Alexanderplatz, the German Historical Museum and the district of Friedrichshain all tell the story of Berlin's east. Alexanderplatz was the showpiece centre of East Berlin, the museum on Unter den Linden explains how Germany got there, and Friedrichshain, just beyond, is where the longest surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall still stands. The museum and the square lie in the historic centre, while Friedrichshain is a little further east, along the Spree. This guide covers all three and how to link them.
Alexanderplatz
The square takes its name from Tsar Alexander I of Russia, who visited Berlin in 1805; before that it was a cattle market outside the city gate. In the 1920s it was one of the busiest places in Europe, the setting of Alfred Döblin's novel Berlin Alexanderplatz. After heavy bombing in the Second World War, the East German government rebuilt it in the 1960s as a wide modernist square for the capital of the GDR.
On 4 November 1989 it hosted the largest demonstration in East German history, when hundreds of thousands of people gathered to demand free speech and free elections, five days before the Wall fell. Today it is a busy transport hub surrounded by department stores and office towers. It is the first stop of our Berlin scavenger hunt.
- The World Time Clock (Urania-Weltzeituhr) from 1969, a classic meeting point, showing the time in cities around the globe.
- The Fountain of Friendship between Peoples, a 1970 fountain with enamel and copper basins.
- The Television Tower (Fernsehturm), completed in 1969 and still the tallest structure in Germany, just west of the station.
- The nearby St Mary's Church, one of Berlin's oldest churches, and the Neptune Fountain in front of the Red Town Hall.
German Historical Museum
The German Historical Museum (Deutsches Historisches Museum) is housed in the Zeughaus, the former royal arsenal on Unter den Linden. Built between 1695 and 1730, it is the oldest building on the boulevard and one of the finest baroque buildings in Berlin. Behind it stands a glass and stone exhibition hall designed by the architect I. M. Pei, which opened in 2003.
The arsenal's most striking art is in its inner courtyard: 22 masks of dying warriors carved by Andreas Schlüter around 1700, an unusually grim image of war for a building meant to celebrate military power. They belong to the Zeughaus and will only be on view again once it reopens.
The Zeughaus closed for a major renovation after its permanent exhibition ended in 2021, and according to the museum it is unlikely to reopen with a new core exhibition before 2031. In the meantime the museum keeps showing temporary exhibitions on German history in the Pei Building, so check what is on before you go. Even with the Zeughaus closed, the exterior is worth a look.
- The helmets and trophies along the roofline of the Zeughaus, a reminder of its military purpose.
- The glass spiral staircase of the Pei Building, visible from the street behind the Zeughaus.
- Schlossbrücke right in front, with its marble statues of warriors and goddesses, one of the stops on our scavenger hunt.
- The Neue Wache next door, Germany's central memorial to the victims of war and dictatorship, with Käthe Kollwitz's sculpture of a mother holding her dead son.
Friedrichshain
Friedrichshain is a district east of the centre, named after the Volkspark Friedrichshain, the oldest public park in Berlin, laid out in the 1840s. It belonged to East Berlin, and its main avenue, Karl-Marx-Allee, was built in the 1950s as Stalinallee, a grand boulevard of apartment palaces in socialist classicist style. In June 1953, construction workers on this street began the strike that grew into the East German uprising.
Along the Spree River runs the East Side Gallery, the longest surviving section of the Berlin Wall. In 1990, artists from around the world covered it with murals, among them Dmitri Vrubel's painting of the kiss between Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker. Today the district is known for its nightlife, flea markets and street art.
South of Frankfurter Tor, the streets around Boxhagener Platz are lined with old tenement houses, cafés and bars, and on Sundays the square fills with a flea market. Along Revaler Strasse, the RAW site, a former railway repair works, has turned into a cluster of clubs, a climbing tower and walls covered in graffiti.
- The East Side Gallery murals, best seen from the riverside path on Mühlenstrasse.
- Oberbaum Bridge, a red-brick bridge from 1896 with two towers, leading across the Spree to Kreuzberg.
- The tiled facades and towers of Karl-Marx-Allee at Strausberger Platz and Frankfurter Tor.
- The Fairy Tale Fountain (Märchenbrunnen) in the Volkspark Friedrichshain, with figures from the Brothers Grimm.
How to see them in one walk
Start at the German Historical Museum on Unter den Linden, cross Schlossbrücke and continue past the Berlin Cathedral and over the Spree towards the Red Town Hall and St Mary's Church. Under the Television Tower you reach Alexanderplatz. From there Karl-Marx-Allee leads east into Friedrichshain, past Strausberger Platz to Frankfurter Tor. Turn south towards Warschauer Strasse to finish at the Oberbaum Bridge and the East Side Gallery. It is a long day on foot; if you are short of time, take the S-Bahn from Alexanderplatz to Ostbahnhof or Warschauer Strasse for the last part.
See Berlin with World City Trail
Our Berlin scavenger hunt turns the historic centre into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from Alexanderplatz to the Reichstag Building, passing St Mary's Church, the Neptune Fountain, Schlossbrücke, the Berlin Cathedral, the Altes Museum, Gendarmenmarkt and the Brandenburg Gate. Alexanderplatz is the starting stop; the German Historical Museum and Friedrichshain are not on the route, but Schlossbrücke stands right in front of the museum. At each stop you solve a puzzle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Berlin, for people who prefer a different format.
Play the Berlin scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Berlin →
Play the outdoor escape game in Berlin →
Facts checked in October 2026.