I am a 23 year old student, studying at the University of Manchester. I am from Durham in the North ...
I am a 23 year old student, studying at the University of Manchester. I am from Durham in the North East and enjoy travelling!
Member since:23.01.2004
Reviews:26
Members who trust:7
Potsdamer Platz was Germany's equivalent of Times Square or Piccadily Circus until WW2. The area was heavily bombed and any buildings that survived were demolished by the Berlin Wall which ran straight through the middle of Potsdamer Platz.
Potsdamer Platz was at its height in the 1920's were more than 100,000 people came through it every day. It was so busy that Europe's first traffic light was installed here to control the flow of cars in 1924. The newly revived Potsdamer Platz has almost reached the same flow of people and traffic.
Most of the cranes are now gone and they have left two new complexes. The Sony Centre and Daimler City.Opened in 2000 and 1998 respectively. The Sony Centre contains a huge 3D IMAX cinema, a Sony store (of course) and the Berlin Film Museum. Daimler City also has an IMAX cinema as well as a huge shopping centre, a luxury hotel and a casino. There is also an observation deck which gives splendid views of the city and only costs 3 Euros. The roof of Potsdamer Platz resembles a huge circus tent and can be seen from a great distance.
The Film Museum costs 6Euros for adults and $ Euros for concessions. It is well worth a visit and contains the history of German cinema from its heyday in the 1920s to the awful Nazi propaganda films of the 1930s and 1940s. It also has a great exhibition on special effects that children will definitely enjoy.
One of the most interesting parts of the Sony Centre are two rooms that seem out of place in a modern high tech building. These two rooms are all that remain of the world class Hotel Esplanade. The hotel was all but destroyed during WW2 and the Imperial Suite and the Breakfast room were all that survived when the hotel was demolished. They were moved in 1996 and have been loving restored and do not look out of place at all. They give a great impression of what Potsdamer Platz must have been like. The rooms have now been converted into a luxury restaurant. Main courses cost between 15 and 20 Euros. But it is well worth it to experience such lavish surroundings.
Over the road from the heart of Potsdamer Platz is a balloon ride. For 10 Euros you are winched above Berlin in an enclosed hot air balloon and get the most fantastic view of the city. Definitely take a camera!
Potsdamer Platz can be reached by taking the U-Bahnt to the recently refurbished Potsdamer Platz station. As you exit there is a piece of the Berlin Wall and a golden line running through the area to show where the wall used to run. This section of the wall is always busy, but if you are patient you can definitely get a good photograph. Potsdamer Platz is the personification of a reunited Berlin and a good indication of how the city has been rejuvinating itself after being divided for 50 years. Well worth visiting.
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Last time I was here it was a vast open space...We saw Roger Waters perform " The Wall " concert here in 1990.....Seems to have changed beyond recognition....Roy
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