Our tours are means of civic education in urban space.
They invite both Berliners and people visiting the city, both adults and young people aged 14 and above.
Stories of migration
Tours in Berlin
Berlin would be inconceivable without migration, without the diversity of identities and lifestyles. Our city tours are led by people who themselves have a history of migration. They invite you to change you rperspective: Which places facilitate the arrival in a foreign city? What does the situation in Görlitzer Park have to do with the European asylum system? And how is the Gendarmenmarkt connected to a culture of welcoming newcomers? Where do people who experienced (forced) migration make politics in the city today?
Our tours are about individual perceptions rather than typical sights. The tour guides present their own experiences and contrast images commonly associated to them by others with their own stories.
Our tours
offer biographical access to the topic of flight and migration,
open up new perspectives on Berlin,
create space for exchange and encounter,
and invite you to rethink stereotypes.
For Mahmoud, cafés have always been more than just places to drink coffee—they were spaces of activism and resistance in Syria and are now places of refuge and belonging in Berlin. On his tour through Kreuzkölln, he retraces his journey from Homs to Neukölln, sharing personal moments of fear, loss, and resilience. He reflects on exile, identity, and the ongoing search for a new home.
Polina’s tour is a personal story about migration, queerness, and the Russian-Ukrainian war. It’s about a small family finding love and strength in each other as they navigate loss, displacement, and hope. Along the way, Polina will share how community, art, and quiet acts of caring have helped to rebuild a new life — one step (across the border) at a time.
Since arriving in Berlin in 2020, Sara has been questioning her identity as a migrant and rediscovering the city through her own perspective. On her tour through Berlin Mitte, she combines personal experiences with historical and current events, including the coronavirus pandemic and the protests in Colombia.
Discover the vibrant heart of Berlin’s multicultural districts Kreuzberg and Neukölln. These areas are home to dynamic migrant communities, such as Turkish guest workers around Kottbusser Tor who have fascinating, diverse stories to share. Join Ragıp’s tour to uncover the hidden stories behind the everyday signs and spaces you pass by.
Russia and Ukraine, Judaism and Islam — all of these are part of Maria‘s family background. On her tour, Maria explores the connections between the current global political situation, Germany’s historical past, and its effects on her personal life and diverse identity in Berlin.
Saad, who used to work as a tour guide in Damascus, has been living in Berlin since 2015. On his tour, he guides visitors through Sonnenallee in Berlin-Neukölln, reminiscent of Al-Nasr Street in Damascus, and creates an understanding of his homeland by showcasing everyday and special Syrian customs, while dispelling prejudices and conveying a sense of home through familiar foods and places.
Anna’s tour shares the real-life tale of a sudden refugee from war in Ukraine. It unfolds the challenges and moments of hope encountered by those who had to leave their homes in search of a new one.
The tour, led by Yauheni, a Belarusian student activist in exile, provides insights from his immigration experience and addresses the political environment in Germany and Belarus.
Abuhanna’s tour takes you through Neukölln, where he has lived for seven years. Along the way, you’ll learn how his fresh start in Berlin has changed him and the ongoing challenges he still faces.
Neukölln, a district in Berlin, and Tehran, the capital of Iran, are both full of contradictions and difficult to understand. Salome’s tour invites you to explore the everyday life and interpretations of urban realities in these cities in order to gain a nuanced understanding of the lived realities and their significance.
Muhammed’s tour leads through Kreuzberg, which he, as an activist, freelance journalist, social worker and resident, knows like the back of his hand. Along the way, you will learn to what extent the upheavals of the European asylum system are becoming visible in this district and how old and new Berliners shape their neighbourhood together.
Jennifer Kamau´s tour follows the trail of the “Oranienplatz movement” through the vibrant Kreuzberg area. She talks about her involvement as a feminist within the protest movement against the asylum policies of that time and the impact these had on the lives of those affected.
Tours that rarely happen:
Until 2015, Mohamad lived in Syrian Aleppo. Today, he traces the migration history of Neukölln together with participants, a district where he feels particularly at home.
Rasha is a city planner from Damaskus. On her tour along the subway line 6 the architecture alternates between stately buildings and social housing. She follows traces of escape and migration and puts them into the context with her autobiography.
In Iraq, Ahmed worked as an official in the city administration — until he had to flee the violence in 2015. On his tour he shows the most prominent places in the heart of Berlin and explains how they relate to global power relations and his own migration history.