DESTINATIONS — GERMANY
airy atmosphere in this steel-and- glass building makes it hard to imagine its notorious queues and interrogation by border guards, but the free exhibition uses TV footage and interviews to recount family histories on both sides. While other museums focus
on attempts to escape the confines of East Germany, the DDR Museum takes a different tack. Bringing together everyday objects – toys, books, clothes and foodstuffs – it looks at day-to-day life in East Germany. There’s even a replica of a typical house, plus an iconic Trabant car (€6). If clients fancy getting behind the wheel for real, Osprey Holidays recommends pre-booking a fun Trabi Safari, where visitors drive vintage Trabants in convoy through the city, listening to commentary from their guide via the car radio (from £35).
l CITY SIGHTS While the November anniversary might prompt clients to focus on the wall, remind them there’s an entire city to discover, and one of the best introductions is a boat trip along the River Spree. One-hour cruises depart every half-hour from the Nikolai Quarter, opposite Berlin Cathedral, passing Museum Island, the Reichstag, House of World Cultures and the Tiergarten. If clients want low- effort sightseeing, this is a way to tick off plenty of places and top up a tan in the process (€12.50). The tour finishes just moments
from Museum Island, a collection of five museums built between 1830 and 1930 on an island in the river. The classical columns still bear bullet holes from the Second
World War, but inside their doors lie collections of art and historical artefacts as fine as any in the world. Short on time, I opted for the
Pergamon Museum, and was astounded
by the sheer scale of its
displays: the brightly-coloured Babylonian Ishtar Gate, the towering Market Gate of Miletus, and the museum’s namesake the Pergamon Altar, so big it fills a cavernous hall (€12, free with Museum Pass). The altar closes for a five-year restoration later this month, but sections will stay on show at a temporary exhibit. New developments are also under way just across the Unter den Linden boulevard: I’d wondered what the funny-shaped structure of the Humboldt Box might be, and when curiosity
11 September 2014 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 69
TOP TIP
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