Jewish Life in Berlin : Between the Synagogue and the Holocaust Memorial - Half-Day Tour

Welcome to Berlin, and welcome to my profile. Growing up in a divided country with relatives on both sides of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall made curious about German history a long time ago. The Fall of the Berlin Wall provided the unexpected opportunity to combine my academic education with the unique experience of Berlin transforming from a divided city into the cosmopolitan capital of reunited Germany. As a history major at Humboldt University, studying next to the Linden Avenue and the site of the Nazi Book Burning, I found German and Berlin history not only a subject of scientific literature, but reflected by the streets and places around me. Combining university lectures with local landmarks of Prussia, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi Dictatorship and the German Democratic Republic fostered the awareness of the variety of influences that shaped the modern Berlin. Among these influences were the contributions of Jewish and French communities, the social changes based on industrialization, the proverbial nervousness of the Second German Empire, the cataclysmic instability of the Weimar Republic, the terror of the Nazi Regime and the Shoah, the cultural clash during the Cold War, and the Stalinistic dictatorship that decreed the deadly division of Berlin. But living in Berlin today is not only about history. I value the variety of parks, rivers and lakes suitable for hiking, cycling, swimming and sailing, the vast cultural scene, the overwhelming choice of museums, theaters, concerts and festivals, the countless high-quality restaurants and the vibrant energy of a cosmopolitan and creative society. Enjoying the city as much as the communication with people from different cultural, national and social backgrounds, I made Berlin the focus of my professional life more than 20 years ago, when I started to work as a local guide and as a presenter in museums and exhibitions about Germany history. In the last two decades, I acquired several guide licenses for Berlin Museums, Potsdam Palaces and the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Memorial Site, as well as the required driving license for limousine services in order to design and deliver qualified, wide-spread, in-depth tour itineraries for individual travellers, group tours and participants of professional trips. Being a guide is a professional service for people with individual interests, activity levels, individual time frames or group structures. Visitors on business trips and limited time need different type of tour service than travellers on vacation, or families accompanied by small children. I aim at providing services as entertaining and enlightening as possible for every traveller. Licensed Guide at # Potsdam & Berlin Palaces # Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Memorial Site # New Synagogue Berlin / Centrum Judaicum, Oranienburger Strasse, Berlin # Otto Weidt Workshop for the Blind Museum Personenbeförderungsschein / Professional National Drivers License Member of # Verband der Historiker und Historikerinnen Deutschlands e.V. National Association of German Historians # Verein für die Geschichte Berlins e.V., gegr. 1865 Association for the History of Berlin, est. 1865 # Berlin Guide e.V. & BVGD e.V. Association of Berlin Guides & National Guide Association Admission to sights is restricted to opening hours and terms and conditions of the relevant administrative authority and pending until confirmation by this authority. Please contact me before booking for further information.