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Photo: nl:User:GerardM, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Also known as "der hohle Zahn" (the Hollow Tooth), this church in Breitscheidplatz is a memorial to Kaiser Wilhelm, and one of Berlin's most famous landmarks. Thick walls and plain decor mark it as neo-Romanesque, but with what's left of the Gedächtniskirche, it's tough to distinguish it as any one style. Allied bombing left only one tower standing on 22 November 1943, but a new location for worship designed by Egon Eiermann was completed in December 1961 (it's the octagonal structure with blue stained glass windows). There is a small memorial museum beneath the tower filled with artifacts from the original church, which was built from 1891-95 to architect Franz Schwechten's specifications.
Controversy arose after the war over the various options presented by the half-ruined cathedral - should it be torn down completely and rebuilt? Or should the destroyed sections be left standing as a memorial? The four major sections of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (central space, foyer, new tower and chapel) surround the ruined tower of the old church bridge and show the time gap between old and new. Mosaics and other remnants from the old church serve as a monument against war.
The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, mostly known simply as the Memorial Church is a Protestant church affiliated with the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia, a regional body of the Protestant Church in Germany. It is located in the Bikini-Berlin building complex on the Kurfürstendamm in the centre of the Breitscheidplatz.
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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.
Museum für Fotografie
Admission €8, discounted €4, young people up to the age of 18 free. Guided tours every Th 18:00 and Su 16:00.
Theatre of the West
A historic theatre in the former West Berlin, only musicals today.
Käthe Kollwitz's reputation as a social activist who used art as a means to express her support of pacifism was hard-won. Her son was killed in the World War I, after which her art took a turn for the morose. When her grandson was killed in World War II, her art became even darker and more brooding as she contemplated the huge loss of life Germany had suffered. Her own losses and those of the nation affected her art. After the war, ever-present artistic themes for Kollwitz - death, violence, war, misery, guilt and suffering - took shape as the drawings, prints, sculptures, original posters and woodcuts housed in this museum.
Popular theatre with TV celebrities in modern plays.
Small park in the heart of West Berlin. Great place to chill on a sunny day. There are many great cafés and restaurants nearby. Linger over a coffee here and watch people passing by.