Most all of my tours are between 4 and 5 hours in duration but can be as short as 3 if you have time restrictions. I frequently tour my guests for two days, focusing on Berlin West one day and Berlin East the second.
Tours
Welcome Tour
A general overview of all that is fun and famous in Berlin. The perfect introductory tour to familiarize yourself with the city and it’s culture, history, architecture and layout. The destruction of WWII, then division, reunification and incredible growth since the fall of the wall are also highlighted on this tour. Sites: Checkpoint Charlie, Unter den Linden, Museum Insel, Hauptbahnhof, Gendarmenmarkt, Government Quarter, Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Tiergarten Park, Holocaust Memorial, Hitler’s bunker site, Topography of Terror, the Wall and more…
Architecture
Due to the massive destruction of WWII Berlin had the unique ability to completely rebuild itself as a modern city, a chance it has not wasted. Virtually every major architect of the 20th century has a work to show in Berlin. From Rococo to Modernist, the mix and range of styles here is breathtaking. Architects featured include: Egon Eiermann, Mies van der Rohe, Oscar Niemeyer, Sir Richard Rogers, Gunther Behnisch, Franco Stella, Frank Gehry, Sir Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, I.M. Pei and more!
Third Reich
How did a horror like Hitler ever happen? This tour explores the depth and breadth of the Nazi regime, it’s rise to power and ultimate destruction. Sites: Topography of Terror, Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Siegessäule, Bunker site, Luftwaffe Ministerium, Propaganda Ministerium and other Nazi Architecture sites.
Cold War
Just 23 years ago Berlin was two cities. How did it happen? What was it like to live here and in the East then? What was East Germany and why did it fail? We’ll discuss and visit sites that visually bring the history to life from this period. Sites: The Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, House of Ministries (East German Government building), Television tower, Alexander Platz, Eastside Gallery, Stalinallee and more.
Potsdam
As Versailles is to Paris, so is Potsdam to Berlin. A stunning city, Potsdam is full of palaces, formal gardens and steeped in history. The royal family had their summer palaces here for over 400 years. But modern events have also made Potsdam famous, you’ll also visit where Truman, Stalin and Churchill drafted and signed the Potsdam Convention, officially dividing up Germany, and Europe and setting the stage for the cold war. Sites: Neues Palais, Sanssouci and Gardens, L’Orangerie, Cecilienhof, Neuer Garten, Marble Palais, Havel Lake, Glienicke Bridge (where spies were traded). We take a train and buses on this day of touring. This is a wonderful bike tour day, we can rent bikes in Potsdam upon arrival.