AEG Turbine Hall (1909)
Icon of Berlin Architecture – This industrial building made of steel, concrete, and glass is a mainstay of architecture encyclopedias. In the early 20th century, architect Peter Behrens and engineer Karl Bernhard developed a unique style for a factory building. No cladding hid the construction of its sides, which a contemporary described as “one huge glass window.” State-of-the-art steam turbines were built in the bright hall. The manufacture of these ever larger and heavier turbines required space, as well as crane runways that could accommodate enormous weight. The factory provided both – and still does today. Siemens Energy now produces modern gas turbines for power plants there. In 1956 the historic factory became the first industrial building in Berlin to receive landmark status.

Alfred Heyn Cosmetics Factory (1956)
Factory for Beauty and Body Care Products – The perfume and cosmetics company Alfred Heyn, Parfüm und Kosmetik Großhandlung opened its headquarters on Franklinstraße and its factories on Salzufer in 1956. Cosmetics were produced there until 1980, after which Guhl moved in and started manufacturing hair care products. A few years later, Beiersdorf took over. The facility still produces NIVEA shower gels, shampoos, and conditioners for the European market. Thanks to a highly automated process, one million bottles of cleansing products come off the line each day.

First Permanent Exhibition of Workers’ Welfare (1903)
Information Center for Occupational Safety and Health – The first trade associations formed in the late 19th century and successfully fought for the introduction of accident prevention regulations. Starting in 1903, information about occupational safety was available at a fixed location, addressing topics like personal safety equipment, workplace design, sanitation, and nutrition. In addition to a collection of exhibits, films, and books, training on machines was provided. This exhibition was the forerunner to DASA, the “German Exhibition of Occupational Safety and Health,” which opened in Dortmund in 1993. The original exhibition building is now used by the National Metrology Institute.

Garden of the Technische Universität Berlin (after 1900)
Site of Hands-On Learning – A revolution gripped academia after 1900: hands-on learning! Architecture students studied fragments of old city buildings. Three examples can be found in this garden: the arcade (1860) from the entrance to the Borsig Works on Chausseestraße; a pair of Doric columns from the nearby Charlottenburg Bridge; and an Ionic column from the entrance gate to Berlin Cathedral, designed by Schinkel and situated on the Lustgarten. The historic signal box located nearby is still used to train traffic engineers and dispatchers. The garden containing these nearly forgotten relics is surrounded by buildings belonging to the Technische Universität (Technical University of Berlin).

German Museum of Technology (1983)
Innovative technology paired with elegant form—one has always inspired the other. Steam engines were decorated like ancient temples, locomotives were transformed into streamlined marvels, and cars became style icons. Each of these inventions had a practical purpose, but in order for people to truly love them, they also had to look good. At the Technikmuseum, you can see many great examples of how function and form drive each other.

Humboldthafen (1850) — Berlin Central Station (2006)
Monumental Transportation Hub – Visionary landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné created Humboldthafen (Humboldt Harbor) in 1850, not only as a place for boats to dock but also as an ornamental reflecting pool. It was named after the famous naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. Once Osthafen (1913) and Westhafen (1923) [ site 13 ] were opened, Humboldt Harbor was closed. In the postwar period it lay in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, a veritable sleeping beauty. When the Wall fell and the new Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) was built, the area came back to life. Creating space for the new construction required tearing down the old Lehrter Bahnhof, built in 1882. The modern, bright Central Station was designed by Gerkan, Marg & Partners. It combines two intersecting levels of train and S-Bahn lines with three levels of stores and restaurants. The attractive downtown location along the historic reflecting pool is getting more and more attention. A new neighborhood is taking shape around it.

Kornversuchsspeicher (1898)
Sanitary Grain Storage – The goal of the research carried out in this building, opened in 1898, was to improve the food supply of the rapidly growing population. A solution was quickly found for drying and storing large quantities of grain without damage, namely pouring grain out on the floor and separating sections with partitions made of wooden boards, such that each grain load could be stored separately. The building is now part of the new Europacity development and is currently being renovated to create opportunities for innovation and culture.

Moabit Streetcar Depot (1901) Classic Remise Berlin (2003)
From Streetcars to Classic Cars – What progress! In the place of horse-drawn and steam-powered streetcars, electric streetcars began traversing the city around 1900. Eight depots were built for the cars to be stored, maintained, and repaired. The depot in Moabit was the largest in Europe and serviced 10 lines. The hall with four bays had space for 320 cars on 24 sets of tracks. Over 1,000 workers kept everything running smoothly. When streetcars stopped being used in West Berlin in 1964, the depot was closed. Since 2003 it has been home to the Classic Remise Berlin, a center for vintage cars.

Mosse Publishing Building (1903/1923/2000)
Stately Heart of the Newspaper Metropolis – It is hard to imagine just how omnipresent newsprint was after 1900. Hundreds of different newspapers and magazines were sold at newsstands and read in cafés, on park benches, and on public transportation. Jewish publisher Rudolf Mosse (1843-1920) was alone responsible for 130 print products. He also published the legendary liberal Berliner Tageblatt, Berlin’s first daily newspaper. Along with Ullstein and Scherl, Mosse is considered one of the founders of Berlin’s newspaper district. All that remains of it today is this one building. It was damaged during the Spartacist Uprising (1919) and in WWII. In 1923 it was modernized and raised three stories higher by architect Erich Mendelsohn. The elegant iron-and-ceramic façade embodies the dynamism of the modern age. In the East German era, the building received a sober restoration and housed the Druckkombinat Berlin, one of the largest printers in East Berlin. After the fall of the Wall, portions of the historic façade were reconstructed. The Mosse Center became an office building in 2000.

PTB (National Metrology Institute of Germany) (1887)
Mansions of Science for Accurate Measurement – Industrial manufacturing requires precise measuring equipment, the likes of which did not yet exist in the late 19th century for the emerging electrical industry. Industrialist Werner von Siemens and physicist Hermann von Helmholtz searched for a solution. On their initiative, the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR), or Imperial Metrology Institute, was founded in 1887. PTR scientists performed experiments that paved the way for quantum physics. Henceforth, renowned physicists like Max Planck, Albert Einstein, and Max von Laue were closely associated with the Institute. The Nazi period was a dark chapter in its history. Johannes Stark, a die-hard Nazi and promotor of a German physics, became its president. After WWII, the PTR was refounded in West Germany as the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), or National Metrology Institute. It is now a global leader in the field of metrology and the promotion of standardized measurements.

Research Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Shipbuilding (1903/1974)
Icon of Pop Architecture – Under the auspices of Emperor Wilhelm II, a structure containing a flow channel was built on Berlin’s Schleuseninsel (“lock island”) in 1903. It was used to test the design of warships. In 1974 the site was given a spectacular addition by architect Ludwig Leo: a large pink pipe running through the blue lab building. Water is circulated through a large tank. Ships up to nine meters long can be placed inside it using an elevator, to test how they react to the current under realistic conditions. The laboratory is now used by the Technical University of Berlin to study numerical fluid dynamics.

Robert Koch Institute (RKI) (1900) RKI Museum (2017)
Research for Human Health – The Robert Koch Institute is one of the oldest biomedical institutes in the world. World-renowned Nobel Prize winner Robert Koch worked there from 1900 to 1904. In 1876 he discovered that microorganisms can cause infectious diseases. In 1882 he announced the discovery of the pathogen that causes tuberculosis. Along with Louis Pasteur of France, Koch is considered one of the pioneers of the new science of bacteriology. Upon his death in 1910 he was interred in a mausoleum in his institute. Today, scientists at RKI continue to research diseases, assess risks, and make health protection recommendations. The RKI Museum not only highlights Robert Koch’s contribution to research. It also serves as a public health visitor center, providing insight into current issues of medical and preventive research. The mausoleum can be viewed by the public.

Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin (KPM) (1763)
Manufactory of Refined Taste – The name KPM and the famous logo with the cobalt-blue scepter are the legacy of Frederick the Great. He made the Royal Porcelain Manufactory a model business of early industrialization. In 1872 the workshop moved to its current location near the Spree River. There it had its own harbor for ships to deliver raw materials and export fine porcelain to the entire world. Even today, everything is still made by hand. Decorative motifs and design have always reflected the times: gilded rims at the turn of the 20th century; the iron cross during WWI; simple Werkbund- and Bauhaus-style forms in the late 1920s; wildflowers during WWII; and in 2018 a porcelain travel mug. The KPM facility was renovated in 2003 by Gerkan, Marg & Partners. Public tours introduce visitors to the company’s 250-year history.

Sewage Pumping Station VII of the Radial System (1883)
State-of-the-Art Sanitation – To treat sewage and pump it out of the city, urban planner James Hobrecht introduced the radial system in 1873. By 1909, twelve sewage pumping stations had been set up throughout Berlin. Along with the supply of drinking water, this innovation drastically reduced the mortality rate of the quickly growing population. Pumping Station VII was built in 1883, in a narrow courtyard amidst the typical Berlin tenements and workshops. It was shut down 100 years later but was preserved almost in its entirety. Even the circular sand trap is still there, where water was once purified before it was pumped to the sewage farm on the edge of the city. The youth center Die Pumpe opened there in 1989, with cultural offerings and event catering in the historic hall with the double-piston pump.

The Maggi Building 1911
Liquid condiment with a secret recipe.
Improving the poor diet of the workforce through nutritious, inexpensive and easy-to-cook foods is Julius Maggi's goal. At the end of the 19th century, the pioneer of industrial food production invented bag soups, the stock cube and the well-known liquid seasoning in the brown bottle with the yellow-red label. Maggi guards the recipe like the apple of his eye. In order to show his presence in the Reich capital, he moved his company headquarters from Singen to Berlin in 1911. The head office is located in the prestigious front building and the warehouses are in the four rear courtyards. Various offices and businesses are now located here.

The Rausch Chocolate House (1918/1999)
Traditional Chocolates with Sophistication – Wilhelm Rausch, Sr. sold chocolates, truffles, and pralines at the confectionary he opened in 1890. His son, Wilhelm Rausch, Jr., took over the family business in 1918. He founded a company called Wilhelm Rausch – Herstellung feinster Pralinen, Schokoladen und Honigkuchen (Wilhelm Rausch’s Finest Pralines, Chocolates, and Honey Cakes). In 1999, the current Chocolate House – the largest in the world, including a chocolate store and a café – opened on Gendarmenmarkt. The monumental building was originally built in 1907 for the property company Berlinische Bodengesellschaft. The Rausch Deli was added on the ground floor in 2018. The second floor is reserved for chocolate production. The café is on the third floor.

View of Charlottenburg Power Plant (1900–1966)
A Century of Expansion – Seldom does a power plant display the stages of its development so clearly. The initial plant was built in 1900 by Georg Klingenberg, who later constructed the world-famous Klingenberg Power Station [ site 15 on Route 3 ]. Electric cables were integrated into the Siemenssteg footbridge, which also provided passage over the Spree for workers. New structures were added over time: a post-expressionist transformer house (1925), a boiler house designed as a vertically articulated cube (1953), a gas turbine plant (1975), flue-gas desulfurization (1989), and flue-gas denitrification (1994). The current facility, a giant orange block, is operated by Vattenfall.
TIP: The sculpture gallery belonging to Bildgießerei Noack is around the corner: noack.berlin

View of the Moabit combined heat and power plant
Pioneer of Industrial Power Generation – This power plant opened in 1900. It was placed not downtown but rather on the outskirts of the city, at a convenient location that left room for expansion. The advantages were obvious: coal was delivered by boat and train, cooling water came from the canal, and the city center was spared fuming smokestacks. The plant’s impressive façade reflected the pride taken in the new technology. It was designed by Franz Schwechten, Emperor Wilhelm II’s court architect. Since 2013, the plant has also used biomass as an energy source.

Westhafen (1923)
A Cleverly Designed Inland Port – By the early 20th century, cargo transport had outgrown the capacities of Urbanhafen (Urban Harbor, on the Landwehr Canal) and Humboldthafen (Humboldt Harbor) [ site 17 ]. Osthafen (East Harbor) in Stralau opened in 1913, and Westhafen (West Harbor) in 1923. The latter, a cleverly designed inland port, was essential to the city’s industrial expansion. There were originally three basins, the central one surrounded by an administration building, warehouses, a granary, cranes for loading and unloading, a casino with a cafeteria, and originally even a church for bargemen. The tower of the administration building beckoned boats like a lighthouse. The Berliner Hafen- und Lagerhausgesellschaft (BEHALA), or Berlin Harbor and Warehouse Company, still operates the port. In addition to its landmarked section, Westhafen also has modern cranes for the transshipment of heavy cargo, bulk cargo, and containers.