"We don’t just build houses, we build feelings."
Hermann Henselmann (1905-1995), the German architect who designed large parts of Stalin Allee
» Buildings & Architecture Tours Berlin
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Berlin's legacy of artistic innovation and chaotic political change has created a spectacular mix of buildings. Neoclassical and baroque masterpieces line the streets of the historical centre. Unexpected turns into East and West Berlin neighbourhoods display competing efforts towards post-World War II reconstruction. Bombastic structures built by kings and dictators, relics from tyrannical dictatorships, vie for attention. In many places, mundane buildings stand side-by-side with some of the most daring experimental structures of modern times. |
Our tour of Berlin's architecture offers an excellent overview of Berlin's world-renowned buildings, following a route carefully crafted by Berlin architects or personally designed according to your interests. | Prices & Booking |
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» Tour Options: Duration and Means of Transport
What is the optimal tour duration?
The number of buildings that might interest architecture experts is almost unlimited. Our selected highlights only offer an idea of what could be worth visiting. To get a real in-depth tour and to have time for discussion we recommend at least 4 hours.
Walking tour, bike tour, van or bus tour?
The best way to discover the broad architectural landscape in Berlin is either in a van or by bus, alternatively by bike. If you wish to do a walking tour, please tell us the epoch, style or area you are most interested in: e.g. a walk in the governmental district & along Unter den Linden.
Price for our sightseeing tours
Our private guided tours cost 45-75 Euros per hour for a walking tour, depending on group size and duration. For more Information see Prices & Booking
“Thank you for organising a superb tour guide. He was hugely interesting and knowledgeable. I got to understand the architectural history of Berlin in a way no guide book could ever have explained. It was pitched right. I look forward to booking another tour. Please pass my appreciation on to him.” Tour “Architectural Masterpieces & Embassies”, Professor Jack Lohman, Director, Museum of London Group... read more guests comments
» Selected Sightseeing Attractions: Buildings & Architecture in Berlin
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Cultural Forum: When Mies van der Rohe left Germany for the U.S. in 1938, he didn’t' know that he would design only one more building in Germany after 1945, the New National Gallery where his idea of 'less is more' was realised in its most genuine way. Another Bauhaus architect, Hans Scharoun, built his stunning asymmetric Philharmonic here, as well as the state library. The Cultural Forum is the place for post-war German architecture. |
Karl Friedrich Schinkel: It is impossible to see Berlin without the buildings of Schinkel, the Prussian neo-classic architect now considered to be the inspiration for almost all German architects since. Some even say he was ancestor of the Bauhaus! Many of his restored buildings can be seen in the city centre: the Old Museum, the New Guard House, and the Theatre House, just to name a few, are studied around the world. |
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Plattenbau: The unique architectural style of the GDR socialist government, based on pre-fabricated concrete slabs, transformed East Berlin’s suburbs. The monumental block steel structures may appear monotone today, but they were popular and highly sought after by GDR citizens due to their hot running water, central heating and ensuite bathrooms. Isn't uniformity an equivalent for equality, the main principle of communism? |
The Reichstag: When Norman Foster presented his first idea for remodelling the parliament building, he grappled with the problem of representing a new beginning for of German democracy after the many failures of the past, like Hitler’s rise to power in 1933. Foster designed a glass dome for the building as a symbol for transparency and civil rights, which has become one of the most popular sights of the New Berlin. |
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Berlin Embassies: From the iconic British Embassy designed by Michael Wilford to the astonishing design talent displayed by Rem Koolhaas at the Dutch Embassy, Berlin's 150 foreign missions have led the way in architectural experimentation. In 2008 the newly built American embassy, designed by Moore Ruble Yudell, will open after years of intense debate about security measures around the building. |
Jewish Museum: During the construction of Daniel Libeskind’s new Jewish Museum with its zinc-clad exterior - seen from above it looks like a silver lightning-bolt - two children were overheard discussing the site. "This is not a building", the boy said. "Of course it’s a building", the girl replied," look at all the construction vehicles, over there the truck and there the bulldozer. It just has to be a building." Still, the boy was doubtful: "I've never seen a building like that." |
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DZ Building: Occupying the site of Albert Speer’s main office and tastefully meeting the building codes of Berlin's famous Pariser Platz, this work by contemporary legend Frank O. Gehry casts off all external constraints for its interior design. A four-story structure resembling an enormous prehistoric horse’s head rests at the centre of the conference hall. The architect refers to this mesmerizing structure as “the finest form I have ever made“.
Potsdamer Platz: In the 1920 heavy traffic made this intersection dangerous for pedestrians, until the first Berlin traffic light was constructed here. A replica of the old traffic signal now stands in the middle of the place. The square also boasts of innovative state-of-the-art architecture, including Berlin's only skyscrapers, which transformed the skyline of an area that was bombed flat during World War II and remained a desolate waste just west of the Berlin Wall for the entire period of the city's division. |
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Karl-Marx-Allee, formerly known as Stalin Allee: In the 1950s, when the communist ideal was still fresh in East Germany, many labourers volunteered to built the first big avenue of the so called 'workers paradise’. The resulting buildings are another example of political architecture. The monumental scale of the buildings and the luxury of materials used here were intended to portray the new society. What looked like houses for the rich were actually the homes of the workers who built them. This street has many stories to tell... |
Reichsbank: In 1933 the directorate of the national bank of Germany called for designs for a new building for the bank. Bauhaus architects’ proposals were rejected; instead, Heinrich Wolff won the competition. His building became a typical example of Nazi architecture: gargantuan in scale, with cold, strict lines, it was a frightening demonstration of power. It’s now of Berlin’s many examples of politics expressed through architecture.
