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By Root 2401 0

and Tomkat sashay down the red carpet to attend prem-ieres at the Potsdamer Platz theatres during the Berlinale international film festival. Germany’s film history, meanwhile, gets the star treatment year-round in the engaging Museum für Film und Fernsehen (Museum of Film & TV; Map; 300 9030; Potsdamer Strasse 2; adult/concession/family €6/4.50/12; 10am-6pm Tue, Wed & Fri-Sun, to 8pm Thu) in the Sony Center. Make use of the excellent audioguide as you skip around galleries dedicated to pioneers such as Fritz Lang, ground-breaking movies such as Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl and legendary divas such as Marlene Dietrich. The TV exhibit is not nearly as engrossing, although if you ever wondered what Star Trek sounds like in German, this is your chance.

The elementary-school set will likely be more enthralled by the nearby Legoland Discovery Centre (Map; 301 0400; Sony Center, Potsdamer Strasse; adult/child €14.50/11; 10am-6pm, last admission 5pm). It’s a cute indoor amusement park with a 4-D cinema, a Lego ‘factory’, a Jungle Trail where Lego crocs lurk in the dark and a mini-Berlin with landmarks made entirely from those little plastic bricks.

Fans of 20th-century abstract, conceptual and minimalist art should pop into the Daimler Contemporary (Map; 2594 1420; Weinhaus Huth, Alte Potsdamer Strasse 5; admission free; 11am-6pm), a quiet, loft-style gallery space at the top of the only surviving historic structure on Potsdamer Platz. Ring the bell to be buzzed in.

TOPOGRAPHIE DES TERRORS & AROUND

A short walk south from Potsdamer Platz along Stresemannstrasse gets you to Niederkirchner Strasse. Here, next to a short stretch of Berlin Wall, once stood some of the most feared institutions of Nazi Germany, including the Gestapo headquarters and the SS central command. Since 1997, a harrowing open-air exhibit called Topographie des Terrors (Topography of Terror; Map; 2548 6703) has documented the impact of these brutal organisations. In 2010, an expanded version is expected to open in a proper documentation centre constructed on the site.

Next to these sinister grounds, the Italian Renaissance-style Martin-Gropius-Bau (Map; 254 860; Niederkirchner Strasse 7; admission varies; hrs vary) presents travelling shows of international stature. Across the street is the Abgeordnetenhaus (Map), the seat of Berlin’s state parliament.

KULTURFORUM

It’s easy to spend a day or more mingling with masters old and modern in the five top-notch museums that make up this stellar cultural complex just west of Potsdamer Platz. Also incorporating Berlin’s premier classical music venue, the Philharmonie, it was masterfully planned by Hans Scharoun in the 1960s. A ticket to any of the Kulturforum museums entitles you to same-day admission to the permanent collections of the other four. Admission is free the last four opening hours on Thursdays and to anyone under 16 at any time.

The first of the Kulturforum museums to be completed was the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery; Map; 266 2651; Potsdamer Strasse 50; adult/concession €8/4; 10am-6pm Tue, Wed & Sun, 10am-10pm Thu, 10am-8pm Fri & Sat), an edgy glass temple by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe that shelters early-20th-century European paintings and sculpture. Expect all the usual suspects from Picasso to Dalí, plus an outstanding collection of German expressionists such as Georg Grosz and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Note that the permanent collection occasionally yields to visiting blockbuster shows.

Older masters grace the walls of the Gemäldegalerie (Picture Gallery; Map; 266 2951; Matthäikirchplatz 8; adult/concession incl audioguide €8/4; 10am-6pm Tue, Wed & Fri-Sun, 10am-10pm Thu), a gallery of European art from the 13th to the 18th centuries that is famous for its exceptional quality and breadth. Take advantage of the audioguide to get the low-down on selected works by Rembrandt, Dürer, Hals, Vermeer and Gainsborough. And wear comfy shoes: a tour of all 72 rooms covers almost 2km.

Nearby, the cavernous Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts; Map; 266 2951; Tiergartenstrasse 6; adult/concession