This page provides an overview of the tours and lectures arranged by the Berlin Historical Association in 2016.
10 December 2016 - Day tour to Quedlinburg
For nearly 200 years Quedlinburg was a favourite imperial residence and site of imperial diets. Quedlinburg has more half-timbered houses than any other town in Germany. The town escaped destruction during World War II and was liberated by the U.S. Army. Although treasured in GDR days, Quedlinburg was not very well preserved. Today the restored town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a joy to explore.
18 November 2016 - Federal Finance Ministry
The German Federal Finance Ministry is located in Wilhelmstrasse, in one of the few buildings to survive the war. It served as the headquarters of the Reich Aviation Ministry until the end of the war and was Herman Göring’s centre of power. Following reunification, parts of the building were occupied by the Treuhandanstalt, the agency charged with privatising the East German economy. The German Finance Ministry transferred its head office from Bonn to this building in 1999.
9 November 2016 - Special Exhibition at the Allied Museum
This special exhibition at the Allied Museum, entitled "100 Objects. Berlin during The Cold War", presents 100 artefacts (rather than copies) that actually stem from the Cold War and have an historical story to tell, either from the West or from the East. Together, the seemingly commonplace, everyday items create a multi-faceted picture of the era.
9 October 2016 - Ship Lift (Schiffshebewerk) Niederfinow
The Ship Lift at Niederfinow, which was begun in 1927 and commissioned in 1934, is both the oldest and the largest of the four ship lifts in Germany. Barges and other vessels are transported from one level to another through a vertical height of 36 metres. However, despite its size, a new, larger ship lift adjacent to this lift is currently nearing completion, and is planned to enter service in 2017.
17 September 2016 - Former Allied and Soviet Checkpoints
Checkpoint Charlie in the heart of Berlin was the most famous of the three former Allied Checkpoints; and the only one through which members of the Allied forces were allowed to pass when visiting East Berlin. However, there were two other Allied Checkpoints at the start and finish of the transit route (the so-called Autobahn Corridor) between West Germany and West Berlin that the Allies were required to use. This tour of the former Allied Checkpoints at Helmstedt (Alpha), Dreilinden (Bravo) and Friedrichstrasse (Charlie) includes concurrent visits to the former Soviet and East German Checkpoints at Marienborn as well as the site of the former original Soviet Checkpoint at Albrechts Teerofen.
24 August 2016 - Lecture
Michelle Logsdon, the Cultural Attaché at the US Embassy, spoke to members about memories of her first diplomatic posting in East Berlin, in a talk entitled "Berlin, Berlin...your heart knows no Walls". Her reminiscences of the events leading up to the "Fall of the Wall" as seen through the eyes of a young foreign service officer were both thoughtful and poignant, and raised many interesting questions from the audience.
16 July 2016 Science Quarter Berlin-Dahlem
25 June 2016 Glienicke Bridge
4 June 2016 Schönhausen Palace
29 May 2016 Former British Sector HQ
19 May 2016 AGM and talk by Australian Ambassador, H.E. David Ritchie AO
13 May 2016 ARD Studio
20 April 2016 Bellevue Palace
13 March 2016 Glienicke Palace
25 February 2016 Lecture "Who was a Nazi?" Denazification in Germany after 1945.
18 February 2016 Federal Foreign Ministry Archives
15 January 2016 - BMW Motorcycle Factory Berlin
BMW began production of motorcycles in this factory shortly after the end of WWII. Nowadays, up to 700 motorcycles are produced per day in this modern factory by approximately 2,000 employees.