The Zeughaus

The building in front of you has stood on this boulevard for over 300 years, making it the oldest structure on the whole of Unter den Linden. It started life as the main armoury of Brandenburg-Prussia, ordered by Elector Frederick III, the man who would soon crown himself King Frederick I of Prussia. Back then, a grand armoury was a statement of power, and Frederick wanted everyone to know Prussia meant business.

Construction started in 1695 and ran through several architects, including Johann Arnold Nering, Andreas Schlüter, Martin Grünberg, and Jean de Bodt. Step into the courtyard if you can, and find the stone masks carved by Schlüter. These are the faces of dying warriors, contorted in pain, fixed above the windows in silent, permanent anguish. They remain some of the most haunting sculptures in all of Berlin.

The building survived centuries of changing purpose, from weapons store to military memorial hall to East Germany's official Museum of German History, each phase reflecting whoever held power at the time. World War Two left it badly damaged, and postwar reconstruction simplified the interior considerably.

Since reunification in 1990, it serves as the German Historical Museum, and in 2003, architect I. M. Pei added a glass annex next door, placing cool, transparent modernity right beside all that heavy Baroque stone.