Curso24 Reisejournalismus Edinburgh Berlin Snapshot Guide

8/4/2019 Curso24 Reisejournalismus Edinburgh Berlin Snapshot Guide

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Contents Page

HISTORY OF BERLIN

SURVIVAL GUIDE

TRANSPORT

ACCOMMODATION

SIGHTSEEING

ART & CULTURE

ACTIVITIES

SHOPPING

FOOD & DRINK

BARS & CLUBS

6 - 11

12 - 13

14 - 17

18 - 23

24 35

36 - 53

54 - 65

66 - 79

80 - 101

102 - 127



Introduction

Willkommen in Berlin! With a wealth of opportunity to

see the fantasc sights in the day and party late into the

night, no-one could get bored with this vibrant and ever-evolving city.

Within these pages you can learn more about the historyof Berlin, from its roots and turbulent mes to thepresent day, while nding out what sites to see beyondthe Wall .

Let us guide you around the city’s ecient publictransport system and making your life easier ndingsomewhere to stay while you’re here. Whether you’rehere for the nightlife or are looking to soak up someGerman culture there is something for everyone in The

Snapshot Guide to Berlin. Find out which lakes are bestto lounge by and how best to pass the day in weird andwonderful ways in our acvies secon. Let our culinary

experse guide you to some of the excellent cafés,eateries and bars the metropolitan city holds.

If you love fashion for less, look no further than ourshopping secon, which contains a treasure trove of vintage and independent bouques, kitsch shops alongwith some of the best ea markets in town to pick up abargain.

If you are looking to do Berlin on a budget, or even wantto splash out on something worthwhile, this guide haseverything you need to experience this beauful city tothe fullest.

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History of Berlin

Early Days

Berlin began its life as two trading selements on the banks of

the River Spree – Berlin and Cölln. The two towns joined forces in1307 to gain beer trading rights and later to enter the Hanseac

League, which led them to begin funconing more as a single

enty known as Berlin-Cölln. Berlin-Cölln began to gain power

but lose freedoms. Unl 1618, Berlin-Cölln grew in populaon to

12,000 people. However between 1618 and 1648, the Thirty Years

War led to the death of half the cizenry and the destrucon of a

third of the town’s buildings.

Berlin Reborn

Aer the destrucon of the city’s populaon, Elector Friedrich

Wilhelm (ruled 1640-1688) - encouraged immigraon. He rst

invited 50 Austrian Jewish families displaced by the Thirty Years

War and then more than 6,000 French Huguenots to sele in

Berlin-Cölln. The immigrants brought greater trade links and

prosperity to the city.

In 1701, Elector Friedrich III (1688-1713) crowned himself the

rst King of Prussia, making Berlin the capital city. In 1709 Berlin

and Cölln were united by the King along with a number of their

suburbs. His son, Friedrich Wilhelm I (1713-1740), made Prussia

into a great military power by trading arsc pieces and money

for soldiers from other courts. It wasn’t unl the reign of his son

however, that these soldiers were employed in bale.



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Friedrich II, also known asFriedrich the Great (1740-

1786), is famous both for his

victory in the Seven Years War

against Russia and for bringing

the Enlightenment to Berlin.

Under his rule a largenumber of buildings designed

to reect the values of

the Enlightenment were

constructed, including the

Staatsoper Opera House, the

Prince Heinrich Palace - later to

become Humboldt University

and St. Hedwig’s Cathedral.

Meanwhile, Unter den Linden

was broadened from a bridle

path to become a boulevard

complete with linden trees.

Afer Friedrich the

Great

The nal years of the

18th century were fairly

unevenul for Berlin- the

Brandenburg Gate was built

and the Quadriga placed

atop it. However Napoleon

invaded the city through the

Brandenburg Gate on 27th

October 1806, leaving troops

in Berlin right up unl 1808.

For the rest of the 19th century

Nazi Germany

It was against this unstable

background that the Naonal

Socialist party rose to power. In the

federal elecons of 1930 - the very

beginning of the Great Depression

- they emerged from near obscurity

to be the second largest party in

the Reichstag.

By 1932, they were the largest

party. When the Reichstag was

burnt down in February 1933, the

Nazis seized their opportunity toblame the communists and use

the atmosphere of fear to outlaw

all other polical pares. In March

one of the rst concentraon

camps in Germany was opened at

Sachsenhausen to contain polical

prisoners. Over the course of its

existence, tens of thousands of

polical prisoners and Russian

prisoners of war died there.

Berlin partook wholeheartedly

in the Industrial Revoluon, with

companies such as Borsig, Siemens

and Schwartzkop seng up in the

city.

However as with most major cies

during the Industrial Revoluon,

the industrialisaon and mass

immigraon of people into Berlin

from the surrounding countryside

led to mass poverty and squalor for

its people. Despite this as the city’s

infrastructure improved, so did the

condions, and by the start of WWIBerlin was ourishing.

The 20th Century

The extreme hardships of the First

World War led to the overthrowing

of Kaiser Wilhelm II on 9th

November 1918, two days before

the armisce. The years of the

Weimar Republic (1918-1933) were

tough for Berlin and for Germany,

with several uprisings from various

polical facons – most notably for

Berlin, the Spartacist (communist)

uprising. This ended with two

Spartacist leaders being murderedby the Freikorps in the Tiergarten,

where a small memorial stands

today. In addion to mass chaos on

the streets of Berlin, hyperinaon

caused by the governments’

overzealous money prinng

became a severe issue in the early

1920s, when money became worth

less than the paper it was printed

on.

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Between 1933 and 1945,

Germany was a totalitarian

state. Oppression of non-

Germans, the disabled,

homosexuals, gypsies and

polical dissidents led to the

murder of millions of people,

as Berlin’s vast number of

memorials to those murdered

by the Nazis evidences.

The Second World War

eventually put an end to the

Nazi regime aer six long years

of ghng. The eect of thewar on Berlin was devastang

- bombardment of the city by

air began in 1943 and by the

end of the war nearly half of

central Berlin’s buildings were

destroyed.

Berlin Divided

Berlin was ocially divided

into Soviet, US and Brish

secons in July 1945 - a French

secon was later added. East-

West relaons deteriorated

rapidly aer the war, and

Berlin became a constantsource of tension. This tension

really took shape in the Berlin

Blockade of 1948-49, when

the GDR refused to allow any

trac from West Germany

to West Berlin, in an aempt

to starve West Berlin into

submission.

A constant ow of air trac

from West Germany to

Templehof Airport

kept West Berlin

going for almost

a year unl the

blockade was lied.

Tensions increased

again when 200,000

East Germans

escaped the GDR’s

forced collecvisaon

programme by

walking into West

Berlin in 1960. In

response to this

massive loss of workers, on August

13th, 1961, the East

German government

began to build the

Berlin Wall. This

massive structure

encircled West Berlin,

cung it o from East

Germany on all sides,

and stood unl 1989.

5,000 East Berliners

sll managed to

escape over or under

the Wall, despite

great risk to their

lives: 192 peoplewere killed trying to cross, and

around 200 were seriously

injured.

In 1989, the East Germans

could once more escape

communist oppression, this

me through the newly

opened border between

Hungary and Austria. Mikhail

Gorbachev, the President of

the USSR, issued a statement

or ring on the crowd the confusedguards allowed them through.

Much of the Wall was demolished

soon aerwards.

Since the fall of the Wall, Berlin

has been re-elevated to its status

as capital city, with the Bundestag

compleng its move back from

Bonn in 2001. Berlin has emerged

as a modern, forward thinking

utopia where anyone can nd

something to suit their tastes. AE

saying that he would not supporthard-line acons against East

Germans. In a confusing series of

events, on 9th November 1989,

Günther Schabowski, a member

of the East German government,

announced in a press statement

that, in his opinion, the border

between East and West Berlin

should be opened immediately.

Massive crowds rushed to the

border crossings, and faced with

the opon of leng them through

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