Berlin has reinvented itself more often than almost any other European capital: Prussian royal seat, imperial capital, a city split by a wall for 28 years and, since 1990, the capital of a reunited Germany. Much of that history is written into the streets, from bullet marks on old facades to a double row of cobblestones that shows where the Wall once ran. Here are the facts and stories that make the city special.
10 fun facts about Berlin
- A gate in no man's land: the Brandenburg Gate was built between 1788 and 1791 to a design by Carl Gotthard Langhans. When the Wall went up in 1961, it ended up inside the border zone, and it only reopened to pedestrians on 22 December 1989.
- A chariot taken to Paris: in 1806 Napoleon had the Quadriga, the bronze chariot by Johann Gottfried Schadow on top of the gate, shipped off to Paris. It returned to Berlin in 1814, after his defeat.
- A parliament under glass: the Reichstag building was completed in 1894. After reunification, Norman Foster gave it a new glass dome, and since 1999 it has been home to the Bundestag. From the dome's spiral ramps you can look down towards the debating chamber.
- A building wrapped in fabric: in the summer of 1995 the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the entire Reichstag in silvery fabric for two weeks, and millions of people came to see it.
- A boulevard named after trees: Unter den Linden means under the lime trees. The first rows were planted in the 17th century on the road from the royal palace towards the Tiergarten, and lime trees still line its central walkway.
- Germany's tallest structure: the TV Tower on Alexanderplatz is 368 metres tall and opened on 3 October 1969. When sunlight hits its steel sphere, it reflects in the shape of a cross, which Berliners nicknamed the Pope's revenge.
- A little man at the lights: East Berlin's pedestrian lights show the Ampelmännchen, a figure in a hat designed by the traffic psychologist Karl Peglau in 1961. He survived reunification and has become a city mascot.
- The home of currywurst: Herta Heuwer is credited with creating its spicy curry ketchup sauce at her snack stand in Charlottenburg in 1949.
- A field of 2,711 stelae: the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, designed by the architect Peter Eisenman, opened in 2005 just south of the Brandenburg Gate. You can walk through it from any side.
- Ich bin ein Berliner: on 26 June 1963, US President John F. Kennedy spoke these words to a huge crowd outside Schöneberg Town Hall in West Berlin.
The night the Wall fell
On the evening of 9 November 1989, East German politburo member Günter Schabowski told a live press conference that East Germans would now be allowed to travel freely. Asked when the new rule took effect, he leafed through his notes and said that, as far as he knew, it applied immediately. In fact it was meant to start the next day, with orderly visa applications. Thousands of East Berliners headed straight for the border crossings. At Bornholmer Straße, the officer in charge, facing a growing crowd and no clear orders, opened the barrier late that night. Within hours people were standing and dancing on the Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Less than a year later, on 3 October 1990, Germany was reunited.
What to eat in Berlin
- Currywurst: sliced pork sausage under curry ketchup, ordered with or without skin and usually eaten standing up, with fries.
- Döner kebab: Berlin's Turkish community made the döner sandwich, stuffed with salad and sauce, one of the city's favourite street foods.
- Pfannkuchen: the jam-filled doughnut that the rest of Germany calls a Berliner. In Berlin it is simply a Pfannkuchen.
- Eisbein: boiled cured pork knuckle, traditionally served with sauerkraut and pea purée.
- Berliner Weisse: a light, sour wheat beer, often served with a dash of raspberry or green woodruff syrup.
Good to know before you go
- The Reichstag dome is free to visit, but you must register online in advance and bring photo ID.
- The Pergamon Museum is closed for a long renovation and is due to reopen in stages from 2027, so plan your Museum Island visit around the other museums.
- For the clearest picture of the divided city, visit the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße, where a stretch of the Wall and the border strip are preserved.
- Potsdam, with Frederick the Great's Sanssouci Palace and its terraced gardens, is an easy day trip by S-Bahn or regional train.
Explore Berlin with World City Trail
Our Berlin scavenger hunt turns these sights into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around three hours, with about 65 minutes of walking, and leads you past the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag and Unter den Linden.
At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace. You can start whenever you like.
Play the Berlin scavenger hunt →
Facts checked in October 2026.