A Walk through Time on Museum Island

Name: A Walk through Time on Museum Island
Brand: VoiceMap
SKU: 351
Price: 4.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 3.8 (34 reviews)
Author: Rory

(34 reviews)

Berlin audio tour: A Walk through Time on Museum Island

This is a 0.8mi walking tour

It takes an average of 20 mins to complete.

Berlin

Germany

$4.99

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About the Tour

Schlossplatz was Berlin's seat of power. Around it stood Prussia's Buckingham Palace and St Paul’s, its White House, Smithsonian and Pentagon. Today the square is part of Museumsinsel, an island dedicated to art and science and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On this walk, best-selling author Rory MacLean takes you through time from Frederick the Great to Berlin's perfect museum.

Tour Producer

Rory MacLean

3 tours

Author Rory MacLean has known three Berlins: West Berlin where he made movies with David Bowie and Marlene Dietrich, East Berlin where he researched his first best seller 'Stalin's Nose', and now the unified capital. His newest book 'Berlin: Imagine a City' (published in the US as 'Berlin: Portrait of a City through the Centuries') was chosen as a Book of the Year by the Washington Post whose reviewer called it 'the most extraordinary work of history I've ever read'.

Preview Location

Location 1

Intro at the Fountain

Berlin is a place where men set their dreams in stone, or at least in brick. It is not an ancient city. It has no Roman remains like London, no catacombs like Paris. Its youth always spurred it towards the future. Yet at the same time it longed for a noble past, so it created ... Berlin is a place where men set their dreams in stone, or at least in brick. It is not an ancient city. It has no Roman remains like London, no catacombs like Paris. Its youth always spurred it towards the future. Yet at the same time it longed for a noble past, so it created buildings to perpetrate its own myth.

Hello, I'm Rory MacLean, and our walk starts here at the fountain in the Lustgarten. For centuries this square was Berlin's seat of power. Around it was Berlin's Buckingham Palace and St Paul’s, its White House, Smithsonian and Pentagon. On this square stood the monuments that revealed -- and still reveal -- Berliners’ ambitions as well as their hubris.

In my lifetime I’ve known three Berlins: West Berlin where I made movies with David Bowie, East Berlin where I researched my first book 'Stalin's Nose', and now the unified capital. In this series of Berlin walks I want to share with you something of this city that thrills, delights, haunts and infuriates me.

Turn your back to the immense, 18-columned Altesmuseum -- we'll come back to it later. Ahead of you, now, is the palace -- or rather, WILL be the palace. As I record this walk, the Berliner Schloss is under (re)construction...as it will be until 2019. But more fascinating than the monstrosity rising beyond the fence, are those buildings that previously occupied this central space.

Let's start the walk now by heading towards the Schloss. Take the left path, and walk straight ahead. VoiceMap uses your location to play commentary automatically, so you can just put your phone away and focus on your surroundings. I'll give you directions to keep you on track. There might be a bit of silence now and again, but you can just keep walking and my voice will kick in at each location.

The Schloss is a good place to start talking about Berlin's identity. This is where the 15th century Kurfürst – or leader in English – Frederick ‘Irontooth’ defined war as destiny. Where in 1914 Kaiser Wilhelm aspired to rule Europe by sending a million men to their deaths at Verdun, Ypres and Passchendaele. Where Hitler promised a 1000-year Reich. Where, ten years later, communists levelled the Schloss as a hated symbol of Prussian aggression. Read More

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How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

The VoiceMap app uses GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place, so you can focus on your surroundings, not the screen.

Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

Resume playback to go at your own pace

If you'd like to stop for a drink or go into a museum, end your tour then use the Resume feature to pick up exactly where you left off.

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Major Landmarks

Schloßplatz
Berliner Schloss
German Historical Museum
Museum Island
Altes Museum
Pergamonmuseum
Neues Museum

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Unter den Linden 1, 10178 Berlin, Germany
Total distance

1km
Final location
Bodestraße 1, 10178 Berlin, Germany
Distance back to start location

206.1m

Directions to Starting Point

Please start at the fountain in the middle of the Lustgarten.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

Arguably Berlin's finest gateaux are served at the German Historical Museum café - along with a great view of the Lustgarten and Berliner Dom cathedral.

Best time of day

Any time of day but -- due to the construction of the Schloss -- the walk will be quieter after 4pm.

Precautions

For a world city, Berlin is comparatively safe but do watch for pickpockets in the crowds at the Neues Museum.

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App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”