Berlin

Arrive in Berlin and transfer to our hotel, centrally located on the Gendarmenmarkt, an 18th-century town square that’s home to the Konzerthaus, the Huguenot Französischer Dom, and the Deutscher Dom. Gather for a welcome orientation and reception at our hotel this evening.

Drive by several major Berlin landmarks such as Kurfürstendamm; Schloss Bellevue, official residence of Germany’s president; the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, its gutted, WWII-bomb-strafed tower surrounded by a modern blue-glass bell tower, octagonal church, and memorial hall; Nikolaiviertel, Berlin’s reconstructed historic quarter; Brandenburg Gate; and Potsdammer Platz. The afternoon and evening are at leisure to continue exploring Berlin independently.

This morning, visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Holocaust Memorial) and the site of Hitler’s bunker at Pariser Platz. See the Topography of Terror Museum, located on the site of the Nazi regime’s SS and Gestapo headquarters, and a remaining segment of the Berlin Wall, then take a guided tour of the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, and Reconciliation. After lunch, tour the magnificent Şehitlik Mosque. Built between 1999 and 2005 in classical 16th-century Ottoman style, the mosque serves the Sunni Muslim community of Neuköln, one of Berlin’s 12 boroughs and home to the city’s highest percentage of immigrants. After dinner on our own, gather to attend a concert by the Staatskapelle Berlin at the Philharmonie. (Program subject to change.)

Travel by coach to the historic city of Potsdam to tour the 18th-century baroque palace and gardens of Sans Souci, summer residence of Frederick the Great of Prussia. After lunch, at the Museum Barberini, take in the extensive collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including the largest number of works by Claude Monet outside Paris. En route back to Berlin, drive across the Glienicke Bridge, site of Cold War spy exchanges as depicted in the film, Bridge of Spies.

Following a guest lecture by a local journalist, drive to the Museum Island complex for an exterior orientation tour of the James Simon Gallery and the Humboldtforum, where many of the art treasures of the Berlin State Museums are housed. After lunch, explore the restored 19th-century Neues Museum, home to the iconic bust of Nefertiti. Enjoy free time to visit some of the other museums and enjoy an evening on our own.

Depart by coach to view several Iron Curtain and Cold War icons, including the remains of the Berlin Wall and the Berlin Wall Memorial. Take a guided tour of the nearby Reichstag building that dates back to 1894. Home to the German Parliament until the Nazi era, it regained that status when it was renovated and reopened in 1999. Enjoy dazzling views of Berlin during lunch at its rooftop garden restaurant, then walk up a spiral ramp to the top of the Reichstag’s transparent dome. We end our day with a historical sightseeing cruise along the Spree River and Landwehr Canal. This evening, attend an opera at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. (Program subject to change.)

Following a guest lecture by a local academic, depart by coach to the leafy suburb of Wannsee to explore the villa, now a museum, where high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered in 1942 to coordinate the implementation of the so-called “Final Solution of the Jewish Question.” This assembly later became known as the Wannsee Conference. Continue to the West Berlin neighborhood of Dahlem to visit the Allied Museum. Located in the former cinema and library for American troops, the museum documents the political and military engagement of the Allied Powers in Berlin and Germany from 1945 through 1994.

Visit the recently renovated Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery), part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums dedicated to 20th-century art. Stroll around the surrounding Kulturforum, built as a center of art and culture in West Berlin in the 1960s after the majority of the city’s cultural assets remained on the other side of the Berlin Wall. Enjoy a final afternoon of independent exploration before gathering for a farewell reception and dinner at our hotel this evening.

After breakfast and checkout, transfer to the airport for flights home.