Sub-districts: 6
Mitte
Moabit
Hansaviertel
Tiergarten
Wedding
Gesundbrunnen
Berliner Unterwelten | Berlin Underworld
Behind an inconspicuous green steel door in Gesundbrunnen station is a side of Berlin that will excite anyone interested in subculture. Five times a day groups of up to thirty are taken through this portal to explore the maze of tunnels, storage chambers and bunkers beneath the streets of Berlin. Berliner Unterwelten offers four different tours in English, Spanish or German that last between ninety minutes and two hours.
'Tour 1 - Dark Worlds' is highly recommended. It is a ninety-minute walk
through a small sample of Mitte's bunkers. The U8 line reverberates above,
softly punctuating the guide's spiel.
Highlights include a simulation of air raid lighting, demonstrated by
turning the lights off. The chaperones use their torches to agitate the
unsealed and UV sensitive paint used on the solid concrete walls which, in
spite of its age, illuminates brilliantly, allowing safe manoeuvrability about
the room even during power cuts.
The brief discussion of Hitler's bunker – now a non-descript carpark –
near the Brandenburger Tor and how it compared with the
shelters at Gesundbrunnen is fascinating: apparently the denizens of these
public bunkers wouldn't have stood a chance of surviving had bombs hit the
ground above them.
The displays towards the end of the circuit are also interesting. One in
particular shows with contemporaneous examples the ingenuity of Berliners in
between the air raids. Found helmets and shells were often recycled, here
transformed into colanders and potbelly ovens.
The Nazi propaganda featured midway through the tour is particularly
intriguing. Here there are lists of countries with pictograms of their militia
airplane badges. The idea was that if a plane flew over Berlin airspace the
public would be able to recognise if it was hostile or not. Sounds fine, even
practical in theory, but did the 'Irish Airforce' ever really pose a threat?
The trip abruptly concludes with a gallery focused on the former
breweries some of these bunkers were repurposed for. And then the group is led
back out, through the green door, and once more into the normal lull of the
U-Bahn station.
Brunnenstraße 105, 13355 Mitte
S-Bahn:
S41, S42, S46 Gesundbrunnen; U-Bahn: U8 Gesundbrunnen
Admission
(tour-dependent): €10-13, €8-10 Concessions
Main box
office open: 10.00-16.00, Monday-Friday; 09.00-16.00, Saturday-Sunday
No
advance tickets
berliner-unterwelten.de
Other
Sites of Interest:
Koppenplatz 1, 10115
Mitte
Open: 12.00-22.00,
Daily
For
a great free jazz session and fantastic five euro happy hour cocktails, check
out Robin's
Nest @ B Flat
Rosenthaler
Str. 13, 10119 Mitte
Wednesdays,
20.00-Late
€2 Wine?
Why not? Grab a glass for just one silver and gold coin at Forum Weinerei and
pay how ever much you think your drinks were worth at the end. Be reasonable
now.
Fehrbelliner Str. 57, 10119 Mitte
Open: Monday-Saturday, 10.00-00.00; Sunday, 11.00-00.00
Open: Monday-Saturday, 10.00-00.00; Sunday, 11.00-00.00
Need
somewhere to stay? When I came here as an innocent 19 year old they really
looked after me. And considering how much time I've spent on their WiFi
recently they probably do deserve a shout. The Mitte-panorama above was taken from one of their apartments. The
Circus Hostel
Weinbergsweg 1a,
10119 Mitte
circus-berlin.de/hostel/
And absolutely not to be missed is the Museuminsel | Museum Island. The picture above was taken from the top of the gorgeous, Italian High Renaissance-styled Berliner Dom | Berlin Cathedral. Just round the corner from that is my second favourite museum in Berlin, the Ancient Egypt-focused Neues Museum | New Museum
Museuminsel, 10178 Mitte
Open:
Monday - Sunday, 10.00 - 18.00 (and until 20.00 on Thursdays)
Admission:
€12/€6 Concessions
smb.museum/en/neues-museum/home.html
smb.museum/en/neues-museum/home.html
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