7 Best Sights in Berlin, Germany

Frederick the Great was a music lover and he made the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, on the east side of Bebelplatz, his first priority. The lavish opera house was completed in 1743 by the same architect who built Sanssouci in Potsdam, Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff. The house reopened in late 2017 after a major seven-year renovation. There are guided 90-minute tours of the opera house's interior on weekends (book online), but they are offered in German only.

These gates (translated as the Brandenburg Gate, the Hunter's Gate, and the Nauen Gate) are three of the original seven gates that were incorporated into the old city walls. They were mostly ornamental, erected by noblemen to show off their prowess and accomplishments, and were meant to direct the eye along various axes from the center of the city to grand boulevards radiating outwards. If you follow the promenade that traces the now-demolished city walls, you can see all three of these gates in a 10-minute walk. The Brandenburger Tor sits at one edge of Luisenplatz, between the pedestrian streets of the old town and an entrance to Sanssouci Park. Commissioned by Frederick the Great to celebrate his victory in the Seven Years' War, it was built by Karl von Gontard as a Roman triumphal arch. The small Jägertor is really nothing more than a simple archway, crowned by a statue of a deer set upon by hunting dogs. Its diminutive size, however, belies its historical importance: it's the only gate in Potsdam still in its original form instead of a restored version. The sandstone Nauener Tor, which sits at the northern edge of the bustling, shop-filled main corridor Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse, is the oldest example of a neo-Gothic structure in continental Europe. It looks something like a mini-castle with its twin turrets.

This glass-and-steel construction wraps around a spectacular circular forum. Topping it off is a tent-like structure meant to emulate Mt. Fuji. The architectural jewel, formerly the Sony Center, designed by German-American architect Helmut Jahn, is one of the most stunning public spaces of Berlin's new center, filled with restaurants, cafés, the Legoland Discover Museum, offices, and apartments.

The redbrick buildings of the old Schultheiss brewery are typical of late-19th-century industrial architecture. Parts of the brewery were built in 1842, and at the turn of the 20th century the complex expanded to include the main brewery of Berlin's famous Schultheiss beer, then the world's largest brewery. Today, the multiplex cinema, pubs, clubs, and a concert venue that occupy it make up an arts and entertainment nexus (sadly, without a brewery). Pick up information at the Prenzlauer Berg tourist office here, and come Christmastime, visit the Scandinavian-themed market, which includes children's rides.

Friedrich Wilhelm IV modeled this building after a Turkish mosque, complete with a minaret, to serve as the palace waterworks building. About a ten-minute walk from Neuer Markt, the Dampfmaschinenhaus used a steam engine to transport water to a large fountain at the center of Sanssouci Park, about half a mile away. Although that fountain is now served by a modern pump system, this beautiful piece of architecture is still worth a visit for its intricate, Islamic-inspired designs decorating both interior and exterior.

Built in 1905–07, this series of eight connected courtyards is the finest example of art nouveau industrial architecture in Berlin. Most buildings are covered with glazed white tiles, and additional Moorish mosaic designs decorate the main courtyard off Rosenthaler Strasse. Shops, restaurants, the variety theater Chamäleon Varieté, and a movie theater populate the spaces once occupied by ballrooms, a poets' society, and a Jewish girls' club.

Off the Spree River and bordering the Kanzleramt (Chancellery) is the former congress hall, now serving as the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures). It is fondly referred to as the "pregnant oyster" because the sweeping, 1950s design of its roof resembles a shellfish opening. Thematic exhibits, festivals, and concerts take place here, and it's also a boarding point for Spree River cruises.