Weekends also see the city's biggest flea market take over Strasse des 17 Juni, just west of the Tiergarten park.

CNN: Berlin: Where to shop

"If you listen to each of the verses, there are lyrical references to Berlin, to Potsdamer Platz, to Nuremberg Strasse, " said Wilson.

BBC: David Bowie releases first single in a decade

He drove up Leipziger Strasse to Potsdamer Platz and continued on west.

NEWYORKER: The Maserati Years

One famous photo shows border guard Conrad Schumann, rifle casually slung on his shoulder, leaping over coils of barbed wire on Bernauer Strasse.

FORBES: A Development In Berlin Threatens The Wall That Once Divided A Continent

In the past five or six years, many galleries have migrated to open on Potsdamer Strasse in western Berlin, a street lined with antiques and art dealers before World War II.

BBC: Living in: Cities known for art and culture

For a taste of life in the former East Berlin marvel at the imposing buildings that line Karl-Marx-Allee or visit the DDR Museum (Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 1) for a hands-on experience of the minutiae of daily life in the GDR.

CNN: Berlin: What to see

Retro movie festivals featuring Weimar directing stars like Lang and Ernst Lubitsch, and actors like Peter Lorre, Louise Brooks and Emil Jannings, happen regularly at the Babylon (Rosa Luxemburg-Strasse 30, babylonberlin.de) and the Arsenal (Potsdamer Strasse 2, arsenal-berlin.de) movie houses.

WSJ: Experiencing the 1920s in Berlin, Germany