Once upon a time, not very long ago, Berlin was not one city, but two. This 2.5-hour walk, part of our family program, gives children of all ages insight into what life was like during the days when the Berlin Wall separated the city. The combination of legendary sights, engaging activities, and astonishing stories will captivate families—whether return visitors or Berlin first-timers.

(If you'd like looking for a tour tailored for adults, please see our Berlin Wall tour.)

In the aftermath of World War II, Germany’s future was deeply uncertain. An enormous wall surrounded the western part of the city, which, at the time, was divided up between the American, British and French, who had helped to liberate Berlin at the end of World War II. The eastern side was controlled by the USSR, whose forces had been instrumental in defeating the Nazis.

The concrete divider tore the city apart like never before. Children were separated from their parents, and people were no longer able to get to work. With the Wall in place, the differences between East and West became more pronounced. Traces of this can be seen all over the city today, from architecture to traffic signals, streetlights to street art. So what was it like to live in a city cut in half? How did life differ in the East and the West? Our docent will be on hand to spark children’s imaginations with activities and discussions about growing up in Berlin during that singular era.

We’ll start at the East Side Gallery, a colorfully decorated part of the original Berlin Wall—the longest remaining stretch—and act out what it might have been like as a family separated by the Wall. We’ll examine the pictures and talk about what they mean, and imagine what we might draw ourselves. Then we’ll jump on the S-Bahn train to Alexanderplatz, where we'll shoot to the top of the iconic TV Tower with skip-the-line tickets to take in panoramic views of the city. From 200 meters up, there are still plenty of visible signs of a city with two very different stories to tell.