Alexanderplatz

Alexanderplatz is one of the most important squares in Berlin due to its location and also its shopping area.

The TV Tower, the Fernsehturm, can be found here, one of the most well-known Berlin tourist attractions. It's the largest TV Tower in the European Union and the most famous structure in Germany at 368 metres tall. The tower has a sphere at its top which is an observation point and a restaurant which slowly rotates and offers amazing views of the city. Unless you count the observation point at the top though, I don't really understand why it's so famous, since it's really not very attractive looking. Yes, it is the largest TV tower in Europe, but there's not much more to see, and it doesn't look as big as you think it'll be.

Apart from the TV Tower, another symbol of Alexanderplatz is the World Clock. This was the first thing I saw in Berlin, since we were staying with a friend who was doing her Erasmus exchange there and she took us to see the clock at Alexanderplatz. I quite liked it, as it's quite intriguing. It's small to medium-sized, and has a circular structure with the numbers 1 to 24 printed around it and the names of countries written underneath each time zone. There's what looks like a metal solar system on its top. Looking at it, you can see the different time zones of the world and what the time is at moment in various countries simultaneously. It's more beautiful at night as it's lit up.

There's also a shopping area on Alexanderplatz plus one of the most important train and metro stops in the city, since lots of lines stop here and it's a common changeover stop. On the way to the station, you pass through the shopping area, where there's a Starbucks and other clothes shops and restaurants. Alexanderplatz is also home to one of the largest shopping centres in Berlin, ALEXA, which is just around the corner from the square.

The most significant building on the square is a tall hotel my friend told me you can bungee jump off the roof of if you pay 100 euros. I would have loved to have done it, but unfortunately there wasn't any time and I didn't have much money. It must be so cool though, and also for passers by who are just walking past and suddenly see someone falling from the hotel roof.

The train and metro stops in the square are called 'Alexanderplatz' - the metro (U-Bahn) lines that stop here are the U2, U5 and the U8, and the train (S-Bahn) lines are the S5, S7 and the S75. There's also the tram, but we didn't travel on it and the S-Bahn or U-Bahn are better.