Alexanderplatz
Alexanderplatz is the large public square in former East Berlin, dominated by the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), the World Clock, and the Galeria department store. Free to walk through.
Square in Berlin
Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Platz was the busiest square in pre-war Europe, then a wasteland in the death strip between East and West, and is now a modern complex of towers, cinemas, and the Sony Center (a free glass-canopied plaza with cafes). Free to walk. A few sections of the Berlin Wall are preserved in the square. The contrast between pre-war photographs, Cold War emptiness, and the current skyline tells Berlin’s 20th-century story in one location. Budget travelers walk through the Sony Center, see the Wall fragments, and photograph the most dramatic urban transformation in modern Europe.
Practical
Before you go
- Address
- Potsdamer Platz, 10785 Berlin
- Good to know
Nearby
More in Berlin
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Bebelplatz
Bebelplatz is the square on Unter den Linden where the Nazi book burning of May 1933 took place. Free.
Berlin Cathedral
The Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom) is the largest church in Berlin, a baroque revival building on Museum Island with a green copper dome. Entry is paid at a modest price and includes access to the dome walkway with views over the Lustgarten, the Spree, and the TV Tower.
Berlin Wall Memorial
The Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse is the central memorial site of German division, with a preserved section of the Wall, the death strip, a watchtower, and an open-air exhibition documenting escape attempts and the lives disrupted by the border. Free.
Bernauer Strasse
Bernauer Strasse is the street where the Berlin Wall divided neighbors, families, and apartment buildings overnight on August 13, 1961. Free to walk.
Boxhagener Platz
Boxhagener Platz is a neighborhood square in Friedrichshain with a Saturday food market and a Sunday flea market. Free to browse.
Working out what Berlin costs?
The whole of Berlin