You Won’t Believe What’s Just South of Berlin’s Tiergarten and Brandenburg Gate – Walking Tour

You Won’t Believe What’s Just South of Berlin’s Tiergarten and Brandenburg Gate – Walking Tour

This reminds me of what Shortitch was like in the early naughties. Now, Berlin doesn’t always have to be about techno and cheap beer. The new fascists are the anti-fascists. The explosion killed eight people and injured over 60, but Hitler was unharmed. Berlin, it’s a city that never quite fits the box you want to put it in. It’s not all beer gardens and techno clubs, though it has plenty of both. And it’s not all concrete blocks and Soviet ghosts, though you’ll find those, too. Berlin is complicated, and that’s exactly why I’ve returned yet again. Today, I’m taking you through an area that rarely makes the cover of travel brochures, the southern edge of tear garden. This is not the polished curated Berlin most visitors experience, but it’s real. It’s layered, and it’s revealing. Tear Garden itself is Berlin’s answer to Central Park. A massive green oasis with royal roots, monuments, and quiet walking trails. But the moment you head a few blocks south, you feel the shift. The buildings get scruffier. The streets feel busier. The contradictions louder. Here you’re walking through a junction of worlds, embassies to your north, clubs and construction cranes to the south and east. And if you’re unfamiliar with Berlin or Germany, this might throw you. You’re still central, still close to the Brandenburg Gate, Pot Stema Plats, the Light Stag, but the vibe, it’s entirely different. This is the Kulfunlaba and its surrounding veins. You could say part of Berlin’s red light district, though you won’t find any neon signs or soft jazz. Here, the sex work is legal and yes, visible. You’ll see women on corners even during the day. It’s regulated, policed, and debated. Some see it as progressive, others see it as a blemish, but either way, it’s here. Alongside that, you’ve got Turkish bakeries, Vietnamese noodle joints, organic wine bars, and barber shops. When in Berlin, I like to stay in as many different neighborhoods as possible. This time was no exception to the rule. I got the privilege of staying at Lulu Gold’s Made Hotel. That’s how you say. Let me say this up front. If you’re someone who appreciates hotels that have soul, this one might surprise you. Lulu Goods Murder is part of a small Danish chain, hence I’m brutalizing its name. Lulu Goods Murder built quite the cult following for a reason. They combined eco-consciousness, sustainable design, and a very particular brand of Scandi Balines and calm. It sounds strange, I know, but it works. From the moment you step in, you know you’re not in a generic hotel chain. The lobby feels like it’s someone’s home. warm wooden textures and the little details that speak of intention. Recycled materials, handpicked decor, and calming incense that doesn’t scream but whispers welcome. My room had a foroster bed made from reclaimed wood, fluffy organic duvys, and a bathroom stocked with refillable bottles of local chemical freeze soap. Even the tap water tastes filtered and proud. One of the many things I love about Berlin are some of the very, very unique hotels, this being one of them. Room 317. Let’s go check this one out. We’re used to some of my hotels being not so not too shabby. Check this one out. We got the stairs here. Don’t worry, I’m not staying up the stairs. But if you wanted to put a kid up there, you could. The wardrobe place to store your bag. That’s not bad, is it? Bathroom. Very nice bathroom. I probably should get out of the way here. Let me Let me twizzle you around so you don’t have to look at me and you can look at this. Nice sink. Nice shower. Of course, a bit of a tight squeeze with a turbus in it. Look at all this. Some fancy soaps. Free shampoo. Nice decor. Nice tiling. But this is the more exceptional thing. Look at this. We got swings. Is that a swing set? Get your friends around, play on the swings. The swinger has landed. Nice table and chair. But the most magnificent bit the bed. Look at that. And then on top of the bed with the we can get ourselves outside, enjoy the sunshine on the balcony, look up at the blue sky. How’s that? Or look up at the stars at night. In case you’re wondering, this is what’s upstairs in the little attic. This is where you can plant your little kid or your plus one or when you get kicked out of the bedroom, you can go up there. It’s not bad, is it? But I don’t think that’s going to get used by me. Anyway, there’s no mini bar, no gimmicks, just what you need if you value comfort that doesn’t shout. Downstairs, the breakfast is spread of local organic produce. The kind that Berliners pay good money for at weekend markets. Nothing mass-produced. Even the yogurt is served in tiny jars that you can tell are washed and reused, not thrown out daily. The coffee amazing. And trust me, I don’t say that lightly. This gives any hipster coffee a run for its money. And the best part though, the courtyard tucked away behind the building. It feels like a secret garden, a little sanctuary with hanging plants, woven hammocks, an outdoor seating where you could sip your tea, your beer, or just breathe. Is it perfect? No, it’s not a luxury place, but it’s honest. And in this city, that’s refreshing. For the location, you’re a short walk to the Euban, a 25minute walk to the Brandenburg Gate, and close enough to places like Glicky Park and Urban Nation, and even Potma Plats without being surrounded by tourist traps. One of the ways you might want to enjoy Berlin is renting a moped, where you can rent yourself very old school, classic, beautiful Vesper from this hotel. It’s going to cost you €49 a day or I think it’s €19 for an hour. So, if you fancy a quick spin on a vest, but it’s going to cost you €9 from this hotel. Fantastic. Two of them here. Another thing you can do, they’ve got loads of bicycles inside. So, personally for me, the best way of getting around Berlin is on a bicycle rather than having to rock up at a bike shop. You can basically borrow a bike from this hotel. You can’t really go wrong there. I’ve linked the hotel below, and yes, it’s an affiliate link, but only because I actually recommend this place. Now this area just around the hotel is known as tear garden. Tear garden. An area of many many galleries. A sort of variation when it comes to the demographics of the area from old to young. We have a bit of everything in this area. And in my mind that kind of creates a kind of nice mix. It’s one of the more sort of relaxed chilled out neighborhoods. And it it has the benefits of yes, it used to be West Berlin. Get your haircut here or your beard cut here. All of the cuts. I’m Gandalf. I’m going to show you some of the highlights of this neighborhood. Obviously, you know you’re in Berlin because there’s graffiti everywhere. But comparison to some of the East Berlin areas, this is actually a reasonably clean neighborhood. There’s less stickers plastered all over the place. The bikes, as you can see, you can rent them here. So you don’t have to rent them from the hotel or any bike shops you can rent yourself from the next bike. Also, there are bikes scattered all over Berlin. There’s the scooters that basically sometimes clog up all of the pavements, all of the paths. We have the line bikes as you would expect. If you want to use a line bike, use the link in the description. Speaking of a line bike, there’s one just there. I think you could basically use the Uber app. Yeah, this area would have seen a bit of action back in the day. The Americans would have been effectively controlling this area. This is what would be known as the American zone. They had the ability to cross into East Berlin. They could only cross over during the day. They weren’t allowed to stay past midnight. So, what was very common, the Americans and those international tourists that wanted to take in East Berlin, they would cross over the border. They pay a small fee. The key was you’re not allowed to stay past midnight. If you stay past midnight, you would be in serious trouble with the East Berlin police. The Stazzi, the East German Stazzy picked up an American student, Frederick Prior. This is what I mean when we have scooters clogging up pavements. We got a dot scooter, lime scooter, we have a avoid scooter. Take your pick. Good way to get around, but they’re everywhere. They’re everywhere. Just be careful. Don’t do it when you’re drunk and you’ll be fine. Let’s see what we find in this neighborhood. As mentioned, this area once sat inside the American sector, brushing right up against the Cold War divide. A neighborhood that once bristled with spies, and the suspicion now bristles with glass and concrete new builds. Everywhere you look, past is being buried beneath steel and scaffolding. Slick apartments rise where old tenementss once stood. What was once a gritty edge of West Berlin now feels like it’s being airbrushed into a real estate brochure. The transformation is relentless, efficient, modern, and oddly soulless. But scratch the surface and Berlin’s raw history still bleeds through. A wars scarred facade here, a bunker turn gallery there. And just beneath the surface, tension between old and new, memory and modernity, between those who remember what this street was and those cashing in on what it’s becoming. This isn’t tourist Berlin. It’s the Berlin that doesn’t care if you like it. And that’s precisely why it matters. See, this area effectively is unrecognizable from what it would have been back in the 80s. This whole area is completely changed. All of these apartments probably built from late 1990s all the way up to 2000s, 2010s. Everything you see here is new, complete changes. Because we’re getting close to where the Berlin wall would have been, separating this area from east to west. Life has changed a lot for the Berliners. Some Berliners object to all of these modernday apartments and the fact that they feel it’s excluding the original people of Berlin. Maybe the artists responsible for a lot of the galleries in the area. They’re being excluded for the gentrification that’s happening in Berlin, but this is how cities evolve and it happens everywhere. The difference is Berlin is managing to sustain its sort of vibrancy better than other cities. At least if you compare it to somewhere like London where people are really being pushed out on the edges due to the poor management of consecutive mayors that have come and gone and still remain with us to blight us. Britain is blighted. Just around the corner it is another hotel. Got the same concept going on. Grims hotels here offering scooters here also offering bikes. rent rent a scooter. It’s something that’s very common with the hotels in Berlin. And why not? Because it’s a vast city. It’s a very big city, Berlin. Trying to get around walking, you’re going to do yourself a bit of a disservice sometimes. Use the public transport. Maybe use the museum pass where you’re getting public transport included. But my personal preference when it’s like this, get yourself a bicycle. As we head up to the north side of Tier Garden to Pot Dam, you get to what feels like a very much more a commercial district. Offices, the sterility of it all. Some offices still vacant. You can see the signs being advertised. But doesn’t really matter when the day is so beautiful cuz it allows you to just take it in and hopefully get a moment to a quieter street. The faded pink pipes snaking above the streets, looping awkwardly over intersections like misplaced roller coasters. They’re not art, though Berlin might like you to think so. These above ground pink pipes are Berlin’s answer to a swampy problem. You see, the city sits on marshland, and any major construction needs to pump out groundwater fast. Rather than burying the infrastructure, Berlin sends the water up and over, making the underground visible in a way only Berlin would. Yet to my right, these pipes are a reminder Berlin builds fast but never forgets the mud it built on. Architecturally, Berlin is a bit of an enigma. You got this random what I guess are park benches. They’ve utilized maybe what have they utilized? The old pipe work possibly. We got all these modern buildings around us. Some quite impressive and some kind of brutal. And you think, what what have they done there? It’s not the worst thing, but this is very Berlin. The bleakness. That’s why after a while, everyone starts wearing black. Black. I like black. Everyone starts just being sort of nonchalant about everything. I don’t know what it is about the place, but I think it’s the open spaces and the fact that everyone tends to walk at half the speed of the average Londoner. I’m sure that all of you who know who have been to London have witnessed Londoners. They’re probably two to three paces faster than your typical Brit or typical anyone. The only people in comparison walking that fast generally are New Yorkers, those around Wall Street. Walking here. Typically Londoners walk very fast, but in Berlin much more slower pace of life. Now obviously there’s exceptions to the rule, but most people they’re not in any rush and they’re just enjoying the sort of stark open spaces of areas usually filled with graffiti. Sometimes they’re having a bit of a skate maybe. I don’t know what they should have a look what these guys are up to over here maybe. Oh, they’re playing basketball. [Music] Obviously, you don’t need to always rent a bike from a hotel. You could get your bike from the streets. Emmy is a prime example of where you get your bikes. Reasonably good value. And generally, you can park them in most places. There are restricted areas. The app tells you where you can’t park them, but it’s a pretty good way of getting around. And normally in the bike, there’s a helmet, which is useful. I try not to ask too often, but do click that like button, leave a comment if you’re in a typhoon mood, and do click that subscribe button if you haven’t subscribed already because it allows this channel to grow and more videos like this to get made. I kind of like that right next to Pot Stam Plats Square or little area is what they would define as a beer garden. They got Corena on tap over there. Decent German beer and I’m sure they got other beers on tap, but I’m trying to be productive for you guys. So, I’m not going to do my usual and basically get myself into a pub again. That’s the biggest gripe of my existence. I probably go to too many pubs. That is my vice. But not today. Not today. That’s for another episode, another video. Today we’re just we’re just going to check out this this area. And it is unrecognizable. If you were here 25 30 years ago, you only found yourself here, you wouldn’t know where you were. The only giveaway would be the fact that it’s the Banhoff Pots down plat. And that name really has changed dramatically. And obviously you can get to this district by getting on the train, the underground, I mean finding yourself in this area. The narrow strip that you see is the ghost of the Berlin wall. It slides straight through pot stemorma plats, turning what was once Europe’s busiest square into a dead zone. Watchtowers, barbed wire, and silence. Today, it’s all glass and concrete and a wide open space. And yet, for all the architecture and clean lines, it feels strangely hollow, too polished, too quiet, like a space waiting for a soul that never truly came back. Back in the 1920s, this place was chaos in the best and worst of ways. Tramas, cafes, cabarets, you name it. It was modern Berlin before modern Berlin even knew what it was. Now it feels like a memory dressed up as progress. A square rebuilt not to relive history, but to cover it up. But the ground remembers every step here is a step across tension between past and present. Erasia and reinvention. Standing here, you stand in the middle of what Berlin survived. So right on the edge of potlucks is this old school traffic light. This traffic light stems all the way back to 1924, if you can believe it. And it originally stems from the United States of America. This used to be a manually controlled traffic light, although I hate to say it, this is a replica of the original one. So what would happen is the police officer would stand here. Speaking of which, police officer would stand here and they would control the the traffic lights. This used to be literally one of the busiest intersections of all of Berlin, but now it has changed dramatically. Now we’ve only got a few roads. It was kind of more crazy. It’s less crazy today because of the differences in the roads. And I’m pretty sure that 1939 to 1945 post changed everything because you got to realize not all roads then went east after 1945. It’s nice that they erected this monument paying homage to their traffic history in 1924. So, it’s like 100 years old. I saw this on the map thinking, “Oh, okay. Korean, maybe an opportunity to get food.” But it turns out it’s a kind of Korean cultural center. So, everything from Korean movies to Korean history and cultural phenomenons and things going on. Yeah. I don’t know if there’s any food here. So, one of the many, many Berlin bears you’ll see dotted around the city, right outside the Korean Cultural Center, a place where Korea basically uses to promote their media, the history, their art. I’m sure that they hold events there and phenomenal, phenomenal country that I’m really looking forward to heading to and hopefully making some content there in the near future. Just around the corner, Mall of Berlin. place where you can get your wares, your fancy items, things I would probably never buy. Medium place if you need to use the restrooms. Having been here several times cuz it’s not far from the Brandenburg gate. We’re about 10 minutes walk now from the Brandenburg gates. It’s a nice place to use the facilities and maybe get a coffee if you’re so inclined. Now, this mall has been here for some time cuz I remember being here last year and even though it says coming soon, something beautiful is coming soon. There’s a lot of empty shops here, which shows not all is right with Berlin. It’s just like much of the West. It’s struggling. People aren’t spending so much [Music] money. So, just walking away from Mall of Berlin, imagine Mall of America, but upgrade it and make everything kind of nice, but also incorporate a lot of empty buildings, a lot of empty shops in there. But it is nice in there. I don’t discount it. We’re getting to a really interesting area now because as we approach the Brandenburg gate, which I think is where I’m going to consider the north of this little zone that we’re basically discovering in the map, I’m going to turn my head here. And look, you’ll see a side profile of an individual. Now, this individual is effectively celebrated for the fact that he made an attempted assassination on Adolf Hitler, but he didn’t actually succeed in killing Adolf Hitler. It suggested that Adolf Hitler committed suicide. But this guy attempted to kill him by other means. He tend to blow a stage up which in turn maimed and killed of other people. This man is celebrated for killing innocent lives and failing to do what he wanted to do. I think it’s strange that we have this here celebrating an attempted assassination where innocents were killed. You can’t always explain certain monuments. I don’t think we should celebrate failure and the killing of innocents, but I don’t think like everyone else. I guess ah but there’s actually a little bit of sign here we can see if I’m not completely bullshitting. So here we are Johan George Elsa. Okay we’ll let the uh stag party get past us. So Johan Yorg also German resistance fighter from January 4th 1903 to camp on April 4th 1945. So on November 8th, 1939, George Elsa attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Burger Baka in Munich. Hitler left the meeting earlier than anticipated shortly before the bomb exploded and survived. Elsa was seized while attempting to flee to Switzerland. After weeks of interrogation in Munich and in Berlin by the Gustafo, he was placed in solitary confinement as a special prisoner. A few days before the war ended, he was murdered in Daal. During the war and for some quite for some time afterwards, George Ela was branded an undercover Nazi and a tool of the British secret service. In 1964, the interrogation protocols were discovered, erasing all doubts about the sincerity of his motives and of his acting, having acted alone. In 2010, the land Berlin stage Europeanwide public competition for the George Ela memorial. In 2011, the memorial designed by artist Ulises was erected, hence what we see there. But it has no mention of the people he also killed. It has doesn’t mention it. It doesn’t mention it. I’m going to look that up just to see if I’m not completely making that up. But I’m pretty sure it’s interesting how certain parts of history are not mentioned when they trying to big up someone. He who controls the internet controls information. Yeah. So, here’s a bit of information. I wasn’t sure on the specifics, but the explosion killed eight people and injured over 60, but Hitler was unharmed. So, innocents on November the 8th, 1939 were brutally killed by Elsa. And yet, here he is celebrated. [Music] Now, as we approach this corner over here, we’re going to start seeing crowds of people. This is an area I know pretty well, actually, having been to Germany many, many times. But what looks like a crowd of people stood on the edge of a car park is very, very much different. This car park here and probably some of the blocks of flats that you see just over here is what was known as Hitler’s bunker. Now Hitler’s bunker was constructed from 1943 and it was pretty much where he spent a lot of his time towards the end of the war. So between 1943 to 44 and 45. Now some suggest that he may have fled to Argentina. But obviously the official story is he committed suicide here. So this would have been the last place that Adolf Hitler breathed any air in. And now it’s become a bit of a tourist site. It was badly damaged by the end of the war by the Soviets, but it was still intact. They actually destroyed it in the years after the war had ended because they didn’t want it becoming a site of homage. They didn’t want it being a shrine to people that had respect for Adolf Hitler. They destroyed it, turned it into a car park, and then built these Soviet buildings over here. It’s kind of been a sort of very indescript car park ever since. I want to show you just just how many people are here. I’m pretty certain that most of these tour guides, if not all of these tour guides, will be telling the people here that this is where Adolf Hitler died. But I’m not convinced by that story. I don’t believe he died in the bunker or outside the bunker. I believe he fled through the chaos, eventually reaching Argentina, a place that is factually known to have had highranking Nazis where entire networks protected men like Mangallay and Ikeman for years and perhaps even Adolf Hitler too. Some say he lived his final years in the shadows, moving from safe house to safe house, far from the eyes of justice, but very much alive. So, it makes me wonder how many of these tourists realize that the mystery beneath their feet may be far greater than the official story allows because history has a habit of being rewritten and sometimes buried quite literally. Effectively, a tour is happening in almost every European language you can possibly imagine. We had the French, we had the Spanish, I think there was some Portuguese all giving out the tour. Some English over there all sort of marking the place that wasn’t supposed to become a shrine that wasn’t supposed to be remembering Adop yet. All these tourists now visit the place and then significantly as we walk a little bit further in the direction of the Brandenburg gate, we get to another incredibly significant memorial. Now, this memorial has caused a little bit of controversy with photographers over the years in the fact that certain people don’t think it’s suitable to have your picture taken. But the artist who designed this memorial, and this is the Jewish Holocaust Memorial, said no, the memorial is to be designed, but his words were vetoed. And now what happens when you visit this memorial is always security saying stop standing on it, stop taking pictures on it. But which wasn’t the original intention of the original designer or artist of the memorial. And I think it’s a real shame because it should be a place Thank you. It should be a place that that is enjoyed and not just to be taken in. But at the same time, if if you get a moment to walk through, it is a place where you might gather your thoughts. It’s a place where you will remember the fallen. You might think about all of the different camps. And uh I’ll just give you a turn around in the sunset. Looks rather beautiful. The artist behind the memorial, Peter Eisman, envisioned it as a public space, open, accessible, a place for people to move through, sit on, interact with, not sacred ground behind glass, but memory embedded into the living city. And for a time it was just that. But now it’s fenced off at night. Crowd barriers block every entry and security patrols it regularly. Policing behavior, snapping at anyone they deem disrespectful. As if grief can only be expressed in silence. As if memory must be choreographed. I think it’s a strange contradiction. A monument meant to live in the present now guarded like a museum after hours, sanitized, controlled. But perhaps that says more about today than it does about the past. Our discomfort with ambiguity, our urge to script mourning, to tell people how to feel. This place was built to make us think, to unsettle you, to force confrontation, not just with history, but with how we carry it. And even in its restricted state, it still manages to do just that. It’s a place where I think it’s always better that you enjoy or experience for yourselves. It’s not really a place where you want someone vlogging on camera. So, we’re going to continue to the Brandenburg Gate. Before exiting, I want to point out this building over here. Significant in the fact that of their seriously close relationship with one another. The Holocaust memorial pretty much came about from the Jewish influence and Israelis and right opposite it, this is the American embassy. Extremely well guarded. Every embassy, and I’ve spoken about this many, many times, doesn’t matter which country you go to and which cap capital city you go to. The American embassy always has the most security with the odd exception being the Israeli embassy from time to time, but the Israeli embassy isn’t in every country, but the Americans are, and they are generally protected, a little bit like Fort Knox. I have to say, I’d love to go in to an American embassy one day, but I don’t think I’m ever going to really have the chance. I know British embassies are not that well protected in comparison. I’m literally just speaking about the British embassy just there and literally around the corner from the American embassy. You get the British embassy slightly imposing. Is it as well protected as the American embassy? I severely doubt it. But actually reasonably sturdy building. But our most important point on this trip is the most norally point of what I considered to be the district that we were taking in just how easy it is to get to the Brandenburg gate from uh tear garden the pots dam we’re going to round the corner here as long as we haven’t entered a different dimension around the corner will be the monumental beautiful monument that is the Brandenburg gates check this [Music] tell you that’s a very very inexpensive hotel. The hotel Kinsky. I’ve not had the pleasure of staying at the one in Berlin and this is really nice. You know it’s nice bell boys got the doorman but I hear it here it’s very nice. I had actually popped in and used the facilities in there because why would you not? You got a park on that side. You’re thinking, “Oh my god, I need to use a place.” Best thing to do. Walk in there, pretend you own the place. Go to the back and use the facilities and they’re very, very nice. I’ve seen a few Kinskys in different countries. The Kimpinsky in I believe it was Budapest or and I think Prague as well. I’ve stayed in that one, but not Berlin. Always a beautiful time to visit the Brandenburg Gate. And uh here we are. Great photo opportunity of the Brandenburg Gate. Everyone films this when they come to Berlin, the Brandenburgg Gate. But what they don’t tell you is the gate was once a symbol of division, not unity. The woman up there, that’s Victoria, that is the Roman goddess of victory. But Napoleon once stole her and took her back to Paris like a souvenir. The Prussians fortunately stole her back and gave her a new nickname, the Rtorisk. Literally the return carriage. So what I love are the Doric columns copied straight from the Acropolis. Can anyone remember my Athens video? I filmed it such a long time ago. During the Cold War, the Brandenburg gate stood trapped in no man’s land right in the death strip of the Berlin Wall. East Germans cleaned one side, West Berliners cleaned the other. It was pristine and completely useless. Now it’s the backdrop from everything from protest to New Year’s Eve, fireworks, and of course tourists with selfie sticks. If you’re after some tourist information, head into the place literally right next to Brandenburg Gate itself. Tourist information center here. This this place is really useful if you want to pick up your museum cards or your all day travel cards. Head into here. It’s not a tourist trap. It’s actually really useful. So in here, I got myself the Berlin welcome cards. Not only does it give me public transport access for 3 days, 72 hours, it also gives me discounts. So, for example, if I wanted to go to certain places, it would give me discounts on that. And on top of that, I got a museum pass. You can get your museum pass, spend a small fee, you get yourself a museum pass. Gives you access to 37 different museums in Berlin. And these aren’t just any museums. These are all pretty much all the best museums. The museum pass is something I massively recommend. And if you tune in to this channel to watch individual videos in those museums, you’re going to get to experience some of those museums. But obviously, what I show you on those videos can’t be everything. These places have to be seen. It’s a phenomenal place and and Berlin has this phenomenal history that has to be seen and cherished. It’s not just techno. [Music] Just to give you an idea of the selection of bike rental or scooter rental, you know, from the mopeds to the scooters to the bikes, there’s an array. The dots, the limes, the tears, the boys, the Emmys. Yeah, you can even get get your own Emmy here. The Emmy moped. An array. If your feet get tired, there’s no stopping you. I tell you now, Costana Plats is very, very modern in comparison to what it used to be. It used to be a bit of a state, but they’ve really sort of changed this area dramatically. Shops are very different. Got game stores, places to play video games, places to go to the cinema. It is not how you would picture Berlin if you’re used to seeing East Berlin and you’re used to standing out in the the lines outside Burkheim staggering out of Trezor or any of these numerous epic techno clubs because it’s gone all well positive and negative to it. There’s commercialization, the globalization could be anywhere. That’s a negative. But it was a bit of a mess for all this. I do miss some of the history. At least we’re retaining some of the cobblestones even though we know those are new cobblestones. But it could be a lot worse. It seems to be a nice place. Is nice a good word to use? I’m not sure. But you know, Celibby, even a casino to play blackjack. Got a bit of everything here, don’t they? Spellbank violin. Play your cards right. can win a fortune, lose a fortune, you know. And even here, this feels like Vegas really. Just here we got the Blue Man Group going on their Vegas production. Remember those guys were massive in Vegas a while ago? They probably still are, but now they they are here in Berlin. The nice thing about the Blue Man Group, you don’t need the original stars to do it. Just paint yourself blue and franchise is all over the world now, I’m sure. Where else is the Blue Man Group? I’m pretty sure they’re in London at one stage. I’m sure they get all over the place, but this is where they are in Berlin. And look, we’ve even got the blue man, blue bears, Berlin. It’s all the mass exportation of culture making everything globo homogeneous or globo. What we’re seeing here isn’t simply redevelopment. It is a physical manifestation of a broader ambition, the NWO. It’s an open project, a technocratic vision of economic zones stitched together by uniform values, global capital and managed populations. Local culture, individual sovereignty, national identity, all inconvenient remnants of the old world, all being scrubbed away street by street. Berlin’s transformation in this neighborhood is a case study of that Rasia. What was once a borderland between ideologies is now a showroom of conformity. A city where history has been commodified, where struggle is packaged for tourists and where everything looks eerily like everywhere else. This clean, efficient modernity isn’t progress. It’s replacement. The unique replaced by uniform, the citizen replaced by consumer, and the once untainable Berlin, reshaped into yet another economic zone of the future, where disscent is managed and culture is curated for Instagram. And if that wasn’t a concern for you, it should be because what vanishes next may not just be the old buildings, but the very essence of what made cities like Berlin worth visiting in the first place. Thankfully, this is Berlin. So, there still is a lot of realness and rawness still available to be found in this city. Welcome to Berlin. That’s time. Of course, no trip is complete without going to Spread. I’ve been calling it all this entire time, but I think that’s the nickname for it. But basically, you sit outside what would be known as an offlic license in the UK and you sit at Let me see if I can This camera is going to follow me around. Probably not. A very nice table and you can sit enjoying the the sunshine or sunset and uh you can have a very decent German beer for the princely sum of €2. Hopefully you will have seen my video on the Schw. There’s a lot to watch there and a lot to take in. So hopefully you get involved. And now we’re getting invaded by all the kids. Hope they go. They shouldn’t be they shouldn’t see me watch drinking beer. Now Berlin doesn’t always have to be about techno and cheap beer. Sometimes you can go up market and you can go check out what used to be one of London’s greatest cocktail clubs is now in Berlin. And this is the Gibson. And let’s go and have a look inside. Step inside the Gibson in Berlin and you would immediately sense you’re in for something far and above the usual bar experience. There’s an air of world class here. Not stuffy, not pretentious, just impeccably polished. From the moment I walked in, the service was faultless. Attentive without being overbearing, knowledgeable without showing off, and a rare balance that makes you feel truly welcome. My hat goes off to the team there. Now, obviously, we’re here for the cocktails because this is where the Gibson truly flexes its creative muscles. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill Negronis or margaritas. What they’re doing here borders on alchemy. I had concoctions I had never seen. Flavor pairings that shouldn’t work, but somehow did. Beautifully balanced, bold, and genuinely exciting. And the side plates, phenomenal, not an afterthought, but crafted and considered. and frankly better than most small plate joints in town. Each dish complemented the drinks like a well rehearsed duet. So this is interesting. I’ve never had oysters with this. Normally in England it’s Tabasco. Here we’ve gone to the uh well Mexican thing. But even more interesting we have the froy whiskey put on top of the the oysters. Have you had the LROY whiskey? It’s just a flying head, aren’t I? It blend in with the background. And then absent. Absent. Are we going to get Wow, look at that. You see how it’s luminescing? That is the absent. This is the first time I’m ever having an oyster. Absent. Can you believe it? That’s definitely But it’s good. It’s a really surprising taste. This black background, it’s almost like an episode of the Muppet Show. [Music] Thank the Gibson is what happens when bartending is treated as an art form. It’s stylish without trying too hard. It’s Berlin, yes, but a more refined Berlin and worth seeking out if you need to escape from the techno or you need a warm-up before the techno. If you want something beyond the ordinary, the wandering Englishman says this is a place to go. So, do check it out and let me know in the comments if you’ve been or are going to go. Wasn’t that fantastic? Amazing array of cocktails. I don’t know if you could actually hear me when I was speaking inside, but I thought that was fantastic. The Gibson, five stars, 10 out of 10. If you’re in Berlin, go check it out because it’s phenomenal. Little bit on the pricey side, but you know what? It’s worth it for the service alone. And I tell you what, it’s a great warm up to any techno club. So, go check it out. Anyway, check out the Gibson. Thank you, Gibson. One of the nice things about this area, there’s a brew house called Brillo. Now, you may have seen from my other videos where this beer features, but finally made it to the brew house. It’s pretty Berlin, actually. And yeah, not bad opportunity to sample some good beer. I highly approve. So I wanted to make it an admission that I would check out all of the surrounding area of tear garden even as far south where it gets a little bit dodgy. Far south there is a what I would define as an open market but the problem being now gives you an idea of when this is filmed. Today is international women’s day. Now in the UK it’s never been a thing. So, it’s not really ever been on my radar, much to my detriment because anytime I’m with an international woman on International Woman’s Day, I’m oblivious to it, which is bad of me. I know I’m completely bad. But it’s the 8th of March, apparently. And that basically means other than the odd restaurant, everything’s closed. Literally everything. So, from shops to hairdressers to supermarkets toarmacies, phone shop, everything is closed. My hope is there’s an open market down here and we’re going to go check it out. I was told by the hotel management that it was worth checking out. I don’t think he realized it was International Women’s Day when he said check it out to me yesterday. But let’s see. Let’s hope there’s a few characters there. Hopefully, we can see some authentic German market. Otherwise, we might have to do this another day onwards. It’s sad how these people think they’re in a little gang Antifa area. I mean, what a joke. How many millions of millions of people died at the hands of communism? The new fascists are the anti-fascists. We have more. That’s probably some 12-year-old specky boy pretending he’s in a gang. Well, this is where the market was supposed to be. So, my mission to explore the south. But a lot of politics going on around here. A political sign there. Obviously, we saw the Antifa messages. We’ve seen stickers everywhere. A lot of politics in this area. Well, should we go and redeem ourselves and see if we can go inside this church, cleanse ourselves from the the dirt that is the political dirtiness of Berlin politics. You won’t find St. Matus in most Berlin travel guides. And that’s half of the reason I’m here. Tucked away in Schlonberg, it’s the largest Catholic church in all of Berlin. And yet somehow it’s still ignored by the crowd snapping shots at the TV tower. Built between 1893 and 1895. It’s a classic red brick neo gothic. It was part of the quiet Catholic comeback. What was a very Protestant, very Prussian Berlin. This wasn’t just architecture. It was identity politics in stone. Remember, Germany wasn’t even a unified country. In 1871, the Catholic Church, especially in the north, had to navigate Bismar’s cult, his campaign to limit Catholic influence. So, this church built just after the fight cool is practically defiant inside. It’s not just grand. It’s somber, reverent, but built for spectacle, built for persistence, which is fitting because Berlin bombers flattened the tower in World War II. What you see now is the postwar restoration completed in the 1950s. Like most of Berlin, stitched back together, St. Mattheus isn’t flashy. It doesn’t beg for attention, but it stands. Through culture wars, world wars, and whatever this century throws at it, in a city constantly rebuilding itself, this place reminds you resilience doesn’t always shout. And sometimes it just keeps ringing its bells. Well, in a way, because a market would normally be where I’m standing, I may not have noticed that beautiful church. very modern Catholic church. Although when I say modern, modern in design, probably from the 60s and 70s. I need to look that up. And I’m sure I’ve uh given a little bit of insight into the edit of the video. You can see on the floor here, which is where all the markets would put their little stores. You can see the markings. On a normal day, it would be here, but not today. Something for you guys to do and not for myself. I actually know a pub on the corner here. I was in this pub a couple of days ago. It’s called Slumberland. Really quite a strange place. I tried filming in there very very briefly and got scoured at by the lady behind the bar. But what’s fascinating is this floor is all sand. I’m going to go and try to show you the floor. We’ll go check it out. It’s much very very much a LGBT area. This diverse little area Is it okay just to film around the floor? Is it okay? You don’t mind? Yeah. Thank you. [Music] Nice. It’s a nice It’s a nice place. Thank Thank you very much. I’m glad I popped by during the day. Thank you. Thank you. I tell you, a little bit of a different atmosphere there during the daytime. It’s not even midday yet. People are having their coffees, their beers. Uh Slumberland, the sort of dream state. And apparently there’s been sand in that bar since 1977. So, was it the inspiration of Tatooine in the Star Wars movies? They wanted to feel a bit like the sand people. Maybe they put sand in there. I’m just speculating there. I’ve got no idea. Comment below if you know the reason that they decided to install sand since 1977. [Music] Why not? But it’s a lot more pleasant during the daytime. Couple of aggravated customers last time I was in there. I’m sure it’s very pleasant most of the time, but it just, you know, roll the dice sometimes. He doesn’t like you. I’m sorry. I don’t like you either. And one thing you’ll notice as you walk into Berlin pubs and bars when it’s a busier evening, even though smoking is in theory banned, there’s many pubs where just people are openly smoking. And that is 100% true when you go to the clubs. So if you’re expecting to come home not stinking of smoke when you’re in Berlin, you’re going to be very much disappointed if not mistaken, your entire outfit will be stinking of smoke. It’s the only negative I think as a non-smoker, but it’s part of the charms of Berlin. I think onwards I say now one of the eyes or not such an isol that sort of dissects most of Berlin is of course the Yuban. The Yubn is the underground system of Berlin. It functions above ground and also underground depending on where you are in Berlin. And there’s nine of these all over Berlin. Very functional way of getting around. The price keeps going up every year. You are best getting yourself a travel card if you’re here for a number of days. If you’re a Berlin, you get a more of a discount, but get yourself a travel card. And the Uban is a great way of getting around. Personally, my preference on a day like this is to cycle, but this is a fantastic way of getting around. The nice thing is you can even take your beer on the Ubarn. Don’t smoke on it. Have a drink, get into the festive mood, the night mood. It might be a Friday, it might be a Saturday. Get yourself out there and enjoy the Berlin with the Berliners. I think one of the things I like most about Berlin are the quiet streets. This reminds me of what Shortitch was like in the early naughties. I remember walking the streets around Shortitch, Bitterfields, between Brick Lane, the commercial road, and it would just be empty streets. You go there now, it’s just packed full of people that busy. But here, super quiet. Apart from the old car here and there, I think obviously the fact that it’s International Women’s Day makes some sort of difference in the fact that it’s a little bit busy. But this is one of the charms about the place. I think very excited. Get to go to the Espionage Museum. It is not included in the museum pass. The museum pass, remember I told you, includes 37 museums. However, if you book online and you have a welcome pass or anything, you get a discount. If you’re a student, you get a discount and it’s not so expensive. I’m excited to see what this place has to offer. Book your time slot. You can turn up. I’ve just rocked up. Got a time slot in 15 minutes. What have I paid? About 11 12. So, it’s not too bad. If you don’t have a discount, you’ll be paying about 25% more. Let’s go and see if we can learn from the German spies. See what this place has to offer. Berlin was once divided by a wall, but it was also divided by ideologies. And it’s here, fittingly, it makes for a great city for a spy museum. The German spy museum is a slick modern tribute to secrets, deception, and the silent war that never really ends. Walk inside and you’re greeted by the familiar toys of espionage, the concealed weapons, the invisible inks, the telephone taps, the Cold War cliches are all here. But the deeper you go, the more you realize this isn’t just a museum about spies. It’s a museum about control. The romantic age of the gentleman spy, pipe smoking, coat breaking, trench coatwearing agent feels like a footnote. The real message here is about the modern surveillance state. Not in a critical way. No, the tone is strangely celebratory as the idea of being watched is part of the progress, a necessary evil or worse, something to be applauded. What it doesn’t do is ask the obvious questions. Who holds the keys to these secrets? And what kind of world is being built behind our backs? We’re told that secrets are necessary for safety, for stability. But maybe, just maybe, the secrets are also how power holds itself in place. How nations are held back, how innovation is throttled, how populations are kept compliant, while a parallel system, hidden and unaccountable, calls the shots. Because, make no mistake, espionage today isn’t about maps and microfilm. It’s digital blackmail, economic sabotage, and algorithmic manipulation. The game is played at a level far above the average citizen’s reach. And while you walk through the glass cases full of relics from East Germany, West Germany, real surveillance happens in your pocket every second. All of these signs behind me show the different double agents across all of the spy agencies from KGB, CIA, MI6, the Cambridge spies, for example, those that have aligned themselves in communism and betrayed the Brits became spies for the KGB. It’s it’s weird how people think communism is the way. And it’s heartening to see that communists can change alliance as well. But it’s just goes to show how many double agents there are. people that would have betrayed probably the statue in the back if you ever came across [Music] them. There’s a moment where the museum almost winks at you, an interactive wall tracking your movement. You play the game, not realizing the game’s already being played on you. Sure, for fans of spy history, there’s a joy in the gadgets and the vintage tech, but walk out and you feel like something is missing. a critical voice, a warning, a challenge. Instead, the whole experience feels approved, as if the modern surveillance state isn’t a threat to liberty, but a clever innovation to keep us safe. If you know your history, that should chill you. So, yes, I give it a 6 out of 10 because for all the noise, it’s just a whisper of the truth. And if you want to see the real spy story, look up, look around. The apparatus is all around you, hidden in plain sight. Well, as we exit through the gift shop, we discovered that the spy agencies are still massive experts when it comes to propaganda trying to tell the public that mRNA vaccine was perfectly safe and those who believed in the CO conspiracies were completely wrong. Yeah. The propaganda continues. What did I get out of it? Well, seeing the suitcases, seeing the guns, listening devices was fascinating. But if you’ve read many spy books, espionage books, pretty much what they general theme of modern museums are these days is they basically print these onto the wall and then you basically go in. So, you know, was it worth it? You got like an hour and a half, 2 hours and you want to do a lot of reading, [Music] then there’s always something going on in Berlin. This time got a feminist protest going on. Just trying to get navigate around with my fancy bike. Slightly frustrating. I thought we already had equality. So should you stay south of tear garden? If you want postcard Berlin, you’ll need to stay elsewhere. Mite, Pleasantburg, or maybe Charlottesenberg if you’re feeling grand. But if you want to understand Berlin, not just photograph it, this might be your zone. It’s central but cheaper. Gritty but artistic, safe but loud, not without flaws. And that’s the point. Berlin isn’t meant to be smooth. It’s meant to make you think. It’s a city where history is under your feet. Sometimes the best way to understand it is to stay outside the lines. If you appreciated this content, there’s much more to come. Much more on Berlin. And in the meantime, you can always watch all my old videos. A big thank you to my members on YouTube, those that support me with buying coffees. Until next time, keep progressing and I will see you in the next video.

What looks polished on a map can feel very different on the street. In this video, I explore what it’s really like staying just south of Berlin’s iconic Tiergarten. A place of trendy hotels, street grit, and untold contrasts. Maybe you will consider this part of Berlin next time you are in Berlin?

This isn’t the Berlin of travel brochures — it’s the real Berlin.
I booked myself into a stylish eco-conscious hotel expecting comfort and charm… and I got it. But step outside, and you’ll quickly realise this part of Berlin isn’t just posh cafés and curated art galleries. There’s another reality here — one that many travellers walk past, unaware.

It’s not my job to sell cities. It’s my job to walk through them, eyes open — and let you decide.

📍 The hotel I stayed at?
👉 Lulu Guldsmeden Berlin –https://locally.link/TluF (Affiliate link – supports the channel)
🇩🇪 Berlin WelcomeCard: Unlimited Public Transport & Discounts – https://www.headout.com/r/recommends-kGS9N/
🪖 World War II And The Third Reich Walking Tour Of Berlin – https://www.headout.com/r/recommends-kHSSG/
🍸 The Gibson Bar Berlin – https://www.gibson-bar.com/

🎥 I’m The Wondering Englishman – exploring the world with curiosity, context, and a willingness to question what I see.
This channel is for thinkers, travellers, and anyone trying to make sense of a changing world.

🧭 Join me as I walk the roads less taken, stay in the places others skip, and bring you the stories behind the scenery.

Time Stamps:
00:00 – Intro to Tiergarten, Berlin
02:04 – Lulu Guldsmeden Hotel
06:33 – The Streets of Tiergarten
11:56 – Why Does Berlin Have Pipes Above Street Level?
12:31 – Tilla-Durieux-Park
15:34 – Potsdamer Platz
18:41 – The Empty Mall of Berlin
19:41 – The Man Who is Celebrated for Killing Innocent Civilians
22:55 – Hitler’s Bunker
25:33 – Memorial to the Jews of Europe
27:52 – Embassy Land
29:36 – The Brandenburg Gate
31:22 – Tourist Information Berlin
33:01 – The Globo Homo Changes to Potsdamer Platz
36:27 – Späti Beer
37:19 – The Gibson Bar, Berlin
40:36 – Brlo Brwhouse
41:00 – Trying to find a Market
43:24 – St. Matthias, Catholic Church – Berlin
45:33 – Slumber Land Bar
48:16 – The U-Bahn Berlin & the Streets around Tiergarten
49:56 – The German Spy Museum
54:55 – Should you stay in Tiergarten and Big Thanks to my Members!

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Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 – Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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