Berlin Orientation

The River Spree snakes west to east through Berlin, north of the narrower Landwehrkanal that flows into it. The vast Tiergarten, Berlin’s beloved park, lies between the waterways at the city’s center. If you see a radio tower it’s either the Funkturm (pointed and Eiffel-like) in the west or the Fernsehturm (with the globe) in the east at Alexanderplatz Major streets include Kurfürstendamm (nicknamed the Ku’damm), lined with department stores and running into the Bahnhof Zoo, the regional transit hub of West Berlin. The eloquent ruins of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche are near Bahnhof Zoo, as is the Europacenter, one of Berlin’s few real skyscrapers.

The grand, tree-lined Straβe des 17 Juni runs east-west through the Tiergarten, ending at the triumphant Brandenburger Tor at the park’s eastern border. From here it becomes Unter den Linden, flanked by the bulk of Berlin’s imperial architecture ( Sights). Next to the Brandenburger Tor is the Reichstag, and several blocks south, Potsdamer Platz is shadowed by the glittering Sony Center and the Deutsche Bahn headquarters. Streets in Berlin are short and frequently change names. Street numbers often climb to the end of the street and wrap around to the other side, conveniently making the highest- and lowest-numbered buildings opposite one another. A map with an index is invaluable.

Safety Precaution. Berlin is by far the most tolerant city in Germany, and, among major cities, Berlin has the fewest hate crimes per capita and very few neo-Nazi skinheads. However, minorities, gays, and lesbians should exercise caution in the outlying eastern suburbs at night. If you see skinheads wearing dark combat boots (especially with white laces), proceed with caution, but do not panic, and avoid drawing attention to yourself.

The former West, including Charlottenburg and Schöneberg, is still the commercial heart of Berlin. The former East holds the most happening neighborhoods: swanky Mitte, hipster-populated Prenzlauer Berg, and the newest scene, Friedrichshain. Counter-culture-heavy Kreuzberg was part of West Berlin, but falls in the east geographically. Berlin is rightly called a collection of towns, not a homogeneous city: each Bezirk maintains an individual history and identity. Every year, for example, citizens of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain battle with vegetables for possession of the Oberbaumbrücke on the border between them.