Berlin Trip 2010: Monday 5th - Thursday 8th April
Staying at the Hotel Transit Loft in the former East Berlin. We will be staying in the district of Prenzlauer Berg, formerly the home of many of East Germany's famous artists and writers and one of the trendier parts of Berlin since reunification.
For German students: http://www.kollwitzkiez.de/news.htm
Monday 5th April (Easter Bank Holiday Monday)
Meet at Bristol Airport at 16.30. All students to make own way to Airport. Flight EZY 6237 Bristol to Berlin Schoenefeld. Arrive Berlin 21.50. Train to Hotel Transit Loft.
Dinner in choice of local restaurants
Tuesday 6th April - Berlin City Centre
We are booked for a guided tour of the Reichstag Building in the morning, which is again the seat of the Bundestag (the German Parliament).
Afterwards, we will expore central Berlin, walking back up Unter den Linden the historic processional route out of the Centre. On route we will visit the National War Memorial and Berlin Cathedral, and compare examples of Prussian, Kaiserreich, Weimar, Nazi and Soviet East German architecture among the wide range of buildings.
We will also have the chance to visit the Stelenfeld Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. If you would like, you can visit the underground information centre which documents many personal stories of the individuals and families affected.
Wednesday 7th April - Day Visit to Potsdam by train
Potsdam was the home of the Hohenzollerns - the Royal Family ruling Prussia, and later the German Empire, until 1918. It was also the scene of the Potsdam Conference at the end of World War II (see picture below).
We will have a guided tour of The New Palace (the prefered home of Kaiser Wilhelm II and his Empress Augusta) and Sanssouci Park in the morning, before having lunch and taking a walking tour of Potsdam itself. There may be some free time in Potsdam in the afternoon to allow sightseeing and shopping if time permits.
Thursday 8th April - Germany: East vs West
We will spend much of today looking at life in the former East Germany and tensions between East and West Berlin.
We are booked in for a tour of the Hohenschönhausen Remand Centre, where a former political prisoner will guide us around the site of the main remand prison for people detained by the former East German Ministry of State Security (MfS), or 'Stasi'.
Later in the day we will visit the Stasi Museum, housed in the Headquarters of the former State Security Ministry
Flight EZY 6238 . Berlin Schoenefeld to Bristol. Depart 22:15. Arrive Bristol 23:10
