Episodes

Wednesday Aug 24, 2022
Berlin Episode 07 Holocaust and Remembrance
Wednesday Aug 24, 2022
Wednesday Aug 24, 2022
The Holocaust Memorial is deliberately sited right in the heart of Berlin because this is a city which does all it can to make sure the horrors of the holocaust are understood by each new generation. This episode begins with the main facts, then focuses on the places you can visit in Berlin today to learn more and to remember the victims, collectively and, in many cases, also as individuals.
Reading suggestions
Jewish Girl in Wartime Berlin by Inge Deutschkron
The House by the Lake by Thomas Harding
Book of Clouds by Chloe Aridjis
Useful links
https://www.sachsenhausen-sbg.de/ Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum
https://www.museum-blindenwerkstatt.de/de/mbow/
https://www.annefrank.de/
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/block-women
https://www.stolpersteine-berlin.de/en/finding-stolpersteine
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-tourist-info-centres
https://www.germany.travel/en/home.html
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 Aug 10, 2022
Berlin Episode 06 Finding World War 2 in Berlin today
Wednesday Aug 10, 2022
Wednesday Aug 10, 2022
On this episode, we take a tour of places in Berlin connected to World War 2; the square where the Nazis burned books, the stadium where they held their showpiece Olympics in 1936, the sites of their HQ and of Hitler's bunker and the museums which tell tell the story of war, devastation and resistance. A little history and a lot of tips on what to look out for on a visit.
Reading
Berlin 1936 by Oliver Hilmes
Useful links
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/deutsches-historisches-museum
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/book-burning-memorial-bebelplatz
https://olympiastadion.berlin/en/guided-tours/
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/topography-terror
https://www.life.com/history/after-the-fall-photos-of-hitlers-bunker-and-the-ruins-of-berlin/
https://www.gdw-berlin.de/en/home/
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-tourist-info-centres
https://www.germany.travel/en/home.html
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 Jul 27, 2022
Berlin Episode 05 Four Berlin Squares
Wednesday Jul 27, 2022
Wednesday Jul 27, 2022
A tour of four main squares in Berlin: a little history and tips on what to look out for in each. Baroque beauty in Gendarmenmarkt, the book-burning memorial on Bebelplatz, finding the old East Germany at Alexanderplatz and lastly Potsdamer Platz, the heart of pre-war Berlin which is now an architectural showpiece, and a shopping and cultural hub.
Useful links
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/franzosischer-dom-french-cathedral
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/deutscher-dom
https://www.konzerthaus.de/de/
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/bebelplatz
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/st-hedwigs-kathedrale
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-television-tower
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/marienkirche
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/potsdamer-platz
http://qrcobble.com/en/one-of-the-most-innovative-berlin-attraction/
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-tourist-info-centres
https://www.germany.travel/en/home.html
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 Jul 13, 2022
Berlin Episode 04 The Tiergarten and the Ku’Damm
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
There might be fewer 'must-sees' in the western half of Berlin than further east, but they are winners: a glorious park which began life as a 16th century royal hunting ground and is today the green heart of everyone's Berlin; and a fascinating church, rebuilt after the devastation of World War II, combining the remains with a beautiful new church, forming both a memorial of reconciliation and a modern place of worship. Oh, and the city's very classiest department store. We guide you round the area and fill in the history and culture which will enhance your visit.
Useful links
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/tiergarten
https://www.berlin.de/sehenswuerdigkeiten/3560160-3558930-siegessaeule.html (Victory Column)
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/kaiser-wilhelm-memorial-church
https://www.zoo-berlin.de/en
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-tourist-info-centres
https://www.germany.travel/en/home.html
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 Jun 29, 2022
Berlin Episode 03 Unter den Linden
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
A wander down Berlin's most elegant street, Unter den Linden, to see its baroque splendour, its iconic buildings - think cathedrals, the opera house and the poignant war memorial, the Neue Wache - and maybe visit a museum or two on an island which is packed full of antiquities and art. Here is a little history, plus lots of tips on how to make the most of a day here in the heart of Berlin.
Useful links
https://www.berlinerdom.de (Berlin Cathedral)
https://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en (The State Opera Unter den Linden)
https://www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de (St Hedwig's Cathedral)
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/neue-wache-memorial (War Memorial)
https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/museumsinsel-berlin/home (Museum Island)
https://www.humboldtforum.org/en (Humboldt Forum)
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-tourist-info-centres
https://www.germany.travel/en/home.html
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 Jun 15, 2022
Berlin Episode 02 The Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
On a first trip to Berlin you'll probably head straight for the Parliament or the Brandenburg Gate. We're doing the same, and handily, they are close together and near to lots of other top sites. We bring you a little history to explain why these two iconic monuments represent everything dear to today's Berliners - lessons from history and the freedom enjoyed in the capital today - and explain what to look out for when you visit.
Reading
Berlin, the Story of a City by Barney White-Spunner
Useful links
https://www.bundestag.de/en/visittheBundestag
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-tourist-info-centres
https://www.germany.travel/en/home.html
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 Jun 01, 2022
Berlin Episode 01 Introduction
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
There's nowhere like Berlin. A turbulent history, an unrivalled cultural richness, green and modern and laid back all at once, truly a city break destination with plenty for everyone. Here is an overview of the series, offering some geographical, historical and cultural details to set the scene for the remaining 19 episodes when we will tour all the main sites, telling you the stories behind them and bringing them to life.
Reading
City Lit Berlin edited by Heather Reyes Berlin, A Literary Guide for Travellers by Paul Sullivan and Marcel Krueger
Useful links
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-tourist-info-centres
https://www.germany.travel/en/home.html

Wednesday May 18, 2022
Edinburgh Episode 16 Anthology
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Wednesday May 18, 2022
A tour of Edinburgh through the eyes of the travellers, poets and novelists who captured its essence. London, compared to Edinburgh, wrote Charlotte Bronte, is as 'prose compared to poetry.' Well, we bring you lots of both, from centuries past and right up to the present day.
Useful links:
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 Edinburgh 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 May 04, 2022
Edinburgh Episode 15 Food
Wednesday May 04, 2022
Wednesday May 04, 2022
A chance to dream of wonderful Scottish produce (think highland beef, Scottish salmon, raspberries), to unravel some mysteries (What are rumbledethumps? Or clootie dumplings?), to discover what’s in Scotch broth and what Burns wrote in his ‘Address to a Haggis’ and to reminisce about a proper Edinburgh afternoon tea in the 1920s. We may even mention the deep-fried Mars bar.
Useful links:
https://foodanddrink.scotsman.com
https://www.johnniewalker.com/en-gb/visit-us-princes-street
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 Edinburgh 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 Apr 20, 2022
Edinburgh Episode 14 Art
Wednesday Apr 20, 2022
Wednesday Apr 20, 2022
A tour of Edinburgh's galleries and a chance to get to know some of Scotland's best-known artists and paintings. That includes portraits of royalty and Enlightenment thinkers, plus the great and the good from more recent times: Sir Chris Hoy, Ian Rankin, Muriels Spark and Gray. We also cover Scottish landscape painting and scenes from rural life in the past: Pitlessie Fair, Neil Gow, (18th century touring fiddler extraordinaire), an ice-skating vicar and The Monarch of the Glen.
Useful links:
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-gallery
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-portrait-gallery
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-gallery-modern-art
https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/venue/city-art-centre
https://www.rct.uk/visit/the-queens-gallery-palace-of-holyroodhouse
https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/georgian-house
https://www.rbge.org.uk (Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh)
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 Edinburgh 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!