Potsdam

Havelland, a historic Brandenburg landscape, broadly encircles the Havel west of Berlin. Lakes and lowlands define the area; much fruit and vegetables are grown around Werder. Theodor Fontane dedicated a volume of his "Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg" to the Havelland.Potsdam, Brandenburg's capital and visitor hub, directly borders southwest Berlin. Its palaces and parks became UNESCO World Heritage in 1990. The S7 S-Bahn line offers easy access from Berlin.

Charlottenburg received city rights on April 5, 1705, and its name in honour of Queen Sophie Charlotte; in 1920, the city became part of Greater Berlin. After 1945, the area around Bahnhof Zoo, Breitscheidplatz, and Kurfürstendamm developed into City West, the new centre of West Berlin, because the historic city centre was located in the Soviet sector. Its landmark is the ruin of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, whose tower was not demolished after citizen protests.You stroll along the Kurfürstendamm with its flagship stores and theatres, visit the Zoological Garden and the Memorial Church, and end your evening at Savignyplatz, where restaurants, bars, jazz clubs, and bookstores cluster. Through Charlottenburg run the U-Bahn lines U1, U2, U3, U7, and U9; S-Bahn trains of the Stadtbahn stop at Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten and Savignyplatz, as do regional trains at Zoo.

With approximately 3.66 million inhabitants, Berlin is Germany's largest city and has been the federal capital since reunification in 1990; the federal government and the Bundestag have been based here since 1999. The Spree flows through the city from east to west, its banks are home to the Government District, Museum Island, and the East Side Gallery.Few cities tell the story of the 20th century so powerfully: On Bernauer Straße, you see the former border strip, at the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of unity. Additionally, there are three opera houses, the museums of the World Heritage Museum Island, and districts like Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, and Prenzlauer Berg, known for their bars, restaurants, and nightlife.

Kreuzberg is a district in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough, named after the 66-meter-high Kreuzberg hill in Viktoriapark, where Schinkel's National Monument for the Liberation Wars has stood since 1821. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the eastern part, SO 36, was enclosed on three sides and became the hub of the alternative movement and squatting in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, around 160,000 people live here, many with Turkish roots, and its nightlife and cultural scene are well-known far beyond Berlin.During the day, you can visit the Jewish Museum or the German Museum of Technology, climb the Kreuzberg hill in Viktoriapark, or meet up at the Admiralbrücke over the Landwehrkanal, a popular meeting spot. In the evenings, the district's nightlife beckons. You can get here via U-Bahn lines U1 and U3, which largely follow the former Akzisemauer, with U6 and U8 running north-south, and also with U7; in total, there are 14 U-Bahn stations in the district.

Berlin is the federal capital and, with around 3.66 million inhabitants, Germany's largest city. The city is completely surrounded by Brandenburg; the Spree flows through it from east to west and empties into the Havel in Spandau. Twelve districts with 97 localities structure the almost 892-square-kilometer urban area.Here are places that make German history come alive: from the Brandenburg Gate, over the remains of the Berlin Wall, to the Reichstag Building, where the Bundestag has met since 1999. Museum Island has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999, and in neighborhoods like Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, and Prenzlauer Berg, you'll find bars, restaurants, and a vibrant nightlife.