A place to see :

The Nikolaiviertel (The Nikolai Quarter).

Although it's almost totally "fake".

The old city centre of Berlin was bombed to rubble in WWII. Afterwards the rubble was cleared but all that was left was a wasteland with a few houses and a church ruin. Since the space was too small for the large housing projects of East-Germany this situation remained until the early 1980s.

Then the government decided - with the upcoming 750th anniversary of Berlin (1987) in view - that an "authentic" looking city centre would look nice. The church was reconstructed as about the only really authentic building, some long-since demolished buildings were also reconstructed not minding some architectural liberties such as exact location and finally the gaps were filled with "custom-build" 1980's Plattenbau. The result doesn't look bad at all.

Surrounded by large lanes and the Spree river the quarter is rather like a peaceful island in a busy city. and with no real attractions relatively few tourists wander about. Just the place sit on a bench, eat my lunch and think about a new freebie to releash upon you.

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