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Free tour

Free Tour Berlin Wall and the Cold War

5.00
Excellent(6)
Duration: 3 hours
Languages: English
Guru: Rodrigo
PRO
Registered on 24 August 2020
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Hi! We are Rodrigo, Alejandro, Gonzalo and Luke and we want to provide the best tours in Buenos Aires. Rodrigo has been a tour guide for over 10 years in 3 different cities (Buenos Aires, Copenhagen and Berlin). He has also worked in tourism in Sierra Leone and Norway. He studied political science, journalism and is currently studying ecotourism and sustainable development. He considers himself a life enthusiast, easy going and sociable. He is interested in politics, history, architecture, music, soccer, psychology and literature. And that is what his tours are all about. Gonzalo has a degree in Administration and worked for several years generating business. Almost two years ago he realized that what he enjoys most is walking the city, telling its stories and sharing a way of looking at it. An engineer's head, but a heart that loves to tell stories. He studied history and philosophy of art to understand how ideas, spaces and people connect, He focuses on history, architecture and culture beyond data. Luke is from Arizona, USA, lived in Ecuador for a year in 2011 before settling in Buenos Aires. He has a Master's degree in Latin American Studies and specialises in indigenous communities. He has also worked for NGO's and has been working in the tourism industry for nearly 15 years. He has been trying to understand not only the history, but also the thrust of modern Argentine culture for over a decade. Luckily for him, Buenos Aires is anything but boring and his curiosity continues to feed off the ups and downs of this city. Alejandro jumped on the tourism boat around a year ago. Previously he studied Industrial Design and Psychology, lived in England for a while working as a student's group coordinator. He is passionate about telling the history of the city from the small details, searching for those secrets that make Buenos Aires a unique city.
Free reservation and cancellation
Pay-what-you-want tour, no set price, reservation and cancellation are free

Tour description

No other city in the world experienced the Cold War the way Berlin did - after all, there was only one Berlin Wall.
The tour begins at the Brandenburg Gate , which stood alone between East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, when the city was divided. From there, you will go further into East Berlin, stopping to see what was the Soviet embassy (and now it is the Russian one). You will learn about the good and bad of living in the so-called "communist regime" , what life was like under the GDR (German Democratic Republic) and the reasons behind its downfall. You will learn not only about the Cold War era espionage between East and West (with tunnels, double agents and gadgets), but also about the spying that the East German government carried out on its own people , with the Stasi collecting thousands of searches, imprisoning and interrogating its citizens.
From there, you will visit the Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears) to hear how families in the West and East suddenly split when the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961, and their limited reunions over the next 28 years. We will see a real piece of the Berlin Wall , explaining to you how the two wall system worked (with the Death Strip in the middle) and telling you about some of the people who died tragically trying to cross the Wall.
I will contextualize the history of the Berlin Wall in the broader history of the Cold War and how the events that took place in Berlin during this time period shaped the world we live in today.

 Useful information for the traveler:
 The tour will end at the Bernauer Strasse U-Bahn (underground / underground) station, in the modern and beautiful Prenzlauer Berg district and just 3 stops (5 minutes) from Alexander Platz.


Highlights

What will we see on this tour?

Meeting point:
Pariser Platz 4 10117 Berlin Germany
At the entrance door of the Academy of the Arts, in front of the Academy of the Arts. Look for the jolly guy with the mustache
Tour map

How much does this tour cost?

Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end the amount they consider appropriate (amounts usually range from €15 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).

Tour reviews

5.00
Excellent(6)
Generic
6
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Who is this tour for?

Accessibility
Not suitable for people with reduced mobility.
Groups
Accepts bookings of up to 20 people.
Pets
Not suitable for bringing pets.

What should I know?

Minimum attendees
Does not require a minimum number of people to conduct the tour.
Additional costs
The tour does not require payment for entries or additional expenses.
Free cancellation
If you cannot attend the tour, please cancel the reservation, otherwise the guide will be waiting for you.
Payment methods
Cash payment only.
Free Tour Berlin Wall and the Cold War
Cancellation risk
This guru has cancelled 3 of the last 6 bookings for this tour.
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