Join Tiny World Tours on a unique immersive expedition that will explore Berlin’s history through the aesthetics and politics of architecture and public spaces across history, with an emphasis on the 20th century. On guided walks and unique insider / behind-the-scenes experiences, we’ll visit varied neighborhoods and gain an appreciation of the many cultural contributions of this metropolis. A particular focus will be on Modernist buildings from the 1920’s, but we’ll also take time to get to know some up-and-coming districts, with time for shopping and culinary explorations.
We’ll celebrate the Bauhaus 100th anniversary year with a special overnight trip to Dessau, an important base for the utopian art and design school, where we will dine in a Bauhaus-designed restaurant and stay in an original Bauhaus dormitory.
Day by Day Itinerary
August 11-12 Our tour begins Sunday, August 11, with an overnight excursion to Dessau. We’ll gather in Berlin at 2:00 pm and depart for the former East German city most closely associated with the Bauhaus, where the school was active for the longest period of time, 1925–1932. Most of the Bauhaus Dessau buildings we will see on this tour are considered icons of 20th century architecture. We will have dinner in the legendary Kornhaus Restaurant (1929-1930, by Carl Fieger) overlooking the Elbe river. We will spend the night in simple rooms in the historic studio building (also known as the Prellerhaus) completed in 1926. The next morning, we’ll visit more Dessau buildings, returning to Berlin via afternoon train. We’ll check into the Mandala Suites hotel located the Mitte district, and have the rest of the evening on our own.
August 13 Our morning is focused on a private tour of the meticulously restored 1920’s residence “Taute’s Heim” (Taut’s Home) by one of its owner/restorers who will also lead us on a tour of the UNESCO-recognized horseshoe-shaped Hufeisensiedlung 1920s housing estate where it is located. For the afternoon, we’ll tour Pariser Platz, Parliamentary district and Potsdamer Platz + KulturForum with a local architect/architecture expert to understand how these central districts were shaped, and the role they play in daily life of today’s Germany.
August 14th Today we venture to the city center of East Berlin, and its expansive, large-scale public space surrounding the iconic TV tower at Alexanderplatz, and learn how it was designed to radiate international modernity of the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR). Other buildings we’ll see in the East include House of the Teacher and Convention Centre (BCC, Hermann Hensemann), House of Travel, House of the Press, Rathauspassagen residential building (Heinz Graffunder), Red Town Hall, Humboldt Forum (reconstruction of the City Palace), and Staatsratsgebäude. Another key part of East Berlin’s daily experience is Karl Marx Alle, with its representative facades and floor plans that follow the concept of “National Tradition”. Buildings along this monumental avenue, many with the so-called “sugarbaker-style,” were supposed to make palaces available to the working class of the young GDR. This evening we’ll experience “Street Food Thursday” at Markthalle Neun in the Kreuzberg neighborhood, full of small shops and fun pubs.
August 15 On our final day together, we’ll cut through the inner city, and end at Museum Island, where you’ll have time to see world-renowned treasures in spectacular museum spaces. Our path starts with Friedrichstraße, and one of the most famous urban buildings of classic modernism, the IG Metall house by Erich Mendelsohn dating from 1927. The area of southern Friedrichstadt, the central area of the Internationale Bauausstellung in the years 1984-87, was a place of pilgrimage for architects in the 80s.
Today, there’s a new feeling, focused on live/work lifestyles around the former central flower market and the new media campus of the Axel Springer publishing house at Checkpoint Charlie. The tour ends with the key projects in the historical heart of Berlins center: the construction sites of the Humboldt Forum (former city palace) and the new entrance building to the Museum Island. The afternoon is on your own, or join an Art Highlights tour.
August 16 Return home, or work with Tiny World Tours for a customized extended stay.
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Through Architects’ Eyes: Berlin is for you if you:
Enjoy meeting new people from around the world
Prefer small group experiences led by experts, balanced with time to explore on your own
Explore buildings and landscapes inside and out
Enjoy learning through stories, not just the facts
Seek a different experience each day
Enjoy walking as part of knowing—on this trip we’ll walk 3-5 miles each day
Select Highlights:
• Enjoy a welcome group dinner together at an iconic Bauhaus restaurant along the Elbe river in Dessau
• Spend a night in an iconic Bauhaus building in Dessau, and tour other iconic Bauhaus Dessau buildings
• Private tour of the meticulously restored 1920’s residence “Taute’s Heim” by one of its owners/restorers
• Private tours of a variety of Berlin neighborhoods by English-speaking architects as our guides
• Dinner at a lively food hall in Berlin’s vibrant Kreuzberg neighborhood
What’s included:
5 nights hotel accommodation, double occupancy
3 dinners
Admissions to museums on tour
Local transportation: charter buses, trains, public transportation
Services of guides and experts
Note: We will be delighted to advise you regarding a possible pre-tour early arrival or post-tour itinerary extension. Please advise us of your interest.
Tour Cost $2,500 per person (double occupancy)*
Maximum # of participants: 14
* single supplement for single traveler requiring their own private room, $330 (depending on availability)
(Itinerary subject to change according to unforeseen circumstances / opportunities)
Guests are responsible for their own international transport to Berlin.
Select/Recommended Recent News and Magazine Articles
30 April 2019 New York Times “What Was The Bauhaus?”
3 March 2019 AFAR Magazine Article “Where to Celebrate 100 Years of Bauhaus in Germany This Year”
20 March 2019 Artsy Magazine Article “The Bauhaus Has Shaped Our World for 100 Years”
