This is one of those grand European architectural locations. Once you get anywhere near this area,…read morewhat you will find are great cathedrals, beautiful buildings, and a very large square. The center point of this area is the large square. My suggestion is that you go and stand in the center of it, look around, and study its true uniqueness. What you will experience is one of the best places to view the grandeur of historic Berlin. Around this very large square, what you will find, (occasionally), is that they will have marketplaces. These marketplaces are usually seasonally orientated. Meaning, if it's Christmas season, you will find a great selection of Christmas orientated items. The main reason you come here is not so much simply to go shopping or dining, of which there are a lot of places to check out around the surrounding area, but to go inside some of the structures, and truly bask in the architectural glory of the statues, the way the buildings were constructed, and all of that kind of stuff. This isn't really a highly-touristy Berlin location. Which, is a good thing. Meaning, you can come here and really bask in a historic Berlin, which is deeply rooted in history. It will provide you with the true flavor and culture of Berlin. Overall, I would suggest that you do go here. You just need to know what to expect. There's not necessarily a lot to do, unless you truly appreciate the finer elements of architecture. But, it's a great place to visit.

One visits Gendarmenmarkt to take in the local flavor. There are beautiful buildings and sculptures…read moreto view and appreciate. People come here to hang out with their families and loved ones. I especially enjoyed looking at the expressions on the faces of the sculptures within the gates of the church. The artist truly captures a feeling. I walked here from the hotel I was staying at and enjoyed lunch in the immediate vicinity. It is a place to visit when in Berlin.

Berliner Dom ist sehr groß und schön. We came here on our visit to Berlin. Walking from the Silent…read moreLibrary, on the Humboldt University campus, down Unter den Linden to the historical Cölln district of old Berlin. Given our family members who are clergy, we seem to visit churches wherever we go. But the Berliner Dom is special. It's to the former DDR credit that they allowed for its rebuilding in the 1950-60s. But for me, it's their music program and pipe organs that are most impressive. JS Bach also played here in the early 1700s and his sheet music was on display on our visit. See photos.

Beautiful and the biggest church in Berlin located on the museum island. It is very massive both…read moreoutside and inside...you have to pay for entrance and you can climb to the top to see 360 degree view of Berlin, worth it but it's 267 steps each way..no bathroom so go before climbing. Somehow I was there and there was a mass in German an I stayed 1/2 way and it was lovely. I'm not a church person but do appreciate the service. The building, the decor, the history itself is worth to check it out for sure. There are plenty of crypts within the church so you can check them outs along with shop and café upon exiting.

We thought long and hard about visiting this site…read more But for all the self agonizing, it was all for naught. Since today, it's just a gravel parking lot, for some local apartments. There are some signs you can read, which discuss the events of April 30th,1945. They have also put up some architectural drawings, of what Dear Leader's bunker looked like down below. So feel free to come here and as one Yelper puts it, walk all over his grave. But if may suggest, afterwards... please walk down to the Jewish Memorial (about 50 meters) and offer up a prayer of remembrance for all those who lost their lives. Nie wieder!

The fuhrer bunker is a must see when in Berlin but little to no effort has been put into telling…read morethe story. Many tourists stop here, some in organized groups, but there is really just a simple sign detailing what occurred here. This is all potential and should be improved, however I am mindful that, as a matter of public policy, the government does not wish to appear to be glorifying the issue.

We thoroughly enjoyed viewing the Fernsehturm from outside and seeing the views offered from the…read moreinside! Inside there are photos with points of interest numbered so you can look for specific Berlin landmarks from above. Going inside and up was very easy. We already had tickets we bought online, so we got in line for security as soon as we went in. Security was quick and kind, much like airport security. We were able to get on the elevator to go up almost immediately after security too. It was a bit busy up there, but there was more than enough room to walk around the entire viewing area and look for each point of interest we wanted to search for. We didn't have a long wait to get back into the elevator to go down when we were done either. There is a small store inside you can buy a souvenir from if you choose.

Although it's a complete tourist trap, when in Berlin, yes, I recommend visiting the Berliner…read moreFernsehturm. You cannot avoid seeing it from anywhere in Berlin. There is only one entrance, and you can purchase tickets on site. It cost $34.50 Euros for a standard ticket, which I felt is a little pricey. They search for weapons before you get in the elevator. If you look up while going up in the elevator, you get an interesting view of the interior. Once you get out of the elevator, you are allowed to roam all around and get a view of all of Berlin. There is also a bar, where I purchased a Latte Macchiato and Salzige Brezel. Even though my drink was machine made, it wasn't bad. The salted pretzel, however, was the driest pretzel I've ever eaten. The bartender was friendly, but a little slow. Seating is very limited. Only a handful of stools. After heading down in the elevator, I perused the gift shop. Didn't purchase anything though.

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was heavily bombed towards the end of war. What's left, is a…read moreliving memorial to the violence and destruction that the allies wrought upon this city. This church was a casualty but also a focal point for Berliners to rebuild. Sadly, when it comes to churches, everyone has their own opinion... which is why today, the ruins stand as a testimony to the destruction of the Second World War. But! The citizens did build a beautiful Kirche next to the ruins. The discussions are ongoing, on the next phase of the rebuild. Some eighty-five years after the end of the fighting. See the many, many photos of both the New, and old Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche. The new octagon sanctuary is magnificent! May I suggest you plan your visit around enjoying its beauty, splendor and peaceful solitude. You'll thank me later.

This is a review of the buildings and their setting alone; I'm not reviewing the church as a…read moreworshiping, political, or theological body. If you visit Berlin, you must visit the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The old church was built in the 1890s and largely destroyed by Allied bombing in 1943 during World War II. Like St. Nicholas Church in Hamburg, the ruins of the old church have been preserved as both a memorial and a statement against war and its devastating effects on society. Locally, it's referred to as The Hollow Tooth. The ruins are striking from a distance--especially the damaged spire--but they have removed the other parts of the church at very right angles so that when you're standing right next it, it doesn't feel like the result of bombing but, rather, construction. The new church's horrid bell tower and main building itself being right next to the old church (on either side) doesn't help either. Inside the old church, there are informational panels about the history and destruction of the church. There are also three important artifacts: a damaged statue and two crosses. The statue is of Jesus, and it used to be on the main altar of the church before it was destroyed. The first cross is made of nails that came directly from the roof of Coventry Cathedral in England, which was damaged by German bombing in 1940; there's so much symbology, both secular and religious, in the fact that the German damage to a British church became a gift of peace to a German church damaged by British bombs. The second cross is an icon donated by the Russian Orthodox Church, also highly theologically charged, as Soviet forces obliterated large eastern portions of the city (and raped scores of German women) during the Battle of Berlin, which ended the war in Europe but also led to the partition of the city between east and west and further untold suffering of its civilian population; in my mind, this cross is less an expression of pure solidarity among nations and more solidarity among different sects of Christianity, as the Soviet Union was officially an atheist country that was virulently and violently anti-religious, and it actively repressed the Russian Orthodox Church and all other churches. (One of my great uncles [probably technically a cousin] was a Jesuit priest who survived being sent to the labor camps in Siberia.) From the outside, the new church is only interesting because of its scale. A totally random visitor might ask Why did they build such a huge boxy glass thing right next to this old ruin, and what's inside? When I first went inside, though, it was one of the most striking transitions I've ever experienced, and I've been to many churches. The stained-glass windows comprise these tiny square panes, which you can see from the outside but which look like plain glass blocks rather than beautiful liturgical art. And maybe that's the point; Jesus didn't come as a conquering king but as the child of a poor family. What looks ugly and plain from the outside is breathtaking inside. It's a good reminder for all of us, especially those of educated in Jesuit institutions, to find God in all things, no matter how off-putting or insignificant-seeming. The floor tile is also beautiful and really well done. Almost everything about the interior of the new church is interesting at first and even better when you've spent some time looking at it. The old and new churches have a prominent location on the Kurfürstendamm, a huge street with lots of shops in Breitscheidplatz, south of the world-famous zoo. When the city was still divided, this was Berlin's city center, but within all of reunited Berlin, it's part of the Zoo Quarter, which is in the western part of the city. It still feels important, but I can imagine that especially at the height of the Cold War the damaged church spire was a constant reminder of what could happen again at any moment. As it's easy to imagine, damaged buildings require a great deal of maintenance so that they don't collapse completely. In another sign of former enemies reconciling, one of the champions of raising money to maintain the old church's structural integrity was Charles Jeffrey Gray, a former British bomber pilot who flew bombing raids over Berlin during World War II.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a memorial that opened in 2005 and remembers the six…read moremillion Jewish victims of the Holocaust. It consists of the Field of Stelae designed by Peter Eisenman and the underground Information Centre. Admission is free. I did not go into the underground information center, but as part of a self-arranged group tour, I did walk among some of the 2,710 concrete slabs. My tour guide explained that the concrete slabs were hollow in the center and that the precipitation and cold weather was causing cracks in some slabs. I appreciated walking through and viewing the thousands of concrete slabs, which were artistically staggered, and remembering the Jewish victims.

Yelp asks "How would I rate my experience here and how many Stars would I give it?" After a couple…read moreof thousand reviews, I find we were completely speechless here. Later in our Viking trip, we visited both Birkenau and Auschwitz. Those visits and here, are bookends to horrors of hate and the decent into humanities worst period of cannibalisms. I phrase it like that, because the people of that period, consumed and devoured the living nightmare of hate, as if it was to purge the world of group(s) of people they just didn't like, didn't understand and wanted to eradicate. So this place is a memorial of their memory, but also a reminder of what happens, when we allow Hate to devour our humanity and our souls. Five Stars and hopefully, never again! But I/we know better.... Seattle, Christopher Straße Tag...