School Trip to Berlin and Leipzig (2013)
For American German language high school students
On behalf of Boise High School, Boise, ID www.boise.boiseschools.org
This trip was conceived in 2013 in cooperation with a German language teacher from the high school for students, some of whom had already been learning German for several years.
Prior to the trip, the students spent a week near Frankfurt, where they attended school and lived with host families.
The aim of the trip was to give the students the opportunity to get to know Germany a little better and to practice their German. Therefore, most of the guided tours and other activities were conducted in German.
The students experienced history both at original historic locations as well as in museums, memorial sites and monuments. As a result they acquired new knowledge and deepened their previous understanding.
In addition, the program consisted of various leisure activities such as cycling, climbing, swimming, and barbecuing.
5 Nights in Berlin
2 nights Leipzig
Itinerary
Day 1
Morning
Train ride from Frankfurt to Berlin
Noon
Individual lunch break
Afternoon
Arrival in Berlin and warm welcome by your tour guide. Afterwards it’s on to your accommodation, where you can check in or store your luggage, depending on room availability.
Afterwards
On a city tour through Berlin you will get an overview of the diverse history and current life in Berlin. You will hear about the “Old Fritz”, the Nazi dictatorship and the Second World War, the division of the city and the Berlin Wall and visit various monuments.
Evening
Welcome dinner
Day 2
Morning
Today your first visit will be to the Reichstag, the German Parliament. During a guided tour you will learn how German democracy and the German parliament work. Afterwards you will go up into the glass dome on the roof of the building, from where you have a great view of Berlin.
Afterwards
Drive to the remains of the Berlin Wall. Here you will learn about the division of Germany after the Second World War, the construction and fall of the Wall, escape stories and German reunification.
Noon
Go to a Sunday flea market where you will have time for lunch and your own explorations.
Afternoon
Now it’s time for an exciting tour through the Berlin underground. Let yourself be surprised what that means exactly.
Evening
Group dinner
Day 3
Morning
For half a day everything revolves around the European Union. What is it actually, why is Germany a member, what are the benefits for us and what are the problems?
Noon
Individual lunch break
Afternoon
Now you have time for your own discoveries, the possibility to chill, buy souvenirs, go to the TV tower, go to the zoo, explore Berlin or visit one of the many museums.
Evening
Individual dinner
Day 4
Full day
Excursion to Potsdam
Leave Berlin by S-Bahn and then cycle through Potsdam and the surrounding area. You will reach places like the Glienicker Bridge, the Cecilienhof Palace, the Potsdam Conference Center, the Russian Colony, the Sanssouci Palace and the New Palace, the so-called Chinese Teahouse as well as the Dutch Quarter.
If the weather is hot, you also have the opportunity to swim in the “Holy Lake”.
Noon
Individual lunch break
Afternoon
Return to Berlin
Evening
Group dinner
Day 5
Morning
Transfer to Oranienburg
Afterwards
Today we are dealing with the persecution of various minorities and dissenters during the Nazi period.
During a visit to the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum you will hear about the history, the detainees, the prison conditions and the SS guards of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
Noon
Individual lunch break
Afternoon
Return to Berlin
Afterwards
Free time
Evening
Group dinner
Day 6
Morning
On a guided walking tour through Berlin’s Kreuzberg district you will experience another and quite different facet of Berlin. Here you can see all its multicultural, multi-religious, political and social diversity. Visits to a mosque, a youth center and the local museum will give you the chance to get to know a lot of new things.
Noon
Group lunch
Afternoon
Train ride from Berlin to Leipzig
Afterwards
Transfer to your accommodation and check-in
Afterwards
During a short tour through the old town you will get a first impression of the city and its history.
Evening
Individual dinner
Day 7
Morning
Today is marked by the Cold War, Communism and the State Security (Stasi) of the GDR.
A visit to the “Round Corner” brings you closer to the ideological confrontation between East and West and shows you the working, surveillance and oppression methods of the Stasi.
Noon
Individual lunch break
Afternoon
On a guided walking tour through the city center of Leipzig you will follow the traces of the “Peaceful Revolution” of 1989 and hear more about the long and interesting history of the city.
Afterwards
Free time
Evening
Farewell dinner in one of the most famous and oldest restaurants in town
Day 8
Morning
Now it’s time to say goodbye and to take the train from Leipzig to Frankfurt Airport.
Afternoon
Return flight to the USA
