Car Hire Berlin - Mini guide to Berlin

Straddling the Spree river since the 13th century, Berlin held centre stage for much of the twentieth century. Divided for 45 years, today it is a modern city, with only a handful of preserved buildings, yet has a distinctive urban character as Germany’s heart - reflected in its grand public buildings, glorious museums and theatres, and its urban restaurants and raucous nightclubs and bars.

Taking centre stage is the infamous Brandenburg Gate, built in 1791. It’s an imposing structure that came to signify a divided Cold War Germany on the site of the much hated Berlin Wall. The wall has long since gone. Leaving behind it only the Checkpoint Charlie museum.

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche is one of the only remaining historic buildings, reconstructed after suffering heavy bombing during the War. More up-to-date is the Kulturforum, a cluster of top-notch museums and concert venues including the Berliner Philharmonie concert hall, and the adjacent smaller Chamber Music Hall. Standing a bit forlorn within the modern music complex is the neo-Romanesque confection of St Matthäikirche. The Picture Gallery boasts a plethora of European painting from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Other highlights include the Museum of Prints and Drawings and Museum of Applied Arts.

When in Berlin you simply can’t miss the Tiergarten, an enormous park smack in the city centre, dissected by a grand boulevard which is popular for gatherings of all kinds. Its full of ponds and running/rollerblading tracks, attracting Berliners in the summer. Nearby is Hitler’s bunker, for historians, more importantly Berlin has a reputation as one Europe’s most happening cities.