Travel podcasts for city break fans. All the historical and cultural background you need to enjoy your visit.
Episodes
Monday Jan 30, 2023
Monday Jan 30, 2023
Eight inspirational ideas for novels set in Berlin, all of which bring their own distinctive view of the city. Read them to inform an upcoming trip, to reminisce about the Berlin you have visited or simply to see the city from lots of different perspectives.
Useful Links
The 8 featured novels
Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane
The Luminous Life of Lily Aphrodite by Beatrice Collin
Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
Fatherland by Robert Harris
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carré
Friedrichstrasse 19 by Emma Harding
Book of Clouds by Chloe Aridjis
2 Berlin anthologies
City Lit Berlin Edited by Heather Reyes
Berlin, A Literary Guide for Travellers by Paul Sullivan and Marcel Krueger
Berlin Tourist Information Offices
Inspiring Germany Tourist Information
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
We open with some quotes on Berlin from the likes of David Bowie ('the greatest cultural extravaganza anyone could imagine') and Nikita Khrushchev ('the testicle of the west'), then follows the main content: reviews of 4 non-fiction books which tell the story of Berlin and its residents from different angles. They include a family history, the history of a house, an escape story and an investigation into the inner workings of East Germany.
Reading for this post
The House by the Lake by Thomas Harding
Stasiland by Anna Funder
Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman
Red Love by Maxim Leo
Two Berlin Anthologies
City Lit Berlin Edited by Heather Reyes
Berlin, A Traveller's Guide by Paul Sullivan and Marcel Krueger
Tourist Information
Berlin Tourist Information Offices
Inspiring Germany Tourist Information
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!
Wednesday Jan 04, 2023
Wednesday Jan 04, 2023
Ideas for a day trip from Berlin to Lake Wannsee, where Berliners love to swim and enjoy the lakeside beach and surrounding forest. Plus what to visit nearby - an exotic island, a couple of royal castles, an artist's hideaway, a villa steeped in WW2 history and the real Bridge of Spies. Maybe you need longer than a day to visit, but you can get all the info here in under half an hour!
Useful Links
Lake Wannsee Lido
Peacock Island Castle
Glienicke Palace
Glienicke Bridge (The Bridge of Spies)
Wannsee Conference House
Max Liebermann House
Lakes mentioned
Wannsee - Dämeritzsee - Schlachtensee - Müggelsee - Tegeler See
Berlin Tourist Information Offices
Inspiring Germany Tourist Information
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
A visit to Charlottenburg, once the summer palace of the Hohenzollerns who ruled Prussia for 5 centuries. Tips on what to look out for, plus stories of those connected with it: Sophie Charlotte, for whom the original palace was built, Frederick the Great who built a fancy new wing, and the popular Queen Luisa, around whom court life revolved in the early 19th century.
Reading suggestion
Frederick the Great: King of Prussia by Tim Blanning
Useful links
Charlottenburg Old Palace
Charlottenburg Palace New Wing
Charlottenburg Palace New Pavilion
Charlottenburg Palace Belvedere
Charlottenburg Palace Mausoleum
Berlin Tourist Information Offices
Inspiring Germany Tourist Information
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Jewish culture in Berlin goes back hundreds of years and we visit the places where you can discover it. The New Synagogue, also known as the Centrum Judaicum, and the Jewish Museum are the two main centres of Jewish heritage in the city today, but there are others too, plus Jewish cemeteries and memorials and two ideas for guided walking tours.
Reading suggestions
The Wandering Jews by Joseph Roth
Jews in Berlin by Andreas Nachama
Useful links
The New Synagogue
The Jewish Museum
The Old Jewish Cemetery
The Jewish Cemetery
The Otto Weidt Museum
Walking Tour Discovering Traces of Jewish Life
Walking Tour Jewish Berlin Heritage Tour
Berlin Tourist Information Offices
Inspiring Germany Tourist Information
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
An exploration of Berlin as a city of film and cinema. Two museums, a look back at Berlin cinema history and a visit to the Berlinale, the city's annual highly influential film festival. Plus tips on which Berlin cinemas to try out and suggestions for films set in Berlin, some German language (available with English subtitles) and some in English.
Film suggestions In German (all available with English subtitles)
The Blue Angel
Wings of Desire
Run Lola Run
Goodbye, Lenin
Downfall
The Lives of Others
In English
Cabaret
Bridge of Spies
Alone in Berlin
Useful links
The Museum for Film and Television
The Film Park Babelsberg
Berlinale Festival Programme
General Information on Berlin Cinemas
CinemaxX
Odeon
Kulturbrauererei Cinema
Spandau Open Air Cinema
Berlin Tourist Information Offices
Inspiring Germany Tourist Information
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
Fancy adding a theatre or concert visit to your Berlin itinerary? Here's a look at music in Berlin, with snippets of history, from Frederick the Great to Marlene Dietrich, plus a rundown of the main venues where you'll find all best concerts, operas and musicals. Then, an overview of theatre in Berlin, and advice on finding performances to enjoy even if you don't speak German.
Useful links
Music
Concert halls (general info)
Konzerthaus
Berlin Philharmonic
Residenzkonzerte at Charlottenburg
Opera in Berlin (general info)
Deutsche Oper
Statsoper Unter den Linden
Komische Oper
Neukollnischer Oper
Theatre
Theatre (general info)
Deutsches Theater
Theater des Westens
Friedrichspalast
General
Berlin Tourist Information Offices
Inspiring Germany Tourist Information
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
There’s so much more to art in Berlin than the Top 3 Galleries from our last episode. So here’s a look at an artist who has a museum dedicated to her (Käthe Kollwitz), a 20th century art movement with strong links to Berlin (Bauhaus) and the best of the rest: where to find specialist galleries, modern art and street art in Berlin.
Useful links
Käthe Kollwitz Museum Selection of work by Käthe Kollwitz
Bauhaus Archive Museum
Selection of Bauhaus work to view online
More galleries
Akademie der Künste
Asian Art gallery in the Humboldt Forum
The Brücke Museum in Dahlem
The Georg Kolbe Museum
Modern Art
The Hamburger Bahnhof
KINDL, the Centre for Contemporary Art
The KW Institute for Contemporary Art
Berlinische Galerie
Street Art
Visit Berlin information on street art
11 ideas for street art tours in Berlin
Berlin Tourist Information Offices
Inspiring Germany Tourist Information
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!
Wednesday Oct 05, 2022
Wednesday Oct 05, 2022
There are so many art galleries in Berlin that it's difficult to choose which to visit. We provide a run-down of the top three in this episode and save the best of the rest for next time! So here's what you need to know about the Gemäldegalerie, the Alte Nationalgalerie and the Neue Nationalgalerie which between them cover everything from the Middle Ages to post World War 2.
Useful links
Gemäldegalerie
Alte Nationalgalerie
Neue Nationalgalerie
Berlin Tourist Information Offices
Inspiring Germany Tourist Information
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!
Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
What has happened to the GDR (German Democratic Republic), the country which was created when the Berlin Wall went up and which then disappeared when it came down? What was life in East Berlin like between August 1961 and November 1989? And where in today’s Berlin can you find out all about it? Here are three museum suggestions, plus a little of what they tell us.
Reading suggestions for this post
Red Love by Maxim Leo
Stasiland by Anna Funder
The House by the Lake by Thomas Harding
Film suggestions
The Lives of Others
Goodbye, Lenin
Useful links
The DDR Museum
The Stasi Museum
Hohenschonhausen Museum and Memorial
Berlin Tourist Information Centres
Inspiring Germany Tourist Information
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://citybreakspodcast.co.uk/
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!