Where, until recently, traces of snow and ice still shaped the cityscape, the first carpets of blossoms are already appearing.
Temperatures are finally inviting you to head outside again, to stroll and explore: spring is in the Berlin air!
We’ve put together the best tips for this incredibly diverse city for you.
Have lots of fun, take photos of unforgettable moments, and enjoy the first hints of next summer!
But other parts of Berlin will soon be bursting into bloom too—sometimes even locals, not just tourists, are left open-mouthed by all this beauty.
You can see where to marvel the most on VisitBerlin’s specially created BerlinBlossom Map!
Lidl Bike and Nextbike are available in many major cities, so registering is worth it. The bikes are usually very comfortable to ride, easy to rent and park in between, and both have a station right by Anhalter Bahnhof.
In the two days before, on April 6 and 7, you can put those good intentions (already forgotten?) into action at the “Berlin Vital” expo at the former Tempelhof Airport.
Berlin in summer? Anyone can do that!
At these temperatures, would you rather sit on the couch or hibernate? But Berlin is just as varied in winter—it would be a real shame to miss it all… Something for every mood, even at this time of year? Berlin can do it!
Here are our tips for your special experiences!
Alright, get going then! Let’s see where we’ll run into each other!
Potsdamer Platz is one of Berlin’s most historic places.
In the 1920s it was still the busiest square in the world—including the world’s first traffic light! During the division of Berlin, the area lay deserted.
In the 1990s, Potsdamer Platz was Europe’s biggest construction site, and within a few years Berlin’s new center was created there.
Today it attracts people from all over the world every day for extensive shopping trips and cinema outings.
One highlight is the popular Sony Center.
As an alternative to the TV Tower, the viewing platform at the Kollhoff Building offers a fantastic panoramic view over central Berlin.
Every February, Potsdamer Platz is the center of the Berlinale.
You can practically smell history here…
The Reichstag is the seat of the German Bundestag and therefore also the symbol of parliament.
This is where members of parliament debate Germany’s future.
The Reichstag dome draws visitors with a great view over Berlin. But be aware: registration required!
What was once the symbol of Berlin’s division and thus the Cold War is now the image of a united Germany.
Brandenburg Gate is Berlin’s most famous landmark worldwide and represents not only a long history, but also regularly brings together people from all over the world for concerts and other events.
Experience Berlin in 360°!
At 203 m high, you get the best view of Berlin’s sights and surroundings.
Fancy something different for dinner?
5 m higher up, the Telecafé invites you to dine.
The platform rotates twice per hour around its own axis, offering a unique panoramic view of the exciting city of “Berlin”.
As a souvenir, you can mint coins to always carry a piece of Berlin in your wallet.
The Red City Hall is the seat of the Berlin Senate and the Governing Mayor Kai Wegner.
The name comes from the facade design with red bricks. Particularly striking is the sculptural decoration on the wraparound balcony at first-floor level.
Authentically Berlin for 770 years!
Berlin was once born here, around the city’s oldest church, St. Nicholas.
Where Goethe and Berlin artists like Heinrich Zille once spent many hours, you’ll now find restaurants serving Berlin cuisine, souvenir shops, boutiques and museums such as the Ephraim Museum.
Welcome to Berlin’s most beautiful square!
In summer, classical music fans gather here for open-air concerts; in winter, people enjoy strolling through the high-quality Christmas market.
The central building is the Konzerthaus, flanked on the north side by the French Cathedral and opposite by the German Cathedral.
Berliners like to call the Victory Column with its golden Victoria “Goldelse”.
It was built to commemorate the victory in the Prussian-Danish War, based on plans by Heinrich Strack.
After climbing 285 steps to the viewing platform, visitors are rewarded with a wonderful panoramic view.
This popular promenade is located in City West.
Kurfürstendamm is characterized by numerous department stores and high-society fashion boutiques.
At Lehniner Platz you’ll find the Schaubühne, a theatre building in the expressive style of the 1920s.
The famous “Department Store of the West” invites you to browse, shop and look around.
The building, completely destroyed in World War II, was only able to reopen in 1950 and became a symbol of the market economy and the economic miracle.
A popular spot is the gourmet department on the 6th floor, which offers, among other things, world-famous chocolates.
The former “Reich Sports Field” was built from 1934 to 1936 for the 1936 Summer Olympics, with a capacity of 100,000 visitors.
Today, the main user Hertha BSC plays its home matches at the Olympic Stadium, but other major events such as the annual ISTAF and concerts by legendary bands are held here too.
A special highlight was Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in September 2011, when he celebrated Holy Mass there.
You can also visit the Olympic Stadium on a guided tour and get to know it down to every corner.
A piece of the Wall you can touch!
After the borders opened, artists from all over the world left their mark on the remains.
Today it’s the longest open-air gallery in the world.
Solar Sky Lounge & Restaurant is right next to the Three Little Pigs Hostel, so it’s very quick to get to.
When dawn breaks and you’ve had enough, you can basically fall into bed right next door.
You reach Solar via a glass elevator that takes you up to the 17th floor.
Spread across two floors, the very modern Solar sits high above Berlin. This is where people sip cocktails and enjoy a great view over the capital.
From 9 PM, a DJ also gets to work and creates a club atmosphere.
Prices are on the higher side, but the view makes up for it.
It’s best to come before sunset so you can catch it.
Solar Sky Lounge & Restaurant, Stresemannstraße 76, 10963 Berlin, www.solarberlin.com
Last Cathedral is a horror rock bar with a mysterious atmosphere and a popular meeting place for the goth community. From the outside, the bar already looks like a crypt. Down a staircase into the basement, guests reach the dark bar with morbid charm. Cemetery elements, skulls, the waiters’ black outfits and the lighting from grave candles complete the picture—despite the darkness, the mood here isn’t gloomy.
Last Cathedral, Schönhauser Allee 5, 10119 Berlin, www.lastcathedral.com
This bar in Kreuzberg is the self-proclaimed “Institute of Entertainment Chemistry”. Painted in bright yellow, you can spot it from far away. Here, a Frankenstein lab meets a hospital ward with a chemistry-lab vibe. Guests sit on hospital beds and drink from test tubes or hissing glass flasks. They serve cocktails, house absinthe and liqueurs, as well as Zyankali-brew beer. In summer there’s also a beer garden, and there’s table football all year round.
Zyankali Bar, Gneisenaustraße 17, 10961 Berlin, www.zyankali.de
An absolute hotspot is Klunkerkranich in Neukölln. It was created during the “48 Hours Neukölln” festival in 2013. It’s located on the roof of Neukölln Arcaden (6th floor by elevator) above the parking decks and is a mix of garden, beach bar and club. In summer it’s especially nice here, with a great view over the city and the sunset. The music is mostly electronic, and in peak season Klunkerkranich is open from 4:00 PM to midnight.
Klunkerkranich, Karl-Marx-Straße 66, 12043 Berlin, www.klunkerkranich.de
Monkey Bar is located on the top floor of the listed Bikini Haus, which was added later. Up here on the 10th floor, there’s a wraparound roof terrace with a lovely view over Kurfürstendamm and the Berlin Zoo’s monkey enclosure. The “jungle atmosphere” is also reflected in the interior design, whether in the decor or in the names of the cocktails. Price-wise, the well-thought-out, individual cocktails are in the upper mid-range.
Monkey Bar at Bikini Haus, Budapester Straße 40, 10787 Berlin, www.25hours-hotels.com
Madame Claude is located in Kreuzberg’s Wrangelkiez and makes guests forget what’s up and what’s down. Everything is upside down here—a complete living room, sneakers and shelves hang from the ceiling in this cult bar. The focus at Madame Claude is music. Live musicians especially, but DJs also perform here regularly. Another highlight is the table tennis table, the table football and the music quiz held on Wednesday evenings.
Madame Claude, Lübbener Straße 19, 10997 Berlin, www.madameclaude.de
Probably the most unusual swimming spot in Europe is the Badeschiff.
In summer, you can splash around in the swimming pool on the Spree until late in the evening or enjoy a cold beer in a deck chair.
In winter, the ship is unfortunately closed.
Definitely worth a visit!
“Berghain” is one of Berlin’s craziest clubs.
If you’re planning an unforgettable night, this is the place to be.
The crowd is wild, open and diverse, the music is hard and perfect for dancing all night long.
Clubbing right on the Spree!
On Fridays and Saturdays, the dance floor heats up with R’n’B, soul and hip hop beats.
Time to hit the dance floor!
Thanks to its multifunctional and spectacular architecture, guests experience unforgettable moments at concerts and other events.
Integrated into the complex is the Liquidrom swimming pool, which attracts many guests every day under the motto “urban bathing culture”.
And best of all: Tempodrom is a direct neighbor of Three Little Pigs Hostel! So you can go to a concert in the evening and practically fall straight into bed…
At the start of summer 2024, on June 21, Berlin will celebrate the Fête de la Musique once again.
On more than 100 stages and in many streets across the city, musicians take part in the celebration for free and perform their music.
This marks 22 years of Paris–Berlin, with music from 4 to 10 PM in all Berlin districts on streets, squares and in parks.
After that, it continues indoors with music through the night!
It gets especially lively and colorful at various spots in Berlin:
in Spandau Old Town, on Revaler Strasse in Friedrichshain, on Karl-Marx-Allee and Friedrichstraße, Unter den Linden and at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz.
Things also really kick off on the Mauerpark stage, with well-known musicians putting on a festival there from 4 to 10 PM. Last year featured performances by Hudson Mohawke, Mark Ronson, Earl Sweatshirt, Kindness and Robot Koch. Who it’ll be this year is STILL a secret!
But of course, admission remains free—just like everywhere else.
All details for the active and passive among you on Facebook and on the organizers’ pages.
When Berlin, Beats & Boats weighs anchor, the Spree might overflow.
A whole electronic fleet heads into action and makes sure you can really party with a fresh breeze, bright sunshine and a hand’s breadth of water under the keel.
A party on the water, a boat tour as a club event: the capital’s electro labels invite you to dance right in the middle of the Spree.
Videos from last year, info on the line-up and the last tickets are available on the website or on Facebook
What used to be Berlin Music Week has been Pop-Kultur since 2015, and this year it takes place at the KulturBrauerei in Prenzlauer Berg.
»Pop-Kultur« represents contemporary diversity and internationality with a program of more than 60 acts, also showcasing the Berlin scene—and all in the impressive atmosphere of Berghain.
Various events take place on the old brewery grounds, which are used in many different cultural ways: talks, readings, exhibitions and films.
Past participants have included Andreas Dorau & Sven Regener, Sophie Hunger and Neneh Cherry.
You can find details about this year’s event at Pop-Kultur at Berghain.
The Lollapalooza festival, which has made a huge splash in quite a few countries, has finally taken root in Berlin too!
In recent years, the music spectacle sold out in advance.
No wonder, with acts like Beatsteaks, The Libertines and Muse, Hot Chip, Deichkind, and none other than Macklemore & Ryan Lewis!
In September 2024, the festival celebrates its tenth edition—again at the Olympic Stadium and park!
You can find details on the line-up for September 7 and 8 and info on ticket sales here.
Where in Berlin did David Bowie leave his mark? In which studio did U2 record an album? And which is Peter Fox’s favorite club?
The “Berlin Musictours” (formerly Fritz!Music Tours) has the answers to all these questions.
On a bus ride through the city, it’s all about Berlin’s music history, with stops at Hansa Studios, MTV Berlin, the Victory Column (where the Love Parade took place) and SO36, where legendary punk concerts were held, such as by Einstürzende Neubauten or Die Toten Hosen.
During the 2.5-hour tour, the bus shows video interviews with Berlin artists and creatives talking about their connection to Berlin and sharing funny anecdotes.
But you don’t have to take the bus!
There’s also a walking tour or an exclusive discovery tour of Hansa Studios!
WHERE, WHEN, HOW?
Bus tour: Saturdays at 12:30 PM, Unter den Linden in front of the Adlon, €29
Walking: Sundays (winter only on request!) at 2:00 PM, Kesselhaus, 2h, €12
Hansa Studios: monthly, dates on request, price depending on number of participants, 2h,
Meeting point Hansa Studios at Potsdamer Platz
More info here
On the capital’s streets in unusual vehicles
… with the “soapbox” (hotrod)
… with a tailwind >> by e-trike (currently unavailable)
… then there’s the “Seggie“
… fancy fancy: in a stretched Hummer!
… not quite so snobby: the Trabi on a Berlin safari
… super relaxed in a bed right through the city
Good on foot and naturally curious?
Then off you go on a GPS geocaching scavenger hunt in Berlin
Special tours on various crazy topics with “Berlin attitude”
For the food lovers among you: the multi-cul(t)inary discovery tours
Experience Berlin from below
Night watchman tour through the historic Nikolaiviertel
Tour through the Berlin Underworlds – with bunkers
Fast-paced on the U-Bahn convertible under the metropolis
The unique museum complex at Berlin’s Lustgarten consists of five museums and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999.
In recent years, the ensemble has been extensively renovated and has been shining in new splendor since the reopening of the Neues Museum.
World-famous cultural treasures such as the bust of Nefertiti in the Bode Museum or the Pergamon Altar in the Pergamon Museum captivate millions of visitors year after year.
State museum for modern art, photography and architecture.
A unique interdisciplinary collection opens up fine art, photography and architecture for visitors, created in the metropolis of Berlin from the end of the 19th century to the present day.
A local focus and international ambition are brought together in a fruitful fusion.
Just a few minutes’ walk from the hostel, you’ll find technology to see, marvel at and touch.
One of the most popular museums in Berlin for young and old alike.
At the Technology Museum you can marvel at, among other things, navigation instruments, a magic lantern, Zuse’s Z1, a historic brewery, a windmill, a glass airplane, amphibious vehicles, the German Kaiser’s saloon car, carriages, insights into suitcase production, and the art of engine turning.
Right next to the Technology Museum, another highlight is the Spectrum Science Center. Hands-on is explicitly encouraged here, tempting young and old tinkerers to experiment!
The German Historical Museum in the Zeughaus sees itself as a place of “enlightenment and understanding regarding the shared history of Germans and Europeans.”
In the permanent exhibition, more than 8,000 historical exhibits tell the stories of people and events from the last century BC to the present day.
A sensational museum documenting 800 years of city history.
Here you can experience Berlin’s history with all your senses.
“Museum was yesterday” – the Story of Berlin is an adventure exhibition featuring an original nuclear bunker, which is also visited during the tours.
Very impressive!
The Tyrannosaurus rex exhibition only runs until November 30, 2026
The scientific collections of the Natural History Museum include tens of thousands of mineralogical, geological, paleontological, and zoological collection items.
They form the basis for the research carried out in the various areas of the museum and for the public exhibitions.
That might sound a bit dull. However, the fact is that the family tours at the Natural History Museum are extremely popular.
There are children’s Sundays, flashlight tours, drawing courses, and concerts in an unusual atmosphere… if THAT isn’t worth a visit!
In this cinema in Berlin’s Friedrichshain district, a video store, bar, and cinema backroom are combined. Large letters outside say “THIS IS NOT A CINEMA,” so visitors to B-Ware! shouldn’t expect a traditional cinema where the audience is let in and out like a herd. Here, the audience is offered cinema every day from 12 PM in a charming hodgepodge of original Rococo upholstered furniture, in a shop space equipped with industry and kitsch. B-Ware, meaning second-choice goods, isn’t necessarily worse. “We want to show the things that aren’t in the spotlight. And that can be arthouse, trash, forgotten, and lost films.” B-Ware! is run by a collective of ten volunteers with the goal of making cinema you can touch. Admission is between €4.00 and €6.00, sometimes with a surcharge for extra-long films.
b-ware!ladenkino, Gärtnerstr. 19, 10245 Berlin, Tel: 030 63 41 31 15, http://ladenkino.de/
The Astor Filmlounge is located in a listed cinema hall on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. The audience can make themselves comfortable here in a very elegant atmosphere in adjustable leather armchairs. The service team serves guests at their seats with cocktails and finger food. A kind of luxury is offered here that you probably last associated with the great movie palaces of the 1950s in Berlin. In addition to valet parking by the doorman, there is a free cloakroom and ushers. There is also a large selection of drinks, ranging up to high-quality champagne. Tickets are available from €11.00 in the afternoon and from €14.50 in the evening.
Astor Filmlounge, Kurfürstendamm 225, 10719 Berlin, Tel.: 030 883 85 51, http://berlin.astor-filmlounge.de
The Delphi Filmpalast is a cinema and premiere theater in Berlin Charlottenburg. It was built in 1927/1928 as the DELPHI-Palast dance hall. Outstanding dance orchestras, such as those of Teddy Stauffer, Heinz Wehner, and Ben Berlin, performed there. The cinema underwent its first renovation in 1981. In the same year, the first Forum of Young Film of the Berlinale was held. For almost six decades, the motto for the Delphi’s program has been: Great films on the big screen. The Delphi-Filmpalast is a classic cinema with old Berlin flair, very comfortable seats, a great mix of indie and mainstream films without the feeling of mass processing, and a reasonable price-performance ratio. Tickets start at €6.50.
Delphi-Filmpalast, Kantstraße 12a, 10623 Berlin, Tel.: 030 / 312 10 26, http://www.delphi-filmpalast.de
According to its own information, Moviemento on Kottbusser Damm in Kreuzberg is the oldest cinema in Germany. It opened in 1907 and became a popular meeting place for artists of all kinds: Rio Reiser sat at the piano, Nina Hagen in the front row, and David Bowie was a regular. In the 70s, Moviemento was primarily known for its legendary Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings; in the 80s, Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) worked as a projectionist. Moviemento mainly screens special feature films and documentaries, often about Berlin. It also hosts the Porn Film Festival, the Punk Film Festival, and the Spanish Film Festival Berlin. Admission prices are between €5.00 and €8.00.
Moviemento, Kottbusser Damm 22, 10967 Berlin, Tel.: 030 692-4785, www.moviemento.de
With 32 seats, Lichtblick in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg is one of Berlin’s smallest cinemas, but it offers an extensive program of current films, retrospectives, and documentaries. Productions with a political background are also presented. On weekend afternoons, children’s films are on the program. Filmmakers are often invited for screenings and discussions. The cinema has existed since 1994 and is located in a former butcher’s shop in the oldest house in Prenzlauer Berg. A ticket here costs €5.00 to €7.00.
Lichtblick, Kastanienallee 77, 10435 Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, Tel.: 030 4405-8179, www.lichtblick-kino.org
If you like going to the movies but feel guilty sitting in a musty cinema hall when the weather is nice, Berlin offers numerous open-air cinemas: e.g., the Freiluftkino Kreuzberg in the courtyard of the Kunstquartier Bethanien – Berlin’s only original-with-subtitles open-air cinema. Current movies are also shown open-air in Volkspark Friedrichshain. And in the north of Berlin, the Freiluftkino Rehberge invites you to relaxed film enjoyment.
The former Museum of Decorative Arts is an exhibition house in Berlin that hosts large temporary exhibitions.
Until 1990, the building was located directly on the sector border to the Mitte district.
After the First World War, the Museum of Prehistory and Early History and the East Asian Art Collection moved in.
Since 1966, however, the heritage-listed Martin-Gropius-Bau has been one of the most famous exhibition buildings in Germany, where international artists like Ai Weiwei have already had exhibitions.
The Hebbel Theater is located in the middle of a large field of rubble and is currently unheated, but people are coming in droves. (November 1949)
In the post-war years, the theater located in the American sector even accepted coal as admission to keep the house warm.
Since its founding in 1907/08, it developed into a people’s theater in the best sense, with audience favorites like Harald Juhnke.
For several years now, the Hebbel am Ufer theater, also known as HAU, has been one of the most important stages for contemporary theater and performance art.
The Berliner Ensemble is one of the most famous stages in Berlin.
It became famous for the performances of the works of its founder, Bertolt Brecht.
“The Berlin swindle differs from all other swindles by its shameless magnificence.” (Bertolt Brecht)
Today, the house is led by the controversial theater icon Claus Peymann – but only until July 2017. Due to age, the artistic direction will then pass to Oliver Reese.
Welcome to Berlin’s “Broadway,” the largest theater stage in the world!
Let yourself be enchanted by the unique Friedrichstadt-Palast and enter the famous show palace.
Here, the crème de la crème of international artists offers the very best entertainment every evening.
The stage shows are unique in the theater and variety scene and are second to none.
Berliners and guests from all over the world are equally welcome here – the shows don’t need language and are suitable for (almost) all age groups.
In hardly any other place was the atmosphere of the Cold War so palpable as at Checkpoint Charlie.
Nothing can be seen of watchtowers and obstacles today, but a replica of a guard hut still recalls the frosty border crossing.
Not just a place worth seeing in Kreuzberg, but also a piece of history to see and touch in the Wall Museum.
Further information on Checkpoint Charlie
The memorial built by Peter Eisenman commemorates the murdered Jews of Europe.
When you are in the middle of the field of stelae, you feel lost and anxious – a feeling that up to six million Jews had before their murder.
The architect wants to convey this feeling vividly to the visitor.
“Our dignity commands an unmistakable expression of remembrance for the murdered European Jews,” as Willy Brandt said.
The museum shows two millennia of German-Jewish history, highlights and low points in the relationship between Jews and non-Jews in Germany.
In addition to the permanent exhibition, temporary exhibitions are also hosted.
The building designed by star architect Daniel Libeskind is one of the absolute architectural highlights of the city.
You are leaving the American Sector.
The “best border security system in the world” (quote: Army General Heinz Hoffmann) and the “assistance of the protecting powers” are illustrated.
Successful escape attempts and various means of escape are documented: hot air balloons, chairlifts, escape cars, and a mini-submarine.
One of the most interactive museums in the world!
The DDR Museum is dedicated to everyday life in the former East Germany.
How did the state influence life?
How did life differ from life in the West?
You can see typical food, clothing from that time, schoolbooks, and many other highlights.
The offices and workrooms of the former Minister for State Security – Erich Mielke – are preserved in their original state in the Stasi Museum.
Here you can find out about the development, function, and working methods of the former state security.
Numerous objects from the collection, some never shown before, and many media stations illustrate the extent of the MfS’s activities.
Directly on Bernauer Straße, on the border between Mitte and Wedding, a piece of the GDR border fortifications was reconstructed true to the original by a foundation.
The purpose is to document and illustrate the history of the Berlin Wall and the escape movements from the GDR as part and consequence of the division of Germany and the East-West conflict.
The aim is also to preserve the memory of victims of communist tyranny and to bring the GDR a step closer to visitors.
On the grounds of the “Topography of Terror” documentation center, the most important headquarters of Nazi repression and crime policy were located during the Second World War.
Essential decisions by Reichsführer-SS Himmler and his henchmen regarding the persecution of political opponents were made here.
There is no comparable place where terror and genocide were organized to the same extent for the purpose of “Germanization.”
Class trips with puzzle power & guaranteed fun!
Here you get the opportunity to gain your own insights through puzzle fun & learn quite naturally. By solving puzzles together, learning becomes a side effect that happens all by itself.
The Hohenschönhausen Memorial is located at a historical site that is linked to the GDR and political persecution in the Soviet occupation zone like almost no other.
The Stasi prison was once located here, where prisoners who had already been convicted had to perform forced labor for the State Security Service, among other things.
The museum offers very educational and exciting tours for school classes, including with eyewitnesses.
You are leaving the American Sector.
The “best border security system in the world” (quote: Army General Heinz Hoffmann) and the “assistance of the protecting powers” are illustrated.
Successful escape attempts and various means of escape are documented: hot air balloons, chairlifts, escape cars, and a mini-submarine.
The Grips Theater is a classic of children’s and youth theater and has been run as an “encouragement theater” with “Linie 1” & Co for over 30 years.
The plays appeal to all generations, cultures, and layers of society. It sees itself as a kind of modern popular and political people’s theater that also seeks a connection to the current political and social situation and prepares and presents topics specifically for students.
At the end of the 19th century, city life pulsated at Askanischer Platz. The monumental station building, also called the “Gateway to the South,” was long one of Berlin’s most important transport hubs and a place of representation for the German Empire, as well as a backdrop for Nazi propaganda. From here, long-distance trains left for Vienna, Rome, and Athens – from here, Hitler’s willing executioners deported 9,600 Jewish citizens to the Theresienstadt transit camp and the extermination sites in Eastern Europe. Today, only the ruins of the brick portico and a park with a walkable wilderness of tracks remain of the Anhalter Bahnhof, which was partially bombed in the Second World War. In the former “mother cave of the railways” (Walter Benjamin), there is currently a football pitch and the Tempodrom. The tent-shaped architecture houses an arena for music concerts and the Liquidrom, which promises urban bathing pleasure with saltwater pools. Parts of the historical freight station have been converted into the Science Center and the German Museum of Technology, visible from afar by a Raisin Bomber suspended in the sky.
Opposite Anhalter Bahnhof, the “Excelsior” was located from 1913 to 1954. With 600 rooms, an underground spa, a library, and tunnel connections to the platforms, the hotel was rightly one of the most magnificent on the continent. Today, only the seventeen-story high-rise reminds us by name of the grand hotel bombed in the Second World War. Between Prinz-Albrecht-Straße (now Niederkirchnerstraße), Wilhelmstraße, and Anhalter Straße lay the control center of Nazi repression and crime policy from 1933 to 1945. At this historical site, where the headquarters of the Secret State Police (Gestapo), the headquarters of the SS Security Service, and from 1939 also the Reich Security Main Office were concentrated, the terror of the Nazi regime ruled. Since 1987, the permanent exhibition “Topography of Terror” has documented and informed about the dimensions of the murderous Nazi apparatus. Of the bunker and tunnel systems around and under Anhalter Bahnhof, the huge Reichsbahn bunker with two-meter-thick walls can still be visited today; it currently serves as a “Chamber of Horrors.”
It’s not just German history that has left its dense traces at this location. Directly in front of the Clemens-Höfe, where the hostel is located, is a piece of the Berlin Customs and Excise Wall, which replaced the medieval city wall and was built from the 18th century to monitor trade.
At the 18 customs gates, excise (direct consumption taxes on imported goods at the time) was collected; furthermore, this was intended to prevent smuggling as well as the desertion of soldiers from the Berlin garrison. The former wall that separated East and West Berlin for 28 years ran 200 meters north of the hostel. Referred to in the GDR as the “fortified state border,” its primary purpose was to prevent residents from fleeing the republic. Diagonally opposite the Berlin House of Representatives (former Prussian State Parliament), former remains of the wall, the “anti-fascist protective wall,” can be admired. Not far from here, David Bowie recorded his hit “Heroes” in the Hansa Studios in the Meistersaal, “the big hall by the wall.”
The area around the Three Little Pigs Hostel is an oasis for cultural refreshment. On Stresemannstraße, the stage curtain of the Hebbel Theater has been opening for over 100 years, currently one of the most important venues for contemporary theater in Berlin. The unique zigzag new building of the Jewish Museum, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind in the deconstructivist style, houses two millennia of German-Jewish history and changing exhibitions on art and everyday culture.
The Berlinische Galerie, as the “State Museum for Modern Art, Photography, and Architecture,” is located in a residential neighborhood where sculptures and installations prepare visitors for the unmistakable presence of a heightened experience. The museum repeatedly tries to combine significant historical artifacts with the creative contemporary scene: thus, the visitor encounters “Dada and Fluxus, New Objectivity and Expressionism, Russians in Berlin, the avant-garde in architecture and photography, Berlin under the swastika, the city in ruins, East Berlin and West Berlin,” and the metropolis after reunification.
The internationally known myth of the Kreuzberg district is based not only on the alternative projects that emerged in the shadow of the Wall and owe themselves to peaceful coexistence, but above all on the legendary squatting battles 30 years ago and the street battles between autonomists, riot tourists, and the police on May 1st since 1987. Opposite the Willy-Brandt-Haus (federal headquarters of the Social Democratic Party of Germany), a last relic of the self-managed left-wing projects of the extra-parliamentary opposition movement can still be found today: the Tommy Weisbecker Haus has been a self-managed housing collective since March 1973, which was occupied as a protest against Berlin’s housing and renovation policy and remains one of the few alternative projects reminding us of the nearly 100 occupied houses in Kreuzberg in the 80s.
Of course, despite the great public transport links, you can also reach the Three Little Pigs Hostel by car.
Set the address “Stresemannstr. 66, 10963 Berlin (Kreuzberg)” in your GPS to reach your destination easily.
Once you arrive, you can park on either side of Stresemannstraße. There is also free parking available in the neighboring streets.
Please keep the environmental zone in mind when arriving by private car!
Due to its central location, the Three Little Pigs Hostel is located within this zone.
You can find more information here
You can also conveniently order the environmental badge online: www.plakette24.de
It’s best to take care of this one or two weeks in advance so that the badge reaches you in time.
The hostel team wishes you a happy and relaxed journey!
Arrival at ZOB (Central Bus Station)
Arrival at Südkreuz (Station)
Arrival at Main Station
Take the RE20 or FEX train towards “Südkreuz”.
Get off at “Südkreuz” station.
Take the S2 S-Bahn towards “Buch” or the S25 towards “Hennigsdorf”.
Get off at “Anhalter Bahnhof” station.
Take the “Stresemannstraße/Martin-Gropius-Bau” exit.
Cross at the traffic lights and walk about 200 m straight ahead to the Three Little Pigs Hostel.
You’ll find us in the courtyard.
