Where the Wall ran
The deadly border strip was here only three decades ago.
Flocci Nivis — CC BY 4.0 · Perituss — CC0 · Andrzej Otrębski — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anil Öztas — CC BY-SA 4.0
A public park on the bend of the Spree directly behind the Reichstag, in the heart of Berlin's government quarter. Its position carries heavy history: this area was cut through by the Berlin Wall, and here ran the deadly border strip between the city's two halves. After reunification the area was entirely rebuilt as the new government quarter, and the park is part of that project. That means you are standing in a quiet green space that three decades ago was an uncrossable line of division. The park itself is modern in design: open lawns, young trees and paths, with no complication. It is used by government-quarter staff, residents and Reichstag visitors to sit. Around it stand Berlin's most notable contemporary buildings: the Reichstag with its glass dome, the Chancellery, and the modern parliamentary building on the river. Free and always open, it is the best place to sit after visiting the Reichstag or while waiting for an entry slot.
The deadly border strip was here only three decades ago.
The Reichstag, the Chancellery and the modern parliament building all around you.
The space sits on the Spree's turn, with the bank walk running from it.
On the bend of the Spree behind the Reichstag
Futurium — House of FuturesThe Futurium is a museum of a single question: how do we want to live? No antiqu3 minutes walk4.5
Platz der RepublikPlatz der Republik is the wide green lawn stretching in front of the Reichstag. 5 minutes walk4.7
Reichstag BuildingThe Reichstag is the seat of the German parliament and one of Berlin's most impo6 minutes walk4.8
Berlin Museum of Medical HistoryThe Museum of Medical History at the Charité hospital is built on a collection a6 minutes walk4.7
Hamburger Bahnhof — Museum of Contemporary ArtA nineteenth-century railway terminus turned into Berlin's leading contemporary 9 minutes walk4.2The visit is free but requires advance registration on the official site days ahead — sometimes weeks in season — with passport details. There is no entry without it. Visitors climb the glass dome on a spiral ramp, the view over Berlin is excellent, and an audio guide is included.
The Brandenburg Gate is five minutes away, with the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe behind it, and the vast Tiergarten to the west. The Spree bank walk runs east towards Museum Island. All of it on foot in one area.