Tom Abbott’s Berlin - An insider’s view of Germany’s ever-changing capital

Fly from London Heathrow to Berlin (British Airways) at c. 11.00am. The symbolic centre of West Berlin, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was only partly restored after Allied bombing as an anti-war monument. An adjacent modern church by Egon Eiermann, consecrated in 1962, has walls made up of 20,000 panels of stained glass. Still in the ‘60s, the Bikinihaus, Germany’s first ‘concept mall’, is part of a listed building complex in the zoological garden area.

Berlin has engaged with its troubled history with as much energy as its dynamic present. Political scars are dramatically addressed in Bernauer Strasse at the Berlin Wall Memorial, by architects Kohlhoff & Kohlhoff. The Chapel of Reconciliation, replacing a 19th-century church cleansed from the former ‘death strip’, provides an ethereal monument (by Peter Sassenroth and Rudolf Reitermann and Austrian clay artist Martin Rauch). The Friedrichstraße station was from 1962 the crossing point from East to West; known as the Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears) it now houses an exhibition documenting the fates of those who passed through its doors.Visit the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm (1892), home to the Berliner Ensemble company, established in 1949 by Bertolt Brecht. 

Drive west to Grünewald and visit the Brücke Museum with its Expressionist art collection. Close by is Kunsthaus Dahlem, a NS-atelier turned post-war modern art and sculpture museum. Return to central Berlin along Königsstraße, taking in the turn-of-the-century Grünewald villas and the Kurfürstendamm. Final stop of the day is dedicated to the Humboldt Forum, housed in the new Berlin Palace, which focuses on intercultural dialogue, and provides a range of perspectives on globally significant issues, both historical and contemporary.

Begin with the AEG Turbine Factory, a turning point in architectural history designed by Peter Behrens. Continue to Charlottenburg to see the excellent collection of Expressionist works by Käthe Kollwitz on display in the former Theater wing of the palace. In the afternoon visit the Berlinische Galerie, showcasing art made in Berlin between 1871–2025. Potent and symbolic, the Reichstag is a ponderous 1880s structure scarred by the vicissitudes of the 20th century, now brilliantly rehabilitated by Norman Foster and topped by the famous glass dome. Dinner is at the rooftop restaurant. 

See the Marienkirche, Berlin’s oldest parish church, with a 20-metre Dance of Death fresco (c. 1485), and the beautiful Baroque Lutheran Sophienkirche. A vibrant Jewish community developed around Hackescher Markt in the 19th century, and in 1866 the ‘New’ Synagogue was built on Oranienburger Straße. Return to London Heathrow c. 4.00pm