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Berliner Mauer – Videotour

Mit Videos und Tourguide entlang der Mauer Wir müssen Euch wahrscheinlich nicht erklären, dass wir aktuell mehr Zeit haben, als uns lieb ist. Was wir dafür nicht haben, sind Gäste mit denen wir durch unsere wunderschöne Stadt radeln können. Das ist umso bedauerlicher, als das Berlin zu keiner Zeit des Jahres so schön ist, wie…

Berlin long gone – then/now

Berlin is everbecoming It’s probably one of the most popular clichés about Berlin, right beside being a failed state and a cesspool of lazy anarchists; Berlin is the city that never is, but will always be becoming. Of course, that is more or less true of every big city. That being said, Berlin received more…

Die Kaffeeriecher des Alten Fritz – Preußischer Steuerwahn

Friedrich II. von Preußen (1712-86), auch genannt “der Große” oder einfach “Alter Fritz” gefand großen Gefallen daran das Territorium seines Königreichs auf Kosten seiner Nachbarn zu vergrößern und war dabei unbestritten sehr erfolgreich. Nun kosten auch erfolgreiche Kriege Geld, viel Geld. Eine beliebte Methode war die eigene Währung zu ‘verwässern’ also den Anteil an Edelmetallen…

Berlin’s watery west pt. 2: Tegel

Looking for Humboldt After last week’s boat ride, we went back to our preferred mode of transportation: our bikes. Normally when Martin and me, go for a ride, we pick a destination a bit outside, take the train and have an actual plan of what we want to see and do. I was fighting some…

Revolutions Radtour – das Ende der Monarchie in Berlin

Orte der Revolution 1918/19 1918 – der Erste Weltkrieg ist schon lange nicht mehr zu gewinnen, die Menschen hungern, sind des sinnlosen Sterbens überdrüssig. Nachdem es schon im Vorjahr nach der russischen Oktoberrevolution erste Streiks gegeben und die SPD sich unter dem stärker werdenden Druck der Kriegsgegner gespalten hatte, spitzte sich die Lage im Herbst…

Bike tour Malaga

Cycling the Andalusian capital One of the great things about our membership in the Cycle Cities network is the fact that you get to meet like-minded people from all over the world that are the perfect first point of contact in a foreign city. In the past we were already lucky enough to go on…

27/06 Austria and Hungary open their borders – Grenzöffnung

Text auf deutsch Horn and Muck dismantle the Iron Curtain After Hungary’s first steps towards an open border to its neighbour Austria were largely ignored by the general public, what happened on June 27th 1989 showed everyone, that the Iron Curtain wouldn’t only become permeable – it would be history pretty soon. While Hungarians were…

31/05 George H.W. Bush in Germany

deutsch Let Berlin be next “But the passion for freedom cannot be denied forever. The world has waited long enough. The time is right. Let Europe be whole and free.”   After a NATO summit two days earlier during which the alliance agreed on a new “comprehensive defense control strategy” US president George Bush visits…

07/05 Voter fraud/Wahlfälschung wird bekannt

deutsch A turning point for the opposition in the GDR 30 Years Later Foreign guest workers vote for the communal elections in the GDR 1989, where later the opposition found out about massive voter fraud. ADN-ZB Thieme 7.5.89 Karl-Marx-Stadt: Wahl- Im Wahllokal Wolgograder Allee in Karl-Marx-Stadt machten vietnamesische, kubanische und mocambiquische Werktätige von ihrem Wahlrecht…

02/05 The iron curtain becomes porous

deutsch Ungarn baut den Grenzzaun zu Österreich ab (Quelle: Kronenzeitung/AP) Hungary opens its border to Austria The iron curtain ran the whole length of Europe north to south, separating the members of the Warszaw Pact from those of the NATO in the West. Beginning in March ’89, Hungary’s government hinted at the possibility they would…

Mein 9. November – My personal Nov. 9th

Deutsch The Day the Berlin Wall fell I always thought, that saying the Wall “fell” sounds a bit like it crumbled and just died of old age, while in truth thousands and thousands risked their careers, their freedom and ultimately their life pushing against it. On Novemer 9th this pushing became quite literally what opened…

26/04/89: Honecker about Hungary/über Ungarn

  Text auf deutsch Honecker loosing his grip on reality Just days before the border between Austria and Hungary is opened, Erich Honecker, chairman of the Zentralkomitee (Central Committee) of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) is worried about the situation with his neighbours. Using a language that’s equally stinted and oldschool he rambles on and…

05/04/89 30 Years Later: Runder Tisch/Round Table in Polen

Text auf deutsch A new form of political dialogue At the end of the 1980s a rather new approach was making its first appearances on the stage of international high-stakes policy-making: the Round Table. The basic idea today seems so simple, yet nobody really understood the terminology: get all stake-holders together and sit them at…

03/04/89 30 Years Later: No more shooting/Aufhebung des Schießbefehls

Text auf deutsch The order that never was The legal processing of the order to shoot at the Berlin Wall, has been a breaking test for the unified society that was just about to emerge. A lot has been left unsaid and buried deep in some archive. Bit by bit proof and details regarding the…

21/03/89 The soviet army shrinks/Truppenreduzierung der Sowjets

A step towards independence A key factor leading to the revolution in 1989 is Michail Gorbatschow’s doctrine, that the “brother states” of the Warzsaw Pact will be responsible for their own destiny. Mikhai Gorbachev (Yuryi Abramochkin,RIA Novosti archive, image #359290) This means that a) the Soviet Union won’t stand in the way of national reforms,…

08/03/89 Winfried Freudenberg the last victim/das letzte Opfer

Deutsch Flight and Crash with a DIY balloon The story of Winfried Freudenberg‘s life, flight and death is a tragic example of East-German ingenuity. Born in 1956 he later studies electrical engineering in Illmenau where he meets his future wife Sabine, a chemist. Even though thoroughly rooted in their community they had difficulties accepting, that…

05/02/89 Chris Gueffroy: der letzte Erschossene/the last one shot

Deutsch Chris Gueffroy: The last victim of the “shooting order” On February 5th 1989 Chris Gueffroy was shot at the Berlin Wall. He was the last victim of the “shooting order” and the overall penultimate victim that lost his life trying to leave the GDR to find a better life for himself. Chris was a…

18. Januar ’89: “The wall will still be standing in a 50 and 100 years”

Deutsch Honecker’s prophesy Erich Honecker was the most powerful politician in the GDR for nearly 20 years. What many people don’t know, even before he became 1st secretary of the Central Commitee of the ruling Socialist Party – SED – he shaped the history of his country. After spending more than two years in Moscow…

The Berlin Cathedral

The emperor’s church The MR although you couldn’t tell by just looking at it. Visitors often mistake it for a catholic place of worship due to the overabundance of decorative elements. The other common misconception considers its age. On our Sightseeing tours, like Berlin’s Best we sometimes ask what our guests think from which period…