Behind the leafy streets and picturesque waterways of the Fischerinsel lies a brick Gothic-style building that is home to one of the Berlin’s hidden gems. Designed by architect Ludwig Hoffman, who also built the Stadtbad on Oderberger Straße, the Märkisches Museum first opened its doors a century ago. Originally planned as a museum of everyday life in Berlin and the surrounding Mark Brandenburg province, the catastrophes which soon engulfed the city gave the museum an important role in documenting Berlin’s unique position in 20th-century history.

As the centerpiece of Berlin’s municipal museums, the Märkisches Museum organizes exhibitions in over a dozen other museums in addition to those here at its Köllnischen Park base. It boasts a large collection of everyday objects from every period of Berlin’s history, extensive documentary archives and artwork from some of the most renowned European artists—all helping to trace Berlin’s evolution from a dusty provincial town into one of the world’s most fascinating cities.