New About Berlin App Showcases Berlin's History

(Source: visitBerlin)

Over 200 short stories about freedom and unfreedom in Berlin

With audio and video material, free download in English and German

14 September 2018 All over the world, Berlin evokes the word ‘freedom’ – something reflected in many incidents and events, locations and stories. Now, visitBerlin had brought together over 200 of these for its new ABOUT BERLIN app. From today, ABOUT BERLIN is available in the app stores as a free download in English and German. Funded by the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, the app is one plank in Berlin’s new tourism plan.

Christian Rickerts, State Secretary at the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises: “Freedom is Berlin’s brand essence. Locations of freedom and exciting stories can be found all across the city, not just around Brandenburg Gate. The ABOUT BERLIN app also takes you to some of Berlin’s fascinating places less visited by tourists. In this way, the app is one element in implementing our Berlin tourism plan with its focus on decentralised, city-compatible tourism.”

“We are presenting Berlin as an authentic historical location and inviting visitors to explore the city”, says Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin. “At every turn in Berlin, you find traces of the twentieth century’s chequered history, and our app presents all those moments highlighting the struggle for freedom and against unfreedom.”

Over 200 stories – exploring the city with audio dramas

ABOUT BERLIN tells the chequered history of Germany’s capital city in over 200 short stories. The stories have all been selected in cooperation with the Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam. Historians, journalists and the visitBerlin team have researched the content for ABOUT BERLIN and written the stories covering the period from 1871 and into the future. Selected locations are also included as audio files. The app is to be supplemented successively over the next months. With this app, visitBerlin is also primarily addressing the many Berlin visitors, from Germany and abroad, who are drawn to the city by its unique history.

Contribution to city-friendly tourism

ABOUT BERLIN enables visitors just as much as locals to experience the city as an authentic historical location. Along with well-known historical sites such as the Reichstag parliament building and Brandenburg Gate, the app also showcases decentralised locations or those less familiar, from Schönhausen Palace to the Kaulsdorf rectory or the Spandau ice cellar. In this way, ABOUT BERLIN gives a new impetus to users to explore sites away from Berlin’s centre as well, supporting tourism’s compatibility with the life of the city.

Technical Details

The ABOUT BERLIN app is free and available in English and German. It has been developed for Android and iOS smart phones. Once the app has been downloaded and installed, it also provides offline functionality. WiFi internet access is recommended for downloading the app, available in the app stores under ABOUT BERLIN. More details: www.visitBerlin.de/en/about-berlin

Facts

Content

Over 200 stories recounting Berlin’s history around the overarching themes of freedom and unfreedom and historical background

Four themed tours: The Path of Freedom, Berlin for Beginners, Berlin Wall Trail, Sites of Nazi atrocities in Berlin

Seven time periods: 1871–1918, 1918–1933, 1933–1945, 1945–1989, 1989–1990, 1990–2018, Future

Technical details

Compatible with iOS 9.0. (or newer) and Android

All content free

Audio books on 51 locations and stories

Tour editor: easy to compile individual tours

Multimedia content: Audio, video, images

All maps can be used in offline mode

English and German