If you go along Ku'damm to the west, you will find yourself in an area of shops and cafes, which tend to get cheaper as you go further west, and at night they shine with a blinding neon light. Ku'damm was built in the 19th century under Bismarck, and the American writer Thomes Wolfe, who stayed here in the twenties called it "the largest cafe in Europe"; today there is little left of those times. If the stores are not in your pocket, you can always choose some trinket at street stands with clothing and jewelry. Once you get to Adenauerplatz, you will have breathtaking exhibitions behind you, and prices in bars will become affordable; it's a good place for your first evening drink. Even better in terms of nightlife is the Kantstrasse north of Ku'damm. After a few hundred meters it crosses Savignyplatz, neat wide square, with some of the best restaurants and bars in the city.
Back to the center of Zoologischer Garten (codz. 9.00 until sunset; 6.50DM) is an introduction to the Tiergarten park, founded under Elector Frederick III as a hunting ground and destroyed during the Battle of Berlin in 1945 year, however, the post-war reconstruction was so successful, that you can't see it at all today. The zoo itself is similar to others around the world, and admission is expensive - it's better to walk around the Tiergarten along the Landwehrkanal, the canal connected to the River Spree (Spree). It is small near the Corneliusbriicke Bridge, quite a bizarre statue of a communist activist, Rosa Luxemburg. W 1918 year, along with another revolutionist, Karl Liebknecht spoke out against the creation of the Weimar Republic, and especially against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and announced the establishment of a socialist republic in Berlin in the Soviet fashion (w 1905 years played a vital role in the failed attempt at revolution). They were both kidnapped by the elite troops of the First Cavalry Guard; Liebknecht was shot dead while "trying to escape", Luxembourg was knocked unconscious and shot, and her body was dumped in the Landwehrkanal near the site, where the monument stands today.
The wide avenue crossing Tiergarten is Strasse des 17 June, so named to commemorate the workers' uprising of the GDR against the Soviet invader. The main demands of the workers were: holding free elections, the abolition of the borders between the two German states and the release of political prisoners. The Soviet army quickly stepped into action, as a result, between two hundred and four hundred people died; the authorities also sentenced twenty-one eastern Berliners and eighteen Soviet soldiers to death - for "moral capitulation to demonstrators”. There is a Siegessaule in the middle of the avenue, victory column commemorating the defeat of France by Prussia in 1871 year. Even though the arrangement of the alleys leading to it does, that the column seems larger than it really is, it is still an impressive monument, high on 67 meters, topped with a gilded one, a winged figure of the goddess of victory, symbolically turned towards France. The view from the top of the column is one of the best in the city – The Brandenburg Gate and East Berlin seem surprisingly close, and the Reichstag soars like a decrepit ranger at the edge of the park. Also take a look at the mosaics at the base of the column depicting the events and major figures of the Franco-Prussian War; w 1945 years were removed and taken to Paris, but they were returned, when the lust for spoils of war is gone (IV-XI, wt.-nd. 9.00-18.00, pn. 13.00-18.00, admission to the hour 17.45; 1.20 DM, students 0.70 DM). From the Siegessaule you can walk to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag, but it is quite tiring and most tourists choose to take the bus #83 or 69 from the city center. If you decide to take this stroll anyway, Bellevue Palace is worth a visit, built in the eighteenth century, now the seat of the president of the federation in Berlin, which can only be visited in time, when the president is not there. A number of cultural attractions are offered by the Tiergarten museum complex in the south-east of the park.