Page 507 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

BERLIN  505

w Fernsehturm
Panoramastraße.   Alexanderplatz.
v M4, M6, M8. @ 100, 200, 248.
Open daily.
Known as the Telespargel, or
toothpick, by the locals, this
368 m (1,206 ft) high television
mast soars above the massive
Alexanderplatz. It is the tallest
structure in Germany and one
of the tallest in Europe.
The concrete shaft contains
elevators that carry passengers
to the viewing platform.
The splendidly reconstructed gilded domes Situated inside a steel-clad giant
of the Neue Synagoge sphere, this platform is 203 m
(666 ft) above the ground.
q Centrum Visitors can also enjoy a bird’s-
Judaicum & Neue eye view of the whole city while
Synagoge sipping a cup of coffee in the
revolving café. Visibility can
Oranienburger Straße 28 & 30. reach up to 40 km (25 miles).
Tel 030-8802 8316 (Centrum
Judaicum).  Oranienburger Straße. Berlin’s massive Fernsehturm, towering
v 1, M1, M6. Open Sun–Thu, Fri am. e Nikolaiviertel over the city
Open Jewish festivals. &  Alexanderplatz, Klosterstraße.
 Alexanderplatz. @ 100, 200, 248, controversial, attempt at
Occupying the former premises M48, TXL. recreating a medieval village.
of the Jewish community council, Today, the area consists mostly
the Centrum Judaicum contains This small area on the bank of newly built replicas of historic
an extensive library, archives, and of the Spree, known as the buildings. The narrow streets
a research center all devoted to Nikolaiviertel (St. Nicholas are filled with small shops,
the history and cultural heritage Quarter), is a favorite strolling cafés, bars, and restaurants,
of Berlin’s Jews. Next door, the ground for both Berliners and among them the popular Zum
restored rooms of the Neue tourists. Some of Berlin’s oldest Nussbaum, a historical inn that
Synagoge are used as a museum, houses stood here until they was once located on Fischer
exhibiting material relating to were destroyed in World War II. Island. Dating from 1507, the
the local Jewish community. The redevelopment of the original building was destroyed,
The building of the New area, carried out between and subsequently reconstructed
Synagogue was started in 1979 and 1987, proved to be at the junction of Am Nuss-
1859 and completed in 1866, an interesting, if somewhat baum and Propststraße.
when it was opened in the
presence of Chancellor Otto
von Bismarck. The narrow
facade is flanked by a pair of
towers and crowned with a
dome that sparkles with gold
and contains a round vestibule.
This fascinating structure was
Berlin’s largest synagogue.
However, on November 9, 1938,
it was partially destroyed during
the infamous “Kristallnacht”
(“Night of the Broken Glass”),
when thousands of synagogues,
cemeteries, and Jewish homes
and shops all over Germany
were looted and burned. The
building was damaged further
by Allied bombing in 1943, and
was finally demolished in 1958.
Reconstruction began in 1988
and was completed in 1995. Riverside buildings of the Nikolaiviertel

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