Tag des offenen Denkmals 2025
On the 13th and 14th September countless memorials open their doors in Germany. Tag des Offenen Denkmal is part of the European Heritage Days, which began in 1984. French culture minister Jack Lang launched ‘open door days’ for historic monuments in France and the idea soon spread all across Europe. The idea has grown tremendously in Germany with around four million visitors each year. Berlin has over 300 places to visit and will take part for two days. Here are 12 unique Berlin memorials you shouldn’t miss this year.
49 hours at ICC
The ICC is one of Europe’s biggest abandoned buildings and was commissioned during the height of the Cold War costing 924 million marks. Reminiscent of a space ship, the designated congress centre is empty today due to high running costs and the discovery of asbestos. This weekend the ICC will open its doors for 49 hours for guided tours, exhibitions and architecture enthusiasts.
- ICC – International Congress Centre Messedamm 22, Westend, Fri 5pm–10pm, Sat 10am–10pm, Sun 2pm–7.30pm (roof level only until 4pm), register here, currently fully booked
The former US Army Security Agency Station
Walk in the shoes of former US Army security agents who were working at the former surveillance station at Teufelsberg, which rises above the city’s skyline. The station now accommodates the biggest street-art gallery in the world. The exhibition ‘Declassified’ is on display until 3 October, illuminating the role of Teufelsberg during the Cold War through installations, audio stations and eyewitness accounts. Guided tours are available in German and English.
- Teufelsberg, Teufelsseechaussee 10, Wilmersdorf, free admission, guided tour ‘History of the Teufelsberg’ Sat+Sun 11 a.m.–8 p.m., €12/€10/€5, registration possible on site, booking recommended
- Guided tour in English ‘History of the Teufelsberg’ Sat+Sun 11 a.m.–8 p.m., €12/€10/€5, registration possible on site, booking recommended Exhibition ‘Declassified – The Secret of Teufelsberg’ 11 a.m.–8 p.m., free admission
Berlin’s former livestock and slaughterhouse
The former slaughterhouse supplied Berlin with meat for 110 before closing its doors in 1991. You can still see the remnants of the mutton auction hall towering over Bankensteinpark, but the area used to be its own little city with its own stock exchange. Today the area is a sought-after place to live and work, but walking through what remains of the old auction hall, you can feel the weight of the area’s history.
- Former Central Livestock Market and Slaughterhouse Berlin, Eldenaer Str. 42, Prenzlauer Berg, guided tour ‘The former Central Livestock Market and Slaughterhouse of Berlin – then and now’ Sat 2 p.m., Sun 11 a.m., meeting point: REWE car park / Eldenaer Straße, contact [email protected]
Lichterfelde Women’s Prison
From prison to restaurant: that’s the remarkable transformation of Lichterfelde’s former women’s prison. Built over a century ago in a Neo-Renaissance style, it originally housed both male and female inmates. Among its most notorious residents were European boxing champion Bubi Scholz, who drunkenly shot his wife, and Michael ‘Bommi’ Baumann, co-founder of the anarchist ‘2, Juni’ movement. Even after closing as a prison, the building kept attracting famous faces, although this time they came willingly. Til Schweiger, Moritz Bleibtreu, and George Clooney have all filmed here, and it doubled as the prison in ‘Babylon Berlin.’ These days, the old cells have been transformed into event spaces and ‘The Knast’ restaurant. Currently, it’s hosting ‘Unbound’, an exhibition featuring over 50 queer artists exploring themes of fetish and queer asthetic.
- Lichterfelde Women’s Prison, Söhtstraße 7, Steglitz, guided tour ‘Behind the Walls’ Sat 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., Sun 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., meeting point: in front of the building, contact [email protected]
- Exhibition ‘Unbound’, Sat+Sun 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., cell block at prideArt Berlin e.V., contact [email protected]
- ‘The Knast’ Sat 5–11 p.m. Bar in the dome hall of THE KNAST 6 p.m.–1 a.m., participation in all programme items only for those aged 18 and over, contact [email protected]
Fairytales in Friedrichshain
The Fairy Tale Fountain in Friedrichshain is an impressive piece of imperial-era engineering, disguised as whimsy fairytale characters. Built with its own electric pumping station, the fountain is surrounded by sculptures of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and other beloved characters. What makes it really special, though, is that you can go inside the plumping. Guided tours take you into the network of underground pipes that keep the fountain running. The guides love to jest that maybe this is where the missing ogre and giant’s daughter sculptures have been hiding all this time.
- Fairytale Fountain, Corner of Friedenstraße/Am Friedrichshain, Friedrichshain. Guided tour ‘Fairytale Fountain – Masterpiece of Water Technology’ Sat 2.30 p.m., Sun 10.30 a.m., meeting point: main entrance, Friedenstraße/Am Friedrichshain, registration required at [email protected] by 12 September.
The Britz housing estate
When Berlin faced a housing crisis in the 1920s, Britz became Germany’s answer as the first large-scale housing estate with over 1000 flats. Architect Bruno Taut had a knack for balancing practicality with personality, giving each residential block different colours and distinctive details despite the overall functional design. The estate’s famous horseshoe-shaped layout has earned it UNESCO World Heritage status and made it an icon of modern architecture. If you want to learn more about Taut’s vision, there are several guided tours available.
- Britz housing estate Fritz-Reuter-Allee 48, Neukölln Guided tour Sat+Sun 10am+1pm, meeting point: Fritz-Reuter-Allee 48, at the horseshoe, registration required by 11 September.
- Tour with interior views ‘Living in a World Heritage Site’ Sun 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., meeting point: Information station, Fritz-Reuter-Allee 44, registration required by 12 September.
- Guided tour ‘Hufeisensiedlung residential community – Living in a World Heritage Site’ Sun 2 p.m., Meeting point: U-Bahn station. Blaschkoallee, at the Blaschkoallee exit, registration possible on site before the tour begins or online here
- Guided tour in English Sat. 5 p.m., starting point: Information station, Fritz-Reuter-Allee 44, before 5 p.m. visit of the bilingual exhibition (designed and written by the guide) possible
Germany’s oldest mosque
When five years of major renovation work finished in 2022, Imam Amir Aziz called it a ‘historic moment,’ the Wilmersdorf Mosque had been restored to its original glory. Germany’s oldest mosque is quite something to behold. Architect Karl August Herrmann designed it between 1924 and 1927, taking inspiration from the Persian-Indian style of the Taj Mahal.
- Wilmersdorf Mosque Brienner Str. 7–8, Wilmersdorf, Sat+Sun 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Guided tour ‘History, contribution and activities of the mosque’ Sat+Sun 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., contact [email protected]
Travel back in time on your bike
Ever wondered why Prenzlauer Berg is packed with breweries? This 5-hour bike tour has the answers. Called ‘Warm Light and Cool Beer’, it takes you on a journey through the area’s industrial past, stopping at historic sites and the ghostly remains of old factories. Starting from the German Museum of Technology, you’ll cycle through Gesundbrunnen and Prenzlauer Berg, discovering how Berlin became an industrial powerhouse. The massive red-brick AEG factory is a reminder of those years of industrial boom.
- 5-hour bike tour ‘Warm Light and Cool Beer’ Sat+Sun 11 a.m., meeting point: 10.45 a.m., German Museum of Technology (in front of the ‘Technik Museum’ sculpture), end point: German Museum of Technology, registration required by 5 September online here for Sat + here for Sun, note: no interior visits, bring your own bike and food
BVG’s blast from the past
Want to experience history first-hand? Hop on one of the vintage buses running routes 118, 218, or 316 and learn about West Berlin’s transport system from the 1960s to the 1990s as you travel. You can even switch to historic trams run by Potsdam’s transport company for the full retro experience.If you’re really into nostalgia, there’s also an 8-hour bus safari that takes you round West Berlin’s striking post-war churches.
- Traditional bus tour Sun, 10 a.m.–7 p.m., from Wannsee station, BVG bus lines 118 and 316 run every 20 minutes at VBB rates, line 218 runs according to the BVG timetable, a BVG ticket is required for the journey, organised by Traditionsbus GmbH Berlin.
Berlin’s lost spa
Hidden away in a Wedding backyard lie the forgotten ruins of the Luisenbad spa, where Berlin’s famous Gesundbrunnen spring once bubbled up from the ground. Back in the late 1700s, affluent Berliners would travel here seeking a cure for gout and other ailments. The spa changed hands several times before Queen Luise lent it her name in 1809, giving the health resort along the Panke river a new lease of life. Whether the queen herself ever sampled the supposedly healing waters, nobody knows.
- Saturday Lecture: Building in listed buildings. 12 noon, meeting point: in front of the library, Robert Niess and Rebecca Chestnutt
- Guided tour: From spa to library. Start: after the lecture, meeting point: in front of the library, Marlies Mäder and Thomas Gärtner, contact [email protected]
- Sunday Guided tour: as on Saturday, 2 p.m., contact [email protected]
Uferhallen’s transformation
Back in 1926, architect Jean Krämer built these striking workshops for Berlin’s tram depot. He managed to blend the clean, functional lines of New Objectivity with bold decorative touches, and fittingly, the buildings are still all about movement today, just of a different kind. What were once tram repair shops are now home to Uferstudios, where contemporary dancers research and create new work. On Tag des offenen Denkmals, you can see how these industrial spaces have been transformed into cutting-edge creative studios.
- Guided tour Sat, 1 p.m., 3 p.m. meeting point: by the chimney, Lea-Maria Kneisel, contact [email protected]
Neukölln’s Sanssouci
For decades, Körnerpark has been a Sunday magnet, families spread out on picnic lawns, couples sit at café tables, and everyone enjoys the free concerts and art exhibitions among the fountains and cascades. This neo-baroque gem has evolved into a truly multicultural community space. But there’s an intriguing story behind it all. The park is named after Franz Körner, and it was once dubbed ‘the most beautiful gravel pit in Berlin’ before being transformed into a ‘Prussian Arcadia,’ a pocket of greenery amid the surrounding apartment blocks and industrial grit.
- Guided tour ‘Sanssouci in Neukölln – der Körnerpark’ Sat, 2 p.m. meeting point: park entrance, Jonasstraße / Wittmannsdorfer Straße, Henning Holsten, register online here
