Berlin Things to Do

Berlin is a magnet for opera lovers, offering peerless orchestras, world-class singers and directorial styles ranging from crowd-pleasing barnstormers to baffling productions indecipherable without thesis-length program notes.

Mozart’s timeless opera, The Magic Flute, is a repertoire favorite. An early 19th-century Berlin production, by architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, with its showstopping entrance by the Queen of the Night against garlands of stars, established the template of many subsequent performances.

Berlin’s Reichstag dates from the late 19th century, although its function as a seat of parliament ended in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis, and a fire which gutted the building and served as a pretext for the suspension of civil liberties. The building retained its symbolic power as demonstrated by the famous photo of a soldier planting the Soviet flag on its roof at the end of World War II (and you can still see Russian graffiti left by his comrades).

Oh, sweet, sweet Berlin. As an avid traveler, I’ve been many places around the world, but Berlin holds a special place in my heart. The combination of modernity and history, stateliness and the avant garde (including some of the best graffiti I’ve ever seen), and refinement and affordability make it a destination to beat all. One of the best ways to get to know the city is by participating in one to many street festivals that take place throughout the year. The following come highly recommended.