PALACE OF TEARS (TRANENPALAST)

Enjoy Berlin’s best sightseeing cruise that showcases the best sights in and around the city from your ship on the River Spree. Get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and have a relaxing time on the waters, since this cruise lasts for 2.5 hours. Discover the many attractions that line the east side of the river and get a different perspective on them from your aquatic vantage point. Taking place more than twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, this tour traces parts of the border between the two sides on the Spree. You can witness the rapid changes that have taken place on the eastern side of the city after the wall was taken down, and learn more about the wall and life under Soviet occupation. Catch some unique sights on the cruise and see many of the iconic landmarks of Berlin, such as the Berliner Dom, Fernsehturm, Nikolaiviertel, Marstall, Mühlendammschleuse, Radialsystem V, Energieforum, East-Side-Gallery, Mercedes-Benz Arena, Oberbaumbrücke, Osthafen, Universal, nhow-Hotel, Coca-Cola-Headquarters, MTV, Label 1 and 2, Badeschiff of the Arena Treptow, Molekule Man, Museum Island with the Old National Gallery and Bodemuseum, Monbijoupark, Schiffbauerdamm, Palace of Tears, Parliament and Government District, Central Station, House of World Cultures, countless bridges and many beach bars. Our fleet of premium sightseeing vessels ensures that you have the best possible views with spacious outdoor decks and vast viewing windows. You have the choice between a convertible ship or a two-deck ship, both of which are guaranteed to give you a grand sightseeing tour. Enjoy the luxury of this cruise and learn more about Berlin in this one-of-a-kind experience.

Experience the story of East Berlin and take a look at a city that became the battleground between the USA and USSR. The guided tour takes you through the city’s many monuments and buildings that serve as reminders of a time when communism, the secret police, and the Berlin wall existed. See the Brandenburg Gate - once a symbol of Berlin and German division during the Cold War, now a national symbol of peace and unity. Stop by The Palace of Tears, a former border crossing point at Friedrichstrasse Station in East Berlin and the only one still standing today. Learn about the significance of its name and what it meant to Berliners. See ghost stations on Berlin's U-Bahn and S-Bahn metro networks that were closed during the Cold War because they were an integral part of a transit line mostly located on the other side of the Berlin Wall. Follow your guide to Tunnel 57, a tunnel under the Berlin Wall that was the location of a mass escape by 57 East Berlin citizens. See the “death strip," the belt of gravel-covered land between the two main barriers of the Berlin Wall. Fleeing citizens who initially avoided being detected could be tracked down by following their footprints in the death strip. Visit the Chapel of Reconciliation and the Berlin Wall Memorial, the central memorial site recalling German division. Your guide will answer some of history’s most debatable questions, was East Germany the most spied on society in the world? And did the Berlin wall fall by accident? The tour will conclude at the Bornholmer Strasse, the iconic location where the Wall was torn down by thousands of East Berliners.

Whether you’re a Berliner or a tourist, the city of Berlin suddenly looks different from the waters. Famous sights known by everyone appear in a light that has never been seen before. On this 2.5-hour-long trip through the city, hop aboard the passenger ship “John Franklin”, and sail through the center of Berlin. Get comfortable and relax on this cruise while passing by Museum Island, Berlin’s largest museum with imposing architecture on an island in the middle of the Spree. Spot the seat of the German Government with the Bundestag, Chancellery, Paul-Löbe House, and a bridge over the Spree, only for the Government. Sail past the Berliner Dom, the largest Evangelical Church in Germany, the Palace of Tears, the former border cross from Eat to West Berlin, and the Futurium, a museum with futuristic architecture.

Travel back in time and experience life behind the Iron Curtain on a 3-hour guided tour of East Berlin. Explore some of the monuments still standing from before the fall of the Berlin Wall, such as the “Palace of Tears” and the former HQ of the Stasi.

Uncover Berlin's Cold War history & legacy on this fascinating walking or private car tour with a local guide. Visit key sites like the East Side Gallery, Palace of Tears, & the Brandenburg Gate.