The monumental GDR boulevard running east from Alexanderplatz, built in the early 1950s as a showcase of Stalinist architecture — grand, symmetrical, colonnaded, faced in ceramic tiles and intended for military parades. The westernmost stretch between Strausberger Platz and Frankfurter Tor is the most impressive and, whatever you think of the politics, an extraordinary piece of urban design. The Kino International on the corner of Schillingstraße is an equally striking post-Stalin modernist counterpoint.
Karl-Marx-Allee
Grand Stalinist boulevard showcasing monumental 1950s socialist architecture