The Rise and Fall of Berlin

Tour Details

To be confirmed

Tour Introduction

Berlin in the 1930's and 1940's was the largest city in Europe and for twelve years capital of the Third Reich. Between the end of 1942 and the spring of 1945, having been the capital of an empire extending from the Pyrenees to the Volga, it was reduced to a wasteland by British and American bombing and Russian artillery. Re-united after the fall of the Berlin Wall and once again the vibrant capital of Germany, the city is packed full of history and culture but still bears the visible scars of its most infamous era under Nazi rule from 1933 until the desperate Battle for Berlin and Hitler's suicide in 1945 finally brought World War Two to an end.

Highlights

With Russian and Berlin expert Nigel Dunkley
Nazi and Soviet historic sites and relics
Berlin's strife under Nazi control from 1933-1945
The architecture of Germany's vibrant capital city

Background

Throughout our six-day tour we are based in the very centre of Berlin from where many of the sites and great restaurants are within easy walking distance. During this fascinating tour you will visit many of the places that were instrumental in establishing the Nazi regime of terror and from where it planned its conquests. You will see where opponents were imprisoned and resistance was ruthlessly put down. And finally you will follow the final Russian advance from the Oder to the city itself, where the curtain was drawn on the Third Reich.

"Nothing is left of Berlin but memories"

Russian officer on arrival 1945

Itinerary

Day 1 - Orientation

Fly London - Berlin. Check-in to our city centre hotel prior to taking an orientation tour.

Day 2 - Sachsenhausen

Remembered not only for its concentration camp, but also as the establishment of the SS guards training regime devised by Theodor Eicke in the Administration nearby. Thence to the Glockenturm of the Olympic Stadium where the SS performed their 'guard of honour' for Adolf Hitler on 1 Aug 1936.

Day 3 - Seelow Heights

We drive towards the Polish Border to examine the Germans' last desperate attempt to stop the advancing Red Army on the River Oder. Here we will find General Zhukov's bunker, the Soviet Army museum and its panorama.

Day 4 - Battle for Berlin

We visit the site of Hitler's bunker, the Tiergarten Red Army Memorial, the Reichstag itself and climb the new cupola for magnificent views over the city. Thence to the massive Soviet War Memorial at Treptow Park and Karlshorst, where the final instrument of surrender was signed in May 1945.

Day 5 - Berlin

We visit the villa, now a Holocaust monument, where the Wannsee Conference took place that determined the 'final solution'. At the Bender Block we will discuss the July 20th plot and visit the back-yard where Stauffenberg and some of his conspirators were shot. Our final visit is to the haunting 'Topography of Terror' exhibition housed in the former Gestapo and SS HQ on Prinz Albrecht Strasse.

Day 6 - Zossen

We explore the vast bunker complex which served as the headquarters of the Wehrmacht from 1939 and from where plans for both Barbarossa and the July 20th plot were hatched. Captured by the Russians during the last days of the war, its massive underground communications bunker became the epicentre of the Soviet forces stationed in Germany during the Cold War. Fly Berlin - London.