Famous Berlin Walk

Description

Beginning the adventure in the heart of Cold War west Berlin's showcase of capitalism with the looming bombed out spire of the Memorial Church before us stroll into the history of the Teutonic Knights and Prussian Kings, through the Royal Hunting Grounds and stand before the Victory Column - marking the birth of the German nation and Europe as we know it today.

Then, follow the route of the Soviet attack up to the final battle ground of the Reichstag Parliament - crowned with Norman Foster's glass dome, and by the futuristically charged Government Quarter and Federal Chancellory ... then comes the East!

Pass over the line of the Death Strip, the exact location above Hitler's Bunker, under the Brandenburg Gate, by the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, through the intersection of Checkpoint Charlie, and finish with an account of the momentous events which led to the fall of the Wall whilst standing amidst the heart of the East German Government Quarter and the New Berlin...

You'll get insight into what it's like living in the New Berlin where East and West know no boundaries. This is a significant city and we'll take you to significant sights and "insider" sites - those others simply don't know of or pass by.

Itinerary

Nazi legacy - cover the rise and fall of the Third Reich, stand above Hitler's Bunker and by new bunker excavations: - get the final version of events regarding Hitler's suicide and the last days spent in the Bunker - we utilize information of recently released Soviet archives - speculation can now be put to rest.

Cold War - stand by the Berlin Wall, again we access information of newly released Cold War documents verifying why it really went up - you may be surprised by our version of events. Know what it meant to live in the east, why people risked their lives escaping - and the aftermath today...

Checkpoint Charlie - hoisted away June 22, 1990, Charlie finally came in from the Cold, (subsequently housed in the Allied Museum), pass through the intersection now home to an emerging business district, yet once the scene of superpower tensions, escape attempts - successful and failed...

Victory Column - unbridled Prussian military arrogance at its best, what the French did to seek revenge... and how to this day it still provokes wariness as one of the city's most impressive and major of landmarks

Brandenburg Gate - follow in the footsteps of Napolean, Bismarck, the German Kaisers, the Nazis and Allied forces as the struggle for European and world power shifted between east and west. Having stood alone in the Death Strip for 28 years, it now symbolizes the rebirth of the re-unified metropolis - Berlin

Potsdamer Platz - returning Berlin as Capital resulted in the largest construction effort to have been undertaken in modern history - with Potsdamer Platz at its core, this represents the future; German technology and corporate ambitions entering a new millennium - there's nowhere quite like it.

Reichstag - riddled with the bullet holes from the last battle in Europe and now crowned with Lord Foster´s glass dome - a beacon of kind guiding the course of the new Capital Republic. Throughout the Cold War the West German Parliament congregated here each year symbolically...a gesture that if Germany were reunified it would once again serve as the Parliament, it does now.

Revolution '89 - Stand before the ruins of the Berlin Palace and shell of the GDR's "Palace of the Republik": the gripping story of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Wall and unification of Germany. In this area in 1989 hundreds of thousands of East Germans chanted - WE ARE THE PEOPLE, as the Politburo observed with fear and while the international press flooded into Berlin to document one of the greatest events of history in our lifetime - we recount what led to the fateful press conference that sparked the collapse of the Wall and end of the Cold War - get a proper understanding of the amazing events that unified a people, and makes Berlin and Europe the place it is today...­

Pickup

For a tour at 10:00 or 13:30: West Berlin - McDonald's of the main entrance to Zoo Station
Please note you will require a single public transportation ticket (€ 2.80)

For a tour at 10:30 or 14:00: East Berlin - AM to PM Bar/Restaurant at Hackescher Markt S-Bahn Station, exit Am Zwirngraben
Look for the guides with the yellow bags: InsiderTours

*** Present your voucher at least 15 minutes before departure***

Please note

• You will need a single public transportation ticket for the West departure point
• We walk rain or shine
• You can also book this tour as a private tour starting from € 99!

Please present yourself at the location 15 minutes before departure time.

Cancellation

• Cancellation more than a week in advance: administration costs of 15%
• Cancellation between a week and 48 hours prior to departure date: 50% of the total amount
• Cancellation less than 48 hours prior to departure date : 100% of the total amount
• No show: no restitution