B E R L I N
Did I take a picture of the iconic Brandeburg Gate? Definitely not, but read along if you are up for my 26 Berlin Best Instagram Spots.
“Ik ben een Berliner” (I am a Berliner) said by John F. Kennedy in 1963 is probably one of the most iconic quotes about the German capitol. Today, Berlin is home to roughly 3.7 million citizens while also being the biggest city in the country. Over the last two decades or so, Berlin has changed a lot as it becomes more modern every day (yes that also means there is construction work basically everywhere). Still, people in Germany often call Berlin a hip, trendy and alternative city.
| Impressions |
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| Shooting in Berlin |
People often ask me how I research all of my spots for my photography. Well, here’s a quick tip: Every time I see something on Instagram that catches the attention of my eye I use the save function and add the image to a collection for its corresponding location. Over the time, bigger cities such as Berlin end up having quite a big number of inspirational images.
Shortly before actually traveling to the place, I use GoogleMaps to mark all the locations to better organize walking routes. Not that difficult, right? Sadly, similar to my short travel trip to Hamburg (check out the post here), I only had little time to explore some parts of the huge city. That means I have lots of other places to explore the next time I’ll visit Berlin.
| Berlin Photography Spots |
This list includes my 26 Berlin Best Instagram Spots. They are spread all across the city thus a public transport ticket or riding a bike is highly suggested. Want to get more locations? Make sure to read my suggestions at the end of the article.
1. Contipark Car Park Arena
The exterior of this multi-story car park consists of geometric layers which provide an unexpected place for a person to find itself in.
I turned the image upside down to turn the ordinary facade into an extraordinary perspective.
2. Museum of Film and Television
Descending down a white spiral staircase in this square-shaped mirrored room makes this spot feels straight from the future. The combination of modern architecture with vintage technology makes for quite the contrast.
The extremely white room looks especially great when there is a model in frame. The subject adds a little color splash to the monochrome surroundings.
3. Quartier Schützenstraße
The third location I want to share with you is a hidden gem if you are into lookup photography. Make sure to bring a wide lens to capture the full beauty of this backyard.
Another great angle is the frontal view while standing in the center of the backyard.
4. Quartier Schützenstraße Again?!
You must feel like I am trying to trick you. How can this crazy cool-looking yellow facade be at the same location as the red lookup? Hold on and let me explain. The whole block actually has got several office backyards and this one happens to be just next to the previous spot? Isn’t that cool?
5. Institute of Technology
I took this top-down perspective inside the huge atrium. While laying on the floor, my friend Anni took a photo from the second floor of the building. Luckily enough, I was wearing black that day for a great contrast.
There are several angles to explore but I especially like this symmetrical view. It looks totally different from the first perspective of this location.
6. Stock Market
At first glance, I thought that this place is where robots were manufactured. I mean just look at these metallic elevator capsules. Don’t they look like straight from the future?
However, this photo was actually taken at Berlin stock market featuring the inner atrium.
7. Memorial of the Murdered Jews in Europe
While in Berlin I passed by the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe after visiting a museum nearby. Every time I visit I ask myself where the fine line between capturing art and being disrespectful to the place is. Walking through the 2711 concrete slabs creates a feeling of isolation and being lost.
To me, personally, using my camera to represent the feeling the Holocaust memorial creates is a way of making other people think about this place. And to me that’s a good thing. On the other side, I consider taking mindless selfies or even climbing and jumping on the concrete slabs as being disrespectful. What’s your opinion on taking pictures at a memorial?
8. Jacob-and-Wilhelm-Grimm-Center Library
This stunning student reading area impresses every architecture photographer thanks to its leading lines, symmetry and scale. Usually crowded with university students preparing for exams, this location also shines when being empty.
For the image above, I visited right when the library opened. I basically rushed up all the stairs before anyone could take a seat. In contrast, the image below was taken late at night right before this place closed.
9. The Westin Grand Berlin
This fancy hotel located offers an incredible foyer area with a beautiful lookup thanks to a glass roof. However, I prefer the wide lookdown especially because of the central stairs. Fun fact: Some hotel guests rushed to help my friend Jan who I instructed to pose like in the image below.
10. ICC Trade Fare
Yep, still hanging in there … even in 2020.
I visited this place two years ago when I explored around the trade fare area. Immediately drawn to the white line on the street, the orange walls contrast well with it. Lastly, I was quite lucky wearing white that evening.
Similar to the black and orange color scheme found at a nearby tunnel of the ICC trade fare, the subway station there offers orange columns for a similar atmosphere. This place is quite often used as a place for skateboarders since it’s not that busy.
11. Hotel Motel One
Another awesome lookup location can be found at Hotel Motel One. We are not even halfway through my list of Berlin Best Instagram Spots but you can already tell that the city is just made for incredible lookup shots. The curvy design of the outer walls make this building look even taller than it already is. I wonder how this hotel looks from the inside though.
12. Train station @Friedrichstraße
Next on the list of my 26 Berlin Best Instagram Spots is probably one of the most busiest train hallways in Berlin. I am still quite surprised I got this rare shot with only one person in frame. Although I must admit that I still want this shot with more sunlight as it creates a wonderful shadow pattern.
13. Tempodrom
“What is this?”, you might ask. This minimal white object turns out to be the roof of the Tempodrom building. It can be quite slippery getting up there and you probably shouldn’t be there in the first place. That being said, the design of the roof just makes for a unique perspective I couldn’t ignore.
You can make this roof look incredibly huge by using a wide lens. The higher you get the better it looks.
14. Victory Column
One of Berlin’s iconic sights is the Victory Column found just a short walk away from the Brandenburg Gate. I’ve never been up to the observation desk though I am quite sure I prefer this symmetrical view from below much more anyways.
15. Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus
This building has been photographed so many times that it got it very own Hashtag on Instagram #ThatCircleAgain .
For a minimal shot, go to the other side of the river and take a straight facade shot ideally with a passing person for scale.
Nevertheless, feel free to frame that circle from various different angles to play with the unique shape of it. I even let a friend of mine try to run up the circular wall once.
16. Subway Station Bundestag
I have a love-and-hate-relationship with this subway station. When I first went there to photograph the stunning black columns on white background it was closed for construction. That was about 2.5 years ago. When I returned in February this year, more than two years later, they still haven’t finished. It’s now open to actually take the subway there (which only has 3 or 4 stops?!) but there is still lots of construction work going on.
The picture above is a result of my second visit there. Although I wanted to photograph something completely different there, I ended up with this great concrete minimal shot.
17. Subway Straußberger Platz
Only one stop away from the famous Alexanderplatz you can find this stunning subway station. Its symmetrical layout and reduced color scheme makes for some great leading lines.
The green/blue column in the center of the subway station caught my eye and I enjoyed playing around with some perspective twists here.
18. Fasanenstraße
Located in the backyard of an apartment building, this lookup shot still amazes me every time I get so see it. Fun Fact: to get this perfectly centered point of view you have to stand in the middle of a little fountain. Worth it!
19. Curved Apartments near Mehringplatz
This hidden gem is also located in the backyard of an apartment block. In contrast to the one at Fasanenstraße you can just walk in there. Because of the curved walls, you can get this intensely scaled perspective of the apartment complex further stressed by the different pastel color tones.
If you manage to get inside the building, you will enjoy this curved minimal design when leaving the elevator on a high floor. For this image I desaturated the purple tones of the facade to make the color scheme more minimal.
Last the angle from ground level also frames the curved levels of the apartment block but also adds some urban atmosphere to it.
20. Subway Station Altstadt Spandau
Located somewhat outside of Berlin, this subway station is worth the ride. Actually, there are quite few nice-looking ones when taking the line to Altstadt Spandau station. Although the original color of the floor is dark red I prefer a darker tone for a heavier contrast.
21. Futurium
Back in the city center of Berlin you can find this detail-packed museum with all of those geometric shapes all over the place.
Interestingly enough, I’ve never been inside the museum but that’s definitely on my list for the next visit.
22. Abandoned Bridge
We are getting to the end of my list for Berlin Best Instagram Spots and this entry is quite unusual. To be clear: You are not supposed to be there and it’s definitely not the safest place to be in. That’s the reason why I will leave out the name of this location. However, the bronze tones match very well with the darker parts of the bridge giving it that industrial feeling.
23. Chapel of Reconcilitation
You don’t have to be religious to admire the architectural design of this little chapel. The curved design invites guest to walk around the chapel. On a sunny day, I expect the wooden elements to create a nice shadow play there.
24. Ascending Stairs @Landsberger Allee
My friend Carsten (IG handle: @karstenkimble) showed me this ordinary set of stairs and made it appear extraordinary by giving the composition not just a symmetrical aspect but also a minimal point of view. Also, the immense amount of empty space in the upper half of the photograph, combined with the simplicity of the details in the lower half, make for an overall balanced composition.
25. Haus der Kulturen der Welt
Located in Tiergarten, this national center has been part of the cityscape of Berlin for quite some time now. The rounded architecural design with smooth lines made this building get its own nickname among locals as they call it “die schwangere Auster” (the pregnant oyster).
26. Rainbow Facade
After the war, a lot East Berlin architecture felt dull and lifeless. The city revitalized the area by adding murals like this one to bring surprising vibrancy to otherwise monochrome buildings. It’s no wonder that this block has become one of the most instagrammed location in that area.
More Spots to visit
Even though I managed to cover quite a lot of locations on my last trip to Berlin there are still lots of other places I want to visit another time to add to my list of Berlin Best Instagram Spots.
- Subway Station Webewiese
- Friedhof Baumschulenweg
- Behrensbau
- Meininger Hotel Berlin Airport
- Free University of Berlin
- Subway Station Konstanzer Str.
- Haus der Kulturen der Welt (inside)
- Wintergarten Berlin (inside)
- König Galerie
- Amtsgericht Berlin-Mitte
Final thoughts
I am glad I used a long weekend to explore Berlin from a photography point of view this time around. I think I start liking the city. It will never reach the same level of love I have for some metropolitan cities in Asia such as Singapore (check out my journey post here), Hong Kong (click here) or even Seoul (or click here). Let’s see if I can make my Berlin Best Instagram Spots list even longer with more creative perspectives the next time I am in Berlin.
