Spirit Of History - 5 Day Study Tour
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Berlin
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The Berlin Study
Tour is designed to look at the dramatic 20th Century History of this city
and to visit some of the many places in the Berlin area that are have
important links with the last 100 years. Events that unfolded here have
had an influence in both German and World History. The three main
conflicts of the 20th Century, the Great War, the Second World War and the
Cold War, all have crucial connections to this city.
On this tour we will be visiting many of these historically fascinating
and in some cases gruesome places. Knowledge of the happenings of the past
and its context, allow tourists to understand what they are seeing with a
greater comprehension and feeling. The ghosts of History still haunt the
areas they occupied during their lifetimes.
This trip is different to a coach tour as we use the fantastic public
transport system to get around the city and its outskirts. In this way,
all of our destinations can be reached quickly and traffic jams are
avoided! There are no long walks!
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The last 100 years or so
have been a turbulent time for Berlin. In the early part of the 1900s it
was the capital of a new empire that was rapidly growing economically and
militarily. It was the centre of a non democratic government, headed up by
the Kaiser Wilhelm II
We will look at
the developments in Germany that led to the outbreak of the First World
War. Following the success of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917,
there was an attempted Communist/Spartakist Revolution in Berlin in 1919.
By the mid 1920s, Germany settled down with the new democratic Weimar
Government.
The early 1920s were also a time of great hardship, with huge war
reparations and hyper-inflation. The Wall Street Crash in 1929 brought
back the poverty and misery, which allowed Hitler to offer radical
solutions to the economic mess of the country.
1933 onwards saw the Nazis take over and quickly eradicate the Weimar
Government. They burnt down the Reichstag and blamed the Communists. No
evidence links Hitler’s henchmen with this crime!
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Kaiser Wilhelm II
The balcony of the Berlin Palace, where Karl Liebknecht stood in 1918,
announcing a new Free Socialist Republican government. |
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The Reichstag in the 19th Century.
The Reichstag on fire in 1933.
The Nazis constructed buildings to impress,
such as the Berlin Stadium, erected in 1936 for the XI Olympic Games. Many
people admired Hitler’s achievements, as they didn’t see the suppression
that was occurring in the concentration camps and other intimidating
organisations that had sprung up in the last three years.
The Entrance to the Stadium
The Corridors
The Stadium today, home of Hertha Berlin
Football Club, with modern lighting.
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On November 9th 1938,
during the “Night of Broken Glass” (“Kristallnacht”), members of the SA
and the SS set fire to nine of the twelve synagogues in Berlin, looted
Jewish-owned shops, and terrorized the Jewish population. Over 1000 were
arrested and most taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, which is
in the northern suburbs of Oranienburg.
During the Second World War, on January 20 1942, the “Wannsee Conference,”
in an SS villa on the Wannsee lake, just outside Berlin, a group of Nazis
led by Heydrich, decided on the so-called “final solution for the ‘Jewish
question,’- systematic annihilation.
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Today, Sachsenhausen is a memorial to
all those who died within its walls.
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Das Haus am Wannsee.
It is seen here in 1942, when Heydrich and the rest of the Nazi gathering
arrived at their ‘solution.’ Today this villa
is memorial and educational centre. The exterior has changed little.
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Towards the end of 1943, the British and American forces began the massive
bombing of the Berlin. Around one million residents were evacuated and
over 50,000 died.
The Battle for Berlin ended with the suicide of Hitler on April 30th 1945.
The capitulation treaty was signed on the night of May 8 in the officers’
dining hall of an army base in the suburb of Karlshorst.
This is a museum today and was too, in East Berlin, when it was known as
‘The Museum to the Complete Capitulation of Fascist Germany 1941-1945!!
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Reichstag today, with its new dome designed by Sir Norman Foster.
The Reichstag
in 1945
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After the war, much of Berlin is rubble:
600,000 apartments were destroyed, and only 2.8 million of the city’s
original population of 4.3 million still lived in the city, which was
divided into four sectors and administered jointly by the occupying powers
of the USA, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. A large part of
the city was in ruins.
In July/August 1945, the so called Big Three met at Potsdam, close to
Berlin, to discuss the post war world order! It was at this meeting that
Churchill was replaced as PM of Britain by Clement Attlee,
Franklin Roosevelt had just died and Truman
was now President of the USA. So eventually, it was only Stalin who had
actually been his country’s leader during the war, who was there trying to
get the best deal for The Soviet Union.
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As the Cold War developed, Berlin became an
area of high tension. When the Western powers brought in the new Deutsche
Mark for their 3 sectors, it triggered a Soviet blockade of the western
sectors from June 1948 to May 1949. As Berlin was in the middle of the
Russian sector of Germany, Stalin thought he could drive the others out by
starvation. They responded with the Berlin Airlift, the supplying of the
city by air. Once Russia had its own atomic bomb, in 1949, the blockade
was called off. Access to West Berlin through the Soviet occupied zone was
difficult. |
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On 23 May 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded from the
western sectors. Berlin kept its special status under Allied supervision
but Bonn became the provisional capital of West Germany. When the German
Democratic Republic (GDR) was founded from the Soviet sector on 7 October
1949, East Berlin became the capital. By 1960, as the East German
government policies of reorganization bit and about 200,000 East Germans
fled their homes via West Berlin. |
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The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall, once so
notorious, has disappeared from the reunified Berlin. Memories of the
Wall, however, are still very visible, though little remains. Overnight,
on 13th August 1961, the GDR’s leaders closed the border to West Berlin,
as the stream of refugees leaving
East Germany had grown to huge
proportions. By August 22nd, crossing points
were established – seven on streets and one at a train station – to be
used by West Berliners, citizens of West Germany and foreigners. East
Berliners and East German citizens were not allowed to cross the border.
To
keep up the morale of the West, U.S. president John F. Kennedy visited the
city on June 26th 1963 and in his famous ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’
speech in front of the Schöneberg Town Hall assured West Berlin of Western
solidarity.
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Fleeing to West Berlin in
August 1961
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By November 1989, when the Wall came down, well over 100,000 citizens of
the GDR had tried to escape across the Wall to the West. The most famous
memorial to those who escaped, tried to escape or died escaping, not to
mention those who have died and suffered in conflicts worldwide, is the
museum ‘Haus am Checkpoint Charlie’.
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The Study Group
In the study group, we will find out more about the above topics and
discuss them in greater detail. Whatever your level of knowledge, from
rudimentary to advanced, looking at Berlin with others is a stimulating
experience which you will thoroughly enjoy. If you enjoy learning and are
interested in how the past shaped the present, you will love this trip.
The restaurants and bars are legendary. We will go as a group to a
different neighbourhood of the city every evening to sample the various
culinary delights and atmosphere of each!
Overall, we aim to give you a historic sense of Berlin as well as enabling
you to see how the modern city is thriving today. In just under four days,
you will see a great deal of this wonderful, yet tragic city, thereby
gaining a sense of its spirit and historical importance.
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Sample Itinerary;
(All these places will be visited, but the order might vary).
Day 1;
Arrive at hotel near Stanstead for study group
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9 –10 am Arrive at hotel. (Previous
night’s accommodation can be arranged at an extra cost of £50 per head.)
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10am Start. Icebreaker activities. These
are important as we want the group to get to know each other and
interact before starting the course itself. Introduction to the study
module.
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12:30 Lunch.
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1:30 Continue study activities. All course
materials included.
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3:30 Tea – Coffee Break. (Bedroom
allocations, where required).
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4:00 Study activities.
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6:00 Free time. You can use the pool
and/or spa facilities
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7:00 Dinner
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8:30 Fun study activities to reinforce
earlier learning. Team quiz.
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10:00pm Finish
Day 2;
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8.00 Breakfast
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9:00 Course continues
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10:30 Tea-Coffee Break
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10:45 Study activities.
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11:45 Light Lunch. Those not attending the
study group arrive at hotel for buffet lunch. All cars to be left in
hotel car park.
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12:45 Coach to Stanstead Airport for
flight to Berlin
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3:25 Flight to Berlin
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18.05 Arrive Tegel Airport. Bus to hotel
in central Berlin
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20:30 Dinner in a restaurant and a brief
night walkabout tour in central Berlin.
Day 3;
In 1982.
In 1989.
Today.
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10:30 Continue on to the Reichstag and go
up into the dome interior, for a great view of the city and to see the
exhibition about the building. Coffee break.
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12:00 On to Checkpoint Charlie and the
Museum. Guided tour around the main exhibitions.
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2:30 Late lunch at the Alexander Platz,
where we will go up the revolving TV tower to eat and see all of Berlin
from the air.
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4:00 Late afternoon visit to the Olympic
Stadium.
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6:00 Free time
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7:30 Go out for dinner and drinks.
Day 4;
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8.00 Breakfast
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9:00 Take train to Oranienburg to visit
the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.
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12: 00 Return to central Berlin for a
snack lunch. Walkabout.
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2:00 Train to the Wannsee and visit the
Museum in the Wannsee Haus.
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5:00 Return to Berlin and free time in the
city centre.
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7:30 Go out for dinner and drinks.
Day 5;
The New Palace and Sans Souci Palace where the Royal Family used to live
in Potsdam.
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12:30 Lunch in the Old Town of Potsdam.
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1:30 Return to Berlin.
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2:30 Free time in the city centre for
shopping etc
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4:00 Bus to airport for return flight.
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6:50 Flight to London Stanstead.
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7:35 Arrive at Stanstead Airport. Coach to
hotel to pick up own cars or train to London.
The cost of the trip is £385 for the 5 days with study group. Meals
provided are highlighted in red.
Without the study group it is £300 for the 3 and ½ day trip.
Our Company Insurance is included. However, you need your own holiday
insurance, as well as your European health insurance card (replaced
E111) in case of personal injury requiring hospital treatment (or
adequate insurance cover). See booking terms and conditions.
Book This Tour Here Now!
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"The massive effort to supply the 2 million West Berliners with food
and fuel for heating began in June, 1948,
and lasted until September 1949, although the Russians lifted the
blockade in May of that year. During the around-the-clock airlift
some 277,000 flights were made, many at 3-min intervals."
A. and J. Tusa, The Berlin Airlift (1988).
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