berlin

Berlin’s Top 10
40
Left Neue Nationalgalerie in the Kulturforum Right Nordic Embassies
Modern Buildings
Sony Center
One of Berlin’s largest new
structures is the spectacular
Sony Center (see p16).
Neue Nationalgalerie
This impressive low building
with its huge windows was built
in 1965–8 according to plans by
Mies van der Rohe. It was the
first building to be designed by
the pioneering Bauhaus architect
after his emigration to the USA.
He was able to make use of his
earlier designs for the Havana
headquarters of the Bacardi company,
which had been abandoned
following the Cuban Revolution
(see pp32, 48). d Potsdamer Str. 50
• Map E4 • 10am–6pm Tue–Fri, until 10pm
Thu, 11am–6pm Sat, Sun
Bundeskanzleramt
Berliners are not too fond
of the Chancellor’s new offices,
although this is the only new
government building to have
been designed by a Berlin architect.
Axel Schultes developed a
vast, elongated office complex,
which extends north of the
Reichstag, in a bend of the
Spree, even stretching across
the river. In the centre of the
The new Bundeskanzleramt
hyper-modern building stands a
gleaming white cube with round
windows, which Berliners quickly
nicknamed “washing machine”.
Critics describe the design as
pompous, while civil servants
dislike their small offices. The
interior of the building is decorated
with valuable modern paintings.
The Chancellor’s office on
the 7th floor has a view of the
Reichstag. d Willy-Brandt-Str. 1
• Map J/K2 • Not open to the public
Ludwig-Erhard-Haus
Ludwig-Erhard-Haus
The seat of the Berlin Stock
Exchange, Ludwig-Erhard-Haus
was designed by the British
architect Nicholas Grimshaw in
1994–8. Locals call it the “armadillo”,
because the 15 giant metal
arches of the domed building
recall the giant animal’s armour.
d Fasanenstr. 83–84 • Map N4
• 8am–6pm Mon–Fri