Berlin and visit the Christmas markets in 3 and a half days
The air is crisp, the streets are festooned, the smoke of mulled wine fills the air: and Christmas!
Although our beautiful city for 12 mesi anno, Unfortunately, to cultural issues, not have the characteristic Christmas markets which can be found in German-speaking countries (o anglosassoni).
What better opportunity to make a visit of just over 3 days in Berlin, capital of Germany?
The flights of Schoenefeld (the former East Berlin airport, presidiato easyJet and Ryanair) and Tegel (AirBerlin and flag carriers) that do not cost a few tens of Euros, and depart from, practically, all of Italy.
The wound produced by World War II First, and by division of Germany then, is still visible: old palaces of the socialist era, excerpts of the famous Wall, memorials. Everything speaks of Berlin that was (at least in the '900, seen that most of the old town, come Nikolaiviertel, was razed to the ground by bombing allies).
of Christmas markets but there are many, Personally, I found it far better than those of Genadrmenmarkt (where you can view photos of the beginning of the post, and whose access you pay 1 euro), of Bebelplatz (below, and where you can buy a great mulled wine), and Breitscheidplatz (two steps from KaDeWe department store).
Christmas Market Bebelplatz
The city, like all great German centers, is covered in a capillary by metropolitan (U Bahn), metropolitan railways (S Bahn), tram, bus, bike sharing, and so on, and so forth! The city (for tourists) is divided into two tariff zones (A/B ed A/B/C), and you can buy ticket singoli, daily, or subscriptions, through the machines of DB (German railways) or BVG, the public transport company.
Unless you land at the airport of Schoenefeld (from which you can reach Alexanderplatz by train RE7 in the direction Dessau, or with the S9 until Ostkreutz and then changing with the S7 train to Alexanderplatz), in the southern area of the city, tickets to the Info tariffaria A / B will be sufficient.
A this address, you can get a complete overview of the tariff system in Berlin, with a lot of mappe in PDF.
To visit, as I did, the cupola of Bundestag, it is necessary to book on the official website, A this address (the reservation is free of charge).
Regarding Museums and various attractions which provide for the’buying a ticket, and I logged into my itinerary (as the Pergamonmuseum, IL DDR Museum, IL Berlin Cathedral, access to torre TV di Alexanderplatz), I preferred save much time as possible, skip the queues, have lowest price possible, and buy them online… I suggest you do the same because, especially during the holidays, The queues can be quite long!
I leave a couple of videos that I shot in two of the main Christmas markets: Gendarmenmarkt, and Bebelplatz.
The photo of these 3 and a half days I spent in Berlin are located, Usual, in my gallery, A this address.
We are all 'route that I followed in these three and a half days, in textual form, assuming you arrive in the afternoon, then have FULL three days, and leave in the morning of the next day:
1 day (arrival in the afternoon – green balloons):
- Alexanderplatz
- Torre TV – Fernsehturm Alexanderplatz
- Fountain of Neptune
- Rotes Rathaus (Municipality)
- Nikolaiviertel (Originally a medieval quarter. Destroyed by war, was restored, and overlooking the river. Several local)
2 day (red balloons):
- Hack Hofe (Building complex designed by Kurt Berendt and August Endell, was started to build from 1906 and is an example of the German-style secession. E'costituito nine interlinked courtyards overlooked by tall buildings. Damaged during the Second World War has been the subject of recent renovations that have brought the buildings and courtyards to the original state. Today, the area is full of life and in courtyards are shops, restaurants, art galleries and a theater)
- Blindenwerkstatt Otto Weidt (Free Admission 10am-8pm) – (The Museum acconta the story of the blind workshop of Otto Weidt. Which, during the era of National Socialism, Jews were working blind and deaf under the protection of the small manufacturer Otto Weidt. Produced brooms and brushes for the Wehrmacht, for this reason the company was classified as “important for the armed forces”. The workshop rooms are kept largely in original, authentic trasmettonocosìun'impressione of that time. Photos, letters, documents and other objects tell the stories of life and the efforts of Otto Weidt who strove to protect its workers and its employees Jews from persecution and deportation.)
- Oranienburger Straße (One of the main streets of the city)
- New Synagogue Berlin – Visit the museum inside (Along with the Jewish Museum and the Memorial to the Victims of the Holocaust, is one of the main reference points on the Jewish world in the city. Built in 1866, is the largest Jewish place of worship in Germany and a powerful symbol of the vitality of its community. Today the building houses the Centrum Foundation Judaicum, established in 1995 to protect the memory and the Jewish tradition and serve as a center of study and training. The museum also houses an exhibition which displays objects found during the restoration of the 1989 (Torah and rotoli). Religious services were celebrated here until 1940, when the building was requisitioned. Three years later, bombing destroyed it almost completely.)
- Pergamon Museum (10am-6pm – The museum takes its name from the ancient city of Pergamon in Turkey where they were found most of the works on display. In fact, the museum houses three different collections: the collection of ancient art (Collection of Classical Antiquities), Museum of the Ancient Near (Middle East Museum), The Museum of Islamic Art (Museum of Islamic Art). WHAT TO SEE: The Pergamon Altar, in the collection of ancient art is the most important attraction of the museum. The Market Gate of Milet, another monumental reconstruction of the museum. The Ishtar Gate in Babylon, Asian front in the museum.)
- Berlin Cathedral (On the initiative of King Frederick William IV, it was decided to build a magnificent cathedral. The first stone of the cathedral was laid in Representative 1894 and the inauguration took place in 1905. during the Second World War, The cathedral suffered severe damage. Only in 1975, the GDR began the restoration work, that were concluded only 4 years after the change in 1993. Worth visiting are the Predigtkirche (Chapel of preaching) with the impressive dome, la Tauf- and wedding chapel (Chapel baptismal and marriage), la Imperial staircase (imperial staircase), la Hohenzollern crypt (the Hohenzollern crypt) with approximately 100 sarcophagi of four centuries, the Museum of the Duomo and is definitely worth climbing up to the dome, from where you can admire the center of Berlin.)
- DDR Museum (Orario 10am – 8pm)
- Marx Engels Forum (Marx-Engels-Forum is a public park. E'dedicato to the memory of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It was created by the authorities of the old German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1986)
- Council of State building (DDR State Council Building)
- Castle Bridge (Castle Bridge)
- Bebelplatz – Christmas markets (Here took place the burning of the books of the National Socialists as a result of which significant works of world literature, including works by authors such as Heinrich and Thomas Mann, Erich Kästner, Stefan Zweig, Heinrich Heine, Karl Max o Kurt Tucholsky sono state gettate tra le fiamme. You can see a library with shelves jammed into the ground you want that you can admire in the middle of Bebelplatz through an opening in the plastic.)
- Unter den Linden (One of the main streets)
- Friedrichstrasse
- Gendarmenmarkt – Christmas markets (Is perhaps the most majestic Gendarmenmarkt square in Berlin, best known for three distinctive buildings – il German Cathedral (German cathedral), il French Cathedral (French cathedral) and the Konzerthaus (concert hall) - Which together form a triptych unparalleled architectural. The two cathedrals are topped with two large domes, made in 1785 architect Carl von Gontard with the aim of further enhancing the two churches.)
- German Cathedral (Cathedral)
3 day (blue balls):
- Reichstag Building – Book a viewing for the early morning (8am to 11pm – To go up in the dome serves booking online – It is the parliament of the German Reich. It was inaugurated in 1894 and again became the seat of the German parliament in 1999)
- Brandenburg Gate
- Holocaust Memorial + Exibition Center (10AM – 8pm - Free)
- Soviet War Memorial (was built by the Red Army, and dedicated to the fallen in battle, immediately after having conquered and destroyed the Reichstag in Berlin)
- Zoo (go to the north of John Foster Dulles Allee and take the bus 100 verso S U Zoologischer Garten per 2 stops, to the Victory Column – Big Star)
- Victory Column
- Potsdamer Platz
- Sony Center
- PANORAMAPUNKT Berlin (There is a lookout for a fee on top of the building, which offers a splendid panorama)
- Martin-Gropius-Bau (The building was built in 1881, and designed by Martin Gropius, Neo-Renaissance Italian. Between the windows you can see symbols of German cities and friezes illustrating arts and crafts. Between the windows of the top floor panels are decorated with mosaics depicting allegories of the different cultures of the world)
- Topography of Terror (Free – external access to sunset. Former Gestapo headquarters. Project started in 1987 to document and investigate the system of terror established by the National Socialists in Germany and, following the war, even in countries gradually occupied)
- Checkpoint Charlie (old border area between the Soviet and the Western sectors of Berlin)
- Checkpoint Charlie Museum (9am to 10pm – Museum dedicated to the historical memory of the Berlin Wall)
- Ability to eat at Oranienplatz (Checkpoint Charlie, take the bus 29 verso You Hermannplatz - 6 stops)
4 day (Yellow balloons):
- East Side Gallery (Get off at the station Ostbahnhof. Beyond 1km of wall with graffiti restored historic, including those of the kiss between Brezhnev and Honecker and the Trabant that “breaks” il muro)
- Olympic Stadium (back to the Ostbahnhof station and take the S5 towards Spandau until S. Olympic Stadium) (10am to 6pm – 5eur viewing tour per studenti – Include accesso alla Bell Tower)
- Join the Bell Tower
- Kant road (Dalla Bell Tower, walking up to S. Pichelsberg and take the S5 to S. Hoppegarten and get off at S. Savignyplatz – 6 stops)
- Savignyplatz
- Theater des Westens (The theater was completed in 1896, and designed by Bernhard Sehring. The theater's facade blends neo-classical elements with Art Nouveau elements and elements of Palladian style)
- Breitscheidplatz – Christmas markets (The square is considered the center of the Neuer Westen (“new west”), the bourgeois commercial area built at the end of the nineteenth century)
- Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (Emperor Wilhelm II ordered the construction of the church in memory of his grandfather Wilhelm I, construction was carried out between the 1891 and the 1895 according to the project of Franz Schwechten. The building was built in the Romanesque Revival style. in 1943, during the Second World War, The church was severely damaged in an Allied bombing, that reduced the church to a lonely ruin)
- Tauentzienstraße
- KaDeWe (the largest stores in continental Europe)
- Wittenberg Platz (It is dedicated to the battle of Wittenberg 1813, fought against Napoleon's troops.)
GOOGLE MAP ON THIS TOUR: link
Unfortunately, there was no time to see many other interesting museums, as that of the Stasi, or one dedicated to computer (Computer Game Museum), but I'm sure you will not miss a chance to return!