A vast, mind-numbing concrete plain of socialist modern architecture, dotted here and there with an old church, Alexanderplatz is the epitome of old regime kitsch. Ten new skyscrapers to be built in the next decade will no doubt transform the square's drab, uninviting appearance, but for now it's a place to buy cheap socks or CDs at open-air kiosks or puzzle over how to read the international clock. Linden, which connects Alexanderplatz to Brandenburg Gate, was the old city's grand promenade, clattering at different times with the hooves of Hohenzollern cavalry and the boots of torch-bearing Nazis. Now, the boulevard's windswept spaces are in sore need of street life. After exiting the Pergamon, stop at the outdoor flea market just over the Spree River that runs along Am Kupfergraben.
Several stands specialize in communist-era items, including medals and posters.
Here is a good place to buy your Green Man pin. Opposite Museumsinsel on the south side of Unter den Linden is the big, boxy and quite empty Palace of the Republic, the former East German parliament building. The palace has become a focal point of Berlin's debate over what is and isn't worth saving from the communist era. Many want it torn down. Others see it as worthy of preservation, a focal point of a lost political identity.