The Fernsehturm, the television tower in the city centre of Berlin and the tallest structure in the city stands close Alexanderplatz and is a part of the World Federation of Great Towers (WFGT). Standing tall at a height of 368 meters, the tower is easily visible throughout the central and some suburban districts of Berlin.

The Fernsehturm is the fourth tallest freestanding structure in Europe, after Moscow’s Ostankino Tower, the Kiev TV Tower and the Riga Radio and TV Tower. There is a visitor platform and a revolving restaurant in the middle of the sphere. The visitor platform is at a height of about 204 metres above the ground and the restaurant stands a few meters above it. The restaurant rotates once every 30 minutes. There are two lifts to take the visitors up to the sphere of the tower.

When the sun shines on the Fernsehturm’s tiled stainless steel dome, the reflection usually appears in the form of a crucifix. This cross has been named Rache des Papstes, or “Pope’s Revenge”. For the same reasons, the structure was also called “St. Walter” (from Walter Ulbricht). U.S. President Ronald Reagan mentioned this phenomenon in his “Tear down this wall” speech on 12 June 1987.

The construction of the tower began in 1964 and after four long years, the Fernsehturm began test broadcasts on 3 October 1969, and it was officially inaugurated four days later on the GDR’s National Day. It is among the best known sights in Berlin, and has around a million visitors every year.

Berlin uses a zone system and the public transport system (U, S-Bahn, bus, tram) uses a common ticket.

Standard tickets (€ 2.30 for A and B) are valid for any travel within two hours of validation, in a single direction, within the appropriate fare zones. There is no limit to transfers. For a single journey you can buy a cheap Kurzstrecke for €1.40, but this is only valid for 3 stops on the U-Bahn or S-Bahn (six stops by bus or tram); no transfers are permitted.

Several options are available for unlimited travel but zones A and B are the ones which you are most likely to visit. So, the options listed under are only for zones A and B:

The Berlin CityTourCard:
Berlin offers various discount cards and schemes for all public transport services in Berlin, Potsdam and the surrounding area and for many tourist attractions. This city tour card is available in several different versions: 48 hrs, tariff zone AB € 15.90 or tariff zone ABC € 17.90 / 72 hrs, tariff zone AB € 21.90 or tariff zone ABC € 23.90 / 5 days, tariff zone AB €28.90 or tariff zone ABC € 33.90. when you buy this card, you will also get a folded leaflet with inner city map and an overview of the S-Bahn and U-Bahn railway networks of Berlin. The card can be purchased from any ticket counter, ticket machines of the BVG and S-Bahn Berlin, hotels in Berlin, at the Berlin airports or at the main station (Hauptbahnhof Berlin) or online.

The Berlin CityTourCard Museumsinsel:
This card is valid for 72 hours in the tariff zone A and B and gives an added benefit of free admission to all museums on the Museumsinsel of Berlin (Old National Gallery, Old Museum, Bode Museum, New Museum and Pergamon Museum). At a cost of €31.50, it also includes a folded leaflet with inner city map and an overview of the S-Bahn and U-Bahn railway networks of Berlin is included. You can purchase this card at the hotels, at the main station (Hauptbahnhof), Tegel airport and Schoenefeld airport, Zoologischer Garten, Alexanderplatz and Friedrichstraße or online.

The Berlin WelcomeCard:
This card is available in 8 different versions, including Berlin WelcomeCard Museum Island. The card offers free travel with all methods of public transport for 48 hours, 72 hours or 5 days from the day of purchase. You also get a handy guide in pocket book format with insider tips and tour suggestions, city plan for Berlin and Potsdam and a Network plan for public transport. You can get the Berlin WelcomeCard at airports, main station, Hotels or online.

However, you need to validate your ticket using the machines on the U- and S-bahn platforms or in the bus which simply means that the machine prints a time stamp onto the ticket. Once validated, a ticket which is still valid will not have to be re-validated before each single trip. Whilst it might be tempting to try to avoid buying a ticket, be advised that plain-clothed inspectors do patrol the trains. There is a €40 fine if you are caught with an unvalidated ticket.

The two separate entities of Berlin that existed before the Wall has now become one once again and now there is hardly a trace left of the former east-west division. The Berlin Wall, which was given the propagandistic name “Anti-Fascist Protective Wall”, was an almost impermeable border until it fell on November 9th, 1989. Today, many locations and museums pay homage to the stories of the divided city and tourists. Traces of the wall are still found in Berlin. Later, a number of museums began to dedicate themselves to the Berlin Wall and the history associated with it and are considered favorite tourist spots for those interested in the history of Berlin.

The GDR Museum

This happens to be one of the most visited museums of Berlin as it is the only museum that deals exclusively with life in the former German Democratic Republic. The museum holds a permanent exhibition. The exhibition offers exhibits on and about the ‘Wall’ and ‘stasi’ memorials apart from dealing with the former GDR in a purely scientific way. The focus of the exhibition is provided by the SED – the Socialist Unity Party – exploring topics such as the state, economy, NPA, brother states, ideology, opposition and the Stasi.The museum gets its exhibits of everyday life mostly by donations from private households.

Deutsch-Russisches Museum Berlin-Karlshorst

The museum stands on a site where World War II ended on Mai 8th, 1945 with the unconditional surrender of the German forces. The ‘Surrender Hall’ and the office of the Head of the Soviet Military Administration, Marshal Shukow, have been preserved to this day. This museum was officially opened on May 10th, 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the war in Europe. The museum holds an important place in Berlin as it serves as a memorial of the German-Soviet War 1941-1945 and also documents the pre-war history and political relations between the USSR, the GDR and the Federal Republic. The museum offers special exhibitions, presentations and guided tours based on the history of German-Russian relations during the 20th century.

Marienfelde Refugee Center Museum

A refugee camp was created in 1953 to provide shelter to about 1.5 million people who had left the GDR between 1949 and 1990 in the direction of the Federal Republic.  West German and West Berlin politicians visited Marienfelde to officially show their solidarity with the refugees from the East. In the current times, a museum stands here which holds a permanent exhibition which showcases the causes, the history and results of the German-German refugee movement.

The Bellevue Palace  in Berlin, located on the northern edge of the Großer Tiergarten park, along the right bank of the Spree and close to the Brandenburg Gate, the Victory Column and the Bundestag, is the official residence of the President of Germany and has been so since 1994.

It was originally constructed to serve as a summer home to the younger brother of King Friedrich II, Ferdinand of Prussia. Built and finished in1786, this palace features remarkable architecture and comprises of a long main building and two wings- a women’s wing and a Spree wing.

Its façade has a classical style while its interior is more contemporary. Its architect was Michael Philipp Boumann and it was the first neoclassical building in the whole of Germany. About 20 hectares of green lush grass surrounds this palace. You can take a wonderful stroll through this park.

This palace has had a very colourful history. Though built for Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, it later became the residence of residence of his niece Princess Alexandrine. It continued to be occupied by the Hohenzollern dynasty until the German Revolution of 1918. Later on it became a museum for ethnography and during the World War II it suffered great damages. However it was restored later on and made the secondary residence of the West German president. It was again reconstructed in 2004-2005. However this most recent reconstruction did not include living quarters.

It is generally believed that if the presidential standard is flown on top of the palace then the President is in Berlin. However this is not completely true. If the President leaves for a vacation the standard is not taken down. It is taken down only if the President happens to go to some other official residence of his.

Berlin has a rich heritage of historical buildings and sites and the Reichstag building happens to be a historical edifice in Berlin, Germany, which was constructed to house the Reichstag, parliament of the German Empire. It served as the house for Reichstag from 1894 to 1933, when a fire broke out to causing much damage to the building. The exact cause or the culprit behind the fire is still unknown but the Communists were blamed for it them. It gave a boost to Hitler’s Party, the NSDAP, who would soon come to power.

The building was damaged even more at the end of the war, when the Soviets entered Berlin. The picture of a Red Army Soldier raising the Soviet flag on the Reichstag is one of the most famous 20th century images and symbolized Germany’s defeat. Reichstag building became totally useless after the Second World War when the parliament of the German Democratic Republic met in the Palace of the Republic in East Berlin and the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany met in the Bundeshaus in Bonn.

The building was made safe against the elements and partially refurbished in the 1960s. When Germany reunified on October 3, 1990, the attempt to restore and reconstruct the building was made under the directions of the world famous architect Norman Foster. After its completion in 1999, it became the meeting place of the modern German parliament, the Bundestag.

The major draw of this building is the large glass dome at the very top of the building. The dome has a 360-degree view of the surrounding Berlin cityscape. The main hall of the parliament below can also be seen from the cupola, and natural light from above radiates down to the parliament floor. A large sun shield tracks the movement of the sun electronically and blocks direct sunlight which would not only cause large solar gain, but bedazzle those below. However, the dome is not open for anyone now-a-days without prior registration.