Templars, Bunkers and Prussian Glory: A Walking Tour of West Kreuzberg

(74 reviews)

Berlin audio tour: Templars, Bunkers and Prussian Glory: A Walking Tour of West Kreuzberg

This is a 1.8mi walking tour

It takes an average of 75 mins to complete.

Berlin

Germany

$14.99

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About the Tour

Get to know the other side of Kreuzberg, away from the partying crowds and Easy-jet Armada: a place where great world inventions were made, world-famous companies born, and where sand was turned into gold and then turned into dust again.

You will stroll through a half-forgotten old residential area where ghosts of the 19th-century building boom walk hand in hand with ghosts of Nazi propaganda. You will learn the secrets of one of Berlin's most stunning parks. You will also get to know the stories of people who made Berlin one of the greatest cities on Earth.

Kreuzberg is not only about squatters, riots, parties and drugs – Kreuzberg is where history was made. And it continues to be made here today.

This audio tour is written and narrated by Beata Gontarczyk-Krampe, aka Notmsparker, the author of the Berlin History Blog “Kreuzberged” and of “Notmsparker´s Berlin Companion”, the book about everything you never even knew you wanted to know about Berlin.

If you have any questions after the tour or would like to find out more about Berlin, you can contact the tour guide through her blog at kreuzberged.com.

Tour Producer

Beata Gontarczyk-Krampe

3 tours

I am a Berlin historian, book author, researcher, urban history fan and genealogist whose fascination with Berlin's past inspired her to overcome her fear of speaking German: how else can you ask anyone at the state archive to lend you a hand in your search for a long-dead villa owner from 1869?

Once curiosity prevailed over inhibitions, I could not stop asking new questions and have been doing my best to answer each and every one of them ever since.

This is how my blog, "The Berlin Companion" (formerly known as "Kreuzberged"), was born. And what began as a quirky little project soon became the main thing on my schedule: "The Berlin Companion" is not only a blog, a podcast and several books, but it also includes a popular Berlin history column in one of the city's most renowned newspapers, "Der Tagesspiegel" (in German, mind you, so linguistically there has been quite a progress, too).

I specialize in lesser-known facts and stories from Berlin's past and present - trivia delight me but what delights me even more, is finding the stories usually hidden behind a simple fact. Like that of a famous engineer buried in the wall of a building he designed - already exciting enough - which led me to a never-realized massive construction project which would have changed Europe and the world for ever. In Berlin you just to need to pull that thread and brilliant tales will come a-tumbling.

In my audio-walks I try to mix the informative, the educating with the entertaining - the way I myself love audio-walks to be. And always make sure to include places off the beaten track, places which you might not have discovered otherwise. Because anyone can waltz down Unter den Linden or Kudamm but how many people can say they walked the length of Berlin's oldest U-Bahn line?

So join me, your Berlin Companion, and discover the city you might not see otherwise.

You can download any of my other Berlin audio-tours available at VoiceMap. New tours will be coming soon.

Preview Location

Location 1

Welcome to Kreuzberg: U-Bahnhof Platz der Luftbrücke

Welcome to the tour of West Kreuzberg. You should be standing outside the Platz der Luftbrücke subway station next to the long, curved facade of a large building – part of the historical Tempelhof Airport. Can you see the large stome eagle on the corner of the building, above ... Welcome to the tour of West Kreuzberg. You should be standing outside the Platz der Luftbrücke subway station next to the long, curved facade of a large building – part of the historical Tempelhof Airport. Can you see the large stome eagle on the corner of the building, above the gate passage?
On the corner of the building, above a gate passage, is a large stone eagle.

Hello. My name is Beata. Like 80% of all Berliners Iiving in the inner city, I'm not from Berlin: I moved here in 2003. I'm the author of Berlin's history blog, Kreuzberged, which I turned into a book, called "Notmsparker's Berlin Companion". Notmsparker is me.

I'm also one of those people who cannot help being curious. Where others might see a pavement or a house, I see a question: “Who built it, and why like this? And how can I find out?”

Today, I'd like to take you for a walk through Tempelhofer Vorstadt, literally the suburbs of Tempelhof. This area is part of the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg now. But originally it was the land of the fathers of Tempelhof, which was part of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, and borders on Kreuzberg less than 100m away from here.

Tempelhof was established in the 13th century by the Crusaders, the Knights of the Temple. That's serious history: it makes Tempelhof over 700 years old. By comparison, Kreuzberg wasn't even officially born until 1920.

Despite this, history is something that you literally stumble upon as you walk in Kreuzberg, too: from Kaiser's boulevard, to a forgotten street lost in time; from the cradle of the computer to a wonderful park filled with surprises; from hidden WWII bunkers to 19th-century Berlin at its best.

And from Prussian generals, through the most famous font foundry worldwide, to chocolate.

Right then! Let's begin. Turn so that the curved building is on your right-hand side, and walk to the corner ahead, passing the Nazi Third Reich stone eagle as you walk.

As we go, let me quickly explain how this tour works: the comments play automatically as you move. That means you can put your phone in your pocket and keep walking. I'll tell you where to go.

You can, of course, press "play", "pause" or “stop” yourself. Don't worry about occasional silence. I will be back when you've reached the next stop. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Viktoriapark

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
12101 Berlin, Germany
Total distance

3km
Final location
Mehringdamm 71-61, 10961 Berlin, Germany
Distance back to start location

561.16m

Directions to Starting Point

Start: Platz d. Luftbrücke, 12101 Berlin

This tour begins at the entrance to the Underground Station, or "U-bahnof", "Platz der Luftbrücke". We'll begin outside Exit Mehringdamm/Fidicinstraße, on the corner of Mehringdamm and Platz der Luftbrücke. In front you, just across the street, is a 1970s concrete building with yellow-framed windows.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

XBerg Hütte on top of the Kreuzberg and before the Memorial (a public loo turned into a wonderful little restaurant): food, coffee, mulled wine, etc.

Villa Tomasa in Kreuzbergstraße

E.T.A. Hoffmann Restaurant in Yorckstraße 83 (part of Riehmers Hofgarten): classy restaurant with delicious food, also a hotel,

Al-Arz, a fantastic Lebanese bistro at Mehringdamm 63,

Dolden Mädel (where the Kaiserstein used to be) on the corner of Mehringdamm and Kreuzbergstraße: great food, excellent craft beer and don't forgot to pop down to the loo to have a look at those historical doors!

Best time of day

Any time during the day apart from rush hours. The walk is most pleasant on the weekend but it's not a must.

Precautions

Be careful not to walk on to the admittedly very poorly marked bike lanes on the left edge of Mehringdamm. Cyclists can be rather upset if you do. Also, make sure you wear comfy, non-slip shoes: parts of the route require gentle climbing and descending, which might be risky in rainy or frosty weather if your footwear is of the wrong kind.

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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.”