by Jim Hudson

Karl-Marx-Allee. This two-kilometer-long triumphal route of overbearing, neo-classical buildings owes more to Moscow than Mitte. The street has all the architectural subtlety of a wedding cake. At one end, two nine-storey high-rises, each topped with a tower, form an imposing gateway completely at odds with Berlin's low-rise feel.

Hansaviertel. Contemporary houses and blocks of flats sit among trees and landscaping at the beautiful Tiergarten's northern edge. Built for the 1957 Interbau, this street is a virtual who’s-who list of modernist architectural design, including Oscar Niemeyer. In fact, Hansaviertel features this world-famous Brazilian architect's only building in Germany. Architecture students flock there daily to photograph each other in its huge V-shaped support columns.

In terms of design, Hansaviertel clearly takes the upper hand. But there's something charming about the faded glamor of the Karl-Marx-Allee, something indefinable, something in the twinkling of chandeliers at the Kino International, Berlin's most beautiful cinema.

Karl-Marx-Allee buzzes – it's a place. There's Cafe Moskau, once a meeting place for the GDR elite, now a gallery, bar and club (hosting the monthly 'Reggae in Moskau', if you like that sort of thing.) Another true survivor is Cafe Sybille, popular before the fall of the wall, now run by the Society for Socialist Architecture (yes, there is one) and purveyor of the best cappuccino on the street. And most notably, there's the Kino International, with its Soviet-chic design (including those chandeliers).

Ironically, Karl-Marx-Allee, once considered the statement of centralized planning, is now the center of Berlin's chaotic cultural and nightlife scenes. Hansaviertel on the other hand, a free-form western ideal, has become a protected tourist destination.

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