A walk through Berlin-Mitte during the Festival of Lights

19. October 2024

During this year’s Festival of Lights, we naturally also explored the illuminations in our immediate vicinity and have put together the best photos from our walk here. The subway is a particularly convenient way to get to many of the festival highlights and to the starting point of our little tour. Since December 2020, the Nikolai Quarter has been accessible via the new Rotes Rathaus subway station, which is just a few steps away “from our front door”. The new station is part of the extension of the U5 subway line from Alexanderplatz to the Brandenburg Gate.

That’s exactly where we headed first to admire the 3D video mapping on Berlin’s most famous landmark. From the Brandenburg Gate, we walked along Unter den Linden towards the River Spree. On the left, at Humboldt University, the mouth-painted works of three artists impress as light art conveying the important message of inclusion and displayed on the façade of the main university building.

Opposite, on Bebelplatz, you simply want to linger and look at the surrounding buildings again and again. Here, the State Opera, St. Hedwig’s Cathedral, the Hotel de Rome with the Behren Palais and finally the Faculty of Law at Humboldt University form a magnificent 180° light experience.

From here, it is only a short walk to the Lustgarten to marvel at the staging of the Berlin Cathedral. Here, the visions of a total of eight international artists alternate under the motto “Celebrating Freedom”.

On the banks of the Spree, we walk past the east side of the Humboldt Forum to cross the river via the Rathausbrücke. Here, on the Marx-Engels-Forum, you have a great view of the façade of the Berlin Palace and, after just a few steps in the other direction, you can immerse yourself in the spherical sounds and the world of lights on Marx-Engels-Forum.

Heading north-east, we approach the last stop on our walk, Alexanderplatz. The Neptune Fountain is a great place to spend some time, because from here you have a particularly beautiful panoramic view over the whole expanse of the square. On the left is St. Mary’s Church, which has been staged from two sides: on the side façade with a colorful artistic motif and the front with emotional portraits from the project “KEIN RAUM – Encounters with people without shelter” by photographer Debora Ruppert.

The impressive final point of our walk is, of course, the Berlin TV Tower and the 3D video mapping show that teams of artists from six countries have brought to life on Germany’s tallest building.

It’s only a few steps back home to Nikolaiviertel and the restaurants and cafés around Nikolaikirchplatz, which is also illuminated, invite you to warm up. On this evening, however, we opted for a mulled wine under the open sky, leaving the hustle and bustle of the big city behind us and enjoying the atmosphere in the Nikolaiviertel to round off the evening.