The temple-like Alte Nationalgalerie focuses on 19th-century European art, while the island's top drawcard, the Pergamonmuseum, displays monumental architecture from ancient worlds, including the stunning Ishtar Gate from Babylon. Behind it, the Neues Museum showcases the Egyptian collection, most famously the Nefertiti Bust, and also houses the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte (Museum of Pre- and Early History). The first facility to open was the Altes Museum, which presents Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities. Spread across five buildings constructed under Prussian rulers, Berlin's most important treasure trove spans 6000 years’ worth of art, artifacts, sculpture and architecture from Europe and beyond. Museumsinsel is situated on the northern half of Spreeinsel, a small island in the River Spree, where Berlin's settlement began in the 13th century. Welcome to Museumsinsel (Museum Island), a one-of-a-kind collection of five grand museums capturing diverse cultures and historical periods through rare artifacts. Walk through ancient Babylon, meet an Egyptian queen, clamber up a Greek altar or be mesmerized by Monet's ethereal landscapes. Size-wise, Berlin is pretty big but its key areas are wonderfully compact and easily navigated on foot, by bike or with public transport. Cafes are jammed at all hours, drinking is a religious rite and clubs keep going through the weekend into Monday. Locals and expats follow the credo 'live and let live' and put greater emphasis on personal freedom and a creative lifestyle than on material wealth and status symbols. Laid-back Lifestyleīerlin is a big multicultural metropolis but deep down it maintains the unpretentious charm of an international village.
BERLIN STRINGS VS METROPOLIS ARK 1 FULL
Highbrow, lowbrow and everything in between – there’s plenty of room for the full gamut of cultural expression. Top international performers still grace Berlin's theatre, concert and opera stages international art-world stars like Olafur Eliasson and Jonathan Meese make their home here and Clooney and Hanks shoot blockbusters in the German capital. Although the last two of these are definitely a thing of the past. In the last 20 years, the city has become a giant lab of cultural experimentation thanks to a spirit that nurtures and encourages new ideas as well as to once abundant space and cheap rent. When it comes to creativity, the sky’s the limit in Berlin, which is one of Europe's big start-up capitals. From tiny basement clubs to industrial techno temples, chestnut-canopied beer gardens to fancy cocktail caverns, saucy cabarets to ear-pleasing symphonies – Berlin delivers hot-stepping odysseys, and not just after dark and on weekends but pretty much 24/7. The city's vast party spectrum caters for every taste, budget and age group. Sometimes it seems as though Berliners are the lotus-eaters of Germany, people who love nothing more than a good time. Party Paradiseįorget about New York – Berlin is the city that truly never sleeps. Berlin is like an endlessly fascinating 3D textbook where the past is very much present wherever you go. This is a city that staged a revolution, was headquartered by Nazis, bombed to bits, divided in two and finally reunited – and that was just in the 20th century! Walk along remnants of the Berlin Wall, marvel at the splendour of a Prussian palace, visit Checkpoint Charlie or stand in the very room where the Holocaust was planned. High on Historyīismarck and Marx, Einstein and Hitler, JFK and Bowie, they’ve all shaped – and been shaped by – Berlin, whose richly textured history confronts you at every turn. Berlin's combo of glamour and grit is bound to mesmerise all those keen to explore its vibrant culture, cutting-edge architecture, fabulous food, intense parties and tangible history.