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A landmark in West Berlin, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church successfully combines modern architecture with the ruins of the church tower (see Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche) .

The aluminium sail on top the KapHag-Group’s headquarters, built by Josef Paul Kleihues in 1992–5, has become a symbol of the new Berlin. Originally, the structure was to be built one-third higher than it is now, but the plans were vetoed by the Berlin Senate.

The Concert Hall, one of Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s masterpieces, was until recently known as Schauspielhaus (theatre). The building has a portico with Ionic columns, and a large number of statues of allegorical and historical personages, some riding lions and panthers, as well as deities, muses and bacchants.

The seat of the Berlin Stock Exchange, Ludwig-Erhard-Haus was designed by the British architect Nicholas Grimshaw in 1994–8. Locals call it the “armadillo”, because the 15 giant metal arches of the domed building recall the giant animal’s armour.

Work started in 1270 on the Church of St Mary, which nestles at the foot of the Fernsehturm. Gothic and Baroque in style, it has an impressive Neo-Gothic tower, added in 1790 by Carl Gotthard Langhans. The font (1437) and the fresco Dance of the Dead (1485) are among the church’s oldest treasures. The richly ornamented Baroque pulpit was created by Andreas Schlüter in 1703.

This impressive low building with its huge windows was built in 1965–8 according to plans by Mies van der Rohe. It was the first building to be designed by the pioneering Bauhaus architect after his emigration to the USA. He was able to make use of his earlier designs for the Havana headquarters of the Bacardi company, which had been abandoned following the Cuban Revolution.

Berlin’s largest synagogue, built originally in 1859–66, was demolished in World War II but completely reconstructed in 1988–95. Its magnificent dome is visible from afar (see Central Berlin: Scheunenviertel) .

Berlin’s oldest sacred building, the Church of St Nicholas was built in 1230, in the Nikolaiviertel. The present church, with its red-brick twin towers, dates from around 1300. It is particularly famous for the portal on the west wall of the main nave, created by Andreas Schlüter. It is adorned with a gilded relief depicting a goldsmith and his wife. The church was rebuilt in 1987 and today houses parts of the municipal museum.

No other new embassy building has caused as much of a stir as the five embassies of the Scandinavian countries: the green shutters open and close depending on the amount of available light.

Two modern concert halls in the Kulturforum were designed by Hans Scharoun in 1961 and 1987 respectively – the Chamber Music Hall was completed according to Scharoun’s plans by his pupil Edgar Wisniewski. Both buildings are renowned for their excellent acoustics as well as for their tent-like roof structures (see Kulturforum and; Performing Arts Venues).