g Experience Berlin g Contents

ALEXANDERPLATZ

t Visitors on the spiral staircase at the Ephraim-Palais

Introduction

Area Map

Must See

Experience More

A Short Walk

Experience Alexanderplatz

This area is the historical centre of the city, as it includes the site where the settlement of Berlin was first established in the 13th century. Traces of Berlin’s earliest history can still be found here, including the city’s oldest surviving church – Marienkirche, founded in 1280 – and the reconstructed old town around Nikolaiviertel. The area still offers cosy mews and alleys, which are surrounded by postwar high-rise blocks.

The legacy of East Berlin is also particularly strong in the architecture around Alexanderplatz. The GDR regime replaced the huge apartment buildings and department stores just to the north with a square, Marx-Engels-Forum and the Fernsehturm, which can be seen from almost anywhere in the city.