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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 sculptor and painter Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) portrayed the social problems of the poor, and her work provides a powerful, haunting commentary on human suffering. Kollwitz spent a large part of her life in a modest abode in the square that is now named after her, in the Prenzlauer Berg district. A monument recalls how she captured the lives of poor Berlin families, burdened with large numbers of children, and of social outcasts. Her Pieta now adorns the Neue Wache (see Unter den Linden) .

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.

A courtyard full of nooks and crannies, which is today occupied by a number of workshops, offices and cafés. Take a look at the richly ornamented staircases.

Large-scale installations by the resident artists are regularly on display at the alternative gallery space – a recent example was an entire artificial reed garden. The courtyard also has a café in the conservatory.

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.

The famous filmstar (1901–92), born in Schöneberg, began her career in Berlin in the 1920s. Her breakthrough came with the film The Blue Angel (1931). She lies buried in the Friedenau cemetery in Steglitz. Her personal possessions are exhibited in the Filmmuseum Berlin in the Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz.

The richly ornamented former museum of arts and crafts is one of Berlin’s most attractive exhibition centres (see Museums) .

Idyllic Mexikoplatz in the southern district of Zehlendorf is one of the most atmospheric and architecturally fascinating squares in Berlin. The two round green spaces in the centre are flanked by elegant semi-circular Art-Nouveau apartment blocks, and in front of these stands Berlin’s last remaining Art-Deco-style S-Bahn station. The yellow buildings are covered in green shingles and, in summer, the balconies are richly decked with greenery and flowers. Some of Berlin’s most magnificent mansion houses line both sides of Argentinische and Lindenthaler Allee. Many celebrities live in the area around the square.

The Museum of Natural History – one of the largest of its kind – has the world’s largest dinosaur skeleton: a brachiosaurus found in Tanzania. Also displayed are fossils, meteorites and minerals (see Museums) .