GERMANY
Berlin

ABOUT BERLIN
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I had just 2 hours to spend in Berlin on the way back from Prague with my girlfriend. But it was enough to take the metro from the bus station to Potsdamer Platz and back. Berlin is famous for its vibrant nightlife, famous museums and historic and modern architecture. Berlin is not only the capital of the whole Germany, it is Germany's largest city and one of Europe's metropolises largest after west and east were united with 3 290 000 inhabitans inside the city limits. Berlin doesn't have many suburbs anyway because the wall stopped the city from growing. Before the fall of the wall in 1989, Berlin was divided in two countrys (West Germany and East Germany) since the end of WW2. After most of the wall was destructed, a lot of construction activity has been going on.

Fernsehturm, the TV tower that is Germany's tallest structure, as seen from Potsdamer Platz. It is 368m tall and was completed in 1968.

On our way home on the bus from Prague to Copenhagen stopped in the ouskirts of Berlin to catch some more passengers. So the bus stopped at the bus station near the congress center and Funkturm, just as on the way to Prague. But what we didn't know until we got off was that the driver needed 2 hours rest. So we bought a metro ticket to downtown Berlin and then back again as fast as possible so we didn't miss the bus. This will be the only choice to see a bit of Berlin this time, I thought. So we walked to the congress center across the busy street and met a very kind woman that told us where we could take out money (we only had koruna, no euro), buy tickets and exactly what lines we should choose to come to the city center as fast as possible. I decided that we should go to Potsdamer Platz, not only because of the modern tall buildings, also because it was one of the closest stops in the city center.

To get to Potsdamer Platz, we entered one of the yellow BVG metro trains, a very old and worn one from the Kaiserdamm station. The subway felt very old and some of the stations had old fashioned text and paintings on the walls. I have never seen such a big metro system, it has about 20 different ones. I couldn't believe we so suddenly were in the subway beneath the capital of Germany, I just thought we should stop for 10 minutes or so!

Potsdamer Platz

Bahnhof Potsdammer Platz.

One of the new office buildings at Potsdamer Platz. After the wall fell in 1989, the square has been totally reconstructed.

Potsdamer Platz used to be the center of Berlin before the wall was built right through the square during the commie times to divide the city in west and east. Potsdamer Platz became an empty field. After the wall fell, there were much space for development that now finally is finished. Several skyscrapers where planned, but only a few have arisen so far, so it didn't look so impressive as I expected. However, there are many planned for the future.

Beisham-Center. To the left is the 19-story Ritz-Carlton Hotel. It is brand new (completed in 2004). To the right is the 18-story Delbrück-Haus.

Bahn Tower, part of Sony Center, is probably my favourite building in Berlin. Even if it is just 94 m and 26 floors tall (only 10th tallest in Berlin), it has a strong impact on the skyline. It is Berlin's most famous modern highrise and featured in many architecture books. It was completed in 2000 for the millennium.

Sony Center is a new famous entertainment center with restaurants, shops, theatres, cinemas etc in the void of the removed Berlin Wall. It is designed by Murhpy/Jahn and consists of the Hochhaus , the HQ and the Sony Forum. The special thing is that the elliptical plaza, called Sony Center Forum, is open to the outdoor world despite it is covered by an elliptical roof.

The atrium of Sony Center.

Skyscrapers of Potsdamer Platz.

Fernsehturm, the TV tower that is Germany's tallest structure, can be seen from here. It is 368m tall and was completed in 1968. The Canadian embassy is to the left.

One of many boulevards in Berlin, this one is here passing Potsdamer Platz.

This air balloon anchored to the ground went up and down while we visited Potsdamer Platz.

The buses and metro of Berlin is yellow. In the far distance you can see the Mercedes sign on the 86m tall Europa-Center.

A veteran bus is a nice contrast to the modern surroundings.

Potsdamer Platz 1 in the center of the picture is part of the complex Quartier Daimler-Chrysler. Completed in 1999, it is 100m and 23 stories tall and one of Berlin's most famous highrises.

The metro station is beneath this modern building, called Potsdamer Platz 10. It is occupied by CinemaxX, Germany's largest cinema and Madison City Suites.

Debis Tower, a yellow highrise designed by famous architect Renzo Piano. 106m tall, 26 floors, built in 1997.

Fortunately the metro went about 50% of the trip above ground, allowing me to take som bad photos from the train. A crazy thing happened on the way back. A young man entered the train and started to show a newspaper and talk very fast about the news in German. At first I thought he was totally crazy, but since noone seemed to notice it so much it seems like this is a special thing for Berlin.

More modern architecture, seen from the metro.

Modern skyline of Potsdamer Platz. I manage to capture this cluster from the metro! From the left: Debis Tower, Sony Tower, Daimler-Chrysler and the balloon.

Charlottenburg

The bus station in the outskirts of Berlin, in a part that belongs to the district Charlottenburg, next to the congress center, to change bus.

The Eiffel tower like Funkturm was next to the bus station.
Funkturm, part of Charlottenburg, is 150m high and was built as early as in 1926.

Architecture around Charlottenburg.

The Autobahn from Charlottenburg. The cars are heading from Berlin's center.

Kaiserdamm, one of the boulevards of Berlin. It was situated between the metro station and the bus station, allowing me to take pictures from the district Charlottenburg.

In the far distance in this crossing you can see Fernsehturm again, plus some highrises. Tegel is one of Berlin's 3 international airports.

A beautiful typical German house at Kaiserdamm.

Typical architecture of East Berlin?

An unusual church.

An older church seen from the metro above ground between Potsdammer Platz and Kaiserdamm/Charlottenburg.

Outside Berlin

Tropical Islands Dome. In the forest about one hour drive from Berlin this giant former airship factory is. It has recently been converted to an artificial tropical rain forest by a Malaysian company inside the dome. I recognized this crazy building immediately!

ABOUT BERLIN

Population: 3 290 000 (metro 3 943 000)
CAPITAL AND LARGEST CITY OF GERMANY
Year visited: 2005
State: Brandenburg
Nicknamed: City of monuments
Communications: Subway, bus
Tallest building: Park Inn Hotel (132m, 41 floors)
Tallest structure: Fernsehturm (368m)