As a child, Katja Hoyer stood with her family on the viewing platform of the TV Tower in Alexanderplatz and watched the seismic events of November 9, 1989 when the Berlin Wall came crumbling down and with it the last vestiges of the Iron Curtain.
Now an esteemed historian, Katja joins this exclusive four-day trip which marks the 35th anniversary of its fall. She will give unique insights into those events, what the wall meant to families like hers and provide the historical context around why - and how - it was built.
She will join you throughout to enhance your understanding of life behind the Iron Curtain - from the Stasi Museum and the Forest Settlement where the GDR elite lived to the former Stasi prison, where you will be guided by former prisoners and the DDR Museum, which examines all aspects of East German life.
For all the celebrations that reverberated around the world as images of the fall of the Berlin Wall were broadcast, there is another side. Nearly a quarter of East Germans would leave their homes and move west. These included journalist and author Sabine Rennefanz, who was 15 when the wall fell and lived in the socialist model town Eisenhuettenstadt. Sabine will talk about her life in the GDR as well as what it means to be East German today.
There will also be time to take in other attractions from the Trebus private collection to the site of the former Palace of the Republic. It promises to be a truly fascinating trip.
Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian and the author of the international bestseller Beyond the Wall: East Germany 1949-1990. A Visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she is also a regular media commentator on current affairs in Germany. She was born in East Germany and now lives in the UK.
After arriving mid-morning, you will head straight to the heart of events as Katja Hoyer sets the scene for the events of 1989, talking about the powerful symbolism of the wall and what it meant to families like hers.
You will visit the East Side Gallery - the huge open air art exhibition that adorns the longest surviving section of the wall on the banks of the Spree - before heading to Alexander Platz. Here Katja will explain the events that unfolded - both the historical context as well as her personal recollections.
Your first day culminates with a visit to the viewing platform where, as a young girl, she witnessed the peaceful revolution of 1989 unfold.
After breakfast you will head to the Stasi Musuem in the Lichtenberg district, once home to the East German Ministry for State Security and workplace of Erich Mielke, head of the Stasi. Here Katja will talk about the role of the secret police and its leader in the GDR. Next it is the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, the site of the former Stasi Prison, where you are likely to be guided by former prisoners who give insights into the harrowing conditions faced by the political prisoners held here.
A special highlight will be a GDR-themed lunch at Volkskammer
restaurant. Not only will your surrounds and the menu transport you
to Eastern Bloc Germany, but you will be joined by writer Sabine
Rennefanz, who will talk about her experiences in growing up in the
GDR and East German perspective on events of 35 years ago.
That afternoon, there may be the chance to witness the commerative
ceremonies taking place at the Brandenburg Gate.
Today you will head to the DDR Museum, an interactive museum which examines all aspects of East German life. Here Katja will talk about daily life in the GDR and the challenges of writing about this aspect of German history, before you head to the north of Berlin and the secret forest settlement where the GDR political elite once lived.
This afternoon you will visit the Trebus private GDR collection where Katja will explain how these collections are a vital part of GDR history and memory.
Today you can visit a special exhibition about the Palace of the Republic, which was demolished in favour of a partial rebuilding of the old royal palace. Katja will give a talk about the different palaces that have occupied this place, about the Palace of the Republic in particular and about the complex nature of German memory politics before the group can walk around the exhibition.
Afterwards, there will be some free time to explore Berlin. You might choose to visit the Spandau Zitadelle or even a Cold War Nuclear bunker.
In the late afternoon you will take your transfer to Berlin airport for your flight home.
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