Where : Bunker Berliner Unterwelten
Discovering Berliner Unterwelten – Berlin Bunker Tours
The Berliner Unterwelten is a subterranean museum that must be visited with a guide. This is an amazing opportunity to explore Berlin’s underground history and to visit World War II bunkers. They are located near the Gesundbrunnen Underground station with the half demolished bunker in the park across the street, which we'll elaborate in the blog.
Many tours to choose from
Our ideal tour was to discover underground tunnels that were dug during the cold war. However, it was unavailable for reasons we forget. There are many tours to choose from but they did not seem to run every single day. So be sure to check the schedule and availability to ensure you can make it.
By process of elimination, we ended up selecting the Flak Towers to Mountains of Debris Tour. Although it wasn't our first choice, it was quite interesting ! The guide took us inside the half collapsed bunker and did a marvellous job explaining everything !
Explanation of the bunker
Our guide explained the purpose of the bunker during WWII and also what happened after the war. This massive beast proved to be almost indestructible. Actually, it was said the Germans inside needed to surrender because no other army troupe could make it inside. They simply exploited the bunker's weak points (we won't give up all the info thought).
Post WWII and making their way into the cold war. We believe the bunker to be on French ground. Many other bunkers were being demolished, so the French gave it a try. Their first attempt was unsuccessful so they put more dynamite and tried again. On the second try, they added more dynamite. This resulted in demolishing half of the structure. At this point, another explosion was too risky, as the bunker was already leaning too close to Russian territory. With an already tense cold war on the horizon, the bunker was left as is to avoid another catastrophe.
Tips for Free
As we like to pay it forward from our past experiences, here are a few things to consider...
- This may seem trivial, but like we mentioned earlier tours often fill up quickly and not all tours are available daily. So be sure to get there early. It's also stated on their website as they cannot accommodate big groups.
- Again, this might seem like a no brainer but bring proper attire. We saw people getting turned away from the tour because they were wearing flip flops. This is a safety liability for most of their tours. Best case, simply check their website for the required attire for your selected tour.
- Unfortunately filming and photographs were not permitted during our tour. Something to do with the tour company not having the rights to publish media.
- Lastly, if you feel claustrophobic or uneasy with small/closed spaces, perhaps you should skip this visit.
Do we recommend ?
Absolutely. If we had more time in Berlin, we would have considered doing another tour.
The visit was really interesting to see life inside the bunker, the purpose behind it and Hitler’s idea to transform the bunker once his army had world domination.
There is an entrance fee of approx. $ 11 euros per person, which we thought was worth to pay.
Serge: 5 Eli: 5 / (out of 5)
Spending more around Berlin ? Come back to see more attractions as we move across the city !
Churches
The historical Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
Historical landmarks
The Tiergarten has it all, nature and historical landmarks!
There's the Brandenburg Gate and Jewish Memorial right next to each other.
Checkpoint Charlie is quite small, but there's lots more to see in the area!
Topography of Terror is both an indoor and outdoor museum
Outside the city centre
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
Small day trip to Wolfsburg ?
Check out the AutoMuseum from Volkswagen
The Autostadt and VW Factory tour
