Jewish Berlin Tour

Explore the long and diverse history of Jews in Berlin

(4.81)

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From $345 privately

Tour Details

About the Tour

Category: History, Jewish Heritage
Duration: 3 hours
Location: Berlin

Photos & Highlights

Discusses 800-year history of Berlin’s Jewish population
Led by a social or cultural historian
Museum Blindenwerkstatt Otto Weidt, New Synagogue, and Rosenstrasse Memorial

Tour Description

This 3-hour Jewish Berlin tour led by a local historian explores the triumphs and sorrows of Jewish thinkers, artists, public figures, and common people who have long called this Berlin home. It includes visits to the New Synagogue and Berlin's Jewish Quarter and traces the 800-year history of Berlin’s Jewish population.

Please note: The Otto-Weidt-Blindenwerkstatt is closing for renovations from 1 January - 1 May 2023. Your guide will adjust the itinerary accordingly.

Jewish Berlin Tour

Jews first arrived in medieval Berlin in the 13th century, when the city was still a provincial town along the swampy lands of the river Spree. Our walk begins in the ruined foundations of the Old Synagogue at Heidereutergasse, which becomes our stage for constructing an image of Jewish history during the Medieval and Renaissance periods.

From here we will make our way to the neighborhood once known as the Scheunenviertel (“Barn Quarter”), the center of Berlin Jewish life from the 18th century onwards. Passing numerous significant sites—including synagogues, schools, and the old Jewish cemetery—we will stroll the streets that were buzzing with activity during West Berlin's golden age when Max Reinhardt staged his plays, Arnold Schoenberg and Kurt Weill composed their music, Max Liebermann and Lesser Ury painted their great works, and Jews in diverse industries became part of the vital fabric of Berlin.

20th Century

As we trace this history, however, we will also discuss the growth of anti-Semitism during the same period, which burst to the surface after the ascendance of the Nazis in 1933 (for more on this, see our Berlin Nazi tour). We'll seek out several memorial installations to the Holocaust, including the Missing House graphic, the Abandoned Room at Koppenplatz, and some of the city’s 1,400 Stolpersteine (“stumbling blocks”). Woven into the city, these memorials commemorate the residents of Berlin—members of the city’s society who had their dignity, rights, and very lives taken from them.

Please note: the Neue Synagoge is closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays. If you wish to do this tour on one of these days, we will visit the Synagoge from the exterior.

FAQ

Is this walk suitable for those with mobility issues?
Although this walk covers quite a bit of ground, there are many opportunities for a rest along the route: public benches at the Rosenstrasse-memorial, the cemetery, Koppenplatz, as well as inside the Otto-Weidt-Museum, Hackesche Höfe, the Girls School, and the New Synagogue. All of the interior venues are equipped with elevators.

Does this tour visit the Jewish Museum?
Due to guiding restrictions at the museum itself, we are not able to include the interior of the Jewish Museum. Clients booking private experiences are welcome to request the inclusion of the museum exterior as part of their itinerary.

Where You'll Start

Tour Experts

Jamie

Jamie has a PhD in Classical Archaeology from Birkbeck College, University of London. He has supervised university-run excavations in Britain, Romania, Germany and Italy, including Pompeii, and worked as a field archaeologist for many years in Germany. He lectured at Humboldt and Durham universities, and has published numerous research articles and a book. Jamie moved to Berlin in 1999 due to a fateful romance with an East German girl with whom he is still together, and started guiding in the city in 2004. He has led thousands of tours, loves his job, and is an engaging and passionate story-teller.

Rachel

Originally hailing from sunny Southern California, Rachel has lived in Berlin since 2013. She originally finished her honours degree in History at the University of Washington and worked for a bit in Seattle, but ultimately decided to leave Mexican food and the Standard system behind and packed her bags for Berlin. Her love for the city started in her third year of University, when she studied Berlin’s history for a semester at the Humboldt University Berlin. She prides herself on giving guests a well rounded and interesting historical perspective. Rachel was also raised in a Jewish home and really enjoys helping Jewish visitors to Berlin explore their heritage. When not in Berlin, Rachel enjoys trips to Potsdam for a fun and exciting way to understand another side of German history, having specialised in Prussian and Cold War history specifically.

Jörg

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85 Reviews – (4.81)

Reviews can only be left by Context customers after they have completed a tour. For more information about our reviews, please see our FAQ.

As always, we greatly appreciated the 'context' offered in understanding a place - through the lenses of history and present-day life. Finn was not only fabulous at weaving these together, but also was wonderfully personable and flexible as we allowed our own narratives to emerge about civil disobedience, reparations, and fulfilling lives.

Beth

May. 9, 2023

finn was superb. what you did right was hire him

Barry

Dec. 2, 2022

Excellent tour of Jewish Berlin. We very much enjoyed our day and found our tour guide to be very well informed, friendly and flexible in how he organized our time together. The pacing and content of the tour was very good. We both came away having learned quite a lot - and eager to learn more!

Robert

Sep. 4, 2022

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