The East to West Tour

Tour details and meeting point

Berlin’s longest street changes name, which means it does not officially qualify as the longest street in the capital. For visitors however, it is undoubtedly the most interesting road. Massive Park Tiergarten, and River Spree are further attractions of this tour.

Duration: 2,5-3 hours approx (including little breaks)
Distance: 15 km about (flat)
Start time: 3:30 pm, daily

Price including bicycle: 20 €
Berlin Welcome Card -25% = 15 €
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Address | Meeting point:
Cotheniusstrasse 8 | 10407 Berlin
(in front of the bike shop Fahrrad Görke)

Public transport (see map)
S-Bahn stop: Landsberger Allee
Lines: S 41 & 42 | S8 | S85
Tram stop: Landsberger Allee / Petersburger Straße
Lines: M5 | M6 | M8 | M10
Bus stop: Conrad-Blenkle-Straße
Line: 200

Charlottenburg Castle

Three Tower Tour – Discover Berlin’s main Boulevard and its history
Start time: daily, 3:30 pm

Berlin’s longest street changes name through the formerly divided city, which means it does not officially qualify as the longest street in the capital. For visitors in Berlin however, it is undoubtedly the most interesting road and, given its length, is best explored on two wheels.

The Boulevard had been involved continuously: From Prussia, Nazis´s utopia Germania, 1st and 2nd WW followed by cold war to German reunification

In the 16th century, it was nothing more than a riding route connecting the city castle with the hunting lodge in Großer Tiergarten. From the end of the 17th century, it was expanded step by step into a magnificent and ostentatious boulevard and became connected to the Charlottenburg castle, the new summer residence. The boulevard became even more important for represantation from 1701, when Elector Frederick III crowned himself to King Frederick I in Prussia. Both his successors Frederick Wilhelm I and Frederick II established Prussia as a leading European power in the 18th century.

The Nazis also gave the boulevard a central role as part of their world capital utopia ‘Germania’, moving the Victory Column from today Republic Square to its present location in the Großer Stern (The Great Star).

Berlin Cathedral including burial vault of House of Hohenzollern

Brandenburg Gate – the only one left out of 18 prior city gates

Alexanderplatz and TV Tower, highest german building

Gendarmenmarkt – historical site of an impressive architectural trio

German and Berlin history by bike

So it’s not just the imposing structures along the route and the actually magnificent Park Tiergarten that allow an all-historical insight explored by bike: During the tour you will learn about significant events which took place on the boulevard, well-known personalities and memorials. This will help you to understand the history of Berlin and Germany, from the days of Prussia, 1st and 2nd WW followed by cold war to German reunification.

Highlights

Alexanderplatz and TV Tower | Unter den Linden | Berlin Cathedral | City castle (another construction site) | Humboldt University | Gendarmenmarkt | Brandenburg Gate | Reichstag | Straße des 17. Juni | Großer Tiergarten | Großer Stern with Victory Column | Charlottenburg Gate | Ernst-Reuter Square | Charlottenburg Castle | Radio tower

Districts covered:

Prenzlauer Berg | Friedrichshain | Mitte | Charlottenburg

The Victory column was elevated and shifted by the Nazis

Charlottenburg Gate failed vs Brandenburg Gate

Fence of Charlottenburg Castle

Three Towers

The ‘Three Towers’ refer to the two highest landmarks and elevations in the city.

The radio tower in the west was inaugurated in 1926, is modelled on the Eiffel Tower and broadcasted the world’s first TV programme in 1932. Two years earlier, Albert Einstein opened the “German Radio Exhibition and Phono Show,” forerunner of today’s IFA, at the foot of the radio tower. The TV tower, centrally located in the east in Alexanderplatz, was inaugurated in 1969 and at 368 m, is Germany’s highest structure. It was the pride of the former GDR. The radio and TV towers share both a visual and political-historical relationship.

The third and smallest tower (even it was elevated by the Nazis) is the Victory Column in the Großer Stern.