34 Best Sights in Mitte, Berlin

One of Berlin’s heavy hitters, this Mitte gallery with a seemingly unpronounceable name (it’s actually the names of the two founders combined), has either represented or hosted shows by such art world luminaries as Olafur Eliasson, Ai Weiwei, Billy Childish, and Keith Edmier.

Nicknamed the "Rotes Rathaus" (Red Town Hall) for its redbrick design, the town hall was completed in 1869. Its most distinguishing features are its neo-Renaissance clock tower and frieze that depicts Berlin's history up to 1879 in 36 terra-cotta plaques, each 20 feet long. Climb the grand stairwell to view the coat-of-arms hall and a few exhibits. The entrance is inside the inner courtyard.

The green-patina dome is a striking feature of St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale. Begun in 1747, it was modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, and was the first Catholic church built in resolutely Protestant Berlin since the 16th-century Reformation. This was Frederick the Great's effort to appease Prussia's Catholic population after his invasion of Catholic Silesia (then Poland). A treasury lies inside.

This medieval church, one of the finest in Berlin, is best known for its late-Gothic, macabre fresco Der Totentanz (Dance of Death), which is in need of restoration. Tours on Tuesday at 2 pm highlight the fresco.