Berlin as a miniature wonderland
There's a new attraction at the foot of Berlin's television tower on Alexanderplatz: Little Big City Berlin. Eight centuries of Berlin's history are presented in interactive settings with 3D figurines.
At eye level with the Quadriga
In the building at the base of the TV tower on the square Berliners call Alex for short, stories and anecdotes from the history of the city of Berlin are told, from the Middle Ages to the present. Its scale of 1:24 leaves room for lifelike details, and you get closer to the Quadriga atop the Brandenburg Gate than you ever could in reality.
Marlene, Albert and Old Fritz
The miniature world doesn't just present major events in Berlin's history; it also shows eminent residents of the city - from the Prussian king Frederick the Great to the actress Marlene Dietrich, who was born and buried here, to the Nobel laureate Albert Einstein, who lived in Berlin for 18 years until the Nazis seized power.
Glamour und gangsters
The roaring twenties were an era of stark contrasts in Berlin. They were marked by hyperinflation and high unemployment on the one hand, and, on the other, self-indulgence and living on the edge. There were already plenty of subjects for press photographers.
Reichstag fire
The Reichstag fire in 1933 was a key incident in the Nazis' seizure of power. The arson attack gave them a pretext to establish their dictatorship.
Divided city
There are many vivid images from the post-World War II era in Berlin. One that has become iconic is John F. Kennedy's 1963 speech in front of Schöneberg town hall. If you duck down a bit, you can almost believe you're in the crowd listening to Kennedy make his famous and succinct declaration of solidarity with West Berlin at the height of the Cold War: "Ich bin ein Berliner."
Berlin eats currywurst
But everyday life in the divided city isn't left out either. Konnopke's snack bar at the intersection of Schönhauser Allee and Eberswalder Strasse is an institution. In 1960 it became the first snack bar in East Berlin to serve the sausage with spiced ketchup known as currywurst. It's still there, in a new building on the same spot.
Kreuzberg nights
One of the areas that gained fame in West Berlin was the Kreuzberg district. In the 1980s squatters and bohemians gathered around Heinrichplatz square. Among the many clubs and pubs was SO 36, to the left in the picture. In reality it wasn't actually on Heinrichplatz, but around the corner on Oranienstrasse.
Margot, Erich and the vanished palace
Prominent witnesses to a lost era stand in front of an East Berlin landmark in that no longer exists: Erich Honecker, the most powerful politician in the former East Germany until he stepped down in 1989, and his wife, Margot. The Palace of the Republic, in which the East German parliament met, and nicknamed "Erich's lamp shop" because of its lavish light fixtures, was demolished in 2008.
Eyewitnesses in miniature
The charm of this mini-Berlin also lies in the involvement of eyewitnesses who have lent their stories and faces to it - like Sunny Müller, who, on November 9, 1989, went with her mother to the Brandenburg Gate, where someone helped her climb onto the wall.
A whirlwind tour of Berlin
The exhibition at the foot of Berlin's television tower is conceived for an hour-long visit. The buildings and figurines from a 3D-printer are supplemented by audio and film clips. Little Big City is quite an entertaining option for day-trippers and Berlin visitors on a rainy day, but it can also be an incentive to explore the real city yourself.