Berlin, Germany: Xantener Eck; restaurant review + hotel review

Xantener Eck  

Xantener Strasse 1, (0 30) 8 83 90 14. B-L-D daily (opens at 9am). 

In business here since 1907, the cozy corner beer pub Xantener Eck; serves up great brew and inexpensive traditional German fare.  

interior of Xantener Eck restaurant in Berlin, Germany

Pension HotelPension Rheingold  

Xantener Straße. 9, + 49(0)30 885961-0.  Includes breakfast.  

This attractive, well-priced B&B-style lodging is just a few doors away.  

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image c2012 Carole Terwilliger Meyers  

Berlin, Germany: Hasenecke + Currywurst; restaurant review

Currywurst 

is one of Berlin’s most famous and beloved dishes. It is said to have been “invented” in the late 1940s and became popular with construction workers rebuilding the city.

currywurst served at Hasenecke cart in Berlin, Germany

●Hasenecke  

Savignyplatz, 0173/233 9997.

This cheery little currywurst cart is near this S-Bahn station. At Hasenecke the wurst is cut in pieces, sprinkled with curry powder, and topped with a sauce. Fries are available either with ketchup or mayo. It is the favored fast food of Berliners and makes a great meal to take back to your hotel.

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image c2011 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Berlin, Germany: Jewish Museum Berlin/Jüdisches Museum Berlin; things to do

Jewish Museum Berlin/Jüdisches Museum Berlin 

Europe's largest Jewish museum is housed in a stunning zinc-plated building nicknamed "the silver lightning bolt." Interior spaces are intended to disorient visitors, and the empty Holocaust Void in the center represents the world’s great loss from that event. Still, the Jewish Museum Berlin/Jüdisches Museum Berlin  can at times feel cozy. Exhibits center on Judaism and Jewish life, the Holocaust, and the post-World War II rebuilding of Jewish life in Germany.

exterior of Jewish Museum Berlin/Jüdisches Museum Berlin in Germany

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image c2011 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Berlin, Germany: MUSEUM ISLAND/Museumsinsel; things to do

MUSEUM ISLAND/Museumsinsel 

A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999, the MUSEUM ISLAND/Museumsinsel museum enclave is bordered by the River Spree and Kupfergraben. It consists of five state museums with world-class collections ranging from classical antiquities to 20th-century paintings and sculpture.

Bode-Museum Monbijoubrucke  

030-266 3666. 

Long closed for restoration, the grand Bode-Museum Monbijoubrucke is now open with enlarged exhibits, better lighting, and more viewer-friendly exhibitions. The interior itself is as interesting as the collections, with two spectacular dome rooms, marble floors, high ceilings, colorful walls, and large windows providing lovely views to outside. Sub-collections include the Museum of Byzantine Art (displays of early Christian sarcophagi, Coptic and Byzantine sculpture, icons, and even gravestones dating from the 3rd through the 18th century), the Sculpture Collection (exhibits magnificent pieces from ancient churches and monasteries, including a 1490 sandstone pulpit support by Anton Pilgram carved in the shape of a medieval craftsman. The Numismatic Collection/Coin Collection is exceptional.

exterior of Bode-Museum Monbijoubrucke in Berlin, Germany

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image c2011 Carole Terwilliger Meyers 

Berlin, Germany: Checkpoint Charlie; things to do

Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin

Checkpoint Charlie is the most famous crossing point, where people moved from East to West when the Wall was up. Now, two “soldiers” stand guard but mostly get their pictures taken with elated tourists for an informal two-Euros tip. What is that all about?

Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, Germany

 

Cafe Adler 

206 Friedrichstraße, 030/2518965

Stop for a drink and some lentil soup across the street at the historic Cafe Adler, once frequented by Westerners trying to catch a peek of East Berlin.

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image c2010 Arline Inge

Berlin, Germany: Topography of Terror; things to do

Topography of Terror  

Along Niederkirchner Strasse (formerly Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse).

Topography of Terror exhibit in Berlin, Germany

Built on the site of former buildings that during the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 were the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS, the Topography of Terror outdoor exhibition documents those times. It is complemented by a newly opened documentation and learning center.

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image c2011 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Berlin, Germany: Berlin Wall Memorial; things to do

 

Berlin Wall Memorial 

Bernauer Strasse 111/119, +49 (0)30 467 98 66 66. Apr-Oct, Tu-Sun 9:30am–7pm; Nov-Mar, Tu-Sun 9:30am–6pm. Free.

The Berlin Wall Memorial is the main memorial site for the wall, which was built in one night on August 13 in 1961. It features an open-air exhibition along the former border strip, and the grounds show the original wall construction that was actually two walls with a death strip in between. A Visitor Center and Documentation Center provide a viewing platform and exhibition about the building of the wall.

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Berlin, Germany: Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe; things to do

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe   

Cora-Berliner Straße 1, between the tiergarten and Potsdamer Platz, +49 (0)30 2639 4336. Outside open 24 hrs. Free.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, Germany

This quiet spot is a memorial to the 6 million Jewish victims of WWII’s Holocaust. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe consists of 2,711 rectangular grey concrete blocks representing funeral pillars (or stelae). They are in varying heights on an open plaza that takes up an entire square block. A subterranean Information Center gets more personal, with the names and images of Jews and their history during the Third Reich (1933-45). Opened in 2005.

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image c2011 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Berlin, Germany: KaDeWe; restaurant review

KaDeWe  

Tauentzienstrasse 21-24, +49 (0) 30 2121-0. M-Thur 10-8, F 10-9, Sat 9:30-8.

diner at KaDeWe Restaurant Wintergarten cafeteria in Berlin, Germany

Said to be continental Europe's largest department store, the gigantic KaDeWe emporium holds an exceptional food hall on The Gourmet Floor (6th floor) that is well worth a visit. Sausage, cold cuts, wines, cheeses, breads, and chocolates galore are displayed, and you can sit down at mini-counters for everything from North Sea shrimp sandwiches to bouillabaisse soup. Head to the top floor (7th floor) to Restaurant Wintergarten cafeteria for a head-swirling selection of salads, entrees, and desserts. Here you simply put on your plate as much as you want, then it is weighed, and you are charged by the ounce.

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image c2011 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Berlin, Germany: Hecker’s Hotel Berlin; hotel review

Hecker’s Hotel Berlin 

Grolmanstrasse 35, West Berlin, 030/88900. 4 stars. 69 rooms. Restaurant; bar (roof dining in summer). 140€-280€ ($224-$448) double. Breakfast additional. Parking €12-18.

This small, quiet boutique Hecker’s Hotel Berlin is close to public transportation and easy to get to when traveling by train. A bus stops just across the street for a ride to the airport (E2.3); a taxi to Tegel Airport is about E15, or Scoenfield Airport about E35. Located just off busy Kurfürstendamm, where the big department stores are and where most sightseeing buses stop, it is hotel is in a great area for shopping and dining. and also just a few pleasant blocks away from the charming shops and cafes at Savignyplatz and its S-Bahn station.

The original rooms are smaller than the newer ones, but decor is contemporary and bathrooms up to date throughout. Our stylish, very quiet Bauhaus Suite had two narrow balconies, black-and-white-striped curtains and bedcover, light-wood floors, a walk-in closet with sliding barn-style glass doors, and two TVs—one in the white marble bathroom, complete with a remote to use while relaxing in the long, deep tub. A small but top-notch breakfast buffet is available each morning, but unfortunately it isn't included with all bookings.  However, it is worth having at least one day just for the sprinkling of caviar that sometimes appears on the deviled eggs.  Many inexpensive bakery cafes are nearby

Hecker’s Hotel is a member of Great Hotels of the World Premium Collection. Double rooms start at £116. For more information or to book please call +44 (0) 20 7380 3658.

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Berlin, Germany: Quchnia; restaurant review

Quchnia  

Markgrafenstrasse 35, in the Gendarmenmarkt, 030-206 09 286.

coffee service at Quchnia in Berlin, Germany

Relax in the cozy Quchnia coffeehouse in comfy leather chairs with a view of the Deutscher Dom right across the street. It also has a menu of hot chocolates—choose your candy bar flavor (perhaps cashew-caramel) and then just drop it in frothy hot milk and stir.

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image c2010 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Berlin, Germany: Reichstag/Parliament House; things to do

Reichstag/Parliament House 

+49 (0)30 22 62 99 33. Daily 8am-midnight; last admission at 10pm. Free.

circular stairway inside Reichstag/Parliament House in Berlin, Germany

When this seat of the German parliament burned in 1933, it was used as a excuse by Hitler’s troops to begin arresting enemies of the government. (It was built in 1893.) The Reichstag/Parliament House was also bombed during World War II. Rebuilt and topped with a new glass dome, the building is once again the seat of parliament. As you walk the winding ramp up to the top of the Reichstag's dome, you'll enjoy a panoramic view of Berlin. The transparency of the glass symbolizes the transparency of the German state--when I visited, on a very cold October day, the windows were almost completely covered in frost at 9am. Michael Jackson had a big concert here on June 19, 1988, and Christo and Jeanne-Claude did a “Wrapped Reichstag Project for Berlin” in July 1995. To avoid the very long line, make a reservation in the roof-garden restaurant where views sweep from the dining room out over what used to be known as East Berlin.

NOTE:  This building is currently closed to visitors due to tightened security related to terrorist threats.  

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image c2010 Carole Terwilliger Meyers