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.