My small tour in Berlin

Alexanderplatz and the Television Tower
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My business  travel to Berlin was short, 3 days advance training for products. I arrived Sunday afternoon and was directly to the Park Inn Hotel. The hotel is in Alexanderplatz, this is a square mark to industrial times, and is where three subway lines intersect and the tram and S-Bahn urban railway also pass by. Half a million people transfer at “Alex” daily. After check-in at the hotel and went to the room, made a small tour in the near by area. It's was almost night but it was possible to take some pictures. The weather was frozen at the end of the tour my hands were frozen, the temperature at night was between -1ºC and 2ºC. I took the Karl-Liebknecht Strabe passing by the Television Tower, the Berlin Cathedral up to Humboldt university.

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The Television Tower on the west side of Alexanderplatz was originally 365 meters high and is the tallest structure in Berlin, conspicuously marking the center of the capital. The sphere on the tower covers seven storeys, two of which are open to the public: the viewing floor at a height of 203 metres and above it the Telecafé in which the outer ring with the tables revolved around its own axis once per hour. A few years ago, the rotation time was reduced to half an hour to shorten the amount of time spent there by guests. The exterior surface of the sphere consists of 140 stainless steel segments, and when the sun shines a large cross appears as a reflection.

Neptune Garden and the Red Town Hall
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After the tower is the Red Town Hall, so called because of the colour of the building material, was the seat of the city government from 1869 - and has been used for this purpose for the whole of Berlin since 1991. It replaced the medieval town hall.The dominant feature is the 74 meter high tower which rises above the central projection with the high portal. In from of the Red Town Hall is the Neptune Garden.

Next is the St Mary's Church or St Marienkirche. The Karl-Liebknecht Strabe have several shops with interesting things and souvenirs.

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Passing the bridge over the river we can see the Berlin Cathedral, although the present building is only nearing its 100th anniversary, the history of the Berlin cathedral reaches back to the Middle Ages. In 1469 a cathedral chapter was founded in the palace chapel, and in 1536 it was moved to the church of the dissolved Dominican monastery to the south of the palace. The church measures 114 by 73 metres, the dome is 75 metres high up to the base of the lantern. The building is sub-divided into the main preaching church and the small baptism and weddings church; the ­monument church on the northern side was demolished in 1975/76. The main building was heavily damaged in 1944 and could only be used again in 1993. The main dome and the four top tower sections were originally steeper and elaborately decorated

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After a walk we arriver in to a area where are several important buildings.

Bebelplatz - A Place of Changing Fortunes Because of its location and the importance of the buildings which surround it, Bebelplatz is one of the most noteworthy tourist attractions in Berlin. At first, it was to be the center of the Forum Fridericianum planned by Knobelsdorff. This could not however be fully realized – only the opera house was constructed from 1741–43, which lead to the grounds becoming known as Opernplatz. Behind the Staatsoper, St. Hedwig's Cathedral can be found (built 1747–1773), while the western side is the site of the Königliche Bibliothek (Royal Library, 1775–80), known colloquially as the "Kommode" ("chest of drawers"); today, this building belongs to the Humboldt University and is attached to the Alte Palais (Old Palace, also now used by the Humboldt University ). After this "small" tour and because i was frozen i return to the hotel. Next time i will try to see the more of Berlin.