Since Jan 01, 2000: District Mitte
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Except of the west-east city-train axis (S3, S5, S7, S9), Tiergarten is connected to the public transport net by U9 underground. In the north of the district runs ring train S41/42, in the south U1 and U2. The new central station Berlin Hauptbahnhof was opened in 2006.
Further information: Bezirksamt Mitte von Berlin
The Tiergarten district is the Federal Republic of Germany's political heart and soul. The Bundestag (German parliament) convenes just a hop, skip and a jump from the Brandenburg Gate, the gateway to Mitte, in the revamped Reichstag building. Norman Foster's walkable glass dome floods the formerly dreary Wilhelminian structure with daylight, attracting thousands of visitors daily. The government buildings bordering it constitute the "Federal Belt" connecting east and west. It is capped off impressively by the colossal Bundeskanzleramt (federal chancellery). Vibrancy is returning to the former diplomatic quarter on the southern edge of Tiergarten Park. Numerous embassies have been and will continue to be renovated or reconstructed. The completed Mexican, Indian and Scandinavian diplomatic missions definitely merit a visit. The President of the Federal Republic resides in Schloss Bellevue, whose cool white architecture complements the presidential office's elliptical construction.
This expansive park, which used to serve as the hunting grounds of high nobility and gives the quarter its name, links the western and eastern city centres. The city's largest park, it is a favourite for walks, family picnics, grilling, playing games or for just kicking back. Straße des 17. Juni, which traverses Tiergarten, turns into Berlin's largest flea market at weekends. Further east the Großer Stern is set off by one of the city's emblems, the Victory Column (Siegessäule). This climbable column is crowned by a statue of the victory goddess Victoria, affectionately called "Goldelse" (Golden Lizzy) by Berliners.
Skirting the southwest edge of Tiergarten is Germany's oldest zoo, Zoologischer Garten. With 19,000 species the zoo houses the most diverse variety of animals in the world. On the park's north side near the presidential office, the House of World Cultures (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, better known to Berliners as the "pregnant oyster") and the Akademie der Künste (art academy) host exhibitions and a cultivated programme.
Since the fall of the Wall Potsdamer Platz has been transformed from fallow wasteland into Berlin's new centre. A completely new, modern district has been constructed on this site. Berlin's tourists come for shops, restaurants, a casino and a musical theatre as well as to admire the imposing skyscrapers and visit the Sony-Centre. Cinema lovers cannot avoid Potsdamer Platz with its many movie houses, the Filmhaus with its film and TV museum and the "Berlinale", the Berlin International Film Festival.
A veritable mecca awaits those seeking art and culture at the Kulturforum. Here you will come across the distinctive silhouette of the Philharmonie, home to the world-famous Berlin Philharmonic, the Staatsbibliothek (Berlin State Library) and the Neue Nationalgalerie, a functional construction which hosts alternating exhibitions. An etchings gallery, a musical instruments museum and the Gemäldegalerie with its incomparable collection of masterpieces from Rubens, Rembrandt, Tizian and others can be found on the Kulturforum itself.
For a taste of old Berlin head north of the Spree to former blue-collar district Moabit, best known for its courthouse and prison. One of Berlin's last remaining market halls, the Arminiushalle, and the old Bolle dairy business are well worth visiting. The dairy has been converted into a modern office building incorporating aspects of the former industrial architecture. The Federal Ministry of the Interior currently resides in this historic building. Berlin Hauptbahnhof, located to the northeast between Mitte and the government quarter, marks the end of the district. Berlin's future central station, where the east-west running urban railway intersects with the north-south rail tunnel, is Europe's busiest changeover opened in 2006. Diagonally opposite, the contemporary art museum Hamburger Bahnhof enjoys international renown.