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Berlin is truly a 24-hour-a-day city, a huge, vibrant
and varied metropolis offering a fascinating combination
of glamour, entertainment, culture and sights to suit
virtually every taste and budget. It was, even before
re-unification, one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan
centres. It is now – once again – Germany’s capital, and
the energy and growth to be felt in the new undivided
city is very exciting.
Most of the infamous Wall has been demolished, though
the Brandenburg Gate, which predated the Wall by 170
years, survives as arguably the city’s best-known
landmark. War-time devastation and decades of Soviet
occupation left the Eastern sector looking fairly drab,
but now everything is changing fast. By the year 2003,
some 200 billion D-Marks will have been invested in
rebuilding much of the East and joining together the two
former halves of the city. Already, a number of smart
new hotels have been erected in the former East, and
some of Berlin’s smartest shopping malls and arcades
have been constructed, like the Passagen in the
Friedrichstrasse. There are also numerous “alternative”
boutiques in the equally “alternative” Prenzlauer Berg
district, the former East Berlin’s “Left Bank”.
Back in the former West, there is Kreuzberg, just south
of the city centre, another “Left Bank” district full of
artists, colourful street markets and a high proportion
of the city’s large Turkish immigrant community. In
fact, the huge number of foreign immigrants over the
past 40 years has contributed enormously to the
multicultural flair and verve of the city, with its
dozens and dozens of exotic restaurants, foreign
cabarets and experimental theatre groups and revues.
Berlin has always been a shopper’s paradise; it has now
become a world-class one. Saunter down the
Kurfürstendamm (“Ku’damm” for short), Berlin’s main
thoroughfare, a two-mile stretch of big stores,
boutiques at every price level, cafés, cinemas, theatres
and galleries. One end is dominated by the Memorial
Church, whose ruined tower is both a war memorial and a
major city landmark. The world-famous “KaDeWe” nearby,
reputed to be the Continent’s largest department store,
is an elegant and almost unrivalled shopping experience,
especially its luxurious food hall on the sixth floor.
Music and entertainment are inseparable from the life of
Berlin. There are three major opera houses and
innumerable theatres, including Bertolt Brecht’s
Berliner Ensemble. Lovers of variety shows will make a
bee-line for the Friedrichstadtpalast, Europe’s largest
and most modern revue theatre, and renowned for its
lavish productions. There are also several major
symphony orchestras, including the celebrated Berlin
Philharmonic, plus countless concerts and recitals by
major artists and talented newcomers alike.
Berlin never closes. During the day, there are literally
hundreds of acres of beautifully landscaped parks and
forests for strolling in, and countless inviting cafés
and pastry shops, or Konditoreien, offering some of
Germany’s finest cakes. (Forget the calories – this is a
holiday!) Or try some of the museums that have made the
city famous, such as the great Dahlem Museum complex,
with its fabulous collections of art from around the
world. Or visit the great collections on the Museum
Island, particularly the Pergamon Museum, a world-famous
repository of classical antiquities. Smaller museums
include the Bauhaus Archive and the Egyptian Museum.
In the evening – and throughout the night, as Berlin has
no restrictive licensing hours – Berlin’s pubs (“Kneipen”)
and nightclubs offer an endless menu of relaxation and
musical entertainment – jazz, rock and folk. The food is
good, too! And transport throughout the city is easy.
There are over 30 night-bus lines and the U-Bahn, or
Underground, generally operates 21 hours a day. |
