Berlin Experiences/About
Twenty years of Berlin, told by historians.
Berlin Experiences is a private guided tour company founded by historian Matt Robinson, who has guided in Berlin since 2006. We lead immersive walks through the city’s medieval roots, Prussian grandeur, Weimar excess, Third Reich horrors and Cold War divisions — for individuals, families, schools, journalists, authors and broadcasters.
The founder · Matt Robinson
A journalist who never put the notebook down.
Professional curiosity brought Matt to Berlin. As a trained journalist, he arrived from England intent on better understanding this fascinating city that stood centre-stage throughout the tumultuous 20th century.
After a chance encounter with a Cold War-era British spy, he set aside the press card and began guiding the people he’d been writing for. Two decades on, he has led more than ten thousand visitors through Berlin — never from a script.
When he’s not on tour, Matt writes the Mythbusting Berlin essay series, narrates documentaries, and consults on books and films about 20th-century Berlin. Read his guide profile in his own words.
Where to start: the Berlin History Tour covers the whole story in a day; the one-hour Third Reich, Cold War and Berlin Wall tours each take one chapter; and the Sachsenhausen and Potsdam tours leave the city. Our guide to private tours in Berlin covers prices, timings and where each tour starts.
Berlin Experiences sites
Our history websites.
Our catalogue of history websites, if you’re interested in getting deeper into the subjects we cover on our tours – either before or after your visit to Berlin.
Global atlasWhere Is The Wall
A global atlas of the Berlin Wall: every surviving section, relocated segment and fragment, mapped around the world.
Find the Wall
1961–1989Berlin Wall Escapes
A sourced record of escapes across the Berlin Wall, from tunnels and ziplines to trains and swimmers, on a map of its route.
See the escapes
Memorial recordVictims of the Wall
Remembering the 140 people killed at the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989: their lives, their deaths and where they died.
Read their stories
Day by dayDemocracy Destroyed
The first 100 days of Nazi rule, from 30 January 1933: the laws, the terror and the politics, beside the everyday life that carried on.
Read the 100 days
Day by dayBattle of Berlin 1945
The last battle of the war in Europe reconstructed day by day, from the Oder to the Reichstag, 16 April to 2 May 1945.
Follow the battle
Day by dayPotsdam Conference 1945
What Truman, Churchill and Stalin said at Cecilienhof, sitting by sitting, 17 July to 2 August 1945.
Read the record
InfographicsBerlinfographics
The history of Berlin drawn from the record, in a growing collection of original infographics.
See the graphicsBerlin Is Closed
Which Berlin museums, landmarks and lines are shut for building work, and when each one is due back.
Check before you go
Free reading roomMarginalia
Matt Robinson's tour notes — every reference, anecdote, and source lovingly compiled and now free for everyone.
Browse the notes
Reading roomLost Lands
A guidebook to countries that no longer exist — Prussia, the GDR, the Ottoman Empire and more.
Start readingVictims of the Wall: Window of Remembrance, Bernauer Straße. Photo: Inhiber, CC BY-SA 3.0