Everything in the old city was destroyed by the bombing except the woman's church but that fell later from the movement of earth. There's a 102 porcelain tile mural, 9 meters high, that shows all the royals and was never touched during the bombing except for 400 tiles. There's 25,000 tiles in total.
The old city takes about 2 days to get to know well and then you can focus on the new city, really it's the older part but let's not quibble, where there continues to be older buildings and homes badly in need of reno's and still continue so today. In the olden days, every building was built and designed to be exactly the same so that all people were equal and felt that no one had a better chance or life than others. Much was left to be shabby after reunification and so now in the midst of efforts to make every building have its own specialty or character, the use of painting designs and painted blocks onto the sides has helped the restored work look real and different. Everywhere you go you can see people at work and so the city begins to have more flair than the old same bldg after same bldg of the boring style.
This city has the most green space per person than any other city in Germany and only a short walk anywhere will land you in a park or forest. There are many rich people who reside in these borders as this area has been noted for more inventions than I could keep track of - toothpaste, toothpaste out of a tube, mouthwash, steam engines, the beer coasters from bars, etc. see, I can't remember them.
It's a university town so many young people harbour around the bars and the city is alive but unlike Hamburg, people actually go to sleep.
