Attraction · Berlin · Updated on 1 November 2026.

Potsdamer Platz in Berlin

Potsdamer Platz is an attraction in Berlin, Germany. This place has an audio tour of about 2 minutes, in English or Dutch. 12 of the 50 well-known points of interest nearby are within 1 km. Within 160 m you'll find a bench, a public toilet, a bike pump and a water point.

Directions in Google Maps

The story

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Audio tour · Potsdamer Platz

2:01

You're standing on Potsdamer Platz, right in the centre of Berlin. It's named after Potsdam, because the old road to Potsdam once passed through the city wall here. Look down at the ground. In places you'll spot a line of stones set into the pavement. It marks where the Berlin Wall used to run.

Read and hear the whole story in the Outdoor Pitstop app: check in at this place and it is yours (with Pro; new users are Pro for the first 4 weeks).

Opening hours and admission

Wheelchair: Accessible

Source: OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.

Photos

10 photos from Wikimedia Commons. In the app you add your own photo when you are there.

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Potsdamer Platz in Berlin: a busy square in Germany

The Potsdamer Platz in Berlin is a sight where the old road to Potsdam once passed through the city wall. The square is known as the place where the Berlin Wall once stood, and where the first traffic light tower in Germany was built in 1924. You will find this Potsdamer Platz in Berlin close to the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag Building and the Fernsehturm.

What you can see at Potsdamer Platz

The square has stones set into the road surface that show where the Berlin Wall ran. There is a copy of the first traffic light tower in the country, built in 1924, which dates back to when this was the busiest traffic junction in Europe. The Sony Center has a glass tent roof said to be inspired by Fuji, and the Kaisersaal, part of the old Hotel Esplanade, was moved here in 1996. Nearby, the Weinhaus Huth survived the war. For good views of Potsdamer Platz, head up to the Panoramapunkt in the Kollhoff-toren. A lift takes you to a height of 100 metres.

The history of Potsdamer Platz

A century ago, this was the busiest traffic junction in Europe. Major streets met here, with trams, cars, bicycles and horse-drawn carts. There were cafés, hotels and a large department store. During the war, almost everything was bombed flat. From 1961, the Berlin Wall ran straight across the square. The remaining buildings were demolished, and the area became a bare plain. The station beneath the square was then a ghost station, where trains did not stop. In 1990, Roger Waters gave a huge concert of The Wall here. After that came a period in which this became the largest building site in Europe.

Benches, drinking water and toilets at Potsdamer Platz

There are plenty of benches at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. The nearest bench is 14 metres away, near the Alte Potsdamer Straße, and there are 138 benches within 500 metres. For a toilet at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, you walk 51 metres to rail & fresh. This toilet is wheelchair accessible. There are 6 public toilets within 500 metres. You can find drinking water at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin 164 metres away, also near the Alte Potsdamer Straße, where you can fill a bottle. There are 2 water points within 500 metres. There is also a bike pump 129 metres away, near the Potsdamer Straße.

Walking and other sights around Potsdamer Platz

You can visit several places from the square. The Museum Neue Nationalgalerie is 627 metres away. A little further on, at 801 metres, you'll find the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin is 988 metres away, and the Reichstag Building is 1,052 metres away. There is an audio story at each of these places. There is also a 2-minute audio story about Potsdamer Platz itself, which you can listen to on the spot in the Outdoor Pitstop app.