BERLIN - LOCATION GUIDE
HISTORY
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.
THE RISE OF NAZISM AND THE THIRD REICH
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.
Top Tip: It’s no longer possible to just turn up at the Reichstag to visit inside. Visitors must book their visit in advance. The number of reservations per day is limited so you must book early to ensure you are accepted. The good thing is that entrance is still free.
Berliner Unterwelten Go beneath the Gesundbrunnen UBahn station for a tour below the city’s streets which shows the hidden world of Berlin via a series of underground tunnels. This visit offers an insight into life in Nazi Germany. We recommend the Dark Worlds tour if you are studying the Third Reich, which takes you to explore one of the last remaining WW2 bunkers, as it was left after the war.
Top Tip: The maximum group size is 20 so if your group is larger than this then you will be split into two groups for your guided tour.
Website: www.berliner-unterwelten.de UBahn: Gesundbrunnen
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.
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.
Website: http://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
THE HOLOCAUST
Berlin was once home to the largest and largely integrated Jewish community in Germany. Key visits in and around the city will tell the story of persecution beginning in the early 1930’s ended in the tragic events of the Final Solution.
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: http://www.ghwk.de/?lang=gb
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
THE COLD WAR AND FALL OF COMMUNISM
The Berlin Wall It is essential to see the remains of the Berlin Wall when studying the Cold War and the Fall of Communism. Remains of the Wall can best be seen at the East Side Gallery or Bernauer Strasse.
Berlin Wall Documentation Centre The central memorial site of German division situated on historical Bernauer Strasse. This is an ideal location to view the wall and is now an open air exhibition explaining the history of the division. Closed on Mondays.
Website: www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/ UBahn: Bernauer Strasse
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
Stasi Museum, Normannenstrasse – Former Stasi HQ The series of exhibits and preserved offices gives an insight into the Stasi organisation and the power it had over life in the East. Highlights of the exhibition include Erick Mielke’s office, surveillance and observation technology and political – ideological education.
Top Tip: We recommend you take a guided tour here, which will last approx. 90 minutes
Website: www.stasimuseum.de/ UBahn: Magdalen Strasse
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: Hohenschönhausen Memorial can be reached by the M5 tram from central Berlin.
DDR Museum in the Culture Brewery The ‘Museum in der Kulturbrauerei’ hosts a permanent exhibition on everyday life in the DDR and shows the tension between the demands of the political system and the real life of people living in East Germany. This museum is closed on Mondays.
Website:www.hdg.de/fileadmin/static/english/berlin/museum-in-der- kulturbrauerei/ UBahn: Eberswalder Strasse
Palace of Tears The former border crossing point at Friedrichstrasse known as ‘the palace of tears’ is now a listed building. The permanent exhibition ‘Border Experiences – Everyday Life in Divided Germany’ delivers real life stories through images and videos. This museum is closed on Mondays.
Website: www.hdg.de/fileadmin/static/english/berlin/traenenpalast-am-bahnhof- friedrichstr/ UBahn: Friedrichstrasse
Berliner Unterwelten Go beneath the Gesundbrunnen UBahn station for a tour below the city’s streets which shows the hidden world of Berlin via a series of underground tunnels. The Cold War tour shows West Berliners prepared to use the old WW2 shelters in the event of nuclear war.
Top Tip: The maximum group size is 20 so if your group is larger than this then you will be split into two groups for your guided tour.
Website: www.berliner-unterwelten.de UBahn: Gesundbrunnen
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.
Third Reich Berlin Hitler, WWII & the final days. Duration 3-4 hrs. Sites included are:
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, German Resistance Museum, Berlin Mitte, T4 Euthanasia Memorial, Soviet War Memorial, Reichstag, Holocaust Memorial, Potsdamer Platz.
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
Cold War Berlin Geopolitics and Life Behind the Wall. Duration 3-4 hrs. Sites included are:
Friedrich Strasse border crossing, Palace of Tears, Admiral's Palast, Russia's & America's East German Embassies, Ghost Stations, Potsdamer Platz, The Wall Documentation Center at Bernauer Strasse, Bornholmer bridge crossing point, Checkpoint Charlie, Stalin Allee, East Side Gallery, Alexander Platz.
Top Tip: These tours are examples of what you could do. We can tailor make a tour to match your needs.
CULTURAL VISITS
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
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 Alexanderplatz, 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. The New Museum and The Old Museum: Greek, Roman and Egyptian art.
Eastside Gallery The Berlin Wall East Side Gallery is a 1.3km-long section of the wall near the centre of Berlin. Approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world cover this memorial for freedom and make it the largest open-air gallery in the world.
UBahn: Warschauerstrasse
Top Tip for Art Galleries: Most galleries stay open late on Thursday evenings, until 10.00 pm, so if you want to get the most out of your time in Berlin and keep them busy in the evenings, this is a great option.
LEISURE
Potsdamer Platz Another redeveloped area of Berlin, this has an ideal central location and is full of shops, cafes and entertainment.
Website: http://potsdamerplatz.de/en/
Sony Centre Located in Potsdamer Platz this is home to the Imax Cinema where you can catch a film in German or English, along with a great selection of cafes and shops. Great for a night out, especially if seeing a film on the giant screen.
Website: www.sonycenter.de/en/home2
Kurfürstendamm This is the main shopping street in Berlin and home to one of Europe’s largest department stores, KaDeWe, with all that a major store offers.
Bowling Berlin has a range of bowling centres throughout the city. Ask us for more information if you wish to book a session
Ritter Sport Colourful Chocoworld (Bunte Schokowelt) Located at the Gendarmenmarkt Square, this store offers a unique and varied assortment of items revolving around Ritter Sport chocolate. Chocolate lovers big and small can explore the store’s three floors. The SchokoKreation area allows visitors to create their own favourite chocolate bar.
Tropical Islands Water park An indoor tropical beach with waters slides, lagoons, rapids and wave pools. Great fun and a great place for students to burn off excess energy. This is approx. 1 hours drive from the centre of Berlin.
Website: www.tropical-islands.de/en/visitors.html
RESTAURANTS
Make your evening meal a night out. We can book a variety or restaurants ranging from traditional German, American diners, Italian and Chinese.