Sights:

1. Hansaviertel Neighborhood

Just northwest of Tiergarten Park, there is a mishmash of high-rises that were built for "Interbrau," a 1957 building exhibition that included 48 architects from 13 countries. . These block-like apartment buildings were also a statement of West Berlin's economic superiority to that of East Berlin during the Cold War.

2. Tiergarten Park

Once used as a deer preserve for hunting, this lush, green park, sometimes called Berlin's Central Park, is the largest in the city, at almost 630 acres. It was demolished in World War II and has since been restored with sprawling lawns, winding streams, bridges, and clusters of trees.

3. Look up here to see the Ministry of the Interior (Innenministerium)

The Federal Ministry of the Interior is located in the building across the river that looks like a horseshoe. Although it is a fairly recent completion (1999), it incorporates the 19th century buildings of the Bolle Dairy, which at one point supplied most of Berlin with milk.

4. Bellevue Palace (Schloss Bellevue)

Built in only one year, 1785, this three-winged, classical palace was a summer residence of August Ferdinand, the younger brother of Frederick the Great. Only one original room survives today, the oval room; the rest were reconstructed after World War II. The palace is now the official residence of the federal president in Berlin.

5. The Federal Snake Building (Bundesschlange)

This reptilian building, known as "the Snake" because of its winding appearance, serves as housing for government employees.

6. The German Parliament (Reichstag) and Federal Chancelery (Band des Bundes)

Architects Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank won the opportunity to design a ribbon of government buildings in the 1992 Urban Design Competition. Their design has the buildings cross over the River Spree, thereby linking East Berlin and West Berlin.

7. House of World Cultures (Haus du Kulturen der Welt)

www.hkw.de/en/index.php
Located in the new government district, this arts exhibition building is symbolic of freedom of thought and expression; its curved roof is meant to suggest the ideals of limitless opportunity and ability.

8. The Office of the German Federal President

The stone-faced, oval building next to Bellevue Palace is the office of the German federal president. The building encircles an inner courtyard that sits under a glass roof; the outer rooms are connected by bridges with the inner block, which is not visible from the outside.

— Alicia Carr