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(N)Ostalgia of the DDR

On 9 November 1989, East Berlin’s isolation from the West ended when the Berlin Wall came down. Although East and West have been reunited for almost 3 decades, some 'ostalgia' from this period has been preserved. Visitors to Berlin can embark on a Trabant safari, spend the night in an East-Berlin hotel and sample an old-fashioned DDR meal in a local restaurant.

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Berlin, 德國

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Trabant safari through Berlin

On the road with a Trabant

It’s hardly bigger than a biscuit tin on wheels but the Trabant is perfect for exploring Berlin. There are several locations throughout the city that rent out this symbol of former East Germany. Take a self-guided tour along the various Berlin attractions or participate in a Trabant safari, accompanied by a guide who will lead various cars around the city. The tour takes in several historical monuments and shows you important remnants of World War II and the DDR. Highlights include the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie and the East Side Gallery. A fun way to explore the city.

East German living room in the DDR Museum

Experience the DDR

To truly understand what life in East Germany was like, visit the DDR Museum in the Mitte district. Inaugurated in 2006, it has become one of the most visited museums of Berlin. The museum covers all aspects of life in the DDR such as education, work, school and economics. All the displays are interactive: visitors are allowed to touch everything, open cabinets and drawers, browse through sex-education booklets, and look and listen to espionage tapes. The DDR Museum offers an authentic glimpse into the past.

A taste of history

Guests can literally taste the past in DDR restaurant Domklause, located on the Spree. The restaurant is located on the same block as the infamous Palasthotel, where the Stasi would welcome its important guests during the days of the DDR, and recreates the hotel’s original recipes. Order a Ketwurst (also known as hot dog) or a Jägerschnitzel with pasta. After a hearty meal, relax in the Ostel, a hostel furnished with authentic DDR furniture at pre-capitalist rates - a double room costs 32 euro per night.

Good Bye Lenin!

For those who would like to know more about life in the DDR, we recommend watching the movie 'Good Bye Lenin!' (2003). The main character Alex has lived his entire life in East Berlin. When his mother, a strong supporter of Socialist East Germany, goes into a coma in October 1989 and wakes up again after the fall of the Wall, he has a big problem: her heart is weak and the new capitalist world could be fatal to her. To save his mother, Alex transforms their apartment into a socialist museum. His mother has no idea that anything has changed. The ploy works until his mother starts watching TV and gets out of bed.

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Nightlife

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Nightlife

Berlin is known as a city where you can party day and night. Germany’s capital boasts around 300 (legal) clubs so making a choice can be tough. One of the nightclubs on everyone’s list is Rosi’s, rated by various magazines as Berlin’s best club.

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Graffiti or street art: Berlin is home to plenty of it. Street artists use the city as their canvas and give Berlin the edgy look the city is famous for. The remnants of the Berlin Wall are especially popular to exhibit all kinds of creative talent. Whether you are in (the former) East or West Berlin, every neighbourhood is filled with street art. You can also take a special tour dedicated to the art of graffiti!

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Film lovers will have a great time in Berlin; every winter the city hosts one of the most important film festivals in the world, the Berlinale. During the rest of the year there is also plenty to entertain film buffs. Visit the set of classic science fiction film ‘Metropolis’ in the oldest film studio in the world. Or watch silent movies accompanied by live piano music in one of Berlin’s art cinemas. In addition to the large multiplex cinemas, there are many art cinemas that screen films in their original version.

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One of the islands in the Spree river is home to so much world-renowned art that UNESCO has placed it on the World Heritage list. According to the UN cultural commission, ‘the unique collection of buildings illustrates more than a century of modern museum design’. It began in the 16th century with the pleasure garden near the city castle, and now Museum Island is home to 5 of the world's most prestigious museums.

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No place has played such a prominent role in Berlin’s turbulent history as the Brandenburger Tor (Gate). This is where it all happened: Napoleon’s triumphal procession, Nazi parades and Hitler’s grim speeches, a no-man's land during the Cold War, JFK’s visit, Ronald Reagan's speech and the spontaneous street celebrations after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Dive into Berlin’s turbulent history at its only remaining city gate.

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One of Berlin’s most popular destinations, the Reichstag, is open for the public to visit free of charge. For many years the monumental construction didn’t serve the purpose for which it was built, but since the German reunification it is once again the seat of parliament. And what a spectacular building! After a massive restoration by architect Norman Foster, the famous glass dome offers a stunning 360 degree view of the city. A column of mirrors casts light into the parliament’s assembly hall.

Nightlife

Ask a Berliner to describe Berghain and you will hear a lot of different opinions: the queues are endless and the commanding bouncers practice a notoriously inscrutable door policy. And if you do manage to get inside the former East-German power plant, the place is expensive, hot and dark, but in compensation the club is enormous and ecstatic. Berghain is perhaps Berlin’s greatest club; many even say it’s the best techno club in the world.

Nightlife

No European city is as famous (and infamous) for its boundless nightlife as Berlin. Thanks to unrestricted opening hours the night never ends and nowhere more so than in Friedrichshain. During the Cold War this neighbourhood on the Spree River became derelict and shabby, but since the Wall came down it has been rejuvenated. Here you will find 3 nightclubs where you can let go of all inhibitions until early Monday morning.

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From a grassy air strip to the world's largest airport, and from a Prussian parade ground to a city park: no other airport has had such a turbulent history as Flughafen Tempelhof airport. In 1926, with 10 flights a day, this was Europe’s largest airport – even bigger than London, Paris and Amsterdam. When, during the Cold War, the Soviet Union blocked all access roads, West Berlin received all of its supplies by air via Tempelhof: the so-called 'Berlin Airlift'.

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Today, Berlin is an upbeat city where people live, work, shop and celebrate in freedom. However this has not always been the case. Only a quarter century ago, East-Germans were shot dead if they tried to flee to the free west, and only half a century ago the entire city was ablaze. Many of the scars have gradually disappeared, but there are still many places in the city that remind us of Berlin’s turbulent history.

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“Lots of small people in lots of small places doing lots of small things can change the face of the world.” This is written on what remains of the Berlin Wall. And that’s exactly what happened. It was not the rulers of the world but the regular people of Berlin who took down the Wall in 1989. An approximate 1-kilometre-long section of the wall has been preserved, which now – colourfully painted – forms the East Side Gallery. A vibrant and vivid protest.