Since the 18th century Unter den Linden (Under the Lime trees) has been the street to be seen in Berlin. This grand avenue lined with four rows of lime trees runs from the Brandenburg Gate to Museum Island, and has a large amount of historic buildings, embassies, up market shops, and cafes. After the War it was part of the East and although the lime trees were replanted in 1946, it only started to return to its' former glory after the wall came down.
Strolling down from the Brandenburg Gate you pass the newly reconstructed Adlon Hotel, the vacant lot of the US Embassy, the French and Russian Embassies, several banks, and very flashy stylish car show rooms. The Russian Embassy was the first significant new building in East Berlin and constructed in the stark and imposing soviet style fancied by Josef Stalin.
The area of Unter den Linden towards the Museum Island is a particularly attractive area. Bebelsplatz (Bebel’s Square) is surrounded by the Staatoper (State Opera), St Hedwig’s Cathedral, and the Alte Bibliothek (Old Library). Across the road is Humboldt University, which was established in 1810. Famous scholars who taught here include Albert Einstein, Hegel, Robert Koch, and Max Planck. Heinrich Heine, Friedrich Engels, and Karl Marx graduated here. An equestrian statue of Frederick the Great with statues of famous battles is in front of the university. Frederick the Great was out of favor with the East German authorities and during the communist years this statue was long banished to Potsdam.
In the center of Bebelsplatz is a window looking down to a cellar room with empty bookshelves. An American tourist got it in one and observed, "It’s empty!" and walked away. The window to the empty room is to remind of the book burning by the Nazis which started here on May 10, 1933, when some 25,000 books were burned. Plaques with a quotation in German by Heinrich Heine written in 1820 read: "That was only a prelude – where books are burned in the end people will also be burned". Heine, one of Germany’s most loved poets and author of The Loreley, was Jewish (but converted to Christianity under duress) and his works were also banned during the Nazi era.
Further down Unter den Linden is the Zeughaus, which will house the German National History Museum once reconstruction is finished. The Neue Wache, a fine Neo-Classical building from 1816, was originally used as a guardhouse by the nearby royal palace. However, it became a memorial to the war dead in 1931. In 1960 it was restored and rededicated as a memorial to the victims of fascism and militarism and in 1993 again rededicated as a memorial to all victims of war and dictatorship worldwide.
Unter den Linden is well on its way to reclaiming its' position as the chic area of town. However, for the time being Kurfuerstendamm still remains the commercial heart of Berlin.