Warnemünde (Rostock) Private Tour Option 6

Jewish Berlin Past and Present

Starting from the piers in Warnemünde (Rostock)

Tour Summary-
Type: Culture, Heritage, Historic Monuments, History, Lunch, Photo Stops, Scenic Drive
Length: 12.5 Hours
Walking: Medium
Mobility: Folding wheelchair OK, some sites may be inaccessible (advance notice required)
Guide for groups of 1-6 People: Driver Guide from pier to end of tour in Berlin, then an English speaking driver for return to pier
Guide for groups of 7 or More: Driver and Tour Leader for entire day, plus Licensed City Guide while in Berlin
Languages: English
Prices: Scroll Down or Click here for Prices

Warnemünde, Germany- This 12.5 Hour tour examines Jewish History in Berlin including the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and the Holocaust Memorial. You also see many of the cities highlights.

You are met at the pier in Rostock / Warnemünde where you begin your journey into Berlin. Each person is given a city map for their personal use. During the drive you will learn about Germany and Berlin.

Upon arrival in Berlin you enjoy a city driving tour where you will see some of the most famous highlights such as remnants of the Berlin Wall, chilling proof of what was the city's landmark for 28 years. You see the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church which is named after the first German Kaiser, and preserved as a ruin after World War II. Of course you see the Brandenburg Gate which more than any other monument, symbolizes the German and European unification.

You also see the former border crossings between between East and West Germany, known as Check-Point Charlie. You continue your driving tour through ”Kurfürstendamm”, Berlin’s ‘Champs Elysees’ and also pass the ”Gendarmenmarkt”, the most harmonious square in Berlin, which is an ensemble of the theater, the German Dom and the French Dom.

Following the city you you stop at the Holocaust Memorial which was officially opened only in 2005 and designed by the New Yorker Peter Eisenman. This foundation for the ‘Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe’ is a central place for remembrance to the murdered victims and a place of warning. The visit is about Remembrance, Responsibility and Future. In his attempt to present a new idea of memory as distinct from nostalgia, Eisenman reflects: ‘We can only know the past today through a manifestation in the present’.

Next is a stop for you to enjoy a typical German style pub lunch. This three course meal also includes one drink per person plus gratuity. Because the itinerary is very full we will make all prior arrangements for your meal. Please let us know if there are any vegetarians in your party.

After lunch you stop at the Bebel Platz where below the ground level lies the Empty Library, today the cities most original memorial, erected to commemorate ostracized authors who’s books were burned on this sight by students and Nazis in 1933.

Then your tour continues with a photo stop at the Neue Synagogue, Berlin’s most prominent Jewish landmark, which was rebuilt as a facade as the site of the original synagogue is wasteland – deliberately left as a memorial to what was damaged by Nazi flames and finished off by war time bombs.

Before leaving Berlin you pass by old treasures, the Haeckesche Hoefe, a building complex built by Jewish idealists in 1906-07 with elegant ceramic facades which today symbolizes Berlin’s new ‘Mitte’ (center) having miraculously survived two wars. Today this area houses an up-market collection of shops, galleries, theatres, cabarets, cafes, restaurants and cinemas and is just about Berlin’s top tourist attraction. 

As you leave Berlin you will have a stop at the former Nazi Concentration Camp at Sachsenhausen, a memorial near Oranienburg just north of Berlin.

After the war, Sachsenhausen was behind the ‘Iron Curtain’ in East Germany and Americans have not had the opportunity to visit it until very recently. Sachsenhausen was designated with cynical emphasis as a “Schutzhaftlager” or protective custody camp where political opponents of the government were ‘protected’.

About 6000 Jews were forcibly brought here after “Kristallnacht” alone, and it was here that some of the first experiments in organized mass murder were made. The scale of the terror remembered here can be very disturbing, however, it is here where you can help change the future, as Winston Churchill put it "the further backward you can look, the further forward you are likely to see".

At the end of the day you will be taken back to the pier in Rostock / Warnemünde.

Tour Breakdown-
1- Meet Guide and Drive to Berlin- 3 Hours
2- Berlin City Tour- 1 Hour and 30 Minutes
3- Visit Holocaust Memorial- 30 Minutes
4- Lunch Break- 1 Hour and 15 Minutes
5- Continue City Tour en route to Oranienburg- 1 Hour and 15 Minutes
6- Visit Sachsenhausen Memorial- 2 Hours
7- Return to pier in Warnemünde (Rostock)- 3 Hours

Note: Due to the long distance from the pier to Berlin, your actual total time in Berlin is based on traffic conditions. Typically one comfort stop is provided en route. In Germany most public toilets cost 0.50 Euro per person. In restaurants, a similar amount is expected for the bathroom attendant.

See More Options in this Port

Private Sightseeing Tours and Shore Excursions from Warnemünde (Rostock) to Berlin.