German History Tour to Berlin, Munich and Nuremburg

Day 1

Flight to Berlin

Flight to Berlin: You depart from home today for the overnight flight to Berlin.

Day 2

Arrival in Berlin. Afternoon walking tour and dinner at the Sony Center

Arrival in Berlin: This morning you arrive in Berlin and will be met by your private bus and Tour Manager and transfer to your hotel.

Walking Tour: After lunch you have a Berlin Walking Tour which explores many of the key historic sites spanning the Nazi era. We begin at the Berlin Cathedral where you can still see the bullet holes from the Battle of Berlin. Adjacent to this is the Lustgarten where Joseph Goebbels addressed Nazi rallies. At Bebelplatz you can see where Nazi book burnings took place. You walk along the Unter den Linden and pass through the famous Brandenburg Gate which marked the division between East and West Berlin. Beyond this lies the location of the Fuhrer Bunker and the New Reich Chancellery although aside from an information plaque nothing now remains above ground except a parking lot and anonymous apartment buildings. You then continue to the Holocaust Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, installed during the 1990’s. It has quickly become one of the most recognized monuments in the city, with its stark concrete blocks. At Wilhelm Strasse, once the most feared address in the Third Reich, Goering’s Air Ministry building has survived, almost identical today to its wartime appearance, minus the swastikas and bronze eagles. Finally, you continue to Checkpoint Charlie, the famous crossing point between East and West Berlin.

Evening: This evening you have dinner in the spectacular Sony Center, built at Potsdamer Platz. This square was once the center of Berlin, but it was marooned in no-man’s-land during the city’s division. Only since 1990 and reunification has it been redeveloped into the modern heart of the Capital.

Day 3

Reichstag Building and Topography of Terror

Reichstag Building: This morning you visit the Reichstag Building to see the spectacular dome which was designed by the British architect Norman Foster. The Reichstag building was notorious for the fire in 1933 which was the pretext for the Nazi’s seizing complete power in the Enabling Act. In 1945 it was the place where the Red Army raised the Hammer and Sickle flag to mark their victory in the Battle of Berlin. After the War it remained derelict for many years while the Federal Capital was moved to Bonn. After the reunification of Germany in 1990 the building was renovated and the Bundestag, the new German Parliament, met there for the first time in April 1999. The tour allows you to ascend the glass dome and access the roof of the Reichstag for views across the city.

Topography of Terror: This afternoon you visit the Topography of Terror, a museum and memorial to the victims of Nazi rule. The museum stands on the former site of the Gestapo and Reich Security Office. The museum opened in 2010 and examines the history of the location as well as the institutions of terror of the Nazi government district and the crimes committed all over Europe.

Evening:  Dinner this evening will be at a traditional German bierkeller.

Day 4

Potsdam and Wannsee Conference House, Olympic Stadium, Nikolai Quarter and Berlin TV Tower

Potsdam Conference House:  This morning you travel to Cecilienhof Palace in the town of Potsdam. Cecilienhof is famous for hosting the Potsdam Conference after the end of WW2. These were the negotiations between Truman, Stalin and Churchill (subsequently Clement Attlee) which took place from July 17 to August 2, 1945. We can see the room in which the meetings took place and the table at which the leaders sat to carve up Europe into East and West zones of influence, the precursor to the Cold War.

Wannsee Conference House: We then continue to Wannsee Conference House where the ‘Final Solution’ conference was held on January 20, 1942. The villa is located on the shores of Wannsee, a beautiful lake surrounded by forests which belies the sinister nature of the meeting. Leading Nazis including Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann attended the conference, which decided the ultimate fate of Europe’s Jews.

Olympic Stadium: After time for lunch we continue to the iconic Olympic Stadium for a guided tour. The stadium was used for the 1936 Berlin Olympics when the sprinter Jesse Owens won four gold medals in front of Adolf Hitler. It was subsequently refurbished and hosted the 2006 Soccer World Cup Final between France and Italy, and today is the home of German soccer club Hertha Berlin.

Nikolai Quarter: Returning to the city, we will explore the historic Nikolai Quarter. This is the last remaining section of Berlin as it would have been before the destruction of WW2. Even now the majority of the apparently medieval and baroque buildings were authentically reconstructed after WW2.

Berlin TV Tower:  After dinner you take a trip to the top of the Berlin TV Tower for a spectacular evening view of the city.

Day 5

Train to Nuremberg, Nazi Party Rally Grounds and Nuremberg Old Town

Train from Berlin to Nuremberg: This morning you travel by train from Berlin to Nuremberg which takes just over 3 hours.

Nazi Party Rally Grounds: After lunch you visit the Zeppelinfeld, the huge parade ground used by the Nazis for their triumphalist marches and rallies of the 1930’s. The site has not changed significantly since the end of the War and is now periodically used for car racing and music festivals. As well as the main parade ground and grandstand, you can visit the Congress Hall and the informative Document Center with its permanent exhibition detailing the rise of the Nazi Party and the history of the rallies that took place here.

Nuremberg Old Town: In the afternoon you have a walking tour of the Old Town area, the Altstadt, featuring the ruins of the ramparts that once surrounded the city. As well as the historic buildings you see the attractive Market Square with the Frauenkirche, Albrecht Dürer’s House and Monument, and the medieval shopping center of Handwerkerhof with its characterful half-timbered buildings.

Evening: This evening your restaurant is located in the historic Old town area of Nuremberg.

Day 6

Nuremberg War Trials Court House, travel to Munich and Old Town Walking Tour

Nuremberg War Trials: This morning you visit the Court House where the Nuremberg War Trials took place in 1946. The building still functions as a courthouse and the opening times are subject to court scheduling. There is an informative museum and assuming no trials are in session, the Courtroom 600 can be visited. The appearance has only changed slightly since 1946 and the locations where the defendants and judges were seated can all be identified.

Travel to Munich: You travel to Munich by private bus with lunch on arrival and for a full afternoon in Munich.

Old Town Walking Tour: This afternoon you have a walking tour exploring the historic Old Town area and Marienplatz in the center of the city. One of the highlights is the Glockenspiel. This famous clock chimes every day at 11 am, noon and 5 pm. When its 43 bells ring out, more than 30 figures make merry, fight and dance! At the top of the 255 feet tower is an observation deck that can be reached by elevator and which offers a birds-eye view across the roofs of the city, and on a clear day as far as the Bavarian Alps.

Afternoon: The English Garden is the perfect place to visit in the late afternoon. One of the largest city parks in Europe, bigger even than Central Park, it was first laid out in 1789 and includes a Chinese Pagoda, cafes, and a lake and for boating.

Evening: For dinner this evening you visit the famous Hofbrauhaus, the historic Beer Hall (much favored by Hitler and other leading Nazis) where you can sample traditional Bavarian dishes and enjoy some local live music.

Day 7

Nazi Party Walking Tour and Document Center

Nazi History Walking Tour: This morning you do a walking tour where you learn about the rise of the Nazi party and see scars left on the city from these dark days. You learn how Hitler joined the party, how he rose to become its leader, and how he tried to overthrow the Bavarian government in 1923 with the failed Beerhall Putsch. You see the Feldherrnhalle in Odeonsplatz where the Nazis made a memorial to the failed putsch, and also the remains of the Ehrentempel (the Honor Temples) that he built for the Nazis who lost their lives in the Putsch. You continue to the former Fuhrerbau (the Leaders Building) built for Hitler on the Konigsplatz. The building survives and is today part of Munich’s University of Music and Performing Arts. Subject to permission you can go inside and see the room where the 1938 Munich Agreement was signed. At Munich’s famous Hofbrauhaus you visit the first floor banqueting room where Hitler gave many of his speeches during his rise to power. There is still a plaque here which commemorates Hitler’s speech of February 24, 1920, in which he laid out the goals of the Nazi Party.

National Socialism Document Center: In the afternoon you visit the new National Socialism Document Center which records Munich’s role in the rise of the Nazi’s and the impact that this and the War had on the city.

Dinner at Osteria Italiano:  This evening you dine at the Osteria Italiano. This was previously known as the Osteria Bavaria and was Hitler’s favorite restaurant. Apart from the name, it has changed little since the 1930’s and the affable owner will show you to Hitler’s usual table if you ask.

Day 8

Dachau Concentration Camp and the White Rose Memorial

Dachau:  This morning you visit the concentration camp at Dachau. This was the first such camp and was established by the Nazis in 1933. Originally it held German Communists and other opponents of the Nazi regime, but it was subsequently expanded to hold Jewish prisoners, particularly after Kristallnacht, many of whom were deported to other camps in the East. Medical experiments and forced labor were part of the routine of Dachau and the camp became a training ground for the SS in the administering of other camps.

White Rose Memorial:  In the afternoon you visit the White Rose Memorial Museum at the Ludwig Maximillian University. On February 18, 1943, brother and sister Sophie and Hans Scholl were arrested while distributing the sixth White Rose leaflet in the University’s atrium. Their arrest marked the end for the White Rose resistance and they, along with several other members, were tried and executed. The tour includes a visit to the University Atrium where the leaflet was distributed. You continue to the Justizpalast to see Courtroom 253 where the actual trial took place at the Peoples Court, presided over by the notorious judge Roland Friesler, known as Hitler’s executioner. The film Sophie Scholl – the Final Days is required viewing before making this visit.

Day 9

Berchtesgaden, the Berghof and the Eagle Nest

Berchtesgaden: This morning you travel to Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps, close to the Austrian border. The narrow streets in the pretty pedestrian area are lined with pastel-colored houses in the traditional alpine style, with restaurants, cafés and souvenir shops. Bavarian traditions and customs are preserved here and there is often typical Bavarian music and dancing in the town center.

Obersalzburg and the Berghof: You visit the site of the Berghof, Hitler’s mountain retreat where he spent much time towards the end of the War and where he was so often filmed with Eva Braun. The Obersalzburg Document Center which is close by gives a narrative of the events that took place here.

The Eagles Nest: You take a trip to the Kehlsteinhaus restaurant and viewpoint, known in English as the Eagles Nest. This was once one of Hitler’s favorite retreats, gifted to him by Martin Boorman and the Nazi Party for his 50th birthday, and it has a superb panoramic view over the Alpine foothills. Getting to the Eagles Nest is quite a challenge – a narrow mountain road takes you high up to a tunnel in the rock from where an elevator whisks you up to the building.

Evening: You return to Munich for your final evening in Germany and a celebratory meal.

Day 10

Flight Home

Flight Home:  This morning you transfer to the airport for your flight back home.