Berlin Highlights City Walk: Brandenburg Gate to Berlin Wall

Berlin is a bustling metropolis and has been for 150 years. The history found behind these sights at the center of Berlin is incredibly rich, sometimes sobering, and sometimes just plain crazy. My name is Chris, and I will navigate your ‘self-guided tour’ through the top highlights along this short walk of less than 1 kilometer. I am a licensed tour guide, and have lived in Berlin for 35 years. 34 of which married to my wonderful wife who is german, myself being a US citizen. I have walked this tour many times with groups and it usually takes around 90 minutes. You'll start at Pariser Platz, the Paris Square, with a view of the Brandenburg Gate, then hear about Berlin's early history while standing in front of the German Academy of the Arts. The story of painter Max Liebermann and his wife Martha reveals what fate Jewish Berliners faced under the Nazi regime. You'll see the Reichstag and walk to the Holocaust Memorial and then visit a parking lot which is certainly the most storied parking lot in the world. The tour ends visiting 7 segments of the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz, which have their own peculiar story to tell. Some key landmarks include: • Brandenburg Gate: Germany's most famous monument, still marked by over 10,000 bullet scars from World War II • Hotel Adlon: where 100 years ago Albert Einstein and Charles Chaplin stayed, and where Michael Jackson infamously dangled his infant son from a window in 2002 • The Reichstag: This is Germany's parliamentary building that survived arson in 1933 and was wrapped in glittering fabric by artists in 1995 • The Holocaust Memorial: with 2,711 concrete slabs and an optional underground exhibition • Hitler's bunker site: now is an ordinary parking lot where the dictator married Eva Braun and ended his life only hours later The tour is self-paced. Pause to sit in a café, use the restroom at the Academy of the Arts, or spend time in the Holocaust Memorial's Information Center and resume whenever you're ready. After the tour, from Potsdamer Platz, you can walk to the Topography of Terror, find restaurants in the Sony Center, visit a couple museums or retreat to the quiet paths of Tiergarten park. The walk back to Brandenburg Gate just takes ten minutes. Ticket tips: Whether you go inside any of the attractions along this route is entirely up to you. The Reichstag's glass dome is free but requires advanced reservation through their website. The Holocaust Memorial's underground Information Center is also free and open every day except Monday. Everything else on this tour is outdoors and accessible without a ticket. I look forward to this time with you!