Ackselhaus & Blue Home

Activities

Ackselhaus & Blue Home are situated in Prenzlauer Berg just to the north-east of Berlin-Mitte, which is a short taxi ride or a few U-bahn stops away. It is an excellent location for visiting Berlin’s major tourist landmarks locations:

• The immediate vicinity, Prenzlauer Berg, was built in the late 19th century (the “Gründerzeit”) with apartment blocks for workers, wide boulevards and pavement cafes. Located just behind the Berlin Wall, it was rediscovered in the late 1990’s and, despite some lingering scaffolding, is now considered one of the most vibrant of the city's districts, with a buzzing restaurant and bar scene, independent boutiques and galleries aplenty... more arty (and less touristy) than the designer-label-wearing Berlin-Mitte
  
  
• Nearby Kollwitzplatz, a triangular-shaped park with a playground, is popular with walkers and joggers alike, and has some of the best restaurants within wakling distance of the hotel (Gugelhof is recommended)
  
  
• The Kulturbrauerei, a former brewery still recognizable in its red brick buildings and chimneys, now houses a cinema, bars, restaurants, a furniture shop, and tourist information
  
  
• The large Jewish cemetery on Schönhauser Allee, enclosed by graffiti-sprayed walls and the Lapidarium, is an atmospheric place to recall the tragic events of WW2
  
  
• Alexanderplatz (2 U-bahn stops), centre of government of the former GDR, whose tall TV tower (nicknamed Alex) dominates this undeveloped yet fascinating area
  
  
• Unter den Linden - the wide boulevard which runs from Alexanderplatz for about 2 km to the iconic Brandenburg Gate. This is the heart of historic Berlin, lined with famous 17th-18th century buildings including the Berliner Dom (Cathedral), the Zeughaus Berlin (old armoury, now the History Museum), the Cathedral of St. Hedwig at Bebelplatz, the Berlin State Opera, Humboldt University, the Russian Embassy, the Hotel Adlon, and culminating in the monumental Brandenburg Gate itself
  
  
• Museum Island, just to the north of Unter den Linden, brings together a wealth of historical art including some newly-opened collections: the Pergamon (Near and Middle East art and architecture), Bode (sculptures, Byzantine art, coins), Alte Nationalgalerie (Classical-Romantic paintings) and the Altes and Neues Museum (respectively antiques and, once re-opened, pre-history)
  
  
• The Reichstag Dome (5 mins’ walk from Brandenburg Gate), a stunning glass-and-mirror construction by Norman Foster, with a double helix walkway taking you to one of the best viewpoints over the city (beware long queues on summer mornings)
  
  
• The Gendarmenmarkt (7 U-bahn stops), an open square with the tall twin domes of the French and German churches, as well as a concert hall and one of the city's many Christmas markets. A great place to stop for light lunch or coffee at one of the pavement restaurants
  
  
• Potsdamer Platz (9 U-bahn stops), destroyed in WW2, forgotten for 50 years in the no-man’s-land of the Berlin Wall, then - in one of world’s biggest construction projects of the 1990’s - radically redeveloped under architects Wilmer and Sattler. Landmarks include the Debis tower (by Renzo Piano), the Sony Center (by Helmut Jahn) and the brown-brick Kohlhof building with an observation deck at a height of 93m