MESMERISING MOSAICS
TOWERING MEMORIALS
ENDLESS OSTALGIE
October 02 ⇾ October 10
In addition to our regular group departures to East Germany, we also offer tailored services for private travel parties and lone wolves alike. Get in touch for more info on our customised GDR Tours!
THE ROUTE
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DAY 1 TO DAY 2 • Berlin, HAUPTSTADT DER DDR
Wilkommen in Berlin! Good morning meet-and-greet with your guide at our hotel of choice in East Berlin, the Hauptstadt (capital) of the bygone DDR, aka German Democratic Republic.
We’ll spend the next two days exploring the lesser known sights of East Berlin, a diversely multilayered and endlessly fascinating urban concoction of GDR-made architectural wonders, modernist mosaics, socialist-realist monuments, and magnificent Soviet war memorials.
Being this a Soviet Tours journey, we will keep safe distance from overrated (and overcrowded) touristy spots – such as Checkpoint Charlie and East Side Gallery – and include, instead, a de rigueur visit to the Soviet-German Museum Karlshorst.
Overnights in East Berlin.
DAY 3 • SOVIET MEMORIES
Early morning visit to the extensive ensemble of USSR-era heirlooms dotting Wünsdorf-Waldstadt, a former Soviet military city home to one of the last Lenin statues still left standing in Germany.
We’ll then drive south onto the small town of Baruth to marvel at the local Soviet War Memorial and then continue west to check out the remnants of Altes Lager, one of the largest Soviet airports in East Germany.
In the afternoon we’ll then make a quick stop at the Soviet and Italian graveyards in Treuenbrietzen and then move onto the historic town of Bald Belzig for the night.
Overnight in Bald Belzig.
DAY 4 • URBAN DREAMS
In the morning we will enter Sachsen-Anhalt, also known by the curious sobriquet Land of the Early Birds, one of the least visited federal states in Germany.
First we’ll stop in the state capital Magdeburg, renowned in the GDR for its stained window and glass artworks, and then move further south to the steampunk satellite city of Halle Neustadt, a broken urban dream of raw concrete and monumental public art.
Overnight in Halle.
DAY 5 • SOCIALIST HEIRLOOMS
We’ll leave Halle after breakfast and – after a quick GDR-heritage photo stop in Merseburg – head for Leipzig, a major industrial and cultural centre of the former GDR famous for its stylish neon signs from the golden days of East German advertising.
We’ll spend the rest of the day scouring the many socialism-smacking heirlooms of Leipzig’s recent past and then continue south towards the tranquil city of Zeitz, within the geographical triangle formed by the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony.
Overnight in Zeitz.
DAY 6 • KARL MARX CITY
In the morning hours we’ll enter the charming state of Thuringia, also known as Green Heart of Germany, and pay a visit to the austerely beautiful city of Gera with its fair share of architectural and monumental marvels.
Around lunchtime we’ll then find ourselves in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now known as Chemnitz), a nostalgic socialist-modernist town with a truly impressive assortment of GDR-era public artworks, including a gargantuan bust of none other than Karl Marx himself.
If time allows, we’ll also visit the nearby Kosmonautenzentrum, a small museum-cum-education-centre dedicated to the first German cosmonaut: Herr Sigmund Jähn.
Overnight in Karl-Marx-Stadt.
DAY 7 • SLAVIC ROOTS
After breakfast we’ll head for the former mining town of Freiberg and then further east towards Dresden, where we’ll visit the spectacular Kulturpalast, an architectonic doppelgänger of the now demolished Palast der Republik in Berlin.
In the afternoon we’ll leave Dresden and enter the historical region of Lusatia, homeland of the Sorbs, a predominantly Catholic ethnic minority that speaks a rather obscure Slavic language closely related to Polish.
Highlights of our Lusatian detour will include the traditional Sorbian villages of Chrósćicy and Pančicy-Kukow, a few GDR-era masterpieces of monumental art, and a traditional Sorbian dinner in the quaint historical centre of Bautzen (Budyšin in Sorbian).
Overnight in Bautzen.
BESPOKE EXPERIENCES
A traditional Sorbian tasting experience in Bautzen, a raucous night of beers and gloom in a properly smoky German Raucherkneipe in Berlin, and an in-depth Eastern Bloc cultural immersion in a few selected Kulturhäuser (Houses of Culture) still standing strong since the heydays of the GDR.
DAY 8 • PLANNED FUTURES
We’ll start the day with a short transfer to the University of Cottbus, abundant in splendid GDR-era public artworks, and a visit to the the planned city of Hoyerswerda and its remarkable Kulturhaus (House of Culture).
Next, we shall proceed to the border town of Gubin, home to a rather unusual monument dedicated to Wilhelm Pieck, the first president of the German Democratic Republic, and then continue our journey north to Eisenhüttenstadt, formerly known as Stalinstadt, a quintessential socialist idyll replete with remarkable architectural treasures and monumental splendours.
Overnight in Eisenhüttenstadt.
DAY 9 • AUFERSTANDEN AUS RUINEN
We’ll start the day with a visit to Frankfurt Oder and its unique Karl Marx Memorial and then roll through a romantic landscape of fens, reedbeds, and grass-covered natural banks flanking the flood plain of the Oder, a highly symbolic river drawing the current border between Poland and Germany.
After lunch, we’ll make a final stop at the humbling war memorial commemorating the Battle of the Seelow Heights, one of the last assaults on large entrenched defensive positions during the Second World War.
In the late afternoon hours, we’ll eventually return to Berlin for a conclusive pint of refreshing German lager and a final auf Wiedersehen to those not continuing north on our highly recommended Baltic Sea Extension (see below).
End of the tour.
BALTIC SEA EXTENSION | 3 DAYS - 2 NIGHTS | 995 €
After a restoring night at our hotel of choice in Berlin, we’ll embark on a three-day odyssey along the shorelines of the Ostsee: from a lost Soviet graveyard near the eastern fishing port of Ueckermünde to an Estonian-made Lenin still standing in the outskirts of Schwerin. Main attractions along our gallivanting around the Baltic lowlands will also include the gritty port city of Rostock, the halcyon sceneries of the Bay of Greifswald, and the secluded hamlet of Peenemünde, the site where the world's first functional large-scale liquid-propellant rocket, the notorious V-2, was developed. Get in touch for more info on our Baltic Sea Extension!
3495 €
INCLUSIONS
Double/twin hotel accommodation (breakfast included), private transport in Germany (car/minivan), all entrance fees, English-speaking guiding service, 24/7 on-site and remote assistance.
EXCLUSIONS
Single supplement, international flights, main meals (lunches and dinners), extra drinks, visa fees (if required), tips, travel insurance.
