The Making of Baumkronenpfad Beelitz-Heilstätten video from Thomas Kaser provides impressions from the construction process of the new treetop walkway at the abandoned sanatorium just outside Berlin. The video contains lots of drone footage giving a good overview of the sheer scale of the buildings and vastness of the woodland covered by the old Beelitz-Heilstätten. […]
Giant Penis Relief Sculpture – Friede sei mit Dir
I’ve seen some bizarre art in my time but Friede sei mit Dir by Peter Lenk – a relief sculpture of a giant penis on Rudi-Dutschke-Strasse in Berlin is about as strange as it gets. As the artwork is only a short walk from Checkpoint Charlie this is always a bit of light relief from […]
Baumkronenpfad Beelitz-Heilstätten – Treetop Walkway and Abandoned Sanatorium
The Baumkronenpfad Beelitz-Heilstätten is a treetop walkway that winds its way for 320m over, between and around the buildings at the abandoned sanatorium just outside Berlin. The history of the Beelitz-Heilstätten began in 1898 when the Landesversicherungsanstalt Berlin (the state insurance institute for Berlin) bought an approximately 140-hectare parcel of woodland from the town of […]
Gedenkstätte Günter Litfin – A Watchtower Turned Memorial
In a quiet cul-de-sac in Mitte alongside the Berliner-Spandau Schiffahrtskanal (Berlin Spandau Shipping Canal), the Gedenkstätte Günter Litfin is a former border watchtower has been lovingly restored as a memorial to Günter Litfin, one of the earliest victims of the Berlin wall and I’m sad to say I would advise you not to visit. Having described the […]
Schloss Charlottenburg – Aerial Footage
My parents were in Berlin last week and top of their must-see list was the interior at Schloss Charlottenburg, built in 1699 as a summer palace for Sophie Charlotte, by her husband, Friedrich I, then Friedrich III, the Elector of Brandenburg. We visited the Palace Gardens at Schloss Charlottenburg during their last visit in the […]
Going Local Berlin – New App From visitBerlin
Last week visitBerlin launched a new app, Going Local Berlin, full of hundreds of tips to help tourists and locals get the most out of the city. “The new app offers personal tips from Berlin insiders”, says Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin. “Our goal is to provide new ideas for the increasing number of repeat […]
Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted Under the National Socialist Regime
Recognising the intolerance of Hitler’s regime for same-sex couples and the violence gay men and women suffered during the Nazis’ reign, the Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted Under the National Socialist Regime, designed by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, is a monument and art installation on the edge of the Tiergarten in Berlin. The resolution […]
Bearpit Karaoke – Sonntags Karaoke im Mauerpark
Sonntags Karaoke im Mauerpark or Bearpit Karaoke as it is commonly known has grown from an innovative busking idea into an internationally known regular entertainment event and Berlin guidebook staple. It all started in 2009 when Joe Hatchiban (real name Gareth Lennon) rode around Berlin with some friends and a Karaoke machine. One of the […]
Tag der Deutschen Einheit (The Day of German Unity)
3 October 2014 marks the 24th anniversary of the re-unification of Germany, celebrated each year with a public holiday for Tag der Deutschen Einheit (The Day of German Unity). Ask any non-German when the country was reunified and they will probably tell you 1989. The images beamed around the world on 9 November 1989 of […]
Soviet War Memorial in Schönholzer Heide in Berlin
Honouring the Soviet soldiers who died in the Second World War was obviously of huge importance to Joseph Stalin – in Berlin alone there are 4 memorials, one of which is the Soviet War Memorial in Schönholzer Heide (Das Sowjetische Ehrenmal in der Schönholzer Heide). It may not be as centrally located as the Soviet War […]