Berlin

After Museum Island, the Kulturforum is the second centre of art in Berlin: this is the home not only of the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery), the Gemäldegalerie (Picture Gallery), the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Applied Arts) and other museums but also the Philarmonie (Philharmonic Hall) and the Staatsbibliothek (National Library). The Kulturforum is - beside the Museum Island - the most important centre for arts in Berlin. Many well-known and unique institutions are located here, including the New National Gallery, designed by architect Mies van der Rohe, and the Philharmonie and Chamber Music Hall as well as the Neue Staatsbibliothek (Berlin State Library) and, last but not least, the Gemäldegalerie, which has one of the most important collections of old masters worldwide.

The five historical museum buildings on Museum Island have been part of UNESCO world heritage since 1999 and represent a collection that's unique in the world. The magnificent museum buildings on the island in the River Spree were each designed by famous architects of their time. Museum Island is home to collections in the Altes Museum (Old Museum), the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), the Bode Museum, and the Neues Museum (New Museum), as well as the Pergamon Museum. The exhibitions range from prehistory, to ancient times, to19th century art. More than three million people come to Museum Island every year.

Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous of the inner-German border crossing points and a name known the world over, was where Allied border guards registered members of the American, English and French Armed Forces (and their families) before they visited East Berlin. Right next to it is situated today the “Wall Museum - Museum House at Checkpoint Charlie”. The museum shows an almost incomprehensible number of original means and tools that people used in their escape out of the "DDR": from the hot-air balloon to the Trebant up to the chairlift.