Our walk will start at Alexander Platz, the heart of East Berlin during the GDR now iconically identified with its TV Tower, the Red City Hall, and the eerily empty high rises left behind from the Cold War period.
A few steps away we will find ourselves in the medieval district of San Nicholas. Heavily bombed during WWII this area was faithfully rebuilt in the 1980s to restore its original atmosphere. We will then walk by the nearly completed reconstruction of the Berlin City Palace, a contemporary copy of the imperial residence which was bombed during WWII.
We will see the imposing Protestant Cathedral (Berliner Dom) and walk to Museum Island. After visiting Humboldt University, where scholars like Einstein and Hegel held their lectures, we will learn the dramatic history of book-burning in the neighboring Bebelplatz and conclude our tour in Gendarmenmarkt, today also known as “Tolerance Square.”
LANDMARKS:
(the stops can be selected and arranged according to specific needs):
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Alexanderplatz and the TV Tower
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The Red City Hall
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San Nicholas District
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Museum Island
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The Protestant Cathedral
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Schauspielhaus, Neue Wache, Friedrichswerder Church
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The Humboldt University on Unter den Linden
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Humboldt Forum (Berliner Schloss)
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Bebelplatz
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Gendarmenmarkt
An exhaustive introduction to Berlin from its medieval roots to the Cold War
Duration: 3 hours
On the traces of the Berlin Wall