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Photo: Manfred Brueckels, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Bayerischer Platz is the centre of the Bayerisches Viertel ("Bavarian district", with many streets named after Bavarian cities), which was destroyed a lot more during World War II (about 60%). Somewhere around there Albert Einstein lived once. You’ll find several memorial signs providing information about the Nazi regime's persecution of gays and Jews.
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The district town hall was the main town hall for West Berlin during the Cold War. The freedom bell (a present from the American people) and several memorials from that time can be found here. On the main balcony in 1963 U.S. President John F. Kennedy made his famous statement, "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’". On 10 November 1989, Helmut Kohl (chancellor [Bundeskanzler] 1982-1998) and Willy Brandt (former Bundeskanzler and mayor of Berlin) cheered the crowd as they saw the end of the Berlin Wall the night before. The town hall is an emotional place for most people in Berlin (especially West Berlin).
Features a nice fountain, stately old houses and a good night time hot spot. Many people hang out in the platz in good weather.
Restaurants abound here, with cuisines ranging from Afghan to Nepalese and Thai, plus several pizzerias and sandwich places. Prices are low, especially compared with other locations in the tourist centre of Berlin. Around Eisenacher Straße (extension of Goltzstr.) you’ll find even more bars and cafés situated in the basements of nice old houses. During World War II, this part of Berlin was not destroyed by bombs as much as other parts of Berlin, so you can get an impression of how 19th-century Berlin's architecture looked.
Places with markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays are popular with locals at Winterfeldplatz. Buy a coffee and browse amongst the stalls; this is a place to unearth hidden gems. Breakfast is served usually until 14:00-15:00.
This area was Gay Central during the Weimar Republic, and it is today. But of course all are welcome. There is a diverse mix of restaurants and stores, several of which are open till midnight or later every day. The U-Bahn station has a superstructure and towers that echo the appearance of the Art Nouveau Neues Schauspielhaus across the street, now the Metropol, where radical left-wing dramas used to be presented in the 20s and 30s, and it is lit in rainbow colors at night.
Once part of the Skulpturenbulevard project, this sculpture was made for the 750th anniversary of Berlin (in 1987). It consists of four steel tubes looping but not touching each other, symbolizing the division of the city.