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Before 1939, this was one of the most important Jewish streets, with several Jewish schools, the oldest Jewish cemetery in Berlin and an old people’s home. The latter achieved tragic fame during the Nazi period – the SS used it as a detention centre for Berlin Jews before transporting them to the concentration camps. A simple monument commemorates thousands of Jews who were sent to their death from here. To the left of the home is a Jewish school, on the site of an earlier school founded in 1778 by the Enlightenment philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729–86). To the right of the monument is the Jewish cemetery, where some 12,000 Berlin Jews were buried between 1672 and 1827. In 1943, the Nazis almost completely destroyed the cemetery. Only a few Baroque tombs, or masebas , survived; these are now embedded into the small original cemetery wall. The place presumed to be Moses Mendelssohn’s tomb is marked by a new monument.

This former secret police prison for “political” prisoners was in use until 1990. Before 1951, it served as a reception centre for the Red Army. On a guided tour, you can visit the watchtowers and the cells – particularly horrifying are the so-called “submarine cells”, rooms without windows used for solitary confinement, where inmates were interrogated and tortured.

The former headquarters of the much-feared “Stasi”, East Germany’s secret police, is now a memorial, commemorating the thousands of victims of the East German regime and of Erich Mielke, the minister in charge of the secret police. Visitors can see his offices, the canteen and various pieces of spying equipment, revealing the methods used by the Socialist big-brother regime.

This square, whose strict layout is reminiscent of an Italian Renaissance piazza , is probably the most beautiful in Berlin. To the left and right of Schauspielhaus – today’s Konzerthaus – stand the twin towers of Deutscher and Französischer Dom (German and French cathedrals), dating back to the late 18th century. Gendarmenmarkt, named after a regiment of gens d’armes stationed nearby, was built at the end of the 17th century, as a market square. The Schauspielhaus (theatre) on the north side of the square, built by Schinkel in 1818–21, was used as a theatre until 1945. Damaged in World War II, it was reopened as Konzerthaus (concert hall) in 1984. A statue of the playwright Friedrich Schiller stands in front of the building. Französischer Dom, to its right, is a prestigious Late-Baroque building; concealed behind it is the French Friedrichstadtkirche, a church serving Berlin’s Huguenot community. The Deutscher Dom opposite, built in 1708 on the south side of the square for the Reformed Protestant Church, did not receive its first tower until 1785. Today it has an exhibition on democracy in Germany.

Outside this red-brick church, dating back to 1891–3, East German secret police beat up peaceful protesters. It was the starting point for the collapse of the East German regime.

Japanese minimalism is the style that was chosen for this new building on Potsdamer Platz. The spacious rooms overlook the Marlene-Dietrich-Platz, but if this is too mundane for you, you can always enjoy the fantastic views of the entire city from the hotel’s Olympus Wellness-Club.

This famous Berlin theatre for children and young people has been showing the hit musical Linie 1 for over ten years. The play, which is best suited to older children and adolescents, tells of the exciting life in the big city, using a U-Bahn line running from East to West Berlin as a metaphor.

Großer Müggelsee, known as Berlin’s “bathtub”, is the largest of the city’s lakes, covering an area of 766 hectares (1,892 acres). Müggelsee is not as popular as Großer Wannsee, its West Berlin counterpart, mainly because it is so far from the centre, in the southeast corner of the city. The lake is known for the beer gardens on its south side, which can be reached by boat from Friedrichshagen. Further south, Müggelturm (tower) offers magnificent views over Berlin and the surrounding Brandenburg province. All around the lake there are excellent paths for walking and cycling. You can also swim in the lake, for example at the beach resort of Rahnsdorf.

The Großer Tiergarten is Berlin’s largest park, straddling an area of 200 hectares (494 acres) between the eastern and western halves of the town. Formerly the Elector’s hunting grounds, it was redesigned in the 1830s as a park by Peter Joseph Lenné. At the end of the 19th century, the Siegesallee was established in the east of the park, more than 500 m (1640 ft) in length, lined by the statues of monarchs and politicians. After World War II, the starving and freezing population chopped down nearly all the trees for firewood and dug up the lawns to grow food. Thanks to reforestation work since the 1950s, Tiergarten today has become Berlin’s favourite green space and the lungs of the city.

Berlin’s largest and most attractive group of restored commercial buildings, Hackesche Höfe extends between Oranienburger and Rosenthaler Straße and up to Sophienstraße in the east. The complex of buildings, comprised of nine interconnecting courtyards, was designed around the turn of the 20th century by Kurt Berndt and August Endell, two leading exponents of Art Nouveau. The first courtyard especially features elements that are typical of this style: geometric patterns are laid out in vibrant colours on glazed tiles, covering the entire building from the foundations to the guttering. What had lain in ruin after 1945 has now been carefully restored, and forms today one of the most popular nightlife centres in the city. Restaurants and cafés (see Pubs, Bars & Discos) , the Varieté Chamäleon (see Performing Arts Venues) , galleries and small shops have all settled in this area.