• Berliner Dom - The Berlin Cathedral (officially: Oberpfarr- und Domkirche zu Berlin) at the Lustgarten on Museum Island is a Protestant church located in Berlin’s Mitte district. Constructed between 1894 and 1905 based on Julius Raschdorff’s designs in Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Baroque styles, it stands as the largest Protestant church in Germany by area and is one of Europe’s most significant dynastic burial sites.
• Humboldt Forum - The Humboldt Forum, situated in the Berlin Palace, is a comprehensive museum in Berlin’s Mitte district. It houses the Ethnological Museum and the Museum of Asian Art of the Berlin State Museums, the Berlin exhibition of the Berlin City Museum, and the Humboldt Laboratory of Humboldt University of Berlin. The Humboldt Forum Foundation in the Berlin Palace also supports various events, exhibitions, and guided tours at the facility.
• Mühlendammschleuse - The Mühlendammschleuse in Berlin is located in the Mitte district, east of Mühlendamm on Fischerinsel. It is part of the Spree-Oder waterway along the Spree. Historically, a ford connected the towns of Berlin and Cölln, from which Berlin later emerged. This site marks the founding of Berlin. The lock, operational since 1942, manages a water level difference of 1.51 meters.
• East Side Gallery - The East Side Gallery in Berlin-Friedrichshain is a permanent open-air gallery on the longest remaining section of the Berlin Wall, located on Mühlenstraße between Berlin Ostbahnhof and the Oberbaum Bridge along the Spree.

In the spring of 1990, after the Berlin Wall opened, 118 artists from 21 countries painted this section, spanning 1316 meters, with over a hundred artworks commenting on the political changes of 1989/90. Due to urban development, the original artworks are no longer fully preserved, with only replicas from 2009 remaining. The actual border was the Kreuzberg bank of the Spree, and the gallery is on the Hinterland Wall, which closed off the border area to East Berlin.

• Oberbaum Bridge - The first wooden bridge was located near the former city wall, a few kilometers downstream from the current bridge near the Spreeinsel. The Spree was blocked on both sides except for a narrow passage in the middle with walkable wooden walkways to collect customs duties. At night, the passage was closed with a thick trunk reinforced with iron nails, known as the “tree.”

In addition to the lower tree in the west, there was the upper tree in the east. With the city’s boundary relocation and the construction of the Berlin customs wall in 1723, a new wooden bridge with flaps for shipping traffic was built east of the upper tree by royal order. The Stralauer Tor stood here as the entrance to Berlin.

• Molecule Men Sculpture - The Molecule Man is a monumental artwork in Berlin created in May 1999 by American sculptor Jonathan Borofsky. It is a three-person sculpture installed in the Spree between Elsenbrücke and Oberbaumbrücke, near the intersection of the Kreuzberg, Alt-Treptow, and Friedrichshain districts.
• Nicholas Quarter - The Nikolaiviertel in Berlin’s Mitte district is the oldest settlement area in the capital. Almost entirely destroyed during World War II, it was rebuilt between 1980 and 1987 by architect Günter Stahn for East Berlin’s 750th anniversary. Around the reconstructed Nikolaikirche, a mix of historic townhouses and adapted prefabricated buildings was constructed on an almost medieval layout. The area is now a notable Berlin attraction.
• Berliner Fernsehturm - Standing at 368 meters, the Berlin television tower is the tallest building in Germany and the fifth tallest television tower in Europe. Located in the park at the television tower in Berlin’s Mitte district, it was completed in 1969 and was the second tallest television tower in the world at that time. With over a million visitors annually, it is among Germany’s top ten attractions.
• Museum Island - Museum Island is a complex of five museums in the northern part of the Spreeinsel in Berlin’s historic center. It is one of Berlin’s most important attractions and one of Europe’s key museum complexes. Built between 1830 and 1930 by five architects for the Prussian kings, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999. The island includes the Altes Museum, Neues Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie, Bode Museum, and Pergamon Museum. Since German reunification, it has been renovated and expanded under the Museum Island master plan. The James Simon Gallery, a new visitor center, opened on July 12, 2019. The northern part of the Spreeinsel also houses the Berlin Cathedral at the Lustgarten and the Humboldt Forum, which was built in the form of the Berlin Palace by 2021 for museums and cultural use.
• Schiffbauerdamm - Schiffbauerdamm is a street on the right bank of the Spree in Berlin’s Mitte district, stretching between Weidendammer Bridge and Reinhardtstraße (interrupted by new government buildings). The name refers to the former shipbuilding companies located there.
• Reichstag Building - The Reichstag building (shortened to Reichstag; officially: plenary area Reichstag building; also known unofficially as Bundestag or Wallot-Bau) on Republic Square in Berlin has been the seat of the German Bundestag since 1999. Constructed between 1884 and 1894 in Neo-Renaissance style based on Paul Wallot’s designs, it is located in the Tiergarten district on the left bank of the Spree. It housed the Reichstag of the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. Initially, the Federal Council of the Empire also met there. After severe damage from the 1933 Reichstag fire and World War II, the building was modernized in the 1960s. From 1995 to 1999, Norman Foster redesigned the Reichstag for permanent parliamentary use, a decision made in 1991. The German Bundestag meets here. A notable feature is the accessible glass dome above the plenary hall, inspired by Gottfried Böhm.
• Kronprinzenbruecke - The Kronprinzenbrücke is a road bridge spanning the Spree, connecting the Mitte and Tiergarten districts in Berlin’s Mitte district with the government district. The structure crosses Konrad-Adenauer-Straße, the continuation of Reinhardtstraße, with two lanes and cycle and pedestrian paths on both sides. The German Bundestag’s daycare center and Spreebogenpark are adjacent to the bridge’s western end.
• Humboldthafen Berlin - Humboldthafen is a dock in Berlin’s Mitte district. Designed by landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné and named after naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, it has a water surface of 33,500 m² and a depth of around 3.5 meters. Today, Humboldthafen is a listed building.
• Bundeskanzleramt der Bundesregierung - The Federal Chancellery is a top federal authority supporting the German Federal Chancellor. It has its main office in Berlin and a second office in Bonn. Wolfgang Schmidt (SPD) is the head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks. As of 2019, the Chancellery employs around 600 people. Since 2001, a new building designed by Axel Schultes in Berlin’s Spreebogen, separated from the Reichstag building by Platz der Republik, has served as the Chancellery’s headquarters. The building opens onto a central square opposite the Paul-Löbe-Haus, intended as a citizens’ forum. It is part of the “Bund des Bunds” group of buildings at Spreebogenpark. Employees of the Minister of State for Culture also work in the building.
• Haus der Kulturen der Welt - The House of World Cultures (HKW) is an exhibition space in Berlin for international contemporary art and a forum for current developments and discourses. It showcases artistic productions from around the world, focusing on non-European cultures and societies.

Since its founding in March 1989, the House of World Cultures has been based in the former congress hall on the Spree’s banks in the Tiergarten and government district. As an icon of architectural modernism, the Congress Hall symbolizes the German-American alliance. Berliners colloquially refer to the building as the “Pregnant Oyster” due to its shape.

• Palace of Tears - The Palace of Tears is the colloquial name for the former departure hall of the border crossing point at Bahnhof Friedrichstrasse in Berlin’s Mitte district. From here, S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains traveled to West Berlin, and long-distance trains went through West Berlin to the Federal Republic.

The name “Palace of Tears” originated because East Germans often tearfully bid farewell to their western visitors here, as they were generally not free to travel to the Federal Republic.

The control and check-in counters were located in the Palace of Tears, staffed by Ministry for State Security employees in GDR border troops’ uniforms.

• Weidendammer Brucke - The Weidendammer Bridge in Berlin’s Mitte district crosses Friedrichstrasse over the Spree. It dates back to an original 17th-century structure at the same location, making it the third oldest bridge in old Berlin’s city center. Centrally located, the bridge has been featured in literature multiple times. The current bridge has been a listed building since the 1970s.
• Bode-Museum - The Bode Museum in Berlin’s Mitte district is part of the Museum Island complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Built by Ernst von Ihne in Neo-Baroque style between 1898 and 1904 as the Kaiser Friedrich Museum for Kaiser Wilhelm II, it houses the Sculpture Collection, the Museum of Byzantine Art, and the Coin Cabinet. The forecourt once featured Rudolf Maison’s equestrian statue of Frederick III, which was destroyed during the GDR era.

• Boat trip
• Onboard bar with food and drinks (own expense)
• Live commentary in English and German

• food and drinks

More than three decades after the Berlin Wall was taken down, BWSG is providing a boat journey that follows part of the boundary in the area that’s now referred to as East Berlin. The journey not only takes in the myriad transformations that can be seen in the old and new city center from the waterway, but the EAST-SIDE-TOUR particularly highlights the recent advancements near the ‘East-Side-Gallery’ - a 1.3 km long section of the Berlin Wall that remains, the murals of which are being painstakingly repaired post-reunification, and which was named in honor of the tour. The journey includes some unique features including the Oberbaumbrücke, the rebuilt Osthafen, the Molecule Men, and a traverse of the MÜhlendammschleuse - the city’s urban development birthplace. This river cruise culminates with an excursion through the parliamentary and governmental area, encompassing the Reichstag building and the Federal Chancellery.

• toilet on board

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.