A Walk Along Karl-Marx-Allee

Haus des Lehrers (House of the Teacher)

Kino International
Cafe Moskau
In the 1960s Cafe Moskau was the GDR's biggest cafe and restaurant. In the '90s it was home
to various nightclubs. Since 2010 it's been used as a business conference center.
The building has an atrium and from the entrance you can see a huge mosaic (15 by 9 meters)
titled "From the Life of the People of the Soviet Union" by Bert Heller.
Be sure to look above the corner of the entrance--there's a sputnik. During the '60s, when the
building was designed and built by architect Josef Kaiser, the Soviet Union was putting
satellites into orbit.

Karl-Marx-Allee 34 (opposite of Kino International)

Bar Babette (Bar KMA 36)

Advertising on Building
Haus Berlin and Haus des Kindes (House Berlin and House of the Children)
The Floating Ring Fountain
The Floating Ring Fountain at the center of the Straussberger Platz was inspired by the artist
Fritz Khn. From the fountain there is a beautiful view of the classical part of the boulevard.

Palaces of the Workers

The two buildings after the fountain are also built by Henselmann. All of the facades from
here down the boulevard are decorated with tiles. Built in the 1950s, the apartments were the
best you could get. They even had wonderful terraces on top.

Karl Marx
Next you'll come upon a sculpture/portrait of Karl Marx, for whom the street is now named.

New Buildings
Architectural Model
Block of Houses by Richard Paulick
In this block you will find more "palaces of the workers." The first floor always housed shops,
cafes and restaurants; the famous bookshop Karl-Marx-Buchhandlung resided here until
2009.
On top are the living areas. On the facade you will see all kinds of illustrations depicting the
workers as they built these houses in the 1950s.

Computer Games Museum

Bar CSA
Frankfurter Tor
The classical part of the Karl-Marx-Allee starts and ends with two tower buildings of
Hermann Henselmann. The blocks next to them are built by Karl Souradny. The entire length
of the classical part is around two kilometers (1.2 miles) and is protected as a monument.
The Frankfurter Tor pays homage to two cathedrals at the Gendarmenmarkt.

Street Lights
You may have already noticed the wonderful street lights along the boulevard. If not, take a
look. They're similar to the lights of of Albert Speer along 17th June Street in West Berlin.

Another Block
The Karl-Marx-Allee ends at the tower buildings at the Frankfurter Tor. But the Stalinallee
continued for one more block. The architect here was Hans Hopp. While you will see the
same style of architecture, this last part was not renovated in the 1990s. Take a look to the
black or missing tiles and imagine the entire boulevard looked like this years ago.