Itinerary for: The Cold War, The Stasi and the Fall of the Berlin Wall (7GWAV/1)

7-Day Break

• Day 1 – Local departure by coach from your
  chosen local joining point, then onwards to Belgium for an overnight
  stay.


• Day 2 – Möhne Dam (included). From Belgium en
  route to Berlin we call at the Ruhr Valley and see the huge Möhne Dam,
  which was heroically breached by the men and Lancasters of 617 Squadron
  in May 1943. You can walk on the top of the Dam and see the outline of
  the breach made by the ‘bouncing bombs’, dropped by the squadron under
  the leadership of Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC. From here we drive
  across the northern plain of Germany to its capital Berlin, where we
  stay for three nights. B


• Day 3 – Berlin Tour (included); Secrets of Cold
  War Berlin (optional). This morning join our included sightseeing tour
  with your Specialist Historical Guide. We look at the building of the
  Berlin Wall, and the reasons for it being installed. In place for 28
  years, 2 months and 28 days, the Wall had an enormous effect on the
  political, military and personal lives of thousands of people in
  Germany. On November 9th, 1989, thousands of GDR citizens and East
  Berliners assembled, demanding entry into West Berlin at the station’s
  bridge and at 9.20pm, the Wall ‘fell’, as local guards opened the
  Checkpoint and people could pass freely into West Berlin. We later visit
  the world-famous Checkpoint Charlie Museum to view the artefacts and
  pictures of that time. We will walk through the checkpoint to view the
  memorial site of Peter Fechter, a young man shot while trying to escape
  to the West. We will see the longest remaining section of the wall at
  the East Side Gallery, 1300 metres of this great barrier stand beside
  the Oberbaum Bridge, an official crossing point for Berliners. In the
  afternoon join our optional ‘Secrets of Cold War Berlin’ excursion. We
  will visit the Stasi (East German Secret Police) Headquarters at
  Normannenstrasse where a superb collection of artefacts explains the
  paranoid attitude of the State Secret Police during the Cold War.  B


• Day 4 – Saschenhausen, Allied Museum, Potsdam
  and (included). This morning we head to Saschenhausen Concentration Camp
  in Oranienburg to the north of Berlin. The camp was primarily used for
  political prisoners and is now a memorial to the victims of Hitler’s
  ‘Final Solution’. In August 1945, Soviet Special Camp No.7 moved here
  and it was used by Stalinist Soviet occupying forces for the detention
  of Nazi prisoners and collaborators. We dedicate the afternoon to the
  Cold War. In the summer of 1945, the troops of the USA, Great Britain
  and France marched into Berlin as victors. Along with their war ally,
  the Soviet Union, they planned to occupy the German Reich, and liberate
  it from National Socialism. However the Western allies wanted to rebuild
  Germany based on the principles of democracy, whilst the Soviet Union
  considered its own social system to be the desirable model. Berlin
  became the showplace of those conflicts, which went down in history as
  the Cold War. We begin at the Allied Conference Centre in Potsdam, where
  Germany’s fate was decided by the Allies before continuing to the
  Allied Museum. During our visit to the museum we will see the tunnel
  that helped the CIA tap into the Soviet telephone system and get a real
  feel for the Cold War period. B


• Day 5 – Leipzig and Stasi Museum (included);
  Leipzig Sightseeing Tour (optional). We leave Berlin and head to
  Leipzig. Heavily damaged during the Second World War, the city was taken
  by the American troops, but found itself in the Soviet Sector from
  1945. The city was one of the main centres of public protests in the
  lead up to the fall of Communism and State control in Germany. We visit
  the Stasi Museum, part of the public access to the once-secret life that
  controlled the world of every citizen in East Germany. The museum
  occupies the original Stasi headquarters and has remained much as it was
  in the 70’s and 80’s so you will get a feel of what it must have been
  like when fully operational! History here is visible and palpable.
  After, you are free explore the city alone or join our optional guided
  tour with your Specialist Historical Guide. We continue to Halle for an
  overnight stay. B


• Day 6 –  Return to Belgium for an overnight
  stay. B


• Day 7 –  To Calais then return home. B

Included Meals:
B=Breakfast

Please Note: Entrance fees to museums and places of
interest are at extra cost.

Notes

Prices are per
person, based on two sharing

Extras:

• Optional excursions


• Single room supplement £135


• Travel insurance from £40.95

Please Note: Entrance fees to museums and places of interest are at
extra cost.

EarlyBooking Discount Special Offer!

The Cold War,stasi And The Fall Of The Berlin Wall (7 Days) - Silver Service
Tour Ref: 7GWAV/1

20 August 2011 - £499.00

10 September 2011 - £499.00