Handpicked experience · Berlin
Berlin, Germany
A gate nobody could reach for twenty-eight years, horses looted by Napoleon and returned, and a window in the pavement holding twenty thousand missing books.
Discover the story of Berlin, prior to World War I and II, with a visit to the Berlin Cathedral.
See the historic Konzerthaus Berlin, initially built as a theater from 1818 to 1821
Learn about how World War II completely changed the city with a visit to the Holocaust Memorial and Brandenburg Gate
Marvel at TV Tower Berlin, where boasts 360-degree views of the city from the top!
A guided route of three and a half to four hours through the centre
A stop at the Brandenburg Gate with the history behind it
The exterior of Museum Island and what each building holds
Stories spanning Prussian, Cold War and present-day Berlin
A guided walk of three and a half to four hours through central Berlin, running from the Brandenburg Gate along the grand avenue to Museum Island, with a local guide covering the Prussian city, the divided one and the one standing now. Everything is seen from outside; museum interiors are arranged separately.
You meet in the centre and walk. The route is flat and the pace is conversational, with stops long enough to look properly at each place. Your guide covers what the buildings were, what happened to them and what replaced them, and points you at what to discover on your own afterwards.
From 1961 the Brandenburg Gate stood inside the death strip, walled off on the eastern side and unreachable from the west. For a generation it was a monument that could be photographed only at a distance, by people who were not allowed to walk under it. That is why the pictures of crowds on top of the Wall in November 1989 were taken there specifically.
Napoleon took the chariot and its four horses as war booty in 1806 and had them shipped to Paris. They came back in 1814 after his defeat, and on their return the goddess driving them was given an iron cross and a Prussian eagle, converting a peace monument into a victory one. The current figure is a post-war replacement cast from the original moulds.
On the square beside the old university, a pane of glass is set into the ground, and beneath it is a white room of empty bookshelves. It marks the spot where students burned some twenty thousand books in May 1933. The shelves hold exactly the volume that was destroyed and nothing else, and there is no plaque explaining what to feel about it.
One of the buildings on Museum Island stood as a bombed shell from 1945 until the end of the century. When it was finally restored, the architect deliberately left the shrapnel scars, the missing plaster and the burnt brick visible, filling gaps with plain new material rather than imitation. The building now reads as its own history rather than a restoration of a lost original.
The television tower was built by the East German state in the 1960s, and when the sun strikes its steel sphere the reflection forms a cross. Berliners named the effect the Pope's Revenge, and no amount of official irritation ever made it go away.
Museum admissions are separate and worth booking ahead if you plan to return, and one of the major museums on the island is closed for a long renovation. Comfortable shoes matter more than anything else. Cancellation is free up to a day ahead.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
Three and a half to four hours on foot through the centre, from the Brandenburg Gate along the main avenue to Museum Island, with commentary on the Prussian, divided and present-day city.
No — the island is seen from outside. Admissions are arranged separately, and one of the major museums there is closed for a long renovation.
Because from 1961 it stood inside the death strip: walled off in the east, unreachable from the west, and photographable only at a distance for twenty-eight years. That is why the crowds gathered there in November 1989.
Napoleon took them to Paris as booty in 1806. They returned in 1814, and the goddess driving them was then given an iron cross and a Prussian eagle, turning a peace monument into a victory one.
A view down into a white room of empty bookshelves, marking where some twenty thousand books were burned in May 1933. The shelves hold exactly the volume destroyed, with no explanatory plaque.
Because the restoration deliberately kept it that way. Shrapnel scars, missing plaster and burnt brick were left visible and gaps filled with plain new material, so the building reads as its own history.
A reflection. Sunlight striking the steel sphere forms a cross, an effect Berliners named the Pope's Revenge, much to the annoyance of the state that built it.