They say that Berlin is a great city for museum buffs, but of course, if you have to pay entry into each one, the budget goes through the roof. But be careful, there is good news because not all museums are paid, too there are many good free museums in Berlin.
So, if your thing is a little and a little, a little museums and a little time and a free mind, you can write down this list There are museums of all kinds, although the most interesting are concentrated in the Second World War and the subsequent Cold War. Not bad for a city that has a fascinating history and that has been the protagonist of the great tragedies of the XNUMXth century.
trainenpalast
If you like the history of Berlin divided between West and East this is a good place to start. Until the fall of the wall This building located at Friedrichstrasse station served as border crossing. Hugs, tears and goodbyes took place so the name tränsenpalast makes sense: palace of tears.
The original iron and glass building was built in 1926 until 1990 it was the obligatory step from east to west. Since last September there has been an exhibition dedicated precisely to these border experiences in the divided Germany of that time. There are interviews with witnesses, documents, films, original objects from the daily life of Berliners and much more.
It is located at Reichstagufer, 17. It is open from Tuesday to Friday from 9 am to 7 pm and on weekends from 10 am to 6 pm. Mondays closed. The entrance, obviously, is free.
Holocaust memorial
On Cora-Berliner Street is this modern memorial made of concrete pillars, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe during the Nazi regime. Is located near the Brandenburg Gate and one can go through it from any angle. It has an area of 19 thousand square meters and the pillars were made by the New York architect Peter Eisenmann. They have different weights and the terrain presents a certain gentle slope.
Under the memorial there is an information center of 800 square meters, made by the same architect, where of course one learns all about the Holocaust. Large groups can participate in special workshops so it may be that on your visit you come across groups of schoolchildren. Although the entrance is free if you want the audio guide you pay an extra That is reduced by 50% if you have the Berlin Welcome Card.
The memorial is open from April to September and Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 8 pm. Between October and March it opens from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm. They don't let you in before 45 minutes after closing.
Berlin Wall Memorial
It is a section of the famous wall that it has been preserved to preserve precisely its meaning. It is on Calle Bernauer, 111, in the middle of the capital. Have almost a mile long and it gives an idea of what the wall that divided the city was until the end of the '80s.
There is a Visitor and Documentation Center It is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. The outdoor exhibition and memorial gardens are open Monday through Sunday from 8 am to 10 pm and the Phantom Stations Exhibition, the stations on the border between both parts of Berlin, can be visited while the Nordbahnhof station is open. There are visits and seminars and if you have in your hands a smartphone or tablet with Internet access you can use an individual tour by selecting it from the official website of the memorial.
If you visit the site you can also download a PDF with useful information for the visit.
Museum of the Allies
American soldiers occupied part of Berlin and its theater of operations o central command I was then in a old berlin cinema which today works as the Museum of the Allies. It is a good look at post war history, between 1945 and 1989. It is on Clayalee Street, 135. You arrive by u-Bahnn, U3 getting off at Oskar-Helene Heim or by bus, line 115 or X83.
Until May of this year there is an exhibition on how the de-Nazification process of Germany was carried out at the end of the war, for example, also there are guided tours, readings, workshops, a permanent exhibition of original documents and objects, photographs, audiovisual archives and else.
This museum is free to enter and open every day except Monday between 10 am and 6 pm. Guided tours cover different topicsHow the airlift was built in Berlin, how the Allied Intelligence Service operated in times of the Cold War, what happened inside Post Charlie, who was a Nazi, how Americans lived in the city, and so on. They are in several languages although unfortunately not in Spanish.
knoblauchhaus
This elegant residence is in the Nikolai district and was once one of the most beautiful in the city. It's a three-story high baroque building built in 1760 by this family of merchants, architects, scientists and politicians. It is a modern way of delving into the past because their halls have been rebuilt and they look like they did then. Especially the rooms on the first floor that are dedicated to the Knoblauch family.
Already on the second floor there are paintings, everyday objects and family documents about architecture, politics, social life. There are historical letters, activities typical of a Berlin family at that time and other things that allow us that time travel so curious. It's on 23 Posttrasse Street. Admission is free but donations are accepted. It opens from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm.
Topography of Terror
The name refers to this museum that it works in the former barracks of the SS. If there is something related to the Terror of State it is the SS. You can find it at Niederkirchnerstrasse 8. The Gestapo, the Security Service and the Main State Security Office also worked here. You find it near Potsdamer Square.
There are documents that allow us to know the history and action of these institutions, that's what the Topography of Horror exhibition is all about, but there is another that is also permanent that focuses on Berlin's role as the capital of the Third Reich. You will see part of the Berlin Wall that passed through there and many people, as it is one of the busiest museums in the city. It opens from Monday to Sunday from 10 am to 8 pm. The outdoor area opens until 8 pm or until the sun goes down.