Berlin - Above & Below

This morning, we descend to underground Berlin to explore the communications centre of the Reich. We head out South East of Berlin to Zossen-Wünsdorf, to see the central WWII Wehrmacht communications bunkers housed there. Originally an Imperial German army base before WWI, the town was taken by Red Army soldiers without resistance in 1945 and later transformed into a major Soviet base. It was in the Zeppelin Bunkers built in the 1930s, and in the fortified offices above, where all the major operational decisions during WWII were forged- and where the ill-fated plans to kill Hitler in 1944 were hatched. We proceed to the Russian Bunkers, which the Soviet air command constructed to monitor potential attacks from the west. After lunch, we explore remains of the Berlin Wall in a tour of subterranean city which explores the authentic locations and stories of the tunnels built to escape to west Berlin.

Today we encounter a plethora of archaeological, architectural and artistic remains dating from the medieval period to the 20^thcentury. We start with the archaeological site of Petriplatz which our Guide Lecturer Jamie Sewell excavated, and which sheds new light on Berlin’s medieval origins. We then transfer west to the 16^th-century island fortress at Spandau. Within its walls, multiple phases of medieval fortifications are visible, as well as important original sculptures of the Nazi and communist periods. In the afternoon, we stop at the Charlottenbrücke, scene of one the bloodiest episodes of the Battle for Berlin in 1945, dubbed ‘breakout to the west’. From there we proceed to the infamous sites of Spandau Prison and Barracks, demolished in 1987 shortly after the death of its only inmate, Rudolf Hess. We conclude with a visit to Berlin’s forgotten late 19^th century bulwark, Fort Hahneberg.

Berlin is home to a myriad of bunkers dating to World War II and the Cold War which together constitute a subterranean city, which is evolving as the hulking concrete spaces are being adapted to new uses. We start with the Fichte Bunker, a 19^th century gasometer transformed by Fritz Todt into a 6 level air raid shelter, which provided refuge for approximately 30,000 people in one day in February 1945. We continue to the haunting Feuerle Bunker, originally built as a communications bunker and now modified into a museum displaying oriental art. In the afternoon, we descend below the progenitor of all modern airports, Templehof to explore the Nazi period industrial production areas, aerial photo archive bunker and painted civilian shelters that still lie below.

The monumental relics of Nazi and communist propaganda are explored today. First, we head north of Berlin to visit Goebbels’ grand villa at Bogensee from the outside. It was at this woodland retreat where Hitler’s infamous propaganda minister entertained actresses, and moulded Nazi ideology for mass public consumption. In the 1950s the villa was repurposed, and incorporated into a gigantic new high school complex for the political manipulation of East Germany’s youth. At nearby Wandlitz, we will wander through a walled settlement built exclusively for East Germany’s leadership. In the afternoon, we venture back to Berlin to view the epic Soviet war memorial at Treptow, and finish with East Berlin’s showcase housing project, Karl Marx Allee, western Europe’s first and last monumental Stalinist boulevard.

We climb the ‘rubble mountain’ of Teufelsberg, the Devils Mountain, to the spy station, a British and US Army listening post monitoring communications deep into Soviet territory. Built in the 1960s above millions of tons of dumped war rubble from west Berlin, its fate today is still to be determined. It provides a spectacular view across the cityscape, as well as offering an interesting perspective on Berlin’s past and future. After lunch, our tour ends.