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Berlin’s best-known landmark on Pariser Platz leads through to Unter den Linden (see Brandenburger Tor & Pariser Platz) .

This branch of the American Guggenheim museum, together with the Deutsche Bank branch Unter den Linden, show changing exhibitions of modern art of the highest standard from the US. During recent years, Deutsche Guggenheim has thus managed to become one of the most successful and popular art venues in the city, with an emphasis placed on installations. In 1999, the retrospective of works by Dan Flavin was a particular highlight. Treasures from the Deutsche Bank archives are also shown here. Pop into the small museum shop and refresh yourself with a coffee from the museum café.

The historic structures of this architectural complex in Unter den Linden are among the finest attractions in Berlin. From 1740, Frederick the Great commissioned the prestigious Early-Neo-Classical buildings for the area around today’s Bebelplatz, and personally influenced their design: Deutsche Staatsoper, the first free-standing opera house in Europe; Catholic St Hedwigskathedrale, Alte Bibliothek and Prinz-Heinrich-Palais, later the Humboldt University. Bebelplatz itself is particularly interesting. A memorial set into the ground reminds of its dark past – in 1933, it was the venue for the Nazi book burning. Frederick’s successors commissioned Altes Palais and a memorial statue of “the old Fritz”, surrounded by “his” buildings. Christian Daniel Rauch created the 13.5-m (44-ft) high equestrian bronze figure in 1840. It portrays Frederick the Great wearing his trademark tricorn hat and coronation mantle and carrying a walking stick. The statue has always turned its back to the east – but wags claim that the East German government mistakenly set up the figure the wrong way around.

Friedrichstraße has risen to some of the glamour and vibrancy it possessed before World War II. Today, Berlin’s Fifth Avenue once again boasts elegant shops, and some upmarket restaurants and cafés, which have opened here in recent years. Especially worth visiting are the three Quartiers 205, 206 and 207 within the Friedrichstadtpassagen, containing the Galeries Lafayette store and Department Store 206 respectively. At the northern end of the street is the famous Dussmann store (books, music, events), S-Bahn station Friedrichstraße, as well as the former entertainment district with the Friedrichstadtpalast, today housing the Metropoltheater.

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.

This new memorial, officially called “Memorial to the Killed Jews of Europe”, serves as Germany’s national Holocaust memorial. After years of debate, US star architect Peter Eisenman completed the memorial in 2005. It is comprised of a large field with dark grey steles of varying heights up to 2 m (6 ft) high, which symbolize the six million Jews and others murdered by the Nazis in their concentration camps between 1933 and 1945. Underneath the memorial there is an information centre which explains the causes and history of the genocide.

The world’s largest Post Office Museum was opened as early as 1872. Its excellent displays document the history of communication from the Middle Ages via the first postage stamps to today’s satellite technology. Particularly worth seeing are a blue and a red Mauritius stamp, one of the first telephone installations (dating back to the year 1863) and three talking robots who interact with the visitors. Children – young and old – always enjoy the Computergalerie, where they can learn and gain new insights while playing.

Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Sight, is one of the most important complexes of museums in the world, holding major arts collections and imposing full-scale ancient structures. Based here are the Pergamonmuseum, the Alte Nationalgalerie (the old national gallery), Bodemuseum and Altes and Neues Museum. The Neues Museum will reopen in 2008 (see Pergamonmuseum) .

Today Schlossplatz seems deserted, but once the Stadtschloss (town residence) of the Hohenzollerns stood here. It was blown up by the East German government in 1950–51, and today just a few historic fragments of the original remain. The debate about the reconstruction of the palace began in the early 1990s and, in 1993, a spectacular model was built; however the costs are prohibitive and make it unlikely that this venture will ever succeed. Remains include the façade of the doorway where Karl Liebknecht supposedly proclaimed the Socialist Republic in 1918. The portal has been incorporated into the former Staatsratsgebäude on the south side of the square. On its eastern side, Schlossplatz is bordered by the Palast der Republik (palace of the republic), the former seat of the East German parliament. The building, dating from 1976, will be torn down in the near future.

In imperial Berlin, the centre of the German Empire’s governmental power was based in Wilhelmstraße. Around 100 years later, nothing remains of the prestigious historic buildings which represented the equivalent of No. 10 Downing Street in London or Quai d’Orsay in Paris. All political decisions were made at Wilhelmstraße: both Chancellor (No. 77) and President (No. 73) of the German Reich lived here in old town houses. Their gardens became known as “ministerial gardens”. Adolf Hitler had the street systematically developed into the nerve centre of Nazi power. The Neue Reichskanzlei (the Chancellor’s office) was built in 1937–9 to plans by Albert Speer, at the corner of Vossstraße and Wilhelmstraße. It was blown up in 1945. Behind the Reichskanzlei was the so-called “Führerbunker” where Adolf Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945 (today it is a playground). Of the historic buildings, only the former Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Ministry of Aviation) remains. Today, Wilhelmstraße is lined by modern office buildings; and the British Embassy, built in 2000 by Michael Wilford, creates a link with the international importance of this street.