Berlin - Mitte

Sophienkirche, a church endowed by Queen Sophia in 1712, boasts what is undoubtedly Berlin's most beautiful church tower, added in 1734. Buried in the churchyard - part of which is now a playground for local children - are the architect and composer C. F. Zelter (d. 1832; to the left of the church) and the historian Leopold von Ranke (d. 1866; memorial slab on the right in the surrounding wall).

The German History Museum contains artifacts and documents of German history from the 9th century to present day. There are period rooms highlighting chronologically arranged events.

The Cemetery for the War Disabled in Berlin's Mitte district was laid out by the side of the Berlin-Spandau ship-canal in 1748. Here lie the remains of numerous well-known officers of the Prussian and German armies. In 1972 part of the cemetery was leveled off, as it lay directly on the border between East and West Berlin. Two of the best-known military men buried here are von Scharnhorst (died 1813, and after whom the ill-fated Second World War battleship was named), and Manfred von Richthofen (died 1918 - better known as the "Red Baron" and famed for his prowess in First World War aerial dog-fights. Unfortunately his grave was one of those flattened in 1972).

The French Cemetery in Berlin's Mitte district directly adjoins the Dorotheenstadt and Friedrichswerder cemeteries. The graves include those of Daniel Chodowiecki (died 1801), the engraver who illustrated the first editions of the works of Schiller and Goethe, and Friedrich Ancillon (died 1837), tutor to Frederick William IV.

The Koch Museum commemorates the life and work of Robert Koch in the field of Medical Microbiology. It includes the reading room where he first announced his discovery of the tuberculosis bacillus on March 24, 1882.