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Like no other street, Oranienburger Straße, in the centre of the old Scheunenviertel, symbolizes the rise and fall of Jewish culture in Berlin. Traces of its Jewish past are visible all along the street, such as the Neue Synagoge and several Jewish cafés and restaurants (see Restaurants & Cafés) . Some 18th- and 19th-century buildings bear witness to the street’s former splendour – the Postfuhramt (see Central Berlin: Scheunenviertel) , for example, or the house at No. 71–72, built in 1789 by Christian Friedrich Becherer for the Grand Lodge of the Freemasons of Germany.

The New Synagogue, built in 1859–66, was once the largest in Europe. In 1938, it managed to survive “Reichskristallnacht” thanks to the vigilance of a brave guard, but it was damaged by bombs during World War II. Behind the Moorish façades are a prayer room and the Centrum Judaicum.

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.

Narrow Sophienstraße has been beautifully restored and now looks exactly as it did in the late 18th century. A number of shops and arts and crafts workshops are now based in the modest buildings and courtyards. Close by stands Sophienkirche, the first Protestant parish church, founded by Queen Sophie Luise in 1712. Next to the Baroque church is a small cemetery with some 18th-century tombs.

The ruins of the former Wilhelm-Einkaufspassagen, one of Berlin’s most elegant shopping centres dating back to the turn of the 20th century, have been transformed by artists into an alternative arts centre. It now houses workshops and cafés and offers a regular programme of events.

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) .

Many celebrities have found their final resting place in this charming cemetery, dating back to 1762. To the left of the entrance are the graves of Heinrich Mann (1871–1950) and Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956); further along stand the pillar-like tombstones of the philosophers Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814) and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831). On Birkenallee (left off the main path) you can see the graves of master builder Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841) and the architects Friedrich August Stüler (1800–65) and Johann Gottfried Schadow (1764–1850).

Bertolt Brecht, one of the 20th century’s greatest playwrights, lived here with his wife, Helene Weigel, from 1953–6. Original furnishings are on display alongside documents and photographs. There is also an archive of his work.

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.

The richly ornamented Postfuhramt (post office transport department) dates back to the 19th century. It is now an exhibition hall for alternative photography and art shows and a centre for performance art.