1. Ludwig Erhard Haus

Ludwig Erhard Haus is a steel-clad building with 15 elliptical arches. It was designed for the German Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Industrialists. The bizarre shape of this architecture is actually a triumphant result of the building restrictions while still maximizing the site. Currently, this unique structure in the city is home to IHK Berlin (or Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and financial institutions. This landmark got its name from the first Minister of Economics of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ludwig Erhard. He was deemed as the father of the social market economy after World War II.

Ludwig Erhard Haus

Address: Fasanenstraße 85, 10623 Berlin, Germany

Website: Ludwig Erhard Haus

2. Velodrom

In Berlin’s neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg is where you’ll find this famous indoor track cycling center. Velodrom is one of the city’s biggest venues for live events and holds up to 12,000 visitors. French architect Dominique Perrault designed this building that opened in 1997, several years after the demolition of the old structure on the same site, Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle. Velodrom is part of a bigger sporting complex, which includes a swimming pool, during Berlin’s application to be the venue for the 2000 Summer Olympics, which was unsuccessful.

Velodrom

Address: Paul-Heyse-Straße 26, 10407 Berlin, Germany

Website: Velodrom

3. Berlin State Opera

The Berlin State Opera opened in 1742 and was commissioned under Frederick II of Prussia after his ascension to the throne. The Opera house is located in the Mitte district of Berlin and until reunification is was the state opera house of East Germany. Since 2004 the building also incorporated the Berlin State Ballet.

Berlin State Opera

Address: Unter den Linden 7, 10117 Berlin, Germany

Website: Berlin State Opera

4. Bellevue Palace

Located in the Tiergarten district of Berlin the Bellevue Palace has been the official home of the president of Germany since 1994. Its neoclassical design is beautiful and although it has only been the president’s residence since 1994, it was first commissioned in 1786 as a summer residence for Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia. The surrounding area of this Berlin building is a park which gives the area a nice green space in the city.

Bellevue Palace

Address: Spreeweg 1, 10557 Berlin, Germany

Website: Bellevue Palace

5. Brandenburg Gate

Perhaps one of the most iconic symbols of Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate is an 18th-century neoclassical monument. The history of the gate dates back to the Frederick William II of Prussia who ordered the building of it on the area where the city gates once stood. One block north leads to the parliament building, the Bundestag. This monument in Berlin is the iconic symbol of the city but also one for Europe as a whole. It is a place where major historical events took place and are generally considered a symbol of peace and unity for Germany and Europe.

Brandenburg Gate

Address: Pariser Platz, 10117 Berlin, Germany

Website: Brandenburg Gate

6. Television Tower

Located near the Alexanderplatz, the futuristic-looking tower was built in the 1960s by the East German government as a symbol of Communist power in Berlin. The tower can be seen from as far as the Berlin suburbs and around most places in the city and on top of that, it is the tallest structure in Germany and the second tallest in the European Union. It is unsurprisingly used as a television and radio tower but it also houses a viewing deck and rotating restaurant. Get some of the best views in the city from this famous tower in Berlin!

Television Tower

Address: Panoramastraße 1A, 10178 Berlin, Germany

Website: Televison Tower

7. Berlin Wall

Although the Berlin Wall has been officially torn down there are in fact still a few places in the city where small sections of it still exist to serve as a reminder of Germany’s tumultuous past and as a symbol of reunification of East and West Germany. The wall served as a symbolic point of the cold war with socialist East Germany and capitalist west and when the fall fell in the 1990s, the USSR symbolically fell with it. The Wall was sometimes known as the “Wall of Shame” in the western portion of Berlin and was a physical manifestation of the Iron “Curtain” during the cold war.

Berlin Wall

Website: Berlin Wall

8. DZ Bank building

Designed by legendary architect Frank Gehry, the DZ Bank building is a multipurpose building located on the Pariser Platz facing the Brandenburg Gate. The construction of the building began in 1999 and was completed a year later. The building has a large atrium in the middle designed to be used as a conference space or performance area. The large glass ceiling is emblematic of Frank Gehry’s design and certainly is a cool building to check out especially for any architecture fans.

DZ Bank building

Address: Pariser Platz 3, 10117 Berlin, Germany

Website: DZ Bank building

9. Reichstag building

Another iconic building in Berlin is the Reichstag building. Used as the centre of German politics throughout the Imperial period, the building was from 1894 until 1933 when it was mysteriously caught on fire. The burning of the building was blamed on communists and used as anti-German propaganda which helped Hitler consolidate power. In the 1960s, this Berlin iconic building was refurbished and after unification was once again reused to house the German parliament, now known as the Bundestag.

Reichstag building

Address: Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin, Germany

Website: Reichstag building

10. Potsdamer Platz

Potsdamer Platz is an important public square in Berlin with a major traffic intersection. The square is located near the Brandenburg Gate as well as the Reichstag so you can visit all three locations in an afternoon. The space has been under development for a little over 100 years becoming a place of rural thoroughfares to one of the most modern and busy intersections in Europe. During WWII the intersection was completely obliterated and in disuse, and the former Berlin Wall ran through the location bisecting it in two.

Potsdamer Platz

Address: Potsdamer Platz, 10785 Berlin, Germany

Website: Potsdamer Platz

11. Berlin Tempelhof Airport

The Berlin Tempelhof Airport was one of the first airports in Berlin and although it is not used as much today, it has quite a bit of history surrounding it. In the 1930s the current government began a massive reconstruction of the airport anticipating a heavy use of the space and by the end of the war, it was a site of iconic Berlin airlifts from 1948-1949 delivering much-needed aid to the citizens of Berlin in the post-war era. Tempelhof’s main building was once one of the 20 biggest buildings on earth which also ironically had the smallest duty-free shops.

Tempelhof Airport

Address: Platz der Luftbrücke 5, 12101 Berlin, Germany

Website: Tempelhof Airport

12. Berlin Cathedral

The historic building was completed in 1905 after having started construction in 1451. It is a huge monolithic building located on Museum Island, which is one of the most romantic places in Berlin. Because the cathedral is not actually the seat of any bishop, the term Cathedral is not used in a literal sense in the context of the building.

Berlin Cathedral

Address: Am Lustgarten, 10178 Berlin, Germany

Website: Berlin Cathedral

Historic Berlin

Berlin is a centre for lots of history that took place in the last 100 years. The buildings, the culture and the experience you’ll have when visiting these iconic places are like no other. Its beach bars and markets are worth checking out. Be sure to visit the important places for not only people in Germany but Europe as a whole.