Berlin – Around Town : Charlottenburg & Spandau (part 2) – Best of the Rest

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A Day in Charlottenburg


Morning

Begin your tour of Charlottenburg at Breitscheidplatz and stroll down
Kurfürstendamm
 in a westerly direction. Turn left into Fasanenstraße to visit the
Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum
 and to see the Literaturhaus. You could stop for a mid-morning breakfast at
Café Wintergarten
 in the Literaturhaus, before going back up Fasanenstraße in a northerly direction. On the left you will pass the Kempinski Hotel Bristol Berlin,
and on the right you can see the Jewish House and the
Ludwig-Erhard-Haus. Diagonally opposite, on the other side of
Kantstraße, stands the
Theater des Westens
. Continue along Kantstraße on the left side until you reach the shopping centre
Stilwerk
, a place no one has ever been known to leave without buying something!

Afternoon

A good place for lunch is the restaurant Soultrane in Stilwerk shopping centre. Afterwards, continue along Kantstraße to Savignyplatz.
Now explore the small streets around the square, Grolman-, Carmer-,
Knesebeck- and Mommsenstraße. Small shops invite you to browse and spend
your money, and the
Café Savigny
 is a good place for a fruit flan with whipped cream and a cup of coffee. For the early evening,
Dressler
 is recommended, here you will find a range of dishes typical of a real French brasserie.

A Day in Spandau


Morning

Start with a journey on the
U-Bahn. From the centre of town, take a U2 train in the direction of
Ruhleben, and at Bismarckstraße station change to the U7 train in the
direction of Rathaus Spandau. Ten minutes later you will have reached
the centre of
Spandau Old Town
, where you can visit Breite Straße and Nikolaikirche.

Before returning to Charlottenburg, make sure you visit the Zitadelle Spandau.
There, in the museum café, you can also enjoy a late breakfast. Return
by U-Bahn. This time, get off the train at the Wilmersdorfer Straße
station, one of the few pedestrianized areas in Berlin. This is a
particularly good area for shopaholics and bargain hunters.

Afternoon

From Wilmersdorfer Straße a 20-minute walk along Kaiserdamm in a westerly direction will take you to the Funkturm and the Messegelände with the “Ehrenhalle”. You could have lunch at the Funkturm-Restaurant, and enjoy the magnificent views. Nearby, the Haus des Rundfunks (broadcasting house) and the
Georg-Kolbe-Museum
 are worth visiting. After your
museum visit, if you still have some time and energy, you could take bus
No. 218 from here to the
Olympiastadion
. In the evening, return to
Charlottenburg and Savignyplatz by S75 from S-Olympiastadion. Here you
can enjoy the famed Franconian cooking at
Florian’s
.

Best of the Rest




  1. Olympiastadion

    Built for the 1936 Olympic Games, the stadium is an example of Fascist architecture .




    • Olympischer Platz

    • Apr–May: 9am–7pm daily; Jun–Sep: 9am–8pm daily; Oct: 9am–7pm daily; Nov–Mar: 9am–4pm daily

    • 030 306 88 100

  2. Georg-Kolbe-Museum

    Sculptures by Georg Kolbe (1877–1947) are exhibited in his home and workshop.

    • Sensburger Allee 25

    • 10am–5pm Tue–Sun

    • 030 304 21 44

    • Admission charge

  3. Le-Corbusier-Haus

    The
    apartment block where the French architect Corbusier lived was built
    for the 1957 Interbau trade fair. Designed to alleviate the acute
    housing shortage after World War II, it was highly innovative in its
    day.

    • Flatowallee 16




  4. Jüdisches Gemeindehaus

    Berlin’s
    Jewish community house stands on the site of the Charlottenburg
    synagogue. Damaged during “Reichskristallnacht“ on 9 November 1938, it
    was mostly destroyed during World War II. Only the portal remains.

    • Fasanenstr. 79–80

    • 11am–8pm daily

    • 030 88 02 82 01




  5. Theater des Westens

    This theatre is based in an attractive building from 1895–6. It is regarded as one of Germany’s best musical theatres .

    • Kantstr. 12

    • Call for show times

    • 0180 544 44




    In the Theater des Westens

  6. Deutsche Oper

    The German Opera, opened in 1961, specializes in Italian and German classics.

    • Bismarckstr. 34–37

    • 030 34 38 43 43

    • Admission charge




    In the Deutsche Oper

  7. Denkmal Benno Ohnesorg

    Alfred
    Hrdlicka’s sculpture from 1971 commemorates the student Benno Ohnesorg,
    who was shot dead here during a demonstration on 2 April 1967.

    • Bismarckstr.

  8. Technische Universität

    Berlin’s Technical University was founded in 1879.

    • Straße des 17. Juni

    • 8am–8pm Mon–Fri

    • 030 31 40




  9. Universität der Künste

    The School of Art is one of the best German universities for the fine arts, architecture and design.

    • Hardenbergstr. 32–33

    • 8am–6pm Mon–Fri

    • 030 318 50

  10. Erotik-Museum

    Historic and new erotica.

    • Kantstr. 5

    • 9am–midnight daily (from 1pm Sun)

    • 030 886 06 66

    • Admission charge (over 18 years only)