Protest and the City: Berlin and the History of Resistance

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This guided tour illuminates Berlin's protest culture and shows important places of resistance all over the city center.

Protest is firmly anchored in Berlin's cultural heritage. Throughout the city's 800-year history, people have repeatedly made their voices heard through uprisings and demonstrations. This two-hour city tour through Berlin-Mitte sheds light on the capital's history of protest and offers both historical knowledge and exciting anecdotes.

The tour starts on Alexanderplatz. The famous square is not only the urban centre of former East Berlin and one of the city's most important sights - it is also a prime example of socialist architecture and symbolically stands for the entire history of Berlin. Together with the tour guide, the participants can take a closer look at the "Alex" and follow in the footsteps of momentous protests.

Berlin's History of Disobedience

The history of protest in Berlin began just a short walk from Alexanderplatz. Where the rebuilt Berlin Palace stands today, citizens made their displeasure seen and heard during the construction of the original palace by flooding the building site. This action marked the birth of "Berlin Unwillingness" and set the course for a long history of disobedience in the city.

Nearby, a memorial commemorates the largest spontaneous demonstration in the Third Reich. In the winter of 1943, hundreds of women protested against the arrest of their Jewish husbands by the National Socialists. The peaceful demonstrations of 1989 are equally as inextricably linked to Berlin. The famous protests of thousands of people contributed significantly to the fall of the Berlin Wall and thus to the reunification of Germany and Berlin.

Tour details

• Length: 2 hours
• Cost: €20 euro per person, reduced fee for children, students and seniors: €15
• Highlights: Stories of courageous Berliners from medieval times until 1989, follow the democratic movement leading to the March Revolution in 1848, learn about the only spontaneous demonstration to resist the Nazis, visit the sites of events that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, see the last remnants of the socialist Palace of the Republic.
• Meeting Point: outside Rotes Rathaus underground station opposite the Red Town Hall (Rotes Rathaus). Look for your guide holding an orange umbrella
• Finish: by the World Clock (Weltzeituhr), Alexanderplatz