Trips to Berlin for Cultural Studies Students

Our City Representative, or one of her team, will take your group on a half-day tour of the key sights and provide a first-hand perspective of Berlin’s history and how life has changed for the city’s residents.

• Berlin Wall: Students will see how East and West Berlin were divided for 28 years. Potsdamer Platz and the East Side Gallery are two of the remaining areas where it is still accessible to see a section of the wall.
• The Reichstag: This impressive building, perhaps most recognisable due to its impressive glass dome, re-opened as the new seat of Federal Parliament in 1999. Here, students can learn about the building’s turbulent 114-year history.
• The Brandenburg Gate: Berlin’s only remaining city gate and a symbol of unified Germany. The dramatic Quadriga that sits on top has a history as eventful as the city’s.

Featuring exhibitions about the legendary border crossing point, this fascinating museum includes demonstrations of how individuals smuggled themselves across the border. Here, your group will have the opportunity to explore what drove some people to go along with the collectivist culture, and others to resist.  

This fascinating exhibition is contained within the former cellars of Gestapo HQ, illustrating the terrors and crimes of the Nazi era. The new documentation centre and other exhibitions are presented in both English and German.

Built for the 1936 Olympics, this is an excellent example of Nazi architecture. This is where the black American athlete, Jesse Owens, won four gold medals, supposedly infuriating Hitler because of his race.

One of the earliest and most important in Germany, the story of the camp from its origins, its development within the camp system, its wartime use, the liberation and its post-war history during the Soviet period, are told in a series of exhibitions within the extensive remains of the camp itself.

A visit to this holocaust memorial centre and former concentration camp helps pupils gain an understanding of the events during WWII. Guided tours of the entrance, guard towers, barracks and museum are available.

Located on the famous Babelsberg campus – home to the world’s oldest large-scale film studio – this movie theme park features stunt shows, illusion studios, 4D cinema and films. Over 3,000 films have been shot at the here, including Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927). The theme park surrounding the studios offers a glance behind-the-scenes with studio tours, exhibitions, costumes and enough action to keep your students amused. This visit is guaranteed to immerse students into the world of movies.

Run by our City Representative, Tatjana (or a member of her team), this language quiz activity takes in the major sites of Alexanderplatz with a big bag of Gummibärchen for the winning team! 

The large indoor market in the centre of the city is an ideal place to put language skills to the test and pick up a bargain or two.

Situated in the city centre, this interactive museum offers fascinating insights into daily life in the DDR. Take a virtual drive round an East German housing estate in the Trabi simulator. This interactive museum immerses students into daily life during the Communist Era in East Berlin helping them understand the period in a unique and entertaining way.  The museum also provides school groups with free-of-charge quiz sheets to download from their website, which students can use to work their way through the exhibition in an independent but structured fashion. Answer sheets are available from the entrance desk!

https://www.ddr-museum.de/en/your-visit/teachers-groups

A fabulous museum that shows over 800 years of Berlin’s history, through a number of interactive exhibitions and sound and light shows.

Take a cruise along the River Spree on this tour and see all the major attractions of the city while learning about the intriguing history of Berlin.

Located at the very heart of the city on the Alexanderplatz, the Berlin TV tower is part of German history: in the sixties the East German government had the TV tower built to demonstrate the strength and efficiency of the socialist party system. Today the tower, Berlin’s highest structure, shapes the skyline of the German capital city and has fantastic views - and serves as a landmark of the reunited Germany. Your group can pinpoint the many landmarks and attend the free exhibition. Groups can also take part in an immersive 15 min VR experience and time travel through 9 centuries of Berlin's history.

Here, your students can give free reign to their chocolate notions and manufacture their very own chocolate creations – all the way from ingredient selection to package design.

This indoor tropical beach, which lies outside of the city, is home to water slides, lagoons and miniature golf, as well as the world’s largest indoor rainforest.

This large, action-packed swimming complex has a pool with diving boards. It also has an outdoor pool, slide and whirlpools.

Groups can visit the fabulous cinema at Potsdamer Platz. Bowling Am Schillerpark. This bowling alley is the most popular of four available in Berlin. 

Groups can spend an evening at the ice-rink in Wilmersdorf.

Berlin’s only remaining city gate and a symbol of unified Germany. The Quadriga that sits on top has a history as eventful as the city’s.

A prime example of the new, vibrant Berlin. Students can practise their language skills in the numerous shops, cafés, restaurants and the fabulous Sony Centre at this lively public square, once one of the busiest intersections in Europe.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, created by architect Peter Eisenman, is an emotional and imposing addition to the landscape of central Berlin. The memorial’s 2,711 concrete slabs cover an area of 4.7 acres. Beneath the memorial is an information centre detailing the lives of murdered Jews.

This walking tour covers the key city centre sites in depth:

• The Reichstag
• Brandenburg Gate
• Holocaust Memorial
• Hitler’s Bunker
• Potsdamer Platz
• Reich Air Ministry buildings
• Topography of Terror
• Checkpoint Charlie Museum
• Unter den Linden
• Neue Wache
• Bebelplatz (site of the book burning)

Throughout a full day or split across two half days, our guides can cover a number of key historical sites, providing your group with full commentary that will put them in the context of your curriculum. 

The view from the top of this cathedral offers a wonderful sketching opportunity for your students.

One of the most famous locations in the world, the Sony Center is home to many international companies. Here, your students will enjoy exploring a mix of shops, restaurants, offices, art and film museums, cinemas, an IMAX theatre, a small version of Legoland, and a ‘Sony Style’ store.

In the Life Science Learning Lab “Gläsernes Labor”, students can carry out fascinating genetic and cell biological experiments, experience research in action and explore current applications in medicine and biotechnology.
Students can take part in simple genetic experiments in the labs - 4 hour sessions include isolating DNA from a tomato; simulating forensic DNA analysis or gene transfer with plasmids.

This is the new multimedia museum, just 50 meters away from the Brandenburg Gate. You will embark at the heart of the capital on a worldwide unique, multimedia journey through 300 years of Berlin history. From the German Revolution, the German Empire, the Roaring Twenties, both World Wars, the fall of the Berlin wall to the victory of the 2014 football World Cup.

Learn about the principles of circular economy, get to know the most creative circular products & start-ups in Berlin, explore new recycling processes, dive into sustainable consumption and discover ways to keep resources in closed loops in our daily lives.

Topics to choose from:

• Fashion & Textiles - Circular economy for textiles, upcycling fashion, zero waste design, fabrics from new materials & much more
• Food & Urban Farming - New ways to “feed” our city, stop food waste, cook with leftovers, preserve bacteria, anti-food waste technology
• Circular City - Reused urban spaces, circular architecture, future design labs, transition towns, experimental communities - Berlin's got it all.