Berlin Cold War History Guided Tour

Post-WW2 Berlin was a geopolitical battleground. Socialism and capitalism, dictatorship and democracy, and the United States and the Soviet Union all went head to head in the German capital. The most notorious symbol of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall, stood at the frontier of East and West, and people risked their lives trying to escape across it.
This tour is designed to immerse you in the divided city – a place of ideological extremes, of espionage and intrigue, and of tyranny and heroism – while also considering the legacy of the division in a Germany that reunified in 1990. Your professional, local guide will present the bigger picture of the Cold War in Germany, while also telling the stories of the individuals who risked it all to escape from the East, and also those that died trying.

What's included:

• Professional, local guide

Not included:

• Gratuities
• Food and drink
• Entrance fees (none required for the tour)
• Public transportation costs

What to expect:

Duration: 3 hours

Checkpoint Charlie

Friedrichstr. 43-45, Zimmerstraße, Berlin, 10117

Cross the border from West to East at the frontline of the Cold War, where spies roamed and US and Soviet tanks faced off in 1961.

15 minutes

Brandenburg Gate

Pariser Platz, Berlin, 10117

Be transported to a time when Berlin's most iconic monument was closed by the Berlin Wall, standing as a stark symbol for both the division of Berlin and Germany. See where Reagan challenged Gorbachev to 'tear down this Wall!' in 1987, and learn why the Gate is now a bold statement of German unity.

30 minutes

Berliner Fernsehturm

Panoramastr. 1A, Berlin, 10178

Stand in the shadow of Europe's second tallest building – built to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the GDR, and as a powerful symbol of the power, capability, and modernity of Socialist East Germany.

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Memorial of the Berlin Wall

Bernauer Strasse 111, Berlin, 13355

Visit Berlin's official Berlin Wall Memorial: stand in the shadow of the Wall; follow it underground into one of the city's notorious former 'Ghost Stations'; pay tribute to the those who lost their lives at the border, and stand at the site of daring escapes from East to West; and look out over the former 'Death Strip'.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Bornholmer Straße

Bornholmer Str., Berlin, Germany

Bear witness to the fall of the Berlin Wall where the border was first breached on the 9th of November 1989, and walk in the steps of the East Berliners as they streamed into the West of the city for the first time in nearly 30 years.

15 minutes

Palace of Tears

Reichstagufer 17, Mitte, Berlin, 10117

Witness a city, a people, and families divided at this excellent museum housed in the former passport control of a border crossing point over the Berlin Wall.

30 minutes