Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Straße , Berlin , 10785
After the fall of the Wall in 1989, Potsdamer Platz turned from a deserted wasteland into Europe's biggest building site as urban planners worked to create an ultra-modern city centre in the middle of a reunited Berlin. The only remnants of old Potsdamer Platz are the historic Haus Huth and the majestic Hotel Esplanade ballroom, which has been cleverly incorporated into the Sony Center. Approximately half of the area contains offices; the rest is divided between entertainment complexes like the Imax and a fantastic shopping mall.

Reichstag
Platz der Republik , Berlin (Germany) , 10557
+49 30 2273 2152
No trip to Berlin would be complete without a trip to the home of Germany's Parliament, the Reichstag. The Reichstag is one of Berlin's most historical landmarks. It was the seat of the Weimar Republic government until it was seized by the Nazis in 1933. It's close to the Brandenburg Gate and before the unification, was right next to the wall.
The Reichstag was constructed between 1884 and 1894, mainly funded with wartime reparation money from France. The famous inscription 'Dem Deutschen Volke' (to the German People) was only added in 1916. This building has so much history associated with it. 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.
The central dome and most of the ornamentation were removed during the reconstruction after the war. After the unification the decision was made to move the Bundestag from Bonn back to Berlin. This decision resulted in the latest reconstruction which started in 1995 and was completed in 1999. The design by Sir Norman Foster added a glass dome over the plenary hall. At first the subject of much controversy, the dome has become one of the city's most recognized landmarks.

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche
Breitscheidplatz Charlottenburg , Berlin , 10789
+49 30 218 50 23
Built in the late 19th century in honour of Kaiser Wilhelm I, this once magnificent church was gutted by fire after a British air-raid in November 1943. The only parts left standing were the nave and half a spire. Nowadays, the spireless ruin and the modern chapel next door provide the city with more than just a famous landmark - they are also a poignant symbol of the senselessness of war. The 'Stalingrad Madonna' in the futuristic blue-glass chapel next to the ruin is worth a visit, as is the exhibition documenting the history of the church on Breitscheidplatz. According to rumours, the down-and-outs who tended to congregate around the chapel were moved on because their urine was beginning to corrode the foundations!

Topographie des Terrors
Niederkirchner Straße / Wilhelmstraße Kreuzberg , Berlin , 10963
+49 30 254 86 703
'Not much is left of the Gestapo's former headquarters in Wilhelmstrabe. Severely damaged by wartime bombing raids, the remaining buildings were torn down shortly after the end of the War. The Allied authorities wanted all traces of Germany's evil past to be destroyed as swiftly as possible.
Excavations in the early 1980's brought the foundations to light - a long wall covered with pale white tiles - and a makeshift museum was immediately established on the wasteland close to Hitler's bunker. The Topography of Terror stands beside the Jewish Museum and the Holocaust Memorial (still in the planning phase) as one of Berlin's most important memorials to the darkest chapter of German history.

East Side Gallery
Oberbaumbrücke / Mühlenstraße Friedrichshain , Berlin , 10243
When you think of Berlin, the first word likely to spring to mind is Wall. But over a decade after being torn down by angry East Germans, there is not much of the Berlin Wall left standing in present-day Berlin.
The longest section of the Wall to be spared (1.3km) runs parallel to the River Spree between Kreuzberg in the West and Friedrichshain in the East. In the months following the fall of the Wall in 1989, 118 artists from all over the world flocked here to pay their artistic tribute to the downfall of communism. The result - an open-air gallery containing a host of colourful and imaginative images - some satirical, some shocking and others unintelligible.
The East Side Gallery is a must for first-time visitors to the city. The barren wasteland which surrounds the Wall is oddly fitting and gives you a good idea of how the Wall, surrounded by a 10 metre-wide, heavily mined death strip, would have appeared several decades ago.
Yet the current condition of the gallery gives cause for concern. Many of the paintings have been disfigured by souvenir-hunters keen to take a chunk of Wall home with them, while the weather has taken its toll on the rest.

Schloss Charlottenburg
Spandauer Damm 20 (Luisenplatz) , Berlin (Germany) , 14059
+49 33 19 69 42 02
During a previous 4-month Berlin stay, I had ambled by the East Side Gallery multiple times, bicycled under the Brandenburg Gate almost daily, and explored most museums of the city's wide sprawl. But, preferring the Former East, I had only glimpsed Schloss Charlottenberg, inhabiting a wide expanse of the posh eponymous West neighborhood.
The Allies bombed the palace of Germany's former royal family during World War II, but with restorative efforts, the wide building and its expansive gardens reflect an elegant glory. As we approached, the golden gate shimmered on a rare clear winter day, and on either side of the entrance, warriors raised their shields against invisible enemies. Two young Berliners dressed in costume walked the front, occasionally assisting a tourist or two.