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Germany’s largest history museum, reopened in 2003, provides an overview of more than 1,000 years of German history. Housed in the Zeughaus – the royal arsenal built in 1706 – it is the oldest and, architecturally, the most interesting building in the avenue Unter den Linden (see Deutsches Historisches Museum) .

The richly ornamented National Opera House is one of Germany’s most attractive. Neo-Classical in style, it was built by von Knobelsdorff in 1741–3 as Europe’s first free-standing opera house, to plans devised by Frederick the Great himself (see Performing Arts Venues) .

Designed by Georg W von Knobelsdorff in 1740–2 and modelled on the Pantheon in Rome, this is the seat of the Catholic archdiocese in Berlin. Frederick the Great commissioned the cathedral to appease Catholics in Berlin after conquering Silesia (see Churches & Synagogues) .

Berlin’s oldest and most highly regarded university was founded in 1890, on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt. Twenty-nine Nobel Prize winners were educated here, including Albert Einstein.

The central German memorial for all victims of war was created in the years 1816–8 and designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. An enlarged reproduction of the moving Pietà sculpture by Käthe Kollwitz stands in the centre of the room.

The Neo-Classical Palais, built in 1732–3 by Philipp Gerlach, was originally a residence for the heirs to the Hohenzollern throne. After World War I it became an art museum, and after 1948 the East German government housed state visitors there. Until 2003 it was used for exhibitions of the Deutsches Historisches Museum opposite.

Originally named Opernplatz, this wide, open space was designed by Georg W von Knobelsdorff as the focal point of his Forum Fridericianum. The elegant square was meant to introduce some of the splendour and glory of ancient Rome to the Prussian capital. In May 1933, it became the scene of the infamous Nazi book burning.

The charming building next to the Staatsoper, built in 1733–7, served as a palace for the princesses.

The gigantic Russian Embassy, built in Stalinist “wedding-cake style”, was the first building to be constructed in Unter den Linden after World War II (see Best of the Rest) .

One of Christian Daniel Rauch’s grandest sculptures, this statue shows the “Old Fritz” (13.5 m/45 ft high) on horseback, wearing a uniform and tricorn hat (see Central Berlin: Unter den Linden) .