Tactile model of Berlin’s inner city

“Seeing Berlin” takes on a slightly different meaning for people who are blind or visually impaired. So that these people don’t miss out on the city, there’s a tactile model of the centre of Berlin.

All the landmarks on a single model

The 1:2000 scale tactile model depicts the metropolis of Berlin with all its landmarks. The most important highlights – the TV Tower, the Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column – are particularly prominent on a scale of 1:100. The detailed three-dimensional representation of the city means you can explore its buildings and open spaces by touch.

Where is the Tiergarten, how big is Alexanderplatz and what does Potsdamer Platz look like with all its high-rise buildings? You don’t need to book an aerial tour to find out – you can simply feel your way around the city centre. Certain buildings enlarged and raised above their surroundings on metal rods so that you can feel them separately and in more detail. The key to the model is written in Braille especially for visually impaired visitors.

Audio assistance

If you want, you can have an audio guide to help you feel your way around Berlin. With a smartphone and headphones you can select spoken information on the more than 150 city landmarks depicted by simply scanning your phone over over the places on the model marked with metal dots. This means nothing can go wrong with your discovery tour of Berlin!

Making Berlin accessible to everyone

The tactile model was developed by the city’s urban development and the environmental department together with a project team from the Technical University of Berlin. The model received the “Design For All Foundation Award” in 2013. The three-dimensional model is open to the public on permanent exhibition in the atrium of the Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment.

If it whets your appetite for more, you can go to the tactile model of Berlin’s Museum Island in the Lustgarten at the UNESCO world heritage site.

Opening hours