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Private tourOnly your group will participate
Overview
This 3-hour private guided tour explores the surviving monuments of the East German regime including the infamous Berlin Wall and Stasi headquarters. Your private guide will reveal the dialogue between modern Berlin’s built environment and its dark and often hidden history. You’ll hear about life under Communist rule, the East Germans’ growing discontent and their government’s brutal suppression.
What's included
Private walking tour
Professional art historian guide
Food and drinks, unless specified
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Gratuities
Transportation to/from attractions: You will need to use public transport a few times, since the distances between some key sites would be too far to walk. If you will not have a few days visitor's transit pass to Berlin already, we suggest that you purchase the day metro pass. If you cannot purchase it in advance, your guide will help you purchase it at the first metro station on the tour. Berlin Transit One Way Tarif AB Ticket 2.8 Euro, Senior Discount 1,70 EUR Berlin Transit Day Ticket for one Person 7 Euro, Senior Discount 4,70 EUR
What to expect
Brandenburg Gate
20m
A historian will reveal the dialogue between modern Berlin’s built environment and its dark and often hidden history. You’ll hear about life under Communist rule, the East Germans’ growing discontent and their government’s brutal suppression. The tour begins at the Brandenburg Gate where, in June 1987, President Ronald Reagan famously called on Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to, “tear down this wall!” Nearby is the former Soviet Embassy, a grandiose monument built in 1945 amid the rubble of World War II as a bold declaration of Stalin’s ambition to control all of Berlin. We will discuss how the Allies’ postwar division of Germany into four parts led to decades of Cold War tensions.
Friedrichstrasse
15m
Friedrichstrasse train station, a key crossing point between East and West Berlin. When families were torn apart by East Germany’s ironfisted immigration laws, they said their sad goodbyes here in the office known as the Palace of Tears.
10m
At Nordbahnhof, we’ll explore how Berlin’s division created “ghost” stations, unused but heavily guarded stops on West Berlin’s subway lines that lay in East German territory.
Karl-Marx-Allee
10m
We visit the grandiose mile-long housing complex known as Karl Marx Allee and consider how East Germans’ dreams for a Socialist paradise turned into a nightmare of deprivation, suppression and paranoia.
Memorial of the Berlin Wall
15m
The Berlin Wall memorial allows you to experience the notorious Death Strip and hear stories of East Berliners whose attempts to escape led to their tragic deaths.
Alexanderplatz
10m
We will visit the center of public life in East Berlin, Alexanderplatz, which was rebuilt in the 1960s with monuments like the futuristic parliament building and the iconic TV Tower. In 1989, this symbol of East German pride was the setting for massive demonstrations that led to the regime’s downfall and brought 40 years of Communist rule to an end.
Meeting and pickup
Meeting point
Please meet your guide outside Cafe Einstein, Unter den Linden 42, 100117 Berlin
End point
Additional information
Public transportation options are available nearby
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Your tour guides are expert local historians and enthusiastic hosts who love helping travelers discover Berlin.
Cancellation policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
