Berlin’s Revamped Mitte District

By chang - November 11, 2013
  • The image of East German soldier at Check Point Charlie.

    The image of East German soldier at Check Point Charlie.

  • The Bode Museum overlooks the River Spree on Museum Island.

    The Bode Museum overlooks the River Spree on Museum Island.

  • A plaque marking the former course of the Berlin Wall.

    A plaque marking the former course of the Berlin Wall.

  • Ai Weiwei's Tree, one of the installations at the Boros Collection.

    Ai Weiwei's Tree, one of the installations at the Boros Collection.

  • One of the 100-plus painted panels of the East Side Gallery's 1.3-kilometer stretch of the Berlin Wall.

    One of the 100-plus painted panels of the East Side Gallery's 1.3-kilometer stretch of the Berlin Wall.

  • Soaking up the summer sun in front of the Pergamon Museum on Museum Island.

    Soaking up the summer sun in front of the Pergamon Museum on Museum Island.

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THE DETAILS

Getting There
Finnair flies to Berlin daily from Hong  Kong, Singapore, and Bangkok via Helsinki.

Where to Stay
Boasting 63 compact but smart rooms, Hotel Mani (136 Torstrasse; 49-30/5302-8080; doubles from US$93) is located close to Mitte’s arts district and has an excellent tapas bar downstairs. The Hotel Adlon Kempinski (77 Unter den Linden; 49-30/22-610; doubles from US$288) began life in 1907 as Mitte’s first luxury hotel and it shows in its period furnitureand sky-high view of Brandenburg Gate.

Where to Eat
Head to the Ehemalige Jüdische Mädchenschule (literally, Former Jewish Girls’ School) to experience one of Mitte’s most talked-about dining rooms, Pauly Saal (11–13 Auguststrasse; 49-30/ 3300-6070). Next door, deli-café Mogg & Melzer has the best pastrami sandwiches in town (49-30/3300-6070). An elegant alternative for Asian-inspired cuisine is Restaurant Tim Raue (26 Rudi-Dutschke-Strasse; 49-30/2593-7930).

Museums and Memorials
Explore all five museums on Museum Island for just US$19 with a one-day pass. The Holocaust Memorial (1 Cora-Berliner-Strasse; 49-30/2639-4336) and the Topography of Terror (8 Nieder-kirchnerstrasse; 49-30/2545-0950) are both free to enter, while the Boros Collection (20 Reinhardtstrasse; 49-30/2759-4065) requires bookings in advance, with tickets priced at US$13. And save at least a couple of hours to explore the diverse collections of Thomas Olbricht’s Me Collectors Room (68 Auguststrasse; 49-30/ 8600-8510; US$8), especially the curiosities of the second-floor Wunderkammer.

Inside Track
Henrik Tidefjärd’s Berlinagenten offers bespoke tours of Berlin’s most creative spots.

This article originally appeared in the October/November 2013 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Middle Ground”)

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