https://www.battleofberlintours.com/reset-collection daily 0.75 2021-07-26 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/reset-collection/blog-post-title-one-6z66y monthly 0.5 2021-07-26 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/reset-collection/blog-post-title-two-mftww monthly 0.5 2021-07-26 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/reset-collection/blog-post-title-three-hjwts monthly 0.5 2021-07-26 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/reset-collection/blog-post-title-four-elryp monthly 0.5 2021-07-26 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/contact daily 0.75 2021-03-24 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/reviews daily 0.75 2021-03-22 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/booking daily 0.75 2021-09-03 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/faq daily 0.75 2025-01-04 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/home daily 1.0 2024-12-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1615888293570-WIJTAB6C10Q6FPSESYTR/BattleofBerlinTour.jpg Home - Explore the climatic Battle of Berlin in the heart of the city For 16 days in Spring 1945, Berlin played host to the final dramatic battle of World War II. Its outcome would spark a new conflict and divide the city for a generation. Join me as we walk through central Berlin, seeing how the city has healed and the scars that remain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1615985746134-V1I50GVVGNDTT9K2RB07/battle+of+berlin+map.jpg Home - In a roughly 2.5 hour tour, we will walk across the breadth of the area and visit some of its most important sites, including: The Reichstag: The ironic German parliament and location of some the last desperate fighting of the battle. The Reich Chancellery: The Brutalist architecture of Hitler’s ‘White House’ has since been removed, but its legacy still haunts a seemingly normal Berlin street corner. The Führerbunker: Where it all ended - the site of Hitler’s last refuge and desperate demise. The Reich Aviation Ministry: Once the biggest office building in Europe, Hermann Göring’s Luftwaffe headquarters is the perhaps the best preserved example of Nazi architecture left in Germany. Brandenburg Gate: The area around the world famous gate was unrecognisable in 1945. Since then, it has become a symbol of both division and reunification. The Reichssicherheitshauptamt: Better known as Himmler’s Gestapo and SS headquarters, today its ruins act as a memorial to Nazi crimes. The Tiergarten Soviet War Memorial: One of first of its kind, the memorial features Soviet tanks and artillery used in the Battle of Berlin. The Berlin Wall: The Battle of Berlin marked the beginning of the division of Berlin, which reached its peak with the building of the Berlin Wall. https://www.battleofberlintours.com/tour daily 0.75 2021-09-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/db267b45-b92c-4803-a012-09e615e28750/Bebelplatz.jpg The Battle of Berlin Tour https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/a842944c-4582-4b73-b6d9-b5ca0351adc0/FuhrerBunker.jpeg The Battle of Berlin Tour https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/b55118d7-ed03-4309-9557-bff5ab0061a5/BerlinWall.jpg The Battle of Berlin Tour https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/5db32acf-ee98-46f6-a7da-a72f305098a9/ReichAviation.png The Battle of Berlin Tour https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/9cd29e2d-96e9-463c-986d-2d7f9b3873f5/Gendarmenmarkt.png The Battle of Berlin Tour https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/6c9327fe-85e3-4928-af26-cfc4e15c321f/Tour+3.jpg The Battle of Berlin Tour https://www.battleofberlintours.com/booksandfilms daily 0.75 2021-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1616337120283-AT24WV7B6NLIAPLV8KSP/BerlinOperatioRight.jpg Books and Films - The Berlin Operation 1945 - Soviet General Staff - Edited and translated by Richard W. Harrison Practically the direct opposite of Beevor’s book, The Berlin Operation is a compilation of actual reports made by Stavka - The Soviet General Staff. Due to its nature, its not exactly beach reading material, but it does provide infinitely interesting official accounts of the fighting. As well discussing the minute details of military organisation in Berlin, it often reveals the subtle psychology of the commanders who were eager to please their commanders with ever greater victories. In regards to the tour, this book helped flesh out some of the tactics the Soviets used in the street fighting, and the obstacles they had to overcome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1616337026707-UHFTPNWS67PDNBGT6EMB/BeevorLeft.jpg Books and Films - Berlin: The Downfall 1945 - Anthony Beevor Probably the best known book on the Battle of Berlin. Beevor is a prolific author of military history, including lengthy tomes on D-Day and Stalingrad. Some academic historians tend to turn their nose up to Beevor, primarily because of his somewhat ‘dramatic’ style of writing. Indeed, he did start out his career as a novelist and that is sometimes clear to see. However, it is also a grand and largely unbiased history, with his accounts of Russian atrocities earning him the ire of the Russian government and academia. Overall, his work is probably simultaneously the most extensive and readable mainstream book on the Battle of Berlin out there. It formed a significant part of the background to my research and helped create the initial framework of the tour. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1616337313470-UZJKL1Z6S76S04TGT935/PanzersinBerlinRight.jpg Books and Films - Panzers in Berlin 1945 - Lee Archer - Robert Kraska - Mario Lippert If you’re interested in tanks, this is the book for you. Panzers in Berlin (as the name suggests) is an exhaustive list of Panzers operating within Berlin during the battle. Including hundreds of high quality photos and illustrations, the book catalogs the journeys and eventual fate of individual German armored vehicles to minute detail. It is clear this book was a labor of love and although it might be unwieldy and impenetrable to some, to tank enthusiasts its a treasure trove. This is especially true for visitors to Berlin. Via this book I learned a flakpanzer was knocked out on my doorstep and the post office round the corner had featured a heavily dug in Panther tank. This isn’t vital information in the grand scheme of things, but certainly made me see familiar streets in a new perspective. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1616337256003-PPYPD966NZB52OMYXORT/UnwomanlyFaceofWarLeft.jpg Books and Films - The Unwomanly Face of War - Svetlana Alexievich In their total war mobilisation, all the combatants of the Second World War brought women in the military, but only in the Soviet Union did they fight on the frontline in large numbers. Eventually, around 800,000 women were mobilised often as nurses, aviators and partisans. The Unwomanly Face of War consists of interviews with female veterans of the Red Army, many of which underwent terrible trials. A large number had also remained silent until interviewed by Alexievich. I personally love primary sources such as these, especially interviews. They provide a great opportunity to gain an understanding of war on a personal, human scale. This is something often missed from the more general histories. For her work on documentary literature, Alexievich was awarded the Noble Prize for Literature in 2015. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1616337393511-LDAZJVOUINGWLOA8W49C/In+the+garden+of+beasts+Left.jpg Books and Films - In The Garden of Beasts - Erik Larson Although not specifically about the Battle of Berlin, In the Garden of Beasts tells the story of William E. Dodd, the US Ambassador to Germany in the early 1930s. Dodd, perhaps unprepared and unsuited for the task, must navigate the complexities of pre-war Germany, including his relationships with high ranking Nazi party officials. Like Beevor’s book, In the Garden of Beasts can sometimes be mistaken as a piece of historical fiction and is written in a similar manner. However, all of the many conversations it retells are based on primary documentary evidence. Larson’s book provides a vivid portrait of Berlin, especially the Tiergarten through which our tour passes. It also explores the vagaries of Wilhelmstrasse politics - another location on the tour. Perhaps most revealing of all - at least to me - was the fact antisemitism in the early 1930s was not a wholly German phenomenon. Many American diplomats held similar beliefs, if somewhat more subtly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1616337488006-HVPNFD0YHX3K6Y2ZDM0P/BerlinDiaryRight.jpg Books and Films - Berlin Diary - William L. Shirer Another book not ostensibly about the battle, Berlin Diary is the diary of William Shirer, a US journalist working in Berlin throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. Like In the Garden of Beasts, Berlin Diary reveals the strange world of Nazi Germany, with all of its paranoia, fanaticism and - according to Shirer - dullness. Berlin Diary reveals how a once vibrant, diverse and cosmopolitan Berlin was transformed into the capital of the Third Reich. Gone was the cabaret, the lively dance halls and the theater. Instead, dreary Wagner operas dominated. Shirer would go on to write The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, an extensive, if occasionally flawed, history of the period. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1616337857074-2ZNOVDHAANGI6B8QLK00/WomaninBerlinLeft.jpg Books and Films - A Woman in Berlin - Anonymous One of the most controversial elements of the Battle of Berlin - and indeed the war in the east in general - was the widespread rape and sexual assault of women. Only recently has Western historians began tackling this issue, while the topic still engenders huge debate in Russia today. Following its original publication in Germany in 1959, A Woman in Berlin received a similar response - even among Germans. The frank and honest discussion of sexual assault and survival, especially concerning the author’s pragmatic approach to both, was deemed to besmirch the reputation of German women. More recently, its authenticity has also been called into question. Despite that, it became an international best seller and its credibility has since been stoutly defended. Today, it stands as one of the most powerful first-hand accounts of a civilian navigating the horror of the Second World War. https://www.battleofberlintours.com/battleofberlin daily 0.75 2021-09-06 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/about daily 0.75 2021-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1616163008769-87NLIXLIB79P25AH91HR/Tour+2+%281%29.jpg About Me - About Me Hi, I’m Mark and in short, I’m a bit of a history nerd. Have been ever since I can remember. It probably has something to watching lots of war films when I was a kid, and arguably too young to be really watching them… Anyway, since then history, especially military history, has become my passion. I decided to pursue my interests at university, gaining a BA in History and Politics from UEA in Norwich, England. During my bachelors I specialized in Stalin, Stalinism and the Soviet experience in the Second World War. For my masters at Aberystwyth in Wales, I studied Strategic Studies - which was basically learning all about military strategy. In this area, I focused on military media relations and nuclear weapon strategy. Following university, I ended up in Berlin writing for an entertainment news website. It was fun and interesting, but didn’t really utilize the deep understanding of armored warfare or nuclear annihilation I had acquired. So, around 2018 I wanted to find a way I could put my passion and knowledge for history to good use. It just so happened I lived in the former capital of the Third Reich and the location of perhaps the most climatic and dramatic battle of recent history - Berlin. So, I got to work creating a tour through AirBnb experiences - which had just started at that time. I thought I might get a few similarly minded war-geeks interested and maybe do a few tours a month - as a hobby more than anything else. To my surprise it took off and pretty soon I had quit the 9 to 5 to spend more time doing my tours. Since then, it is now one of the highest rated tours on Airbnb in Berlin. I’ve lost count of how many I have done, but I have certainly had hundreds of guests in those 3 years. Basically, I am very proud of it. When I’m not talking about war, I’m writing about it, and recently have been contributing as a researcher to The Great War Youtube channel. They’re a great bunch of guys with a fine approach to presenting history. Incidentally, they also have a documentary about the Battle of Berlin… Other than that, I also like to geek out about comedy, especially from my native Britain, and taking insanely long walks in Berlin - usually with a beer in hand (it’s totally legal here). So if you’re interested in any of that, let me know! https://www.battleofberlintours.com/about-1 daily 0.75 2025-06-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ed6c3e12ace671127c071e4/1595527917513-05T9NOR59ZQHF5KA0N4K/image-asset.jpeg About About OtroQuest It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do. Get in touch → https://www.battleofberlintours.com/portfolio daily 0.75 2021-07-19 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/portfolio/project-six-7yaxe monthly 0.5 2020-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847421455-8JW2CPL3ZB56F2Z8ACLN/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Portfolio - Project Six https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847422112-G7ETRT5C07KF9PHFAV96/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Portfolio - Project Six https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847420762-AGPM8HHB51L8F01AAZN7/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Portfolio - Project Six https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847420322-U8QPDYBOD6HXYRSL8QW0/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Portfolio - Project Six https://www.battleofberlintours.com/portfolio/project-five-akclp monthly 0.5 2020-08-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847419260-TLMPOGZEKRIR09EDXNAA/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Portfolio - Project Five https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847419968-YLRD4TYV9QU8K9LW04SP/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Portfolio - Project Five https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847418911-D6BSPWP8P3O9YAF5R3SO/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Portfolio - Project Five https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847418431-66X2HHF6ZNWKOC9VHLZI/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Portfolio - Project Five https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847417789-TGDSX064I3PZELTJI8Q1/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Portfolio - Project Five https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847417384-6R65UAAJW6EW4KUCUT6U/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Portfolio - Project Five https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847416982-R2067X6OPKY3MG304FSJ/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Portfolio - Project Five https://www.battleofberlintours.com/portfolio/project-four-x4gda monthly 0.5 2020-08-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847905386-9EM9GLHE12726EXM68S4/image-asset.jpeg Portfolio - Project Four - Make it stand out. It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847906050-Q37PFW075QZ6YU9179YP/image-asset.jpeg Portfolio - Project Four - Make it stand out. It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847907929-YZFF0BD112Q9PF2G1BK6/image-asset.jpeg Portfolio - Project Four - Make it stand out. It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.battleofberlintours.com/portfolio/project-three-nrkew monthly 0.5 2020-05-20 https://www.battleofberlintours.com/portfolio/historical-research monthly 0.5 2021-07-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1626704285757-FGSVTRMK5H6CZG0K1S18/Great+War.jpg Portfolio - Historical Research https://www.battleofberlintours.com/portfolio/tourguiding monthly 0.5 2021-07-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1626688716349-6S0XLPQT4XDM6DCDQR8C/FuhrerBunker.jpeg Portfolio - Freelance Tour Guiding - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604f64b2fdd7a73331ee4bfa/1626691553999-CJFV3Q1EP97YLV7GPNW7/explorica1.jpg Portfolio - Freelance Tour Guiding - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.