Berlin

Arrive in Berlin and transfer to our hotel, centrally located on the Gendarmenmarkt, an 18th-century town square that’s home to the Konzerthaus, the Huguenot Französischer Dom and the Deutscher Dom. Gather for a welcome orientation and reception at our hotel this evening.

Drive by several major Berlin landmarks such as Kurfürstendamm; Schloss Bellevue, official residence of Germany’s president; the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, its gutted, WWII-bomb-strafed tower surrounded by a modern blue-glass bell tower, octagonal church and memorial hall; Nikolaiviertel, Berlin’s reconstructed historic quarter; Brandenburg Gate; and Potsdammer Platz. Enjoy an afternoon and evening at leisure.

This morning, visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Holocaust Memorial) and the site of Hitler’s bunker at Pariser Platz. Explore the Topography of Terror Museum, located on the site of the Nazi regime’s SS and Gestapo headquarters that operated until 1945 when it was bombed by the Allies. The museum adjoins a remaining segment of the Berlin Wall. After lunch on our own, tour the magnificent Şehitlik Mosque. Built between 1999 and 2005 in classical 16th-century Ottoman style near Germany’s oldest Turkish cemetery, the mosque serves the Sunni Muslim community of Neuköln, one of Berlin’s 12 boroughs and home to the city’s highest percentage of immigrants. Dinner is on our own this evening.

Travel by coach to the historic city of Potsdam to tour the 18th-century baroque palace and gardens of Sans Souci, summer residence of Frederick the Great of Prussia. Later stroll through the Schloss Cecilienhof, the site where the Potsdam Agreement was signed in 1945, settling the status of Germany after World War II. En route back to Berlin, drive across the Glienicke Bridge, site of Cold War spy exchanges as depicted in the film, Bridge of Spies. After dinner, walk across the street from our hotel to Berlin’s Konzerthaus to hear a concert of Shostakovich and Strauss, performed by the Konzerthausorchester. 

At the Museum Island complex, take a guided tour through the new James Simon Gallery to the Humboldtforum, housing many of the art treasures of the Berlin State Museums. After lunch, explore the restored 19th-century Neues Museum, home to the iconic bust of Nefertiti. After dinner at leisure, attend a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s operatic masterpiece, Don Carlo, conducted by Daniel Barenboim at the Staatsoper Berlin.

Depart by coach to view several Iron Curtain and Cold War icons, including the remains of the Berlin Wall and the Berlin Wall Memorial. Take a guided tour of the nearby Reichstag building that dates back to 1894. Home to the German Parliament until the Nazi era, it regained that status when it was renovated and reopened in 1999. Enjoy dazzling views of Berlin during lunch at its roof-garden restaurant, then walk up a spiral ramp to the top of the Reichstag’s transparent dome. We end our day with a historical sightseeing cruise along the Spree River and Landwehr Canal.

Depart by coach to the leafy suburb of Wannsee to explore the villa, now a museum. It is here that high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered in 1942 for what became known as the Wannsee Conference to coordinate the implementation of the so-called “Final Solution of the Jewish Question.” Continue to the West Berlin neighborhood of Dahlem to visit the Allied Museum. Located in the former cinema and library for American troops, this museum documents the political and military engagement of the Allied Powers in Berlin and Germany from 1945 through 1994. 

We begin our day with a guest lecture by local journalist, Peter Unfried. Afterwards visit the recently renovated Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery), part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums dedicated to 20th-century art. Stroll around the surrounding Kulturforum, built as a center of art and culture in West Berlin in the 1960s after the majority of the city’s cultural assets remained on the other side of the Berlin Wall. Enjoy a final afternoon of independent exploration before gathering for a farewell reception and dinner at our hotel.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for flights home.