Berlin/Tiergarten

Tiergarten is a large district of central Berlin, situated squarely between the two main centres of interest to travellers, the Mitte and the Ku'Damm district. The area is dominated by the Tiergarten itself, the largest park in central Berlin.

See

Landmarks

Siegessäule (Victory Column). Want to feel like one of the angels in Wim Wenders' classic film Der Himmel über Berlin (a.k.a. Wings of Desire)? Climb to the top of Gold-Else, as the statue of Victory on the top of the Victory Column is known. Just don't jump off if you're not actually an angel. Else was moved to her present location by the Nazis, but was originally built to commemorate Prussian military prowess in the wars against Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1870-71). Five roads run into a traffic circle called Grosser Stern, in the center of which is the Siegessäule. Else is visible from much of the city district known as Tiergarten. At the base of the statue are reliefs of war scenes representing the conflicts which this monument memorializes. The Allies forced Germany to take those panels down in 1945, but they were remounted in 1984 and 1987.

the Reichstag - strictly speaking located in the Tiergarten district, though usually included in the Mitte district, on which borders it lies....

Museums and Galleries

the Gemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery) =>, Kulturforum, Matthäikirchplatz (Stauffenbergstraße 40), tel 030-2662101, fax 030-2662103, open Tu- Su 10 am - 6 pm, Th 10 am - 10 U-Bahn / S-Bahn Potsdamer-Platz, Bus 129, 341 (Potsdamer Brücke), 148, 348, (Kulturforum), 200 (Philharmonie), 248 (Potsdamer Platz) - The Gemäldegalerie contains an astounding array of paintings, including works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Goya, Velasquez and Watteau. The collection contains works from the old Bodemuseum on Museuminsel in the East, now closed, and the former Gemäldegalerie in Dahlem. Its strong points are German paintings of the 13-16th centuries, Netherlandish painting of the 15th and 16th centuries, Flemish paintings of the 17th century, and miniature paintings of the 16th-19th centuries. In the newer section of the museum, designed by architects Heinz Hilmer and Christoph Sattler, there is enough space to display 1,150 masterpieces in the main gallery and 350 in the studio gallery - of the almost 2,900 pieces in the European painting collections. Established in 1830, the newly built gallery from 1998 is situated at the Kulturforum complex and has about 7,000 sq m of exhibition space (a complete tour of the 72 rooms covers almost 2 km)

the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Applied / Decorative Arts) =>, Kulturforum, Matthäikirchplatz (Tiergartenstrasse 6), tel 030-2662902, fax 030-2662947, open Tu - Fr 10 am - 6 pm, Sa - Su 11 am - 6 pm, U-Bahn / S-Bahn Potsdamer-Platz, Bus 129, 341 (Potsdamer Brücke), 148, 348, (Kulturforum), 200 (Philharmonie), 248 (Potsdamer Platz) - the oldest museum of its kind in Germany which, despite great losses during the World War II, still possesses one of the world's primary collections of European applied art. There are two sections to the collection: one located at the Kulturforum in Tiergarten, the other at Köpenick Palace (re-opened 27th May 2004)

Do

The Tiergarten park is the site of the yearly Love Parade =>, when over a million ravers and spectators descend on the area. Trucks laden with sound systems roam up and down the park, gathering at dusk at the Siegesäule for a final free giant concert.