If you still have the energy after walking around town all day, or perhaps you are staying a few days, then you can't miss the opportunity to check out the local night scene. Bars and clubs stay open all night, some even 'til dawn, with plenty of styles to choose from. Orainenburgstrasse in Mitte has bars, cafes and clubs attracting locals and tourists alike. One of the most famous of these is Tacheles , once a department store it is now an art forum, café, club and bar. Other dance venues include Sage-Club and Knaack Club . Techno heads can rave to their hearts content at Casino and Matrix . Alexanderplatz has a range of bars, restaurants and traditional beer houses. Ku'damm in the west is home to touristy discos but 90 Grad has hipper tunes. For a taste of old style cabaret there is the musical on at Bar Jeder Vernunft , Schaperstrasse 24 until May 2006.
More stuff to do in Berlin.
Five museums on one island, where the Spree diverges around it at the eastern end of Unter Den Linden. The Pergamon Museum houses the immense Pergamon Altar, and other vast relief sculptures from Babylon and antiquity. Open Tue-Sun 10am-6pm and Thu until 10pm. Admission €6, €10 3-day pass.
The Alte Museum was completed in 1830 and holds a collection of ancient sculpture and art. Open Tue-Sun, 10am-6pm an Thu until 10pm. Admission €6, €10 3day pass, free 1st Sunday.
The Neue Museum was finished in 1859 to take on the excess art works from the Alte. It is currently under restoration after being completely destroyed in WWII with reopening set for 2008.
The Alte Nationalgalerie was originally home to contemporary German artists. The collection now display pieces by 19thC artists that include Adolph Von Menzel, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne and Rodin. Open Tue-Sun 10am-6pm and Thu until 10pm. Admission €6, €10 3day pass incl. Pergamon.
The Bodemuseum looks impressive with its neo-baroque design, and unfortunately is under restoration as well until October 2006.
This square in front of the Humboldt university is very famous. It dates back to 1740 but was named after the SPD party founder August Bebel in 1947. In the centre of the square is a monument to the night of May 10, 1933, when the Nazis burnt books written by Heinrich and Thomas Mann, Heine, Kastner, Zweig, Karl Marx and many others. On a bronze plaque is written a prophetic quote by writer Heinrich Heine from 1820 that reads 'where books are burned, in the end people will burn'.
Originally this monument was built to commemorate those that died in the Napoleonic wars. Damaged in WWII the restoration project led to some controversy over its significance. After 1990 the building was rededicated as the Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny. The sculpture 'Mother with dead son' inside by artiste Kathe Kollwitz has also drawn criticism.