function centres to form a new »urban landscape«. The Cultural Forum in Berlin documents this approach to modern urban design, which was echoed nationally and internationally, and includes such outstanding examples of architecture as the Philharmonie, the New National Gallery and the new Picture Gallery, which was completed in 1998.
The route includes cultural and historical monuments located to the east of Stresemannstraße. The Foundation Topography of Terror and the German Museum of Technology are, in addition to the German Museum of History and the Museum of Post and Kommunications, the most important new museum buildings in the city. This is where the route encounters the architecture and urban designs of the IBA Berlin 87, which were intended to start a process of urban revitalisation in an area which had suffered neglect and decline due to its proximity to the Wall. Mehringplatz is a prime example of architecture and urban design which is largely discredited today. 30 years ago the circular, Baroque plaza was built up in order to cut the residential buildings and the square off from a motorway which was planned parallel to the Landwehr Canal.
From the »Octagon« to the »Rondelle« (ca. 5 km)
From Leipziger Platz to Hallesches Tor: Route 4 covers the part of Berlin that used to be the old town of Friedrichstadt, which was created during a period of Baroque-style urban expansion during the 17th century under the Elector Friedrich III, who gave his name to the town. The area is bounded by the ingenious application of three ideas of the time on spatial division - the square, in the shape of Pariser Platz, the octagon, formed by Leipziger Platz, and the circle, at Mehringplatz (formerly Belle-Alliance-Platz) - which arose when the city was extended in 1732. Leipziger Platz is being recreated in its old form as a junction interface in the New Berlin where the octogon will once again be an elegant and distinguished gate and city square, complete with commercial buildings and the Canadian Embassy. The development at Mehringplatz, on the other hand, from the 1960s and 70s reflects the suspension of urban through traffic. The city traffic flow within Friedrichstadt towards the southern city districts of Schöneberg and Kreuzberg is now interrupted by contemporary urban development.
Route 4 begins by following Leipziger Strasse, which, prior to the Second World War, formed the industrious, well-to-do middle class backbone of Berlin's inner city area. It was a main artery for inner city life, pulsating with the flow of people from the railway station at Potsdamer Platz, in its day the busiest station in Berlin. Here could be found both the first and largest departments stores of their time as well as innumerable small shops and stores. In contrast to Unter den Linden - the prestigious boulevard running parallel to the north, divided between r, oyal residences and civic buildings - the line of Leipziger Strasse between the octagon and Spittelmarkt was a centre for middle-class business life.
At Mauerstrasse, route 4 passes traces of the old Baroque city boundary from 1688. Mauerstrasse runs diagonally across the geometrical pattern of Friedrichstadt. In recent history - here, on the Baroque city boundary - was what used to be Checkpoint Charlie, the Allied border control point, the political frontier between the two major powers in the Cold War period. It has now been reborn as the »Checkpoint Charlie Business Centre« with offices and business premises. This is directly next to the old newspaper publishing centre of Berlin, which has regained part of its former glory through being the location of such well-known German publishers' offices as the Springer Publishing House, the Mosse Centre and the German Government Printing Office. Once you reach the eastern edge of Friedrichstadt, route 4 then follows the efforts made during the 1980s for Berlin's International Building Exhibition in 1987 (IBA 87) to reconstruct this partially destroyed historical city area. The sites had not been systematically developed after the war, and newer architectural styles were employed without attempting to recreate the shapes of the original buildings; there are examples ranging from the old streets of Alte Jakobstrasse and Feilnerstrasse, to the blooks of houses bordering the streets around the Berlin Museum, to the spectacular architecture of the new Jewish Museum, with its avant-garde style reacting to the traditional city plan.
While on route 4, you will come across two particular locations reflecting political problems characteristic of the reunified Germany. At the very start of the route, you will cross the former »Ministergärten« (the Ministers' Gardens) and Wilhelmstrasse - both of which, up until the Second World War, were the main centres of power in the German Empire. Now, the centre of government has moved to the Spreebogen and a suitable use has been found for the »Ministergärten«, thanks to the majority of Germany's Laender representations taking offices in this part of the city; in addition, there are roads and paths allowing public access to it. A little further on is the second place worth mentioning in this context: the vast complex of buildings which today houses the Bundesministerium für Finanzen (the Federal Ministry of Finance), a complex burdened by its historical associations, since the Nazis used it to house their Reich Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrtsministerium). After reunification, Germany had to meet the challenge, through the confrontation with such buildings, of coming to terms with its own past and the role National Socialism played in it.
Berlin Mitte - the new centre (ca. 7,3 km)
From Pariser Platz to Friedrichstrasse: Route 5 traverses the area where the »New Berlin« is taking shape. From Potsdamer and Leipziger Platz to Pariser Platz, it takes us along that magnificent, wide boulevard Unter den Linden and then up and down Friedrichstrasse as far as Schlossplatz and the Lustgarten. In the process, we shall encounter the new centres of political power and the culture of the past, Berlin's splendid new shopping street as well as centres of science and religion. The route provides an excellent panorama of all that has been planned, excavated and realised in Berlin's inner-city over the past ten years.
Route 5 closely passes behind the former centre of political power in Wilhelmstrasse. This area used to be closed to the city's inhabitants. Today, with its scattered villas housing the diplomatic representations of the German Laender, the area is accessible to the public for the first time thanks to public rights of way. Just before we reach Pariser Platz, route 5 takes us to the site of the planned »Monument for the Murdered European Jews«, which has been the subject of impassioned public debate for more than ten years.
At Pariser Platz we encounter a notable feature in the architectural renewal of Berlin. The quadrangular square forms a brilliantly executed Baroque figure and was, for a long time, the bourgeois counterweight to the royal Prussian palace in the centre of the city. Following the war and the construction of the Wall it remained a barren area, where the Brandenburg Gate came to symbolise the fate of Berlin, a city caught between division and unification. There was a heated debate over the redevelopment of Pariser Platz with palatial buildings in modern architectural style. It was supposed to do justice to the image of a fashionable »salon of Berlin«.
Route 5 follows Unter den Linden up to the intersection of Friedrichstrasse, providing a glimpse of its growing use again by shops and businesses, cafés and the media. At Friedrichstrasse, our journey takes us north towards Friedrichstrasse railway station, which gained notoriety as a border-crossing between East and West Berlin. It also conjures up memories of the legendary 1920s, when the immediate surroundings were filled with the hustle and bustle of urban life, with brothels and musical theatres, business and entertainment.
From here it is but a stone's throw to the Museum Island, which is listed as one of UNESCO's world cultural heritage sites. With its ensemble of diverse, important museums, the island testifies to the incredible cultural potential of the city. Following a long period of lethargy, it will now be given a new lease of life when the extensive reconstruction work has been completed.
At the Museum Island, and on the rest of the Spree Island, route 5 also traces Berlin's more recent political past. Schlossplatz is not only one of the oldest and politically most important places in the city, but also one of the most controversial anywhere in Germany. The Palast der Republik (Palace of the Republic) was erected here by the East German state in place of the old Stadtschloss (City Palace), which was demolished in 1950 to create the political centre of Socialism that included the State Council Building and the Marx Engels Forum. The current debate indecisively drifts back and forth between demolishing the Palast der Republik and reconstructing the original building, or completely redesigning the area. The old Lustgarten, which is being redesigned in the forms of the late 19th century, has set a signal. And within view, the Foreign Ministry of a united Germany has established its residence at the Werderscher Markt in the extension to the former Reichsbank dating from the Nazi period.
From there, route 5 takes us on to the Gendarmenmarkt, via the former Berlin fashion centre and Hausvogteiplatz, which is now becoming a centre for television stations. Being the site of the Französicher and Deutscher Dom (French and German Cathedrals) and Schinkel's Konzerthaus, it is one of the most beautiful squares in the entire city. Route 5 then takes us to the Forum Fridericianum, just behind the square. The Forum is probably the most important urban development executed under Friedrich II.
Route 5 ends at the section of Friedrichstrasse between Unter den Linden and Leipziger Strasse. Here we arrive at the centre of what was referred to as the »new age of empire builders« in the early 1990s. With its new offices and commercial buildings, whose development has been closely followed and discussed internationally, the legend of the lively, diversified commercial street is being brought back to life.
The surroundings of the Spree Island (ca. 8,6 km)
From Alexanderplatz to Jannowitzbrigde: Route 6 takes in the medieval and Baroque old city of Berlin and Luisenstadt, which dates from the 19th century. It passes the »Rotes Rathaus«, today the seat of the government of Berlin and the Stadthaus, a prestigious building which was once the seat of the former Berlin City Parliament. The route passes the Nikolaiviertel district to come to the oldest parts of the city at Molkenmarkt and Spittelmarkt.
Route 6 begins at Alexanderplatz. It was once a cattle market outside the gates to the old town; from the 19th century on it developed into a traffic and business centre in the eastern part of Berlin. As Berlin became industrialised, it became the lower middle-class and working class counter-balance to the prestigious and elegant middle-class west of Friedrichstadt. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became the centre of gravity of the »cosmopolitan city« described by Alfred Döblin in his novel entitled »Berlin Alexanderplatz«. As the first large square in Berlin, »Alex« was to be modernised and adapted to accommodate road traffic in 1930. Numerous public buildings were added by the GDR to make it the »social centre« of the German capital of socialism. After the Wall was opened, it once again came under the scrutiny of planners. With its large numbers of high-rises it is intended to be a counterpart to Potsdamer Platz in terms of urban vitality and dynamism.
Route 6 passes the Television Tower, the tallest structure in Berlin, and the remains of medieval and Baroque Berlin in Klosterstrasse, the location of the impressive Podewils Palace and the Parochial Church. After passing Molkenmarkt, the route comes to the building on Mühlendamm which houses the three leading associations representing German business and industry and can be seen as the beginnings of a new administrative centre of national significance. The foundations of the old city lie beneath the multiple-lane roads Gertraudenstrasse and Mühlendamm and in the undeveloped parts of Fisher Island. The Senate's »Masterplan for the inner city« envisages reconstructing this area in terms of its urban design. It is to be rebuilt as an intricate network of roads in accordance with historical plans and the area is to be structured by numerous residential buildings. The Berlin Senate has been pursuing this urban planning goal since 1995, which is ambitious from the cultural point of view and in terms of urban development history. In particular Spittelmarkt is to regain its significance as a square which has spatial dimensions and can be used by pedestrians.
The route once again encounters structures of the old city at Köllnischer Park and the city museum »Märkisches Museum«. However, as the sites of the embassies of Australia, Brazil and the Netherlands as well as of the Senate Department of Urban Development and the Environment are located here, the appeal of the area is gradually growing. An impression which is confirmed in Alte Jakobstrasse and Wallstrasse by the exemplary redevelopment of industrial and residential buildings dating from the turn of the century.
Route 6 then proceeds to Luisenstadt, an extension of the city dating from the 19th century. Its development is heterogeneous and marked by the decades of the division of the city. On the one hand, the GDR housing developments of the '60s and '70s. They are now undergoing extensive renovation and new buildings are being added in the form of the Annen Courts and the Heinrich Heine Forum. On the other hand, wasteland where the Wall once separated East and West Berlin is to be replaced by a new belt of green. A striking feature is the former Luisenstädtischer Canal, which was built around 1850 to link the River Spree and the Landwehr Canal and filled in in the '20s.
The old Luisenstadt industrial estate, which now has modern functions, is in the immediate vicinity. The breathtaking architecture of the Trias office building on the north bank of the Spree is a new addition, a former machinery factory now houses architecture offices, artists' studios and the German Architecture Centre. The new Mitte combined heat and power plant, which lies next to it, provides many parts of the inner city - including Potsdamer Platz - with energy and is the most modern inner-city combined heat and power plant in Europe.
Route 6 ends at Jannowitzbrücke urban railway station, one of the oldest urban railway stations in Berlin. Its arches, which have been restored and now contain shops of different kinds, are a good example of the different and attractive uses to which technical structures can be put.
Things are changing in the east (ca. 7,3 km)
From Karl-Marx-Allee to Rummelsburger Bucht: Route 9 passes through the eastern inner city districts of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg and Treptow in the south-east of the city. It takes in traditional industrial areas of Berlin and in many places reveals the dramatic changes which the city is undergoing at the end of the industrial age. At the same time, the enormous development potential in Berlin is also apparent.
Route 9 starts at the Weberwiese high-rise, which was built in 1951, marking the beginning of the National Reconstruction Programme in East Berlin. Stalinallee, now Karl-Marx-Allee, between Frankfurter Tor and Strausberger Platz was in sharp contrast to the Western modernist architecture of the Hansaviertel - The luxuriously fitted "residential palaces for workers" were in Soviet architectural style with ornaments and reliefs. The building site on Stalinallee was the starting point of the uprising on 17 June 1953. Today, the buildings, which recently underwent extensive restoration, are again considered to be model examples of urban residential architecture.
Route 9 initially turns south to the Ostbahnhof railway station. The station, which was built in 1842 and known as Frankfurter Bahnhof, has been rebuilt and renamed a number of times since then. In the plans for the railway system in New Berlin it is to be the eastern terminus of the ICEs and a mainline station for routes to the east. The surrounding areas to the north and south of the railway lines are being restructured. The banks of the River Spree, which so far have been cut off from public access by industrial sites are to be opened up for public use in a number of planning stages. Riverbank paths and green areas as well as passages leading between public buildings are to provide a link between the river and the residential and business areas.
Route 9 then passes by the East Side Gallery, which was once a section of the Berlin Wall and separated Friedrichshain from Kreuzberg until 1989. Paintings done by international artists in 1990 have made it the longest open-air gallery in the world. The paintings are comments on the division and reunification of Berlin and Germany. The adjacent Oberbaumbrücke bridge has been restored and since 1995 has again provided a link between the municipal districts on either side of the river.
The Oberbaum-City serves as an example of the conversion of former industrial sites into service centres. Light bulbs were manufactured here from 1908 to 1992. The interiors of some of the old buildings, which have been classified as protected buildings on account of their interesting historical architecture, had to be entirely removed before they could be converted. The tower which once bore the NARVA logo and to which five stories have been added remains as a landmark. Similar measures have been planned for the old warehouse building and the egg cold-storage depot at the east docks.
On the other side of Oberbaumbrücke bridge route 9 enters Kreuzberg, the most important exhibition area of the "socially committed" part of the 1987 International Building Exhibition in Berlin (IBA-Alt). Its aim was a model development of the legendary "SO 36" district of the squatters' movement. The IBA worked together with citizens action groups to preserve existing building structures which provided cheap residential accommodation; new buildings were built on a number of empty lots.
Route 9 takes in the Treptower, the highest office building in Berlin, and an example of the new strategy of developing service industry centres along he circular urban railway line Stadtbahn. Further office tower buildings and the Twin Towers are located on the site of the former electrical appliances company EAW in the vicinity of Treptower Park. The River Spree and the circular urban railway line provide easy access to the city centre. Investors on the Stralau peninsular on the north side of the Spree and the Rummelsburg bay also plan to take advantage of this newly discovered locational advantage. This will be the site of an exhibition which, as part of EXPO 2000, will show cutting-edge technologies and projects which have water as their theme. Model "waterside residential developments" are to be built here as an alternative to residential areas located on the city outskirts.
Route 9 ends at Ostkreuz railway station. This is where two lines of the urban railway system intersect at one of the busiest rail interchanges in Berlin. The area surrounding Ostkreuz is being developed into a major new office location in the city.
The government and parliament district. (ca. 8,4 km)
In and around the government district: Route 1 follows the transformation of Berlin into the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. It takes us through the new government and parliament district and through the three very different districts of Moabit, Tiergarten and Mitte. As we follow the tour, we pass through approximately 400 years of city history.
Moabit, on the northern side of the Spreebogen (a deep curve traced by the River Spree), is among the oldest districts outside the historical city. For a long time, the character of the district was shaped by the presence of the armed forces and industry. Thus, for example, up to the early 19th century, powder magazines and a hospital for plague victims were located here on the outskirts. The urban development of the adjacent residential area with its population of small and medium-sized craft enterprises made it »respectable«. It went into decline in the decades when Berlin was divided by the Wall. The prison used to be the most striking feature of Moabit. Since the mid '80s, however, it has undergone carefully planned redevelopment, with vacant and under-utilised industrial and trading sites being transformed into service and trading enterprises. Owing to the changes that have taken place, its proximity to the River Spree, the Tiergarten Park and the new Government district within the Spreebogen Moabit has been upgraded to an unforeseen extent.
The route passes the apartments for Federal Government employees in Moabit Werder and continues to nearby Bellevue Palace, the main residence of the Federal President, and the newly constructed Federal President's Office. The route then continues along the Spree to the former Congress Hall and traverses the Tiergarten to the government and parliament district within the Spreebogen. With the »Band des Bundes« a large scale urban-development project is being completed to establish a home for both parliament and the government in Berlin. Connecting the Chancellor's Park in the west with the Federal Chancellery and the deputies' offices in the Alsen and Luise Blocks (Paul Löbe and Marie Elisabeth Lüders House) in the east, it symbolises the unity of East and West Berlin after they were divided for forty years.
With the construction of the government and administration buildings, the century-long history of planning and construction within the Spreebogen - from a prestigious residential quarter and forum during the Wilhelminian Empire and the Weimar Republic - has come to a happy end. For the first time in the history of German democracy, both the parliament and the government will have direct contact with one another at one place. With the conversion of the Reichstag into the new German Bundestag (the Federal Parliament), the Platz der Republik (Square of the Republic) will regain its former significance. As a result the Spreebogen has thus become the country's political centre, whilst the Soviet Monument in the centre of the capital city stands as a reminder of the history of Berlin, Germany, Europe and the world.
The newly constructed Kronprinzen Bridge re-establishes the link between the Tiergarten and Berlin Mitte districts. The Bundes-Presseamt (Federal Press Office) and the German public television company (the ARD's capital studio) have chosen to locate themselves between parliament and Friedrichstrasse S-Bahn station. Route 1 crosses the renovated Marschall Bridge and traverses an old district with heterogeneously designed buildings dating from the early 19th century as well as streets lined by »slab buildings« from the 1970s. It continues past the Charité University Clinic, whose surrounding grounds are idyllic in places, and the renowned Deutsches Theater. At the newly designed square before the Neues Tor (New Gate), our route encounters the old northern border of Berlin's historical city centre. There it takes us into Invalidenstrasse and past the ministries of economics, building and transport which are located in old buildings and new extensions. After crossing the reconstructed Sandkrug Bridge, which served as Invalidenstrasse Checkpoint for many years, the route passes the Museum for Contemporary Art at Hamburger Bahnhof station and ends at the construction site of Lehrter Bahnhof railway station. Europe's largest interchange station for Inter-City Express routes in all directions is under construction here. The station will link the European railway network with the city railway and underground lines. In the year 2004, Berlin will have a central station for the very first time.
Berlin courtyards and the »city of stone« (ca. 7,3 km)
In and around the Hackesche Höfe: Route 2 begins at Hackescher Markt, Berlin's bustling new pleasure centre, taking us through the oldest surviving residential area and centre of craft enterprises and into the heart of the densely built-up 19th century »city of stone«.
Spandauer Vorstadt in the north of the vast S-Bahn (city railway) network is bordered by Friedrichstrasse in the west, Torstrasse in the north and Prenzlauer Allee in the east. Its name is a geographical reference to the town of Spandau to the west of Berlin. Most of the old street network has been preserved in its original form, as one of the surviving testimonies to the historical city centre of Berlin dating from the 17th century. Consequently, in 1993, Spandauer Vorstadt was officially declared a development area worthy of preservation.
In contrast to the once splendid area in the south between the S-Bahn and Alexanderplatz, Spandauer Vorstadt and the Sophienviertel, in particular, were always conspicuously poor areas. This was the home of small craftsmen and workers employed in the wool and silk industries as well as, from 1671 on, the so-called Schutzjuden (Jews granted protection by the Prussian ruler). Auguststrasse was popularly known as the »Armengasse« (Poor Lane), whilst Grosse Hamburger Strasse was called »Toleranzstrasse« (Tolerance Street) because of the diverse religions which coexisted peacefully there. The former Jewish Cemetery, the Protestant Church of Sophia and the Catholic hospital of St. Hedwig as well as the former »Volkskaffeehaus« (People's Coffee House) and the older residential houses still suggest something of the atmosphere once prevailing in this district. The former Wertheim Department Store and the mail transport office building in Oranienburger Strasse, in contrast, testify to Berlin's evolution into a 20th-century city.
Route 2 takes us through countless inner-courtyards containing many new buildings and conversions. Trade, culture and dwellings form an urbane unity here. Many of the courtyards are extremely well executed instances of the revival of what is now frequently regarded as a prime example of urban mixed-use of the past. The noisy small and large machines of old have meanwhile given way to environmentally compatible handicraft and cultural enterprises. Galleries have been set up in the floors that used to accommodate wareho, uses and production halls. The Hackesche Höfe and Sophie Gips Höfe are merely the best-known and most splendid among the numerous courtyards that will be traversed on route 2. A glance at the stairwells and court facades is certainly worthwhile, since it gives one an opportunity to see the exemplary results achieved through the cooperation between Berlin preservationists and investors.
The urban character of this dist, rict has also been shaped by the recent alternative culture, which was beginning to create its own scene even before the Wall was opened up: in empty and derelict old houses such as the Kunsthaus Tacheles in Oranienburger Strasse and the Hackesche Höfe. Furthermore, Jewish life, which has traditionally been an essential part of the district, has also undergone a mild renaissance around the New Synagogue and the Centrum Judaicum with cafés, restaurants, shops and museums. However, the continuing trend towards ever more pubs and restaurants is a challenge to urban planners to ensure that the district is not paralysed by monoculture. Now in the process of a social transformation, Spandauer Vorstadt as a whole provides an example of gentrification. The ennoblement of both properties and their use is putting pressure on indigenous social classes and tending to force them out of the area.
Route 2 leaves Spandauer Vorstadt at Oranienburger Tor and traverses an old quarter that playe, d a significant role in the industrial history of the city. Chausseestrasse was the cradle of the mechanical-engineering industry (Egells and Borsig) in Berlin. The route takes us on to the Berlin Wall Memorial Site at Bernauer Strasse and continues along Anklamer Strasse, Brunnenstrasse and Ackerstrasse, which are among the longest and oldest streets in Berlin. These streets once went beyond the city limits. The route comes to an end in the middle of the 19th century »city of stone« at Rosenthaler Platz.
Between myth and future (ca. 6,6 km)
Potsdamer Platz and the surrounding area: Route 3 takes in three phases of the more recent history of urban design and development in Berlin. It b, egins at the principal event of the nineties in Berlin, the development of Potsdamer Platz following the opening of the Berlin Wall. From there, it goes back in time to the Cultural Forum, which documents the urban design ideals of the '50s and '60s, namely the idea of an open-plan city, the »urban landscape«. Following this excursion into the past, it once again touches on the '90s in the vicinity of Potsdamer Platz and then moves on to the attempts of the IBA 87, the International Building Exhibition held in Berlin in 1987, to reintroduce architecture to the principles of planning adopted in block developments. The route ends at Mehringplatz in the municipal district of Kreuzberg; this square is an excellent example of the way in which inspired Baroque architecture was replaced by crude and massive structures.
The controversy in 1991 surrounding the development of Potsdamer Platz marked the beginning of the reconstruction of the centre of Berlin. Under discussion were all fundamental parameters of significance in the urban development project of the century with which Berlin has been faced over the last ten years. One of the most controversial issues was the question as to whether the city of Berlin would succeed in asserting public interests against the interests of the investors. Consideration had to be given to matters of road planning such as a north-south tunnel under the Tiergarten park as well as to reducing the ratio of private cars to local public transport to 20:80 per cent in the entire city centre for ecological reasons. Potsdamer Platz was also to be made easily accessible by rail. Another point of dispute was whether Berlin was to have a new high-rise district here, which would be a counterpart to Alexanderplatz, which is the eastern boundary of the city centre, or whether it might be possible to set history aside and make a new start with radically avant-garde visions. The development at Potsdamer Platz is a compromise between these differing proposals. The homogenous development of buildings with glass facades at the Sony site is reminiscent of an »American« plaza. In contrast, the streets and buildings around the public square named after Marlene Dietrich are in keeping with the traditional conception of a »European« city. The Potsdamer Platz Arcades are a compromise between a public street and a shopping mall. And Potsdamer Platz itself is to become the focal point of the new high-rises.
The Cultural Forum is in sharp contrast. Its design reflects the efforts of the post-war generation in the '50s and '60s to replace the historical city of the 19th century, where very different forms of use were in close proximity to each other, by spatially separate »function bands« for living, working, shopping, politics and culture and to create function centres to form a new »urban landscape«. The Cultural Forum in Berlin documents this approach to modern urban design, which was echoed nationally and internationally, and includes such outstanding examples of architecture as the Philharmonie, the New National Gallery and the new Picture Gallery, which was completed in 1998.
The route includes cultural and historical monuments located to the east of Stresemannstraße. The Foundation Topography of Terror and the German Museum of Technology are, in addition to the German Museum of History and the Museum of Post and Kommunications, the most important new museum buildings in the city. This is where the route encounters the architecture and urban designs of the IBA Berlin 87, which were intended to start a process of urban revitalisation in an area which had suffered neglect and decline due to its proximity to the Wall. Mehringplatz is a prime example of architecture and urban design which is largely discredited today. 30 years ago the circular, Baroque plaza was built up in order to cut the residential buildings and the square off from a motorway which was planned parallel to the Landwehr Canal.
From the »Octagon« to the »Rondelle« (ca. 5 km)
From Leipziger Platz to Hallesches Tor: Route 4 covers the part of Berlin that used to be the old town of Friedrichstadt, which was created during a period of Baroque-style urban expansion during the 17th century under the Elector Friedrich III, who gave his name to the town. The area is bounded by the ingenious application of three ideas of the time on spatial division - the square, in the shape of Pariser Platz, the octagon, formed by Leipziger Platz, and the circle, at Mehringplatz (formerly Belle-Alliance-Platz) - which arose when the city was extended in 1732. Leipziger Platz is being recreated in its old form as a junction interface in the New Berlin where the octogon will once again be an elegant and distinguished gate and city square, complete with commercial buildings and the Canadian Embassy. The development at Mehringplatz, on the other hand, from the 1960s and 70s reflects the suspension of urban through traffic. The city traffic flow within Friedrichstadt towards the southern city districts of Schöneberg and Kreuzberg is now interrupted by contemporary urban development.
Route 4 begins by following Leipziger Strasse, which, prior to the Second World War, formed the industrious, well-to-do middle class backbone of Berlin's inner city area. It was a main artery for inner city life, pulsating with the flow of people from the railway station at Potsdamer Platz, in its day the busiest station in Berlin. Here could be found both the first and largest departments stores of their time as well as innumerable small shops and stores. In contrast to Unter den Linden - the prestigious boulevard running parallel to the north, divided between r, oyal residences and civic buildings - the line of Leipziger Strasse between the octagon and Spittelmarkt was a centre for middle-class business life.
At Mauerstrasse, route 4 passes traces of the old Baroque city boundary from 1688. Mauerstrasse runs diagonally across the geometrical pattern of Friedrichstadt. In recent history - here, on the Baroque city boundary - was what used to be Checkpoint Charlie, the Allied border control point, the political frontier between the two major powers in the Cold War period. It has now been reborn as the »Checkpoint Charlie Business Centre« with offices and business premises. This is directly next to the old newspaper publishing centre of Berlin, which has regained part of its former glory through being the location of such well-known German publishers' offices as the Springer Publishing House, the Mosse Centre and the German Government Printing Office. Once you reach the eastern edge of Friedrichstadt, route 4 then follows the efforts made during the 1980s for Berlin's International Building Exhibition in 1987 (IBA 87) to reconstruct this partially destroyed historical city area. The sites had not been systematically developed after the war, and newer architectural styles were employed without attempting to recreate the shapes of the original buildings; there are examples ranging from the old streets of Alte Jakobstrasse and Feilnerstrasse, to the blooks of houses bordering the streets around the Berlin Museum, to the spectacular architecture of the new Jewish Museum, with its avant-garde style reacting to the traditional city plan.
While on route 4, you will come across two particular locations reflecting political problems characteristic of the reunified Germany. At the very start of the route, you will cross the former »Ministergärten« (the Ministers' Gardens) and Wilhelmstrasse - both of which, up until the Second World War, were the main centres of power in the German Empire. Now, the centre of government has moved to the Spreebogen and a suitable use has been found for the »Ministergärten«, thanks to the majority of Germany's Laender representations taking offices in this part of the city; in addition, there are roads and paths allowing public access to it. A little further on is the second place worth mentioning in this context: the vast complex of buildings which today houses the Bundesministerium für Finanzen (the Federal Ministry of Finance), a complex burdened by its historical associations, since the Nazis used it to house their Reich Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrtsministerium). After reunification, Germany had to meet the challenge, through the confrontation with such buildings, of coming to terms with its own past and the role National Socialism played in it.
Berlin Mitte - the new centre (ca. 7,3 km)
From Pariser Platz to Friedrichstrasse: Route 5 traverses the area where the »New Berlin« is taking shape. From Potsdamer and Leipziger Platz to Pariser Platz, it takes us along that magnificent, wide boulevard Unter den Linden and then up and down Friedrichstrasse as far as Schlossplatz and the Lustgarten. In the process, we shall encounter the new centres of political power and the culture of the past, Berlin's splendid new shopping street as well as centres of science and religion. The route provides an excellent panorama of all that has been planned, excavated and realised in Berlin's inner-city over the past ten years.
Route 5 closely passes behind the former centre of political power in Wilhelmstrasse. This area used to be closed to the city's inhabitants. Today, with its scattered villas housing the diplomatic representations of the German Laender, the area is accessible to the public for the first time thanks to public rights of way. Just before we reach Pariser Platz, route 5 takes us to the site of the planned »Monument for the Murdered European Jews«, which has been the subject of impassioned public debate for more than ten years.
At Pariser Platz we encounter a notable feature in the architectural renewal of Berlin. The quadrangular square forms a brilliantly executed Baroque figure and was, for a long time, the bourgeois counterweight to the royal Prussian palace in the centre of the city. Following the war and the construction of the Wall it remained a barren area, where the Brandenburg Gate came to symbolise the fate of Berlin, a city caught between division and unification. There was a heated debate over the redevelopment of Pariser Platz with palatial buildings in modern architectural style. It was supposed to do justice to the image of a fashionable »salon of Berlin«.
Route 5 follows Unter den Linden up to the intersection of Friedrichstrasse, providing a glimpse of its growing use again by shops and businesses, cafés and the media. At Friedrichstrasse, our journey takes us north towards Friedrichstrasse railway station, which gained notoriety as a border-crossing between East and West Berlin. It also conjures up memories of the legendary 1920s, when the immediate surroundings were filled with the hustle and bustle of urban life, with brothels and musical theatres, business and entertainment.
From here it is but a stone's throw to the Museum Island, which is listed as one of UNESCO's world cultural heritage sites. With its ensemble of diverse, important museums, the island testifies to the incredible cultural potential of the city. Following a long period of lethargy, it will now be given a new lease of life when the extensive reconstruction work has been completed.
At the Museum Island, and on the rest of the Spree Island, route 5 also traces Berlin's more recent political past. Schlossplatz is not only one of the oldest and politically most important places in the city, but also one of the most controversial anywhere in Germany. The Palast der Republik (Palace of the Republic) was erected here by the East German state in place of the old Stadtschloss (City Palace), which was demolished in 1950 to create the political centre of Socialism that included the State Council Building and the Marx Engels Forum. The current debate indecisively drifts back and forth between demolishing the Palast der Republik and reconstructing the original building, or completely redesigning the area. The old Lustgarten, which is being redesigned in the forms of the late 19th century, has set a signal. And within view, the Foreign Ministry of a united Germany has established its residence at the Werderscher Markt in the extension to the former Reichsbank dating from the Nazi period.
From there, route 5 takes us on to the Gendarmenmarkt, via the former Berlin fashion centre and Hausvogteiplatz, which is now becoming a centre for television stations. Being the site of the Französicher and Deutscher Dom (French and German Cathedrals) and Schinkel's Konzerthaus, it is one of the most beautiful squares in the entire city. Route 5 then takes us to the Forum Fridericianum, just behind the square. The Forum is probably the most important urban development executed under Friedrich II.
Route 5 ends at the section of Friedrichstrasse between Unter den Linden and Leipziger Strasse. Here we arrive at the centre of what was referred to as the »new age of empire builders« in the early 1990s. With its new offices and commercial buildings, whose development has been closely followed and discussed internationally, the legend of the lively, diversified commercial street is being brought back to life.
The surroundings of the Spree Island (ca. 8,6 km)
From Alexanderplatz to Jannowitzbrigde: Route 6 takes in the medieval and Baroque old city of Berlin and Luisenstadt, which dates from the 19th century. It passes the »Rotes Rathaus«, today the seat of the government of Berlin and the Stadthaus, a prestigious building which was once the seat of the former Berlin City Parliament. The route passes the Nikolaiviertel district to come to the oldest parts of the city at Molkenmarkt and Spittelmarkt.
Route 6 begins at Alexanderplatz. It was once a cattle market outside the gates to the old town; from the 19th century on it developed into a traffic and business centre in the eastern part of Berlin. As Berlin became industrialised, it became the lower middle-class and working class counter-balance to the prestigious and elegant middle-class west of Friedrichstadt. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became the centre of gravity of the »cosmopolitan city« described by Alfred Döblin in his novel entitled »Berlin Alexanderplatz«. As the first large square in Berlin, »Alex« was to be modernised and adapted to accommodate road traffic in 1930. Numerous public buildings were added by the GDR to make it the »social centre« of the German capital of socialism. After the Wall was opened, it once again came under the scrutiny of planners. With its large numbers of high-rises it is intended to be a counterpart to Potsdamer Platz in terms of urban vitality and dynamism.
Route 6 passes the Television Tower, the tallest structure in Berlin, and the remains of medieval and Baroque Berlin in Klosterstrasse, the location of the impressive Podewils Palace and the Parochial Church. After passing Molkenmarkt, the route comes to the building on Mühlendamm which houses the three leading associations representing German business and industry and can be seen as the beginnings of a new administrative centre of national significance. The foundations of the old city lie beneath the multiple-lane roads Gertraudenstrasse and Mühlendamm and in the undeveloped parts of Fisher Island. The Senate's »Masterplan for the inner city« envisages reconstructing this area in terms of its urban design. It is to be rebuilt as an intricate network of roads in accordance with historical plans and the area is to be structured by numerous residential buildings. The Berlin Senate has been pursuing this urban planning goal since 1995, which is ambitious from the cultural point of view and in terms of urban development history. In particular Spittelmarkt is to regain its significance as a square which has spatial dimensions and can be used by pedestrians.
The route once again encounters structures of the old city at Köllnischer Park and the city museum »Märkisches Museum«. However, as the sites of the embassies of Australia, Brazil and the Netherlands as well as of the Senate Department of Urban Development and the Environment are located here, the appeal of the area is gradually growing. An impression which is confirmed in Alte Jakobstrasse and Wallstrasse by the exemplary redevelopment of industrial and residential buildings dating from the turn of the century.
Route 6 then proceeds to Luisenstadt, an extension of the city dating from the 19th century. Its development is heterogeneous and marked by the decades of the division of the city. On the one hand, the GDR housing developments of the '60s and '70s. They are now undergoing extensive renovation and new buildings are being added in the form of the Annen Courts and the Heinrich Heine Forum. On the other hand, wasteland where the Wall once separated East and West Berlin is to be replaced by a new belt of green. A striking feature is the former Luisenstädtischer Canal, which was built around 1850 to link the River Spree and the Landwehr Canal and filled in in the '20s.
The old Luisenstadt industrial estate, which now has modern functions, is in the immediate vicinity. The breathtaking architecture of the Trias office building on the north bank of the Spree is a new addition, a former machinery factory now houses architecture offices, artists' studios and the German Architecture Centre. The new Mitte combined heat and power plant, which lies next to it, provides many parts of the inner city - including Potsdamer Platz - with energy and is the most modern inner-city combined heat and power plant in Europe.
Route 6 ends at Jannowitzbrücke urban railway station, one of the oldest urban railway stations in Berlin. Its arches, which have been restored and now contain shops of different kinds, are a good example of the different and attractive uses to which technical structures can be put.
Things are changing in the east (ca. 7,3 km)
From Karl-Marx-Allee to Rummelsburger Bucht: Route 9 passes through the eastern inner city districts of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg and Treptow in the south-east of the city. It takes in traditional industrial areas of Berlin and in many places reveals the dramatic changes which the city is undergoing at the end of the industrial age. At the same time, the enormous development potential in Berlin is also apparent.
Route 9 starts at the Weberwiese high-rise, which was built in 1951, marking the beginning of the National Reconstruction Programme in East Berlin. Stalinallee, now Karl-Marx-Allee, between Frankfurter Tor and Strausberger Platz was in sharp contrast to the Western modernist architecture of the Hansaviertel - The luxuriously fitted "residential palaces for workers" were in Soviet architectural style with ornaments and reliefs. The building site on Stalinallee was the starting point of the uprising on 17 June 1953. Today, the buildings, which recently underwent extensive restoration, are again considered to be model examples of urban residential architecture.
Route 9 initially turns south to the Ostbahnhof railway station. The station, which was built in 1842 and known as Frankfurter Bahnhof, has been rebuilt and renamed a number of times since then. In the plans for the railway system in New Berlin it is to be the eastern terminus of the ICEs and a mainline station for routes to the east. The surrounding areas to the north and south of the railway lines are being restructured. The banks of the River Spree, which so far have been cut off from public access by industrial sites are to be opened up for public use in a number of planning stages. Riverbank paths and green areas as well as passages leading between public buildings are to provide a link between the river and the residential and business areas.
Route 9 then passes by the East Side Gallery, which was once a section of the Berlin Wall and separated Friedrichshain from Kreuzberg until 1989. Paintings done by international artists in 1990 have made it the longest open-air gallery in the world. The paintings are comments on the division and reunification of Berlin and Germany. The adjacent Oberbaumbrücke bridge has been restored and since 1995 has again provided a link between the municipal districts on either side of the river.
The Oberbaum-City serves as an example of the conversion of former industrial sites into service centres. Light bulbs were manufactured here from 1908 to 1992. The interiors of some of the old buildings, which have been classified as protected buildings on account of their interesting historical architecture, had to be entirely removed before they could be converted. The tower which once bore the NARVA logo and to which five stories have been added remains as a landmark. Similar measures have been planned for the old warehouse building and the egg cold-storage depot at the east docks.
On the other side of Oberbaumbrücke bridge route 9 enters Kreuzberg, the most important exhibition area of the "socially committed" part of the 1987 International Building Exhibition in Berlin (IBA-Alt). Its aim was a model development of the legendary "SO 36" district of the squatters' movement. The IBA worked together with citizens action groups to preserve existing building structures which provided cheap residential accommodation; new buildings were built on a number of empty lots.
Route 9 takes in the Treptower, the highest office building in Berlin, and an example of the new strategy of developing service industry centres along he circular urban railway line Stadtbahn. Further office tower buildings and the Twin Towers are located on the site of the former electrical appliances company EAW in the vicinity of Treptower Park. The River Spree and the circular urban railway line provide easy access to the city centre. Investors on the Stralau peninsular on the north side of the Spree and the Rummelsburg bay also plan to take advantage of this newly discovered locational advantage. This will be the site of an exhibition which, as part of EXPO 2000, will show cutting-edge technologies and projects which have water as their theme. Model "waterside residential developments" are to be built here as an alternative to residential areas located on the city outskirts.
Route 9 ends at Ostkreuz railway station. This is where two lines of the urban railway system intersect at one of the busiest rail interchanges in Berlin. The area surrounding Ostkreuz is being developed into a major new office location in the city.
Some Tour Operators:
Galopprennbahn Hoppegarten (Hopegarten Racecourse)
The beating of hooves and the fun of betting in the countryside just outside Berlin. Berlin’s racecourse with its own stad farm and a long tradition. A good tip for earning money. S 5 Hoppegarten, Apr-Oct, admission: 5DM
Address: Goetheallee 1, Dahlwitz-Hoppegarten
Tel: +49 (0)30 - 38930
StattReisen Berlin e.V.
A large selection of guided tours on foot, by bike or on public transport. Topics include: the government in the new German capital, the Olympic Stadium and its Nazi past, the "cosmopolitan city" of Kreuzberg, graffiti and "The Children from Zoo Station". U Leopoldplatz, U Seestr. Office: 10am -4pm
Address: Malplaquetstr. 5, Wedding
Tel: +49 (0)30 - 4553028
Berlin walks
The specialist for English walking tours. Starting at Zoo railway station taxi stands from March to December. Cost: 18DM, red. 10DM
Address: Harbigstr. 26, Charlottenburg
Tel: +49 (0)30 - 3019194
Fahrradstation Rikscha Service
Explore Mitte district in a bicycle rickshaw - you can decide whether to hire a driver or to drive yourself. U Weinmeisterstr., S Hackescherstr, Mo-Fr 10am -7pm, Sa 10am -4pm, Cost: 12 hours 150DM, 1hr. With driver 90DM + driver’s fee for coming and going
Address: Rosenthaler Str. 40-41
Tel: +49 (0)30 - 28384848
pluspunkt e.V.
A wide variety of city tours and tours on Berlin’s criminal history or horror stories and ghosts: the beautiful spy Mata Hari, the daring safe-breakers Franz and Erich Sass, or the swindler Otto Witte who was crowned king of Albania. S Südende
Address: Steglitzer Damm 105, Steglitz
Tel: +49 (0)30 - 7744081
art-berlin
The best guided tours on art, culture and architecture. Topics include: night-time adventures in neighbourhoods and in the arts; the Reichstag; the vanished border; a walk along the Wall; on the track of JEWISH LIFE. S Oranienburger Str. Office Mo-Fr 9am -5pm
Address: Heckmann Höfe, Oranienburger Str. 32, Mitte
Tel: +49 (0)30 - 28096390
Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt (Berlin History Workshop)
Research projects focusing on the history of everyday life and culture. The Workshop also offers historical guided tours by boat. U Eisenacher Str. Open: Mo-Fr 3pm -6pm, Cost: 24DM, children 12DM
Address: Goltzstr. 49, Schöneberg
Tel: +49 (0)30 - 2154450
Berlin Tourist Guide - Berlin Sightseeing Tours Guided Berlin sightseeing tours and city walks in English by native Berliner. Most recommandable 3 hour sightseeing walk through the center of Berlin.
Address: Klaus Wieland Klaeser, Adolfstr. 12 D-12167 Berlin
Tel: +49-(0)30-79745600
fax=+49-(0)30-79745601
URL: http://www.Berlin-sightseeing-tours.de
Reederei Riedel GmbH
U Kottbusser Tor
Address: Planufer 78, Kreuzberg
Tel: +49 (0)30 - 6913782
Yellow Walking Tour Company
Tours in English - go walking with real Berliners and insiders who can give you much more than the usual information on the city’s highlights. In summer you an also book bike tours. Meeting point: McDonalds entrance at Zoo station. March-November, start: daily 10am +2:30pm Cost: 3-4 hours.
Address: Hagenauer Str. 3, Kreuzberg
Tel: +49 (0)30 - 6923149
Velotaxi
Breathe in a, bit of Berlin air - without polluting the enviroment with stinking exhaust fumes! Rickshaw bicycle taxis have become quite a fimiliar sight in Berlin’s streets and are especially popular in summer. U Senefelderplatz, Apr-Oct 1pm -8pm, Cost: 2-15DM, depending on the length of the route.
Address: Saarbrücker Str. 20-21, Prezlauer Berg
Tel: +49 (0)30 - 44358990
Bikecity Basic bikes for good value: 10DM (red 5DM). The rental stations are at:
Waldenserstr. 2-4, Tiergarten, +49 (0)30 - 39739145
Alexanderplatz, Mitte, +49 (0)30 - 0177-2102383
Am Zoo (Hardenbergplatz), +49 (0)30 - 0177-2102384
Pohlstr. 89, Tiergarten, +49 (0)30 - 26550182
Address: Tiergarten, Hardenbergplatz and Pohlstrasse
Tel:
Kulturbüro Berlin
Guided tours specialising in art, culture and architecture. On the track of Marlene Dietrich and tours on a very wide variety of literary themes. U+S Schönhauser Allee
Address: Griefenhagener Str. 60, Prenzlauer Berg
Tel: +49 (0)30 - 4440936
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