Explore the real-world places that appear in Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Schöneberg District, Eldorado Nightclub, Kurfürstendamm, Silhouette Club, Landauer Department Store and 5 more.
Nollendorfplatz area — Isherwood's neighborhood
Christopher Isherwood rents a room in Fräulein Schroeder's boarding house on Nollendorfstraße. Here he observes the daily dramas of his eccentric landlady and fellow tenants, including the mysterious Fräulein Kost who receives late-night visitors. The narrator chronicles the gradual transformation of this middle-class neighborhood as economic hardship and political tension mount throughout the early 1930s.
Schöneberg was a fashionable middle-class district in the 1920s and early 1930s, home to many artists, intellectuals, and the emerging gay community. The area around Nollendorfplatz was known for its theaters, cafes, and liberal atmosphere during the Weimar Republic.
Schöneberg remains a vibrant residential area, still popular with artists and the LGBTQ+ community. Nollendorfplatz is home to a memorial commemorating gay victims of Nazi persecution, and many of the original Art Nouveau buildings survive.
Visit: Nollendorfplatz Memorial (monument)
Motzstraße — Famous cabaret and drag venue
Isherwood frequents this legendary nightclub where men and women perform in drag, and the sexual and social boundaries of Weimar Berlin are openly challenged. The Eldorado represents the decadent freedom that Sally Bowles and her circle inhabit, a world of champagne, jazz, and sexual liberation that exists in defiance of the rising Nazi threat.
The Eldorado was one of Berlin's most famous gay and lesbian nightclubs during the Weimar era, operating from 1926 to 1932. Located in Schöneberg, it was known for its drag performances and attracted both locals and curious tourists to its flamboyant shows.
The original Eldorado was closed by the Nazis in 1932. The site is now occupied by modern buildings, but a small memorial plaque marks the approximate location of this iconic symbol of Weimar Berlin's sexual freedom.
Visit: Eldorado Memorial Plaque (monument)
West Berlin's grand boulevard — Shopping and cafes
Sally Bowles and Isherwood stroll along the Ku'damm, Berlin's most fashionable street, window shopping and people-watching. Here they encounter the wealthy Landauers and witness the stark contrast between Berlin's glamorous facade and the growing poverty and political unrest. The boulevard serves as a stage for observing the city's social tensions and the changing fortunes of its inhabitants.
Kurfürstendamm was developed in the 1880s as Berlin's answer to the Champs-Élysées, becoming the city's premier shopping and entertainment district. During the Weimar Republic, it was lined with luxury shops, theaters, and cafes frequented by Berlin's cultural elite.
The Kurfürstendamm remains one of Berlin's main shopping streets, though it has been overshadowed by other districts since reunification. Many historic buildings were destroyed in WWII, but it still retains its role as a major commercial thoroughfare with shops, restaurants, and theaters.
Visit: Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (historic site)
Near Friedrichstraße — Sally Bowles' cabaret venue
Sally Bowles performs at this seedy cabaret, singing her repertoire of risqué songs in her distinctive nasal voice while wearing her signature green nail polish. The club attracts a mixed crowd of German locals, foreign visitors, and sexual adventurers. It's here that Sally embodies the desperate gaiety of Berlin's nightlife, performing night after night as the political situation deteriorates around her.
The cabaret scene flourished in Weimar Berlin, with hundreds of small venues offering everything from political satire to erotic entertainment. The area around Friedrichstraße was particularly dense with such establishments, catering to both locals and the growing tourist trade.
The exact location of Isherwood's fictional Silhouette Club is uncertain, but the Friedrichstraße area continues to be an entertainment district. Several venues now offer 1920s-themed cabaret shows that deliberately evoke the atmosphere Isherwood described.
Potsdamer Platz area — The Landauer family business
Isherwood becomes English tutor to the wealthy Jewish Landauer family, owners of a successful department store. He observes their comfortable bourgeois lifestyle and their gradual awakening to the Nazi threat. The store represents the established Jewish commercial success that will soon be destroyed, and the Landauers' fate foreshadows the coming persecution of Berlin's Jewish community.
Potsdamer Platz was the heart of commercial Berlin in the 1920s and early 1930s, home to major department stores including those owned by Jewish families. These businesses were systematically destroyed or confiscated during the Nazi period through boycotts and Aryanization policies.
Potsdamer Platz was completely destroyed in WWII and divided by the Berlin Wall. After reunification, it was rebuilt as a modern commercial and entertainment district with shopping centers, theaters, and office buildings, though none of the original stores survive.
Visit: Sony Center (landmark)
In den Zelten — Scientific-Humanitarian Committee headquarters
While not directly featured in the narrative, the Institute represents the progressive scientific study of sexuality that characterized Weimar Berlin. Isherwood's own exploration of his sexuality occurs within this broader context of sexual liberation and scientific inquiry that the Institute symbolized, creating the atmosphere that allowed figures like Sally Bowles and the Eldorado's performers to exist openly.
Founded by Magnus Hirschfeld in 1919, the Institute for Sexual Science was the world's first sexology research institute. It housed a library, museum, and clinic, and advocated for homosexual rights and sexual education. The Nazis destroyed it in 1933, burning its library in one of their first book burnings.
The original building was destroyed in WWII. A memorial plaque now marks the approximate site, and the Federal Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld continues his work from a different location in Berlin, focusing on LGBTQ+ rights and education.
Visit: Hirschfeld Memorial Site (monument)
Askanischer Platz — Berlin's grand railway station
This massive railway terminus serves as both arrival and departure point for many of Isherwood's characters. Foreign visitors and emigrants pass through its grand halls, while the narrator himself eventually uses it to leave Berlin as the Nazi threat intensifies. The station represents the transient nature of Berlin's international community during this period.
Completed in 1880, Anhalter Bahnhof was one of Europe's largest railway terminals, serving as the gateway to southern Germany and beyond. During the Weimar Republic, it was a symbol of Berlin's importance as a European transportation hub and cosmopolitan center.
The station was heavily damaged in WWII and the remaining structure was demolished in 1960. Only a fragment of the original facade remains as a monument. The site is now a park, and Berlin's main railway station is now the Hauptbahnhof near the government district.
Visit: Anhalter Bahnhof Ruins (monument)
Central Berlin — The city's great park
Isherwood and his friends take walks through the Tiergarten, Berlin's central park, where they encounter the city's mix of respectability and hidden desires. The park serves as a meeting place and cruising ground, representing both the pastoral heart of the city and the secret lives of its inhabitants. Max, one of Isherwood's German friends, frequents the park's more secluded areas.
Originally a hunting ground for Prussian royalty, the Tiergarten became Berlin's central public park in the 18th century. By the Weimar period, it was a popular recreational area for all social classes and was known for its more liberated social atmosphere, particularly after dark.
The Tiergarten remains Berlin's largest central park, though it was heavily damaged in WWII and replanted afterward. It houses several memorials and museums and continues to serve as the city's green heart, bordered by major government buildings and cultural institutions.
Visit: Tiergarten Park (park)
Pariser Platz — Berlin's iconic monument
The Brandenburg Gate looms over Isherwood's Berlin as a symbol of Prussian power and German nationalism. As the political situation deteriorates, the Gate becomes increasingly associated with Nazi rallies and demonstrations. The narrator witnesses the transformation of this classical monument from a symbol of enlightenment values to one of militant nationalism.
Completed in 1791, the Brandenburg Gate was designed as a symbol of peace and classical ideals. During the 1920s and early 1930s, it served as the backdrop for various political demonstrations, including both democratic celebrations and Nazi rallies as the party gained power.
The Brandenburg Gate survived WWII and became a symbol of Cold War division when it stood in the death strip between East and West Berlin. Since reunification, it has been restored and serves as Berlin's most recognizable landmark and a symbol of German unity and European integration.
Visit: Brandenburg Gate (monument)
Central Berlin — Working-class district and transport hub
Isherwood ventures into Alexanderplatz, observing the working-class Berliners who frequent this bustling transportation hub. Here he witnesses the economic desperation that makes ordinary Germans susceptible to extremist political appeals. The square represents the 'other Berlin' beyond the bohemian nightlife of Schöneberg—the city of unemployment, poverty, and growing political radicalization.
Named after Tsar Alexander I, Alexanderplatz became Berlin's main commercial center for the working class by the early 20th century. During the Weimar Republic, it was known for its department stores, entertainment venues, and as a gathering place for political demonstrations, both communist and Nazi.
Alexanderplatz was completely rebuilt in the 1960s as a showcase of East German urban planning. It remains a major transportation hub and commercial center, dominated by the TV Tower (Fernsehturm) built in 1969. The square retains its working-class character and remains one of Berlin's busiest public spaces.
Visit: Alexanderplatz and TV Tower (landmark)
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