Alexanderplatz

In front of you is Alexanderplatz, “Alex” to Berliners. Noisy, wide and, for many, not exactly pretty, it's nevertheless one of the city's beating hearts. This is where the route ends.

1From ox market to tsar

In the 18th century it was a cattle market just outside the city gates. In 1805 it was given its present name in honour of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, who visited Berlin that year. In the early 20th century it became a hub of traffic and trade, portrayed by Alfred Döblin in his novel Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929), which Rainer Werner Fassbinder adapted for television in 1980.

2East Germany's showcase

The war flattened it, and in the 1960s East Germany rebuilt it as a great socialist pedestrian square. From that era come the TV Tower, the Fountain of Friendship between Peoples and the World Clock, by Erich John, unveiled in 1969. Look at the building with a long frieze of colourful mosaics: it's the House of the Teacher, with its mural about life under socialism.

On 4 November 1989, hundreds of thousands of people gathered here to demand freedom of speech and assembly. Five days later, the Wall fell.

It was the largest demonstration in East Germany's history, and one of the few ever authorised by the regime.

3What to look for

• The World Clock: find your city and its time.
• The mosaic frieze on the House of the Teacher.
• The Fountain of Friendship between Peoples, a classic meeting point.