Insider Educational Nr. 1 in 2025 - 'Abgeordnetenhaus' - Berlin's State Parliment

 
Parliment Building of the State of Berlin

What a pleasure to tour inside of one of Berlin's iconic buildings which, since 1899, has housed monarchies, fascist dictators, communist rulers and now, the democratically elected.

 

Plenary

The plenary sits 159 members, 125 seats for the public, 58 seats for journalists and sittings are live streamed. The parliment employs 17 stenographers who upload everything said during sittings to the house website. Note the Berlin bear flag, an original from 1945. Contrary to contemporary Berlin bear flags this one has no claws, teeth, tougue and crown - it has been de-mititarised!

Connecting Atrium

 

Gerhard Richter Paintings

 

Wolf Biermann, the Bob Dylan of the DDR, in their Hall Of Fame

Matthias Koppel's triptych

 

This is a stunning painting capturing the euphoria of the Fall of the Wall in 1989 and extends to events concerning the Reunification of Germany in 1990.

This is a fine building right beside the Martin Gropius Bau and the Topography of Terror. It has always played a role in the management, and mismanagement, of Berlin/Prussia through the ages. Insider guides have always spoken about it en route through historical Berlin. Anyone can enter during opening hours with a valid photo ID - once past the airport style security you can wander the very ornate public areas and even use their state subsidised canteen!

Annual Insider / Fat Tire BBQ 2024

 

Annual Insider / Fat Tire BBQ 2024

Third time lucky! After having to postpone twice due to Summer heat storms, yesterday was the day for the annual Insider Tour/Fat Tire BBQ. It was a swealtering 34°C, but we weren't going to postpone again! Luckily we had the use of a pretty big canopy from friends which made all the difference. Many burgers and halloumi were cooked and lots of cold beers were consumed. The Tempelhofer Feld is an excellent location for tour guides to pause briefly in the middle of a busy season to chat with colleagues and friends. We had a wonderful time. This former airfield is a super amenity for everyone!

Funkhaus Berlin - Insider's Educational Nr. 1 in 2024

 

Insider guides recently enjoyed an extraordinary tour of the historic 'Funkhaus' in Berlin, nestled along the Spree river in the charming Treptow region. Our guide, Christian, led us through this iconic complex, once the radio broadcaster of East Berlin, constructed between 1951-56 with 3500 employees at its peak.

 

Biggest purposely built sound studio in the world.

 

Industrial event art space for 10,000 persons.

 

MONOM is Berlin's Center for Spatial Sound,
home to the world's most advanced spatial sound instrument.

 

Club and chill out room.

 

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Funkhaus has transformed into a renovated epicenter for global creatives. One highlight of our tour was exploring the world's largest purpose-built recording studio, spanning 12.300 square meters. Our exclusive educational tour provided access to normally restricted areas, witnessing musicians at work and immersing ourselves in the vibrant creative atmosphere. An absolute delight and a highlight for all!

 
 

 

French Influence in Berlin - Insider's Educational Nr. 6 in 2023

Insider guides were treated to a fantastic educational tour all around the historic district of Mitte exploring French influence in Berlin since the arrival of the Hugenots in 1685. At one time 1 in every 5 Berliners was a French Huguenot! Originally they settled in the Friedrichstadt area just outside what was then the city walls, now very much in the central area around the aptly named Gendarmenmarkt. The next great period of influence was Napoleon's reign over Berlin from 1806 to 1814. It was during this time that the Jewish community benefited enormously from the Emancipation Edict of 1812.

 French Bookshop on Friedrich Strasse

Galeries Lafayette

 French Church on Gendarmenmarkt

 

 

Plaque commemorating the welcoming of the Huguenots to Berlin and Prussia
 

 

The very beautiful Friedrichwerder Church, wonderfully resoted and currently an exhibition space and an oasis of calm in the bustling center of Berlin.

This was a hugely insightful tour lead by the fabuously knowledgeable and eloquent, Walter Kreipe.

Insider at Max & Moritz

'Bel Etage'

Compliments to the kitchen and staff of Max and Moritz for providing great food and excellent libations for the entire Insider team on Friday last. What a wonderful atmosphere to celebrate! Max and Moritz is a legendary Berlin culinary institution, operational since 1902. Think of all the changes it has seen in the last 121 years. We were all impressed by the high quality of food served and the top class service throughout. Max and Moritz is always worth a visit!

Last Look into the Pergamon - Insider’s Educational Nr. 5 in 2023

Kudos to our guide Dr. Thomas James for managing to book one of the last guiding slots for Insider guides in the Pergamon museum before it closes for a min. of 14 years! Why so long? Well it all has to do with it being built on a swamp originally. Most of the next 14 years will be spent 'underpinning' this museum. We will dearly miss guiding groups there, as we now focus on creating a new tour showcasing all the other wonders of Museum Island. Stay tuned!

Annual Insider /Fat Tire BBQ 2023

What a wonderful evening we had, chillin' and grillin' with friends and colleagues. A big shout out to chief organiser, Grillmeister/King of Spatulas, and sports director for the evening, Mike Stack. We had perfect weather which at dusk brought out a swarm of June Bugs. Never heard of them before, now we're experts on them! Tempelhofer Feld - what a location. Get yourself down there. No other city center location can give you a horizon like on the photo above. For anyone unfamiliar with this location, here a snippet from Insider's CityGuide: 'This former airport is the coolest city park in the world. The Germans took a highly unusual step with this space after it stopped being used comercially - they left it alone. It is a massive 3.55Km², bigger even than Central Park. First used by the Knights Templar and later developed by the Nazis, this space was vital to the Allies in their bid to supply Berlin during the Cold War blockade of 1948-49. Now you can get fit, picnic, BBQ, and fly your kite where Orville Wright demonstrated flight back in 1909 - anything goes in this park!'