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Since the Berlin wall came down in 1989 Berlin became a city, which attracts more and more tourists each year. Through the change of time, today the city shows it historical imprints as well as its innovational and modern side combined in one. New directions on old paths evolve due to the tourists. The attraction of the city emerges through the mixture of old historical buildings (sights) and new elements just like shops, restaurants and bars, which adjust with old structures extremely well. The exceptional interaction between old and new is the content of this research. The main focus lies on the “City Ost/East” Friedrichstraße and Straße unter den Linden, because those streets are the locations for the major touristic activity. The present research project shows a snapshot of the “Bewegungsraum” (Movement area) of the tourists, the commercial touristic relevance of single stores, showrooms and restaurants. Moreover the temporary development of the already existing bargain within the course of time.

80% Individual Touristmovement The graphic shows individual moving pattern of pedestrians in the examined area. 64 tourists are asked for sketching their individual route. The overlay of this sketches forms the graphic above which shows a clearly moving area. The analysis of the general transportation offer and the individual movement structure of the tourists on the main routes Friedrichstraße and Unter den Linden form an axis, which is the next object of this research.

Shops und Sights Finally there will be a closer inspection of the “two main routes” and a validation of the thesis that Berlin is a city of old and new. New structures in commerce for example sightseeing, window-shopping, event gastronomy and brands give the old path of experience and sight a new image. The research shows, that the two main routes are two axes with different touristy aspects: shopping and sightseeing. Most of the sights are located along the axis through the Potsdamer Platz – Brandenburgertor – Alexanderplatz and there for follow the axis Unter den Linden. An agglomeration of sight is located in the area of the Lustgarten and is an allurement point for tourist interests. The second axis follows Friedrichstraße from Station Friedrichstraße to the Checkpoint “Charlie” and offers a high amassment of different kind of shops.

Berlin – City of old and new In conclusion of this research it became clear that the city offer two main routes for tourists, that 80% of them follow. On the one hand the reason for this conclusion is based on the fact that there are 3 developed systems, the area system, the visual system and the path guiding system. On the other hand you have the structure of the two main axes between Friedrichstraße and Unter den Linden. Therefor the systems support and guide the tourists movement structure. In the process of this research it became clear that the two main axes differ in their touristy orientation. The first axis Potsdamer Platz – Brandenburger Tor – Alexanderplatz includes more historical and old buildings, which have been built centuries ago. The second axis from Friedrichstraße – Checkpoint Charlie is characteristic for broad shopping possibilities. In addition to that the research showed, that the development of most of the shops started after the Berlin wall came down in 1989 and developed a new image within the start period of 20 years. On the contrary Berlin offers classic sights, that were build in the 17th century and have been rebuild between 1948 and 1968 in the same style. Due to the mixture inside the central area of Berlin with its temporary distinctively style of old and new the city is of great interest for the tourists.