BERLIN - LOCATION GUIDE PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY Exceptional Tours Expertly Delivered Our location guide offers you information on the range of visits available in Berlin. All visits are selected with your subject and the curriculum in mind, along with the most popular choices for sightseeing, culture and leisure in the area. The information in your location guide has been provided by our partners in Berlin who have expert on the ground knowledge of the area, combined with advice from education professionals so that the visits and information recommended are the most relevant to meet your learning objectives. Making Life Easier for You This location guide is not a catalogue of opening times. Our Tour Experts will design your itinerary with opening times and location in mind so that you can really maximise your time on tour. Our location guides are designed to give you the information that you really need, including what are the highlights of the visit, location, suitability and educational resources. We’ll give you top tips like when is the best time to go, dress code and extra local knowledge. Peace of Mind So that you don’t need to carry additional money around with you we will state in your initial quote letter, which visits are included within your inclusive tour price and if there is anything that can’t be pre-paid we will advise you of the entrance fees so that you know how much money to take along. You also have the added reassurance that, WST is a member of the STF and our featured visits are all covered as part of our externally verified Safety Management System. STUDY VISITS Neue Synagogue Once one of the largest synagogues in the world, it was damaged during Kristallnacht and then destroyed during the war. The front section has now been restored and is home to a museum which tells the story of the building and its congregation. Website: www.cjudaicum.de/en SBahn: Oranienburger Straße House of the Wannsee Conference At the location of the now famous Wannsee Conference of January 1942 the exhibition focuses on the significance of the conference in the process of planning the genocide of European Jews, as well as the involvement of the conference participants and the authorities they represented in the persecution and murder of the Jews. Top Tip: Request a visit here early as it tends to get booked up well in advance. Website: www.ghwk.de/engl/kopfengl.htm Location: Approx. 40 minutes coach drive from Central Berlin Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp One of the earliest concentration camps, Sachsenhausen tells the story of its origins, on to life in the camp and then its liberation with a series of exhibitions through the buildings. Top Tip: We recommend booking a guide from the camp to help you get the most out of your visit. Website: www.stiftung-bg.de/gums/en/index.htm: Location: Sachsenhausen is usually reached by coach – approx. 40 minutes drive away. Alternatively Sachsenhausen is 45 minutes from central Berlin on the SBahn – Oranienburg Station. Holocaust Memorial The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is now a prominent site of remembrance in the centre of Berlin. The memorial can be visited 24 hours and there is also a visitor’s centre open during daytime hours. Website: www.stiftung-denkmal.de/ UBahn: Potsdamer Platz, Mohrenstrasse or Französische Strasse Otto Weidt Museum During World War II, visually impaired broom and brush maker Otto Weidt employed many Jews in his workshop. As tensions in the country grew, Weidt endeavoured to protect his mostly blind and deaf employees from persecution and deportation, bribing the Gestapo, falsifying documents, and eventually hiding a family behind a backless cupboard in one room of his shop. This museum is dedicated to him and is administered by the German Resistance Memorial Centre Foundation. It tells Weidt’s story with archival photos and interviews with some of those he saved. Website: http://www.museum-blindenwerkstatt.de/en/first-of-all/ UBahn: Weinmeisterstraße German Resistance Memorial Centre Located in the Bendler Block where the July Bomb Plot was organised. A commemorative courtyard is dedicated to the memory of the officers executed here on the night of July 20, 1944. The permanent exhibition covers the struggle against and opposition to National Socialism in various forms. This visit is closed on Tuesdays. Website: www.gdw-berlin.de/en/home/ UBahn: Kurfürstenstraße / Potsdamerplatz Topography of Terror Located on the site of the former Gestapo HQ this is an exhibition covering the central institutions of the SS and the system of terror. Website: http://www.topographie.de/en/ UBahn: Potsdamer Platz SBahn: Anhalter Bahnhof GUIDED WALKING TOURS OF BERLIN We can arrange a half day guided walking tour to be tailored visits to suit your preferred study theme. Introductory tour Hidden Berlin & All the Main Sites. Duration 3-4 hrs. Sites included are: Alexander Platz, Museum Island, Berliner Dom, Site of Palast der Republic, Bebel Platz, Berlin Wall, Topography of Terror, Wilhelm Strasse, Checkpoint Charlie, Site of Hitler's bunker, Holocaust Memorial, The Reichstag, The New 'Hauptbahnhof', Brandenburg Gate. Psychology City Walking Tour. Duration 3-4 hous Our expert tour guides can deliver a fascinating walking tour covering the brainwashing of a nation during the rise of Nazism to the control methods, propaganda and persuasion dogmas of the East German government. Jewish Life: Destruction & Rebirth. Duration 3-4 hrs. Sites included are: The Jewish Quarter, The Otto Weidt Museum for the Blind, Jewish Cemetery, Große Hamburger Str, Gestapo District HQ, Jewish Community Administration Building II/ Memorial, Neue Synagogue, Grunewald train station. * All the guides for this tour are fluent English speaking Israelis CULTURAL VISITS Brandenburg Gate area: See the iconic monuments of 20th Century Berlin including The Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate, The Victory Column and the Soviet War Memorial. These monuments are usually included in an introductory guided tour. The Reichstag A guided tour of the Reichstag building is one of the most popular visits in Berlin. It will explain the functions, working methods and composition of parliament whilst also covering the history and architecture of the building. The highlight at the end is the opportunity to visit the famous dome, which has become an iconic image in Berlin and gives a great view of the city. Website: www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/visits Ubahn: Stadtmitte, Französische Strasse Olympic Stadium This stadium was purpose built for the 1936 Olympics and is a great opportunity to view Nazi architecture, surviving virtually untouched in the battle to capture Berlin. The stadium will not be open to visitors on event days so please be ready to be flexible on which day you visit. Groups can take a self guided visit with an audio guide or an English speaking guided tour. From March to October, for an additional charge, you can also go up the bell tower which will give you an excellent view of the interior of the stadium. Top Tip: The Olympic Stadium is often visited in conjunction with Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, as a full day out of the city centre. Website: www.olympiastadion-berlin.de UBahn: Olympiastadion Usually reached via coach – approx. 20 minutes from the centre of Berlin / or S-Bahn. Hohenschönhausen Memorial – Former Stasi Political Prison Provides an authentic picture of prison conditions in the GDR. There are two permanent exhibitions, one which shows the fate of children born whilst their mothers were held in prison and one showing the portraits of former inmates. Website: http://en.stiftung-hsh.de/ Location: It is possible to access Hohenschönhausen Memorial by the M5 tram from central Berlin. Museum-Haus am Checkpoint Charlie A museum dedicated to the legendary border crossing point, with imagery and exhibitions of attempts to escape to the West, it follows the stories of fugitives and their helpers. Top Tip: This museum is open until 10.00 pm each night so is an ideal way to keep your students busy one evening and means you can fit more options into your day visits. Website: www.mauermuseum.de UBahn: Kochstrasse DDR Museum An interactive museum which not only focuses on the politics of East Germany, but gives a fascinating insight into what it was like to live in the East. Closed on Mondays. Top Tip: Free quizzes are available for school groups to download and take around the museum. Website: www.ddr-museum.de/en/ UBahn: Alexander Platz SBahn: Hackescher Markt The Story of Berlin An interactive museum that explores 800 years of Berlin’s history. There are 23 theme rooms equipped with multi-media technology. Top Tip: A worksheet can be downloaded from the website, in English, for students to fill in as they go round the museum. Website: www.story-of-berlin.de/ UBahn: Uhland Strasse TV Tower Located in former East Berlin, in Alexander Platz, this is Berlin’s highest structure offering fabulous views over the city. The TV Tower can be pre-booked but not pre- paid, this visit must be paid directly on arrival. Top Tip: The TV Tower is a great option as an evening visit, to see Berlin by night. Website: www.tv-turm.de/en/index.php UBahn: Alexander Platz Alexanderplatz The square was once the centre of East Berlin. Since re-unification there’s been a complete redevelopment and now Alexanderplatz is a major sightseeing and shopping area. Museum Island: A group of museums located in the centre of Berlin on the River Spree: Alte Nationalgalerie: 19th Century paintings and sculptures from artists such as Monet, Renoir, Cezanne. Pergamon Museum: Antiquities, Islamic Art, Middle Eastern Art and objects. Bode Museum: Home to a collection of sculptures from Byzantium through to the Middle Ages.