This page provides an overview of the tours and lectures arranged by the Berlin Historical Association in 2015.
12 December 2015 - Day tour to Bautzen
Bautzen, formerly Budusin, lies in the centre of Oberlausitz and has a history dating back to 1002. In 1524, St Peter's Cathedral became the first interdenominational church in that part of Germany. During the Cold War, the East German Ministry of State Security (Stasi) imprisoned dissidents in one of its jails.
14 November 2015 - Germania Exhibition
In 1937, Albert Speer was given the task of transforming Berlin into Germania, the gleaming new capital of a Greater German "World Empire". The Grand Hall, for instance, with a dome sixteen times larger than St Peter's in Rome, would have accommodated 180,000 people. The exhibition exposes the myth of Hitler's and Speer's soaring ambitions and the crimes committed in the process.
10 October 2015 - Fort Hahneberg
Fort Hahneberg was built between 1882 and 1888 as the first of 4 forts that were intended to protect the munitions factories in Spandau. Architecturally stunning, and built with German precision, the fort is now a listed building maintained and preserved by volunteers.
3 October 2015 - Lecture
On the 25th anniversary of German reunification, BHA - together with the Allied Museum - was honoured to host a lecture by the last General Officer Commanding of the British Sector of Berlin, Major General Sir Robert Corbett.
19 September 2015 - Colditz Castle
Colditz Castle became infamous during WWII when it was used as a POW camp (Oflag-IVC) to imprison Allied officers who had escaped at least once from other POW camps and who were considered to be intent on escaping again. Ironically, their incarceration in Colditz only strengthened their resolve to escape!
30 August 2015 - Weißensee Jewish Cemetery
The Weißensee Jewish Cemetery is the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe. It was opened on 9 September 1880, covers approximately 42 hectares and contains over 115,000 graves.
5 August 2015 - Lecture
A talk by WW II veteran Mr. Svetoslao Hlopoff on the multilingual challenges at the Berlin Allied Kommandantura. Mr Hlopoff entered Berlin in the first convoy from Halle and worked at the Allied Kommandatura from 1945 to 1948.
19 July 2015 - Cecilienhof Palace
Kaiser Wilhelm II commissioned Cecilienhof Palace as a residence for his son Crown Prince William of Prussia and his wife Cecilie. In 1945 Cecilienhof Palace was selected as the venue for the Potsdam Conference, where Churchill, Truman and Stalin held their discussion on how to partition Germany.
16 July 2015 - Lecture
A talk on the topic “Berlin Brigade Checkpoint – Last Watch” by Lt Col Pete Rowell, Assistant Army Attaché, US Embassy Berlin. The speaker was posted to Helmstedt just as the Wall fell, and witnessed the last days of Soviet control over Allied traffic transiting the autobahn to and from Berlin.
20 June 2015 - Marienfelde Refugee Centre Museum
Marienfelde Refugee Centre (MRC), now a museum, was a symbol of freedom and hope during the Cold War. Approximately 1.35 million East German refugees passed through the MRC, where they were housed and cared for whilst undergoing the screening process (to ensure they were genuine refugees) and waiting for residence permits for West Germany.
13 June 2015 - Walking tour of the Hansa Quarter
Building of the original Hansa Quarter began in 1875. However, most of it was destroyed in WWII. Nonetheless, numerous signs of its existence and of its former glory are still to be found. This tour highlighted the re-building of the Hansa Quarter between 1955-57 and how it relates to the old quarter.