Skip to main content

Cold War Berlin

Overview

There is no better place than Berlin to bring the significant events of the 20th century to life.  Our Cold War educational trips have strong links to KS3, KS4, KS5 and IB history - studying The Cold War and the impact of Communism on Europe. 

Take a walk along a remaining section of the Berlin Wall, visit the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, and go back in time at the interactive DDR Museum.  Take a guided tour of a nuclear bunker to understand the preparations made for atomic war, and explore Hohenschönhausen Stasi Memorial with a former inmate of this notorious remand prison.  They will provide an invaluable insight into a broad spectrum of political persecution in the GDR.

A thoroughly thought-provoking trip for your history students!

Our Suggested Itinerary

  1. Day 1

    Morning flight to Berlin and transfer to accommodation. 

    Join a "Red Berlin" walking tour deep in former East Berlin, for an introduction to the people, places and secrets that kept two worlds on the brink of WW3, and the wall that separated them. 

    Free evening in Alexanderplatz, the site of a massive demonstration against the GDR in 1989.

    Option evening activity: Take in panoramic views of the city from the top of the Berlin TV Tower, the flagship of East German architecture! 

  2. Day 2

    Spend the morning admiring the murals of the East Side Gallery, a section of the original wall preserved and painted as a "International Memorial for Freedom" by protest artists. 

    Visit to the interactive DDR (GDR) Museum, which explores the day-to-day life of those who lived in a long-defunct state. 

    Photo opportunity at Checkpoint Charlie - the famous crossing point between the US and Soviet sectors.

    Evening at leisure in Potsdamer Platz, a former no-man's-land between East and West, now transformed into a buzzing shopping and entertainment district. 

  3. Day 3

    In the morning, take a guided tour of the Hohenschönhausen Memorial and former Stasi prison.  Between 1945 and 1989, thousands of political prisoners were held here by the Communist regime.  Today, the prison is preserved as a reminder of political persecution in the DDR.

    Guided tour of two Cold War nuclear bunkers - exploring real nuclear fallout shelters and seeing the practical preparations made to help people survive makes the realities and horrors of the conflict easier to comprehend. 

    Return flight to the UK. 

Hotel Citylight Berlin

Accommodation

We use safe and secure accommodation especially suited to schools.  A lot of our schools choose to stay at either Hotel Citylight or one of the A&O Hostels when visiting Berlin.  All accommodation we use is audited, and our auditing regime is verified by independent experts.