Visiting Spandau

Today Spandau has been reduced to a suburb of Berlin – but it has a long history and actually got mentioned 40 years before Berlin. It is a good spot for a daytrip from Berlin where you can go and explore the old town of Spandau which survived the World War II fairly intact so there are several old buildings to be found on and around the main pedestrian street of the city. It is nice to wonder the streets of Spandau – the old town is a fairly small area so you can easily go around and see it without getting lost. And there are many small restaurants and ice-cream shops in the area as well if you need a bite to eat.

There are many old buildings in the area with the Nikolai church the easiest recognizable. On the main pedestrian street you will find the tourist information which doubles as a museum located in the Gothic House which is an old stone house in the city – it is free so you might as well drop in and have a quick look.

Across the main street you find a twin city of Spandau called Kolk. It is actually the oldest settlement of the Spandau community and it has some old winding street and some old buildings. There are a beer garden in a shaded green area as well which apparently sell craft beers but we didn’t actually get a drink so I don’t know anything about the quality of the beers.

The old town (Altstadt Spandau) is easily reach on the U7 or you can use the S5 line to the Rathause Spandau and walk the full length of the main pedestrian street. It isn’t a long walk and you might prefer to walk the full length to look and the place. The most interesting building is close to the Altstadt stop.

Before or after visiting the old town of Spandau you could go to the old fortress of Spandau which is one of the 3 main fortress of the Brandenburg area which were modernized after the more widespread use of guns making traditional castle obsolete. You can reach the fortress by taking the U7 line to the Zitadelle stop or just walking from the old town of Spandau.

For many the town of Spandau might be best known for the Spandau Prison where war criminals who were given a prison sentence at the Nurnberg trial were incarcerated from 1947 till the death of the last inmate in 1987. There is no mention of the place in this blog – simply because the place has been demolished and nothing is left to see. The area where the prison was located was turned into supermarket.