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Berlin · Mysteries & legends

Hidden Berlin: mummies, ghosts and the Pope's revenge

Berlin's medieval heart, between the Hohenzollern palace and the TV Tower, is full of unsettling stories. On this route we carefully separate what the documents say from what tradition tells, so you can enjoy the mystery without mistaking it for history.

  • 6 stops
  • 2 km
  • 1 h 40 min
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
The TV Tower's sphere beside the cathedral's golden cross

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 Berlin Palace (Humboldt Forum)The Hohenzollern palace was blown up, replaced and rebuilt; its ghost, so tradition says, never left.
  2. 2 St. Nicholas' Church and the NikolaiviertelThe oldest church in old Berlin guards the city's great riddle: nobody knows when it was born or what its name means.
  3. 3 Parochial Church (Parochialkirche)Beneath this baroque church lie dozens of Berliners who were mummified by accident.
  4. 4 Zur letzten Instanz and the medieval wallOne of Berlin's oldest taverns leans on the last remains of its city wall… and on a couple of legends.
  5. 5 St. Mary's Church (Marienkirche)A Dance of Death painted after the plague, and a stone cross recalling a murder.
  6. 6 TV Tower (Fernsehturm)The great symbol of atheist East Germany reflects a cross in the sunlight that Berliners dubbed “the Pope's revenge”.

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Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

Hidden Berlin: mummies, ghosts and the Pope's revenge

Legends with an address

Every story is tied to a building, a cross or a tavern you can see with your own eyes.

Record and tradition

We always separate what is proven from what is told, from the palace ghost to Napoleon's stove.

Berlin at its oldest

The oldest church, the last stretch of city wall and a tavern more than four centuries old.

Keep exploring

More routes in Berlin

Back to Berlin
HistoryFrom the Reichstag to the Wall: the century that split Berlin EssentialsEssential Berlin: from Brandenburg Gate to Alexanderplatz