Berlin’s architecture is famously diverse, revealing the city’s history through its battle-scarred brickwork. A major European trade hub, it has also been a key fighting ground for 20th century political ideologies – most notably communism and totalitarianism – and a testbed for some of history’s most renowned architects, from Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Andreas Schlüter to Modernists like Peter Behrens, Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius.
Though many of the city’s buildings were destroyed during WWII, some of its most significant structures have survived while others have been restored. You can still find medieval monasteries and Prussian palaces among post-reunification experiments by 20th century starchitects, such as Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers.
We explore 15 landmarks that give Berlin its architectural thumbprint.
Originally built as a monastery for a Franciscan house in 1250, these attractive ruins, located close to Alexanderplatz, hail from a brick basilica successor built between the 13th and 14th centuries. Today the atmospheric grounds are used for exhibitions, plays, concerts and more.
Photography: Benreis
German History Museum / Deutches Historisches Museum
The oldest building on Unter den Linden is also one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture in the city. It was designed as an armoury by Johann Arnold Nering in 1695 and has been used for various purposes by different regimes. It currently houses the German Historical Museum (DHM) and boasts a modern glass extension by I M Pei.
Photography courtesy of Deutsches Historisches Museum / Schwarz
German History Museum / Deutches Historisches Museum
The oldest building on Unter den Linden is also one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture in the city. It was designed as an armoury by Johann Arnold Nering in 1695 and has been used for various purposes by different regimes. It currently houses the German Historical Museum (DHM) and boasts a modern glass extension by I M Pei.
Photography: Jensens
Built between 1762 and 1766 by architect Friedrich Wilhelm Diterichs, the Rococo-style Ephraim Palais is named after court jeweller and coin maker Veitel Heine Ephraim. Pass through the elegant facade to find a grand, original staircase and changing exhibitions on Berlin’s art and cultural history.
Photography: Cornelius M Braun / Stadtmuseum Berlin
Built between 1762 and 1766 by architect Friedrich Wilhelm Diterichs, the Rococo-style Ephraim Palais is named after court jeweller and coin maker Veitel Heine Ephraim. Pass through the elegant facade to find a grand, original staircase and changing exhibitions on Berlin’s art and cultural history.
Photography: Gryffindor
The first major project of architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Neue Wache was built between 1816 and 1818 as a guard house for the nearby Kronprinzenpalais (Crown Prince’s Palace). Constructed like a Roman castrum, the Neo-classical structure features Doric columns, topped by a frieze decorated with bas-reliefs of the goddess of victory – a reference to Prussia’s win against Napoleon. Inside sits a copy of a poignant 1938 Käthe Kollwitz statue, which highlights the building’s current role as a memorial for victims of war and tyranny.
Photography: Ansgar Koreng
The first major project of architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Neue Wache was built between 1816 and 1818 as a guard house for the nearby Kronprinzenpalais (Crown Prince’s Palace). Constructed like a Roman castrum, the Neo-classical structure features Doric columns, topped by a frieze decorated with bas-reliefs of the goddess of victory – a reference to Prussia’s win against Napoleon. Inside sits a copy of a poignant 1938 Käthe Kollwitz statue, which highlights the building’s current role as a memorial for victims of war and tyranny.
Photography: Manfred Brückels
Berlin’s most famous luxury department store opened in 1907. Designed by architect Johann Emil Schaudt in an ambitious Modern Baroque style, popular with many similar department stores of the time, it was enlarged in 1929-1930 before being bombed during WWII. Some 180,000 Berliners showed up for its reopening in 1950 and the building is about to undergo an overhaul courtesy of OMA architects.
Berlin’s most famous luxury department store opened in 1907. Designed by architect Johann Emil Schaudt in an ambitious Modern Baroque style, popular with many similar department stores of the time, it was enlarged in 1929-1930 before being bombed during WWII. Some 180,000 Berliners showed up for its reopening in 1950 and the building is about to undergo an overhaul courtesy of OMA architects.
Photography: Manfred Bückels
Berlin’s most famous luxury department store opened in 1907. Designed by architect Johann Emil Schaudt in an ambitious Modern Baroque style, popular with many similar department stores of the time, it was enlarged in 1929-1930 before being bombed during WWII. Some 180,000 Berliners showed up for its reopening in 1950 and the building is about to undergo an overhaul courtesy of OMA architects.
Photography: KaDeWe Archive (entrance hall pictured 1907)
AEG Turbine Hall
Built around 1909 and designed by the ‘father of industrial design’ Peter Behrens, this groundbreaking turbine factory marked a decisive shift away from the historicist industrial buildings of previous decades. Its 100m-long, 15m-tall glass-and-steel walls were influenced by Neoclassical and Art Nouveau styles, as well as the emerging Werkbund movement in Germany. Behrens’ designs were also a major influence on Bauhaus School founder, Walter Gropius.
Photography: Doris Anthony
Hufeisensiedlung (“Horseshoe Estate”)
The Horseshoe Estate is the best-known of Berlin’s six UNESCO-designated Modernist housing estates. Co-designed by architect Bruno Taut and municipal planner Martin Wagner during the 1920s, it was inspired by the Garden city movement. The 29-hectare, horseshoe-shaped development comprises 1,285 flats and 679 terraced houses with brightly coloured facades, gardens and small terraces.
Photography: Shaqspeare
Shellhaus
Designed by German architect and professor Emil Fahrenkamp as a prestigious new headquarters for Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary Rhenania-Ossag, the ‘Shell House’ opened in 1932 on the banks of the Landwehr Canal. Its Modernist, wave-like façade – now a protected monument – also made an appearance in director Wim Wenders’ 1970 debut film, Summer in the City.
Photography: Beek 100
Shellhaus
Designed by German architect and professor Emil Fahrenkamp as a prestigious new headquarters for Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary Rhenania-Ossag, the ‘Shell House’ opened in 1932 on the banks of the Landwehr Canal. Its Modernist, wave-like façade – now a protected monument – also made an appearance in director Wim Wenders’ 1970 debut film, Summer in the City.
Photography: Norro
Commissioned for the 1936 ‘Nazi’ Olympic Games and built by architect Werner March, this stadium was designed to hold 100,000 spectators and to be as impressive and imposing as possible. Restored after the war, the structure still exudes an austere authority today, thanks largely to its surrounding Neoclassical colonnade.
Photography: Alexrk2
Commissioned for the 1936 ‘Nazi’ Olympic Games and built by architect Werner March, this stadium was designed to hold 100,000 spectators and to be as impressive and imposing as possible. Restored after the war, the structure still exudes an austere authority today, thanks largely to its surrounding Neoclassical colonnade.
Photography: Hoffman (Pictured the 1936 Olympic Games)
One of the most enduring symbols of reunified Berlin, the TV Tower is a distinct product of the East German regime (GDR). Inspired by another TV tower in Stuttgart as well as the Sputnik satellite, Fernsehturm was partly designed by Hermann Henselmann and built between 1965-69. At 368 metres tall, it’s the fourth tallest freestanding structure in Europe.
Photography: Michael F. Mehnert
Mäusebunker
This foreboding Brutalist building – officially known as the Central Animal Laboratory of the Freie Universität but nicknamed Mäusebunker – was designed by Gerd Hänska in the late 1960s. Its uncompromising structure, formed from dense cast-concrete, is clearly influenced both by Futurism and Cold War militarism.
Photography: Brutalism Online
Mäusebunker
This foreboding Brutalist building – officially known as the Central Animal Laboratory of the Freie Universität but nicknamed Mäusebunker – was designed by Gerd Hänska in the late 1960s. Its uncompromising structure, formed from dense cast-concrete, is clearly influenced both by Futurism and Cold War militarism.
Photography: Brutalism Online
The ‘House of World Cultures’ started life as the West Berlin Congress Hall and was designed by American architect Hugh Stubbins as part of the 1957 International Building Exhibition. Dubbed the ‘pregnant oyster’, the building is audaciously playful and curvaceous, standing in stark contrast to the Soviet architecture on the other side of the Berlin Wall. The institution now explores the artistic and intellectual relationship between Berlin and the rest of the world.
Photography: Frank Paul
Berlin’s original Jewish Museum was opened in 1933 but shut down by the Nazis in 1938. This 2001 successor was created by architect Daniel Libeskind, whose jagged, jarring and unapologetically Postmodern design – based on an abstracted Jewish Star of David – is intended to express post-Holocaust sentiments of absence, violence and emptiness.
Photography: Günter Schneider / Jewish Museum Berlin
Berlin’s original Jewish Museum was opened in 1933 but shut down by the Nazis in 1938. This 2001 successor was created by architect Daniel Libeskind, whose jagged, jarring and unapologetically Postmodern design – based on an abstracted Jewish Star of David – is intended to express post-Holocaust sentiments of absence, violence and emptiness.
Photography: Jens Draw / Jewish Museum Berlin
The striking glass roof of Helmut Jahn’s light-flooded Sony Centre is one of the primary symbols of the post-Wall regeneration of Potsdamer Platz. Making extensive use of steel and glass, the entire structure is set on the former grounds of the Grand Hotel Esplanade of which only the famous Kaisersaal remains, itself encased in protective glass as historical curio and tourist attraction.
Photography: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra
The striking glass roof of Helmut Jahn’s light-flooded Sony Centre is one of the primary symbols of the post-Wall regeneration of Potsdamer Platz. Making extensive use of steel and glass, the entire structure is set on the former grounds of the Grand Hotel Esplanade of which only the famous Kaisersaal remains, itself encased in protective glass as historical curio and tourist attraction.
Photography: Jamie Ardiles-Arce
Though it hasn’t been built yet, this Gehry building is already controversial with Berliners. At 150 meters tall, it will be the city’s highest skyscraper and its rotating stacks of sculptural, stone-clad cubes will feature a mix of apartments and penthouses overlooking Alexanderplatz.
Render courtesy of Gehry Partners LLP
Though it hasn’t been built yet, this Gehry building is already controversial with Berliners. At 150 meters tall, it will be the city’s highest skyscraper and its rotating stacks of sculptural, stone-clad cubes will feature a mix of apartments and penthouses overlooking Alexanderplatz.
Render courtesy of Gehry Partners LLP
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