Hilke is an excellent guide. She is a true local. She knows her stuff inside and out. She personalized our tour (just my wife and I) to where we wanted to go and added many more local sites that only someone from Berlin would know. She was terrific, easy 5 stars.
Jim Aylward, United States , Okt. 2026
You will not go wrong by using Hilke. She was so knowledgeable, engaging, and accommodating. There was no topic that was "off the table", and being in Berlin, there were sensitive topics, for sure.
Patricia Wright, United States, Okt. 2026
Our tour was wonderful! Hilke organized the tour based on our desires and matched it perfectly. She added in multiple stops exceeding our requests. She’s very knowledgeable, excellent English, and an all around delightful person … We recommend Hilke and her professionalism. Great tour guide!
Kristin Heck, United States, Okt. 2026
Hilke was absolutely wonderful! She was always quick to answer my questions and truly went above and beyond to take care of us. She was incredibly knowledgeable and gave us a much deeper understanding of Germany’s history. I especially appreciated the thought-provoking questions she asked throughout the tour, which encouraged us to look at the history from different perspectives and gave us an even greater understanding of what we were seeing … I was especially grateful for the care Hilke showed my elderly mother. She was always attentive to her needs and made sure we were comfortable and safe throughout the day .. Hilke made our day in Berlin incredibly memorable, and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, thoughtful, and caring guide. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience!
Debbie Davies, United States, Sept. 2026
We had a terrific half day tour in Berlin with Hilke. Our group of six curious adults peppered her with questions about a variety of topics- from WWI and onward- which she seemed to relish- and answered knowledgeably and thoughtfully. We were fairly knowledgeable and Hilke brought new depth and understanding to all is us. She was flexible in planning the tour and communicated with me clearly and quickly in advance of the tour. She has a great sense of humor and appreciated ours as well. I recommend Hilke without reservation!
Carol Naughton, United States, August 2026
Thank you, Hilke, for the lovely day in Berlin! I must say, we learned a lot! Thank you for your honesty and sharing about your culture with us! (And taking us all around) we appreciate your walking us all over Berlin and taking us on the subway, that was so interesting, you wore us out:) Berlin certainly has changed in the past 40 years since I was there last! Thanks for the great memories! All the best! Terri & Laura
Terri Brandley, United States, August 2026
We a had a great day in Berlin with Hilke. I wanted a German guide that experienced the city before and after the fall of the wall. She did an excellent job conveying what that was like.
Essam Ismail, United States, Juli 2026
If you are interested in understanding the timeframe of 1930s and the Twenty First Century Berlin, Hilke could not be a better choice. She took her time in explaining the details of each of the areas we covered. Her knowledge runs deep and she will paint a picture of what happened. If you were on your own in Berlin, it would be hard to understand significance of the many sites. Hilke kept us out of tourist traps and stores.
Joe Hawrylak, United States, Juni 2026
Hilke was a wonderful tour guide, we thoroughly enjoyed the morning we spent together ... We didn't just enjoy a tour, we made a friend.
Judson Neer, United States, Juni 2026
Hilke was a fantastic guide - incredibly knowledgeable and lovely sense of humour to go with it. We crammed in a lot in our half day walking tour and Hilke bought everything to life having been there when the wall came down. Thank you so much! Thoroughly recommended
Andrew Pearson, UK, Juni 2026
Terrific guide. Super knowledgeable and fun to be with. Handled our group of 12 with ease.
Ric Andersen, United States, Juni 2026
Such a great walking tour! The guide was amazing—super knowledgeable, easy to understand, and had the best upbeat, positive energy. She made it a really comfortable environment for asking questions, and we absolutely loved all the history we covered. A must-do in Berlin!
Chrystal Joseph, United States, Mai 2026
WOW!
A terrific day with Hilke!
We were a party of 6, traveling for the day from the cruiseport of Warnemunde to Berlin. HIlke was very flexible with our schedule and respectful of our time constraints.
The walking tour she provided offered lots of history, important places and personal experiences. Our group had a terrific day, and all feedback was positive.
Hire Hilke! You’ll have a great day.
Julie McGinn, United States, Mai 2026
We had a great time with Hilke. Very personal and engaging. Sincerity with a touch of humour. Highly recommended.
Martin Locke, Australien, Dez. 2025
Hilke was awesome! She was friendly, accommodating, and knowledgeable with a great sense of humor. We could never have seen so much or learned more in 4 hours without Hilke. She opened our eyes to the many facets of Berlin history. Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful city with us!
Rachel Kurtyka, United States, Nov. 2025
Hilke chose an excellent variety of sites and provided first-rate history and perspective. As someone who lived through the fall of the Berlin Wall and the integration of East and West Germany, she could provide insight that younger guides cannot. Hilke was the right choice.
William Keane, United States, Okt. 2025
Hilke was fantastic. So knowledgeable. So flexible. Since it was our first time to Berlin it was exactly what we needed for our first time.
Patrick Bauer, United States, August 2025
Fabulous. Knowledgeable, friendly, considerate, flexible. Highly recommend.
David Jordan, United States, Juli 2025
Excellent. Very knowledgeable and honest.
Mark Taylor, New Zealand, Juli 2025
We had a delightful day with Hilke. She is so well informed; always able to answer questions of which we had many. She is not only smart, she also has a lovely sense of humor ...
Merry Cole Bender, United States, Juni 2025
Fantastic tour with Hilke! She is so knowledgeable and personable.
Laurie Walter, United States, Juni 2025
Hilke is an excellent guide. She’s extremely knowledgeable, thorough and passionate about conveying the history and background and complexity of this
city.
Barbara Liberles Soffer, United States, Dez. 2024
Hilke was amazing. She knows Berlin and its history. We covered a huge part of the city and the special historical parts throughout. It was a great day.
Jim Lang, Unites States, Okt. 2024
Hilke was awesome! We really enjoyed our tour of Berlin and appreciated Hilke's attentiveness to our needs and flexibility with arrangements. Loved her sense of humor on top of her deep knowledge!
Marshall Dahneke, United States, Sept. 2024
What a wonderful time we had with Hilke during our 4 hours together in Berlin. She took us to historically important sights as you might imagine, but the magic was in the detail she provided behind each location. She was attentive, professional and informative. Brilliant day! Thank you, Hilke!
Sheryl Mallett, United States, Sept. 2024
Absolutely the best possible tour of Berlin! Our guide, Hilke, left us excited and overwhelmed with her knowledge and love for the city. She is highly professional, intelligent, knowledgeable, with an amazing sense of humor that is so charmingly true German! We loved every moment of this tour and will never forget it!
Thank you, Hilke!
Alan Heshel, United States, Juni 2024
Hilke led the best tour of Berlin highlights - exceeding our expectations. She was very flexible to our needs. Her many years in Berlin provided an extra personal layer to the history of the area! And we saw bunnies and a fox - certainly not what we expected in a busy, vibrant city center!
Annie Ellis, United States, Juni 2024
We had a wonderful day with Hilke . Very knowledgeable and a wonderful warm personality. Great sense of humour and combined the history with present day life . Highly recommend this guide.
Heather Cheyne, United States, Mai 2024
Hilke's local and historical knowledge is vast.
She is pleasant, fluent in multiple languages, diplomatic, and, most important, knows more about her subject areas than we had time to discuss. We were a group of 5 with non-stop questions about German history, culture, food, art, our week's itinerary, and more; and Hilke addressed them all, explaining past events and how historians view them today. I wish we had more time to spend with Hilke. She's a gem!
Beth Gregg, United States, Mai 2024
I booked Mrs Gerdes for some of my VIP clients and they were super happy with her services.
My clients spent a wonderful day with her ,a professional, dynamic and well informed tourist guide.
Mrs Gerdes is passionate about the city where she lives as well as about her job. She not only knows the history of Berlin so well, but she gives information that she has picked up that would not be part of what one learns on regular tours. I would highly recommend any tourist to spend time in Berlin with her.
N.N. Italien, April 2024
Hilke is a fabulous guide! We loved our Berlin Half Day City tour with her. Hilke was entertaining, informative and flexible. We strongly recommend her if you want to learn about Berlin now and in the past.
Michelle McGregor, Australien, Okt. 2023
Very enjoyable guiding experience
Lewis Remele, United States, Sept. 2023
Hilke gave our family of 9 a wonderful tour of Berlin. She customized the tour for us and was very knowledgeable. I highly recommend her.
Steven Schleier, United States, Aug. 2023
Hilke was knowledgeable & fun. [...] This was a great tour of the highlights of Museum Island. Coming to Berlin? Book this tour.
Michael Hetsler, United States,
Juni 2023
She was FANTASTIC! She did a lot of pre-work to make sure I received the perfect tour based on my specific requests. Extremely knowledgeable and flexible on the fly. I really enjoyed spending the day with her and learned so much about Berlin!
Holly Linton, United States, Sept. 2022
Wow! Hilke was amazing! Our teenagers were dreading their third tour in 10 days. Hilke was able to adapt our tour to start in the neighborhood where they could see street art and then took us to see the sites that were interesting to them. She gave high level overviews but answered details when we asked. She has an incredible energy that got our kids interested. I wish we could bring her to every city! This is our 4th private tour and by far the best.
Tracie Kiachian, United States, Aug. 2022
Hilke was simply fantastic. Detailed knowledge of all of Berlin both past and current. Went out of her way to meet all of our needs. Would highly recommend. She was such a pleasure to have as our guide. Hope to see her again.
Ron Karpinsky, United States, Juni 2022
Herzlichen Dank noch einmal für die Führung. Es gab nur positive Rückmeldungen, alle waren sehr begeistert!
Internationale Konferenzteilnehmer, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, Okt. 2021
Hilke's the best. Recommend her highly.
Harold Rosenberg, United States, Sept. 2021
If you want to see Berlin in its present glory - you need to see it through a tour with Hilke! She is absolutely amazing! ... I cannot recommend Hilke enough!
Peter Connelly, United States, Dez. 2019
Hilke was a delight to spend our first full day in Berlin with!
Ellen Patton, United States, Sept. 2019
… she is a terrific guide, extremely knowledgeable about history, art & architecture …
Katherine McInnes, Australien, Okt. 2019
One of the best tour guides we have ever used! A great start for a Berlin visit!
William Black, United States, Sept. 2019
Hilke is amazing! Very passionate about her city and Germany's history … We strongly recommend her.
Jorge Margain, Mexiko, Sept. 2019
Hilke proved to be an excellent guide creating a vivid and memorable journey around Berlin, based on our request to see some of the less well known sites and the street art of the city.
Adrian Savage, UK, September 2019
Hilke's knowledge, love for the city and kindness are first rate!
Mark Houghton, United States, Juni 2019
Hilke was a fantastic guide ... extremely knowledgeable ... very personable and friendly and just fun to walk and talk with.
David Albert, United States, April 2019
Incredible tour! Hilke was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and made our time with her most enjoyable.
Peter Atkinson, UK, April 2019
... I am glad we were able to spend a full day with Hilke!
Karen Smart, United States, März 2019
... She is a lovely person and made us feel very welcome.
Richard Morgan, United States, Okt. 2018
Hilke was a WONDERFUL guide ... It is hard to imagine a better guide to the highlights of vibrant Berlin.
James Hargrove, United States, Sept. 2018
Wonderful experience ... Highly recommended.
Janet Simula, August 2018
... She is hugely knowledgable and experienced, sociable and with lovely humour as well ...
Karen Lubner, United States, Juni 2018
Wonderful day, Hilke was like touring with a very well informed friend ...
Margaret Eldred, United States, Mai 2018
... We had her focus on the 1930's to mid 1940's, and she was extremely knowledgeable about all of the historical events, as well as the cultural and psychological issues during that time ...
Colleen Harker, United States, Mai 2018
... Knowlegeable, professional and funny. Very engaging. She made a special effort to include our younger daughter which we all appreciated. We would give her the highest of recommendations.
Kerry Wangberg, United States, April 2018
... We REALLY enjoyed her company and feel as if we have a friend in Germany for life! Most highly recommended!
Kevin Roche, United States, Dez. 2017
... We found Hilke to be both warm and accommodating as she shared her vast knowledge and enthusiasm of both cities with us ...
James Lewenauer, United States, Okt. 2017
Hilke was a fantastic guide in every way. She was deeply knowledgeable, sensitive and highly responsive ...
Dan Ross, United States, Okt. 2017
I highly recommend Hilke. She is extremely knowledgeable, friendly and efficient ...
Sarah Henderson, United States, Okt. 2017
Hilke made our Autumn day in Berlin most enjoyable ...
Richard Bartlam, United States
Okt. 2017
... Hilke was fun and personable, very organized, knowledgable, and informative ...
Edwin Ward, United States, Okt. 2017
Hilke was a wonderful guide who made our first trip to Berlin memorable. We were impressed with her ability ...
Deborah Burroughs, United States, Sept. 2017
Ausbuchtung
Der Traum von Orten der Erholung
Es ist, als würde das Wasser an dieser Stelle mehr Platz brauchen: Der Landwehr-Kanal hat hier eine kleine, runde Ausbuchtung. Man kann wunderbar auf der Mauer sitzen und über das Wasser blicken. Doch diese Ausbuchtung ist nicht einfach zur Zierde da, sondern erinnert daran, dass es Zeiten gab, in denen es in Kreuzberg ganz anders aussah als heute: „Das ist der frühere Urbanhafen, hier zweigte einst der Luisenstädtische Kanal ab", erzählt Stadtführerin Hilke Gerdes. „Das war ein Verbindungskanal zwischen der Spree und dem Landwehrkanal." Schon im Jahr 1825 hatte es Planungen gegeben, einen Nord-Süd-Kanal durch die Luisenstadt anzulegen. Realisiert wurden diese Pläne jedoch zunächst nicht. Nachdem aber Friedrich Wilhelm IV. (1795-1861) den Thron bestiegen hatte, beauftragte er den Gartenkünstler und Landschaftsarchitekten Peter Joseph Lenné (1789-1866) mit der Stadtplanung. Der legte die ursprünglichen Pläne zugrunde, die darauf abzielten, einen Verbindungskanal zwischen Landwehrkanal und Spree zu schaffen, außerdem wollte er den Landwehrkanal schiffbar machen. Denn der Verkehr auf der Spree hatte immer mehr zugenommen und der Landwehrkanal, auf dem ab 1705 Holz zum Königlichen Holzplatz am Halleschen Tor transportiert wurde, eignete sich gut als Entlastungskanal. „Auch konnten über den Kanal die Baugrundstücke sowohl entwässert als auch mit Baumaterial beliefert werden", sagt Gerdes. Das war wichtig, „denn Berlin wurde ja gewissermaßen aus dem Kahn erbaut". Nicht zuletzt sei der Luisenstädtische Kanalbau eine Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahme nach der kurz zuvor gescheiterten Märzrevolution (siehe Geheimnis XY) gewesen. „Es wurden beim Bau auch schon Dampfmaschinen eingesetzt, aber dagegen wehrten sich die Arbeiter heftig, sie hatten Angst um ihre Arbeitsplätze", erzählt die Berlinerin. Über 2,3 Kilometer erstreckte sich der Luisenstädtische Kanal. „Es war für Lenné auch wichtig, Orte für die Naherholung zu schaffen", betont Hilke Gerdes, „Plätze, an denen man sich gerne aufhält und an denen man sich entspannen kann." Den Erholungswert von Wasser erkannte man wohl damals schon, jedenfalls sollte ein schöner Kanal Mittelpunkt des Stadtviertels werden.
Doch so schön die Pläne für die idyllische Naherholung waren: So richtig wurde es damit nichts. Allzu oft wurde der Luisenstädtische Kanal nicht befahren, und das Wasser fing an zu stinken, zumal Berlin auch nicht kanalisiert war und das Abwasser direkt im Kanal landete - in dem man sich ungeachtet dessen auch wusch und badete. Also wurde der Kanal 1926 wieder zugeschüttet - auch wieder eine Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahme. „Man verwendete dazu den Erdaushub, den man beim Bau der U-Bahn Richtung Gesundbrunnen gewann", erklärt Hilke Gerdes.
Aber auch jetzt wurde der Wunsch nach einem Naherholungsgebiet nicht fallengelassen: Wo einst Wasser floss, legte man nun eine Grünfläche an. Und auf der kann man sich bekanntlich ebenso gut entspannen. Außerdem: Teilweise gibt es auch hier noch Wasser. Den Indischen Brunnen in der Nähe des nach der Maueröffnung wieder gefluteten Engelbeckens zum Beispiel, an dem unzählige Berliner Tag für Tag beste Erholung finden.
So geht's zur Ausbuchtung:
Der Weg am Landwehrkanal in der Nähe von Fraenkelufer/Erkelenzdamm führt zu der Ausbuchtung am Ufer.
Copyright: Eva-Maria Bast
Copyright: Eva-Maria Bast
Hilke is an excellent guide. She is a true local. She knows her stuff inside and out. She personalized our tour (just my wife and I) to where we wanted to go and added many more local sites that only someone from Berlin would know. She was terrific, easy 5 stars.
Jim Aylward, United States , Okt. 2026
You will not go wrong by using Hilke. She was so knowledgeable, engaging, and accommodating. There was no topic that was "off the table", and being in Berlin, there were sensitive topics, for sure.
Patricia Wright, United States, Okt. 2026
Our tour was wonderful! Hilke organized the tour based on our desires and matched it perfectly. She added in multiple stops exceeding our requests. She’s very knowledgeable, excellent English, and an all around delightful person … We recommend Hilke and her professionalism. Great tour guide!
Kristin Heck, United States, Okt. 2026
Hilke was absolutely wonderful! She was always quick to answer my questions and truly went above and beyond to take care of us. She was incredibly knowledgeable and gave us a much deeper understanding of Germany’s history. I especially appreciated the thought-provoking questions she asked throughout the tour, which encouraged us to look at the history from different perspectives and gave us an even greater understanding of what we were seeing … I was especially grateful for the care Hilke showed my elderly mother. She was always attentive to her needs and made sure we were comfortable and safe throughout the day .. Hilke made our day in Berlin incredibly memorable, and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, thoughtful, and caring guide. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience!
Debbie Davies, United States, Sept. 2026
We had a terrific half day tour in Berlin with Hilke. Our group of six curious adults peppered her with questions about a variety of topics- from WWI and onward- which she seemed to relish- and answered knowledgeably and thoughtfully. We were fairly knowledgeable and Hilke brought new depth and understanding to all is us. She was flexible in planning the tour and communicated with me clearly and quickly in advance of the tour. She has a great sense of humor and appreciated ours as well. I recommend Hilke without reservation!
Carol Naughton, United States, August 2026
Thank you, Hilke, for the lovely day in Berlin! I must say, we learned a lot! Thank you for your honesty and sharing about your culture with us! (And taking us all around) we appreciate your walking us all over Berlin and taking us on the subway, that was so interesting, you wore us out:) Berlin certainly has changed in the past 40 years since I was there last! Thanks for the great memories! All the best! Terri & Laura
Terri Brandley, United States, August 2026
We a had a great day in Berlin with Hilke. I wanted a German guide that experienced the city before and after the fall of the wall. She did an excellent job conveying what that was like.
Essam Ismail, United States, Juli 2026
If you are interested in understanding the timeframe of 1930s and the Twenty First Century Berlin, Hilke could not be a better choice. She took her time in explaining the details of each of the areas we covered. Her knowledge runs deep and she will paint a picture of what happened. If you were on your own in Berlin, it would be hard to understand significance of the many sites. Hilke kept us out of tourist traps and stores.
Joe Hawrylak, United States, Juni 2026
Hilke was a wonderful tour guide, we thoroughly enjoyed the morning we spent together ... We didn't just enjoy a tour, we made a friend.
Judson Neer, United States, Juni 2026
Hilke was a fantastic guide - incredibly knowledgeable and lovely sense of humour to go with it. We crammed in a lot in our half day walking tour and Hilke bought everything to life having been there when the wall came down. Thank you so much! Thoroughly recommended
Andrew Pearson, UK, Juni 2026
Terrific guide. Super knowledgeable and fun to be with. Handled our group of 12 with ease.
Ric Andersen, United States, Juni 2026
Such a great walking tour! The guide was amazing—super knowledgeable, easy to understand, and had the best upbeat, positive energy. She made it a really comfortable environment for asking questions, and we absolutely loved all the history we covered. A must-do in Berlin!
Chrystal Joseph, United States, Mai 2026
WOW!
A terrific day with Hilke!
We were a party of 6, traveling for the day from the cruiseport of Warnemunde to Berlin. HIlke was very flexible with our schedule and respectful of our time constraints.
The walking tour she provided offered lots of history, important places and personal experiences. Our group had a terrific day, and all feedback was positive.
Hire Hilke! You’ll have a great day.
Julie McGinn, United States, Mai 2026
We had a great time with Hilke. Very personal and engaging. Sincerity with a touch of humour. Highly recommended.
Martin Locke, Australien, Dez. 2025
Hilke was awesome! She was friendly, accommodating, and knowledgeable with a great sense of humor. We could never have seen so much or learned more in 4 hours without Hilke. She opened our eyes to the many facets of Berlin history. Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful city with us!
Rachel Kurtyka, United States, Nov. 2025
Hilke chose an excellent variety of sites and provided first-rate history and perspective. As someone who lived through the fall of the Berlin Wall and the integration of East and West Germany, she could provide insight that younger guides cannot. Hilke was the right choice.
William Keane, United States, Okt. 2025
Hilke was fantastic. So knowledgeable. So flexible. Since it was our first time to Berlin it was exactly what we needed for our first time.
Patrick Bauer, United States, August 2025
Fabulous. Knowledgeable, friendly, considerate, flexible. Highly recommend.
David Jordan, United States, Juli 2025
Excellent. Very knowledgeable and honest.
Mark Taylor, New Zealand, Juli 2025
We had a delightful day with Hilke. She is so well informed; always able to answer questions of which we had many. She is not only smart, she also has a lovely sense of humor ...
Merry Cole Bender, United States, Juni 2025
Fantastic tour with Hilke! She is so knowledgeable and personable.
Laurie Walter, United States, Juni 2025
Hilke is an excellent guide. She’s extremely knowledgeable, thorough and passionate about conveying the history and background and complexity of this
city.
Barbara Liberles Soffer, United States, Dez. 2024
Hilke was amazing. She knows Berlin and its history. We covered a huge part of the city and the special historical parts throughout. It was a great day.
Jim Lang, Unites States, Okt. 2024
Hilke was awesome! We really enjoyed our tour of Berlin and appreciated Hilke's attentiveness to our needs and flexibility with arrangements. Loved her sense of humor on top of her deep knowledge!
Marshall Dahneke, United States, Sept. 2024
What a wonderful time we had with Hilke during our 4 hours together in Berlin. She took us to historically important sights as you might imagine, but the magic was in the detail she provided behind each location. She was attentive, professional and informative. Brilliant day! Thank you, Hilke!
Sheryl Mallett, United States, Sept. 2024
Absolutely the best possible tour of Berlin! Our guide, Hilke, left us excited and overwhelmed with her knowledge and love for the city. She is highly professional, intelligent, knowledgeable, with an amazing sense of humor that is so charmingly true German! We loved every moment of this tour and will never forget it!
Thank you, Hilke!
Alan Heshel, United States, Juni 2024
Hilke led the best tour of Berlin highlights - exceeding our expectations. She was very flexible to our needs. Her many years in Berlin provided an extra personal layer to the history of the area! And we saw bunnies and a fox - certainly not what we expected in a busy, vibrant city center!
Annie Ellis, United States, Juni 2024
We had a wonderful day with Hilke . Very knowledgeable and a wonderful warm personality. Great sense of humour and combined the history with present day life . Highly recommend this guide.
Heather Cheyne, United States, Mai 2024
Hilke's local and historical knowledge is vast.
She is pleasant, fluent in multiple languages, diplomatic, and, most important, knows more about her subject areas than we had time to discuss. We were a group of 5 with non-stop questions about German history, culture, food, art, our week's itinerary, and more; and Hilke addressed them all, explaining past events and how historians view them today. I wish we had more time to spend with Hilke. She's a gem!
Beth Gregg, United States, Mai 2024
I booked Mrs Gerdes for some of my VIP clients and they were super happy with her services.
My clients spent a wonderful day with her ,a professional, dynamic and well informed tourist guide.
Mrs Gerdes is passionate about the city where she lives as well as about her job. She not only knows the history of Berlin so well, but she gives information that she has picked up that would not be part of what one learns on regular tours. I would highly recommend any tourist to spend time in Berlin with her.
N.N. Italien, April 2024
Hilke is a fabulous guide! We loved our Berlin Half Day City tour with her. Hilke was entertaining, informative and flexible. We strongly recommend her if you want to learn about Berlin now and in the past.
Michelle McGregor, Australien, Okt. 2023
Very enjoyable guiding experience
Lewis Remele, United States, Sept. 2023
Hilke gave our family of 9 a wonderful tour of Berlin. She customized the tour for us and was very knowledgeable. I highly recommend her.
Steven Schleier, United States, Aug. 2023
Hilke was knowledgeable & fun. [...] This was a great tour of the highlights of Museum Island. Coming to Berlin? Book this tour.
Michael Hetsler, United States,
Juni 2023
She was FANTASTIC! She did a lot of pre-work to make sure I received the perfect tour based on my specific requests. Extremely knowledgeable and flexible on the fly. I really enjoyed spending the day with her and learned so much about Berlin!
Holly Linton, United States, Sept. 2022
Wow! Hilke was amazing! Our teenagers were dreading their third tour in 10 days. Hilke was able to adapt our tour to start in the neighborhood where they could see street art and then took us to see the sites that were interesting to them. She gave high level overviews but answered details when we asked. She has an incredible energy that got our kids interested. I wish we could bring her to every city! This is our 4th private tour and by far the best.
Tracie Kiachian, United States, Aug. 2022
Hilke was simply fantastic. Detailed knowledge of all of Berlin both past and current. Went out of her way to meet all of our needs. Would highly recommend. She was such a pleasure to have as our guide. Hope to see her again.
Ron Karpinsky, United States, Juni 2022
Herzlichen Dank noch einmal für die Führung. Es gab nur positive Rückmeldungen, alle waren sehr begeistert!
Internationale Konferenzteilnehmer, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, Okt. 2021
Hilke's the best. Recommend her highly.
Harold Rosenberg, United States, Sept. 2021
If you want to see Berlin in its present glory - you need to see it through a tour with Hilke! She is absolutely amazing! ... I cannot recommend Hilke enough!
Peter Connelly, United States, Dez. 2019
Hilke was a delight to spend our first full day in Berlin with!
Ellen Patton, United States, Sept. 2019
… she is a terrific guide, extremely knowledgeable about history, art & architecture …
Katherine McInnes, Australien, Okt. 2019
One of the best tour guides we have ever used! A great start for a Berlin visit!
William Black, United States, Sept. 2019
Hilke is amazing! Very passionate about her city and Germany's history … We strongly recommend her.
Jorge Margain, Mexiko, Sept. 2019
Hilke proved to be an excellent guide creating a vivid and memorable journey around Berlin, based on our request to see some of the less well known sites and the street art of the city.
Adrian Savage, UK, September 2019
Hilke's knowledge, love for the city and kindness are first rate!
Mark Houghton, United States, Juni 2019
Hilke was a fantastic guide ... extremely knowledgeable ... very personable and friendly and just fun to walk and talk with.
David Albert, United States, April 2019
Incredible tour! Hilke was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and made our time with her most enjoyable.
Peter Atkinson, UK, April 2019
... I am glad we were able to spend a full day with Hilke!
Karen Smart, United States, März 2019
... She is a lovely person and made us feel very welcome.
Richard Morgan, United States, Okt. 2018
Hilke was a WONDERFUL guide ... It is hard to imagine a better guide to the highlights of vibrant Berlin.
James Hargrove, United States, Sept. 2018
Wonderful experience ... Highly recommended.
Janet Simula, August 2018
... She is hugely knowledgable and experienced, sociable and with lovely humour as well ...
Karen Lubner, United States, Juni 2018
Wonderful day, Hilke was like touring with a very well informed friend ...
Margaret Eldred, United States, Mai 2018
... We had her focus on the 1930's to mid 1940's, and she was extremely knowledgeable about all of the historical events, as well as the cultural and psychological issues during that time ...
Colleen Harker, United States, Mai 2018
... Knowlegeable, professional and funny. Very engaging. She made a special effort to include our younger daughter which we all appreciated. We would give her the highest of recommendations.
Kerry Wangberg, United States, April 2018
... We REALLY enjoyed her company and feel as if we have a friend in Germany for life! Most highly recommended!
Kevin Roche, United States, Dez. 2017
... We found Hilke to be both warm and accommodating as she shared her vast knowledge and enthusiasm of both cities with us ...
James Lewenauer, United States, Okt. 2017
Hilke was a fantastic guide in every way. She was deeply knowledgeable, sensitive and highly responsive ...
Dan Ross, United States, Okt. 2017
I highly recommend Hilke. She is extremely knowledgeable, friendly and efficient ...
Sarah Henderson, United States, Okt. 2017
Hilke made our Autumn day in Berlin most enjoyable ...
Richard Bartlam, United States
Okt. 2017
... Hilke was fun and personable, very organized, knowledgable, and informative ...
Edwin Ward, United States, Okt. 2017
Hilke was a wonderful guide who made our first trip to Berlin memorable. We were impressed with her ability ...
Deborah Burroughs, United States, Sept. 2017
Hilke is an excellent guide. She is a true local. She knows her stuff inside and out. She personalized our tour (just my wife and I) to where we wanted to go and added many more local sites that only someone from Berlin would know. She was terrific, easy 5 stars.
Jim Aylward, United States , Okt. 2026
You will not go wrong by using Hilke. She was so knowledgeable, engaging, and accommodating. There was no topic that was "off the table", and being in Berlin, there were sensitive topics, for sure.
Patricia Wright, United States, Okt. 2026
Our tour was wonderful! Hilke organized the tour based on our desires and matched it perfectly. She added in multiple stops exceeding our requests. She’s very knowledgeable, excellent English, and an all around delightful person … We recommend Hilke and her professionalism. Great tour guide!
Kristin Heck, United States, Okt. 2026
Hilke was absolutely wonderful! She was always quick to answer my questions and truly went above and beyond to take care of us. She was incredibly knowledgeable and gave us a much deeper understanding of Germany’s history. I especially appreciated the thought-provoking questions she asked throughout the tour, which encouraged us to look at the history from different perspectives and gave us an even greater understanding of what we were seeing … I was especially grateful for the care Hilke showed my elderly mother. She was always attentive to her needs and made sure we were comfortable and safe throughout the day .. Hilke made our day in Berlin incredibly memorable, and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, thoughtful, and caring guide. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience!
Debbie Davies, United States, Sept. 2026
We had a terrific half day tour in Berlin with Hilke. Our group of six curious adults peppered her with questions about a variety of topics- from WWI and onward- which she seemed to relish- and answered knowledgeably and thoughtfully. We were fairly knowledgeable and Hilke brought new depth and understanding to all is us. She was flexible in planning the tour and communicated with me clearly and quickly in advance of the tour. She has a great sense of humor and appreciated ours as well. I recommend Hilke without reservation!
Carol Naughton, United States, August 2026
Thank you, Hilke, for the lovely day in Berlin! I must say, we learned a lot! Thank you for your honesty and sharing about your culture with us! (And taking us all around) we appreciate your walking us all over Berlin and taking us on the subway, that was so interesting, you wore us out:) Berlin certainly has changed in the past 40 years since I was there last! Thanks for the great memories! All the best! Terri & Laura
Terri Brandley, United States, August 2026
We a had a great day in Berlin with Hilke. I wanted a German guide that experienced the city before and after the fall of the wall. She did an excellent job conveying what that was like.
Essam Ismail, United States, Juli 2026
If you are interested in understanding the timeframe of 1930s and the Twenty First Century Berlin, Hilke could not be a better choice. She took her time in explaining the details of each of the areas we covered. Her knowledge runs deep and she will paint a picture of what happened. If you were on your own in Berlin, it would be hard to understand significance of the many sites. Hilke kept us out of tourist traps and stores.
Joe Hawrylak, United States, Juni 2026
Hilke was a wonderful tour guide, we thoroughly enjoyed the morning we spent together ... We didn't just enjoy a tour, we made a friend.
Judson Neer, United States, Juni 2026
Hilke was a fantastic guide - incredibly knowledgeable and lovely sense of humour to go with it. We crammed in a lot in our half day walking tour and Hilke bought everything to life having been there when the wall came down. Thank you so much! Thoroughly recommended
Andrew Pearson, UK, Juni 2026
Terrific guide. Super knowledgeable and fun to be with. Handled our group of 12 with ease.
Ric Andersen, United States, Juni 2026
Such a great walking tour! The guide was amazing—super knowledgeable, easy to understand, and had the best upbeat, positive energy. She made it a really comfortable environment for asking questions, and we absolutely loved all the history we covered. A must-do in Berlin!
Chrystal Joseph, United States, Mai 2026
WOW!
A terrific day with Hilke!
We were a party of 6, traveling for the day from the cruiseport of Warnemunde to Berlin. HIlke was very flexible with our schedule and respectful of our time constraints.
The walking tour she provided offered lots of history, important places and personal experiences. Our group had a terrific day, and all feedback was positive.
Hire Hilke! You’ll have a great day.
Julie McGinn, United States, Mai 2026
We had a great time with Hilke. Very personal and engaging. Sincerity with a touch of humour. Highly recommended.
Martin Locke, Australien, Dez. 2025
Hilke was awesome! She was friendly, accommodating, and knowledgeable with a great sense of humor. We could never have seen so much or learned more in 4 hours without Hilke. She opened our eyes to the many facets of Berlin history. Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful city with us!
Rachel Kurtyka, United States, Nov. 2025
Hilke chose an excellent variety of sites and provided first-rate history and perspective. As someone who lived through the fall of the Berlin Wall and the integration of East and West Germany, she could provide insight that younger guides cannot. Hilke was the right choice.
William Keane, United States, Okt. 2025
Hilke was fantastic. So knowledgeable. So flexible. Since it was our first time to Berlin it was exactly what we needed for our first time.
Patrick Bauer, United States, August 2025
Fabulous. Knowledgeable, friendly, considerate, flexible. Highly recommend.
David Jordan, United States, Juli 2025
Excellent. Very knowledgeable and honest.
Mark Taylor, New Zealand, Juli 2025
We had a delightful day with Hilke. She is so well informed; always able to answer questions of which we had many. She is not only smart, she also has a lovely sense of humor ...
Merry Cole Bender, United States, Juni 2025
Fantastic tour with Hilke! She is so knowledgeable and personable.
Laurie Walter, United States, Juni 2025
Hilke is an excellent guide. She’s extremely knowledgeable, thorough and passionate about conveying the history and background and complexity of this
city.
Barbara Liberles Soffer, United States, Dez. 2024
Hilke was amazing. She knows Berlin and its history. We covered a huge part of the city and the special historical parts throughout. It was a great day.
Jim Lang, Unites States, Okt. 2024
Hilke was awesome! We really enjoyed our tour of Berlin and appreciated Hilke's attentiveness to our needs and flexibility with arrangements. Loved her sense of humor on top of her deep knowledge!
Marshall Dahneke, United States, Sept. 2024
What a wonderful time we had with Hilke during our 4 hours together in Berlin. She took us to historically important sights as you might imagine, but the magic was in the detail she provided behind each location. She was attentive, professional and informative. Brilliant day! Thank you, Hilke!
Sheryl Mallett, United States, Sept. 2024
Absolutely the best possible tour of Berlin! Our guide, Hilke, left us excited and overwhelmed with her knowledge and love for the city. She is highly professional, intelligent, knowledgeable, with an amazing sense of humor that is so charmingly true German! We loved every moment of this tour and will never forget it!
Thank you, Hilke!
Alan Heshel, United States, Juni 2024
Hilke led the best tour of Berlin highlights - exceeding our expectations. She was very flexible to our needs. Her many years in Berlin provided an extra personal layer to the history of the area! And we saw bunnies and a fox - certainly not what we expected in a busy, vibrant city center!
Annie Ellis, United States, Juni 2024
We had a wonderful day with Hilke . Very knowledgeable and a wonderful warm personality. Great sense of humour and combined the history with present day life . Highly recommend this guide.
Heather Cheyne, United States, Mai 2024
Hilke's local and historical knowledge is vast.
She is pleasant, fluent in multiple languages, diplomatic, and, most important, knows more about her subject areas than we had time to discuss. We were a group of 5 with non-stop questions about German history, culture, food, art, our week's itinerary, and more; and Hilke addressed them all, explaining past events and how historians view them today. I wish we had more time to spend with Hilke. She's a gem!
Beth Gregg, United States, Mai 2024
I booked Mrs Gerdes for some of my VIP clients and they were super happy with her services.
My clients spent a wonderful day with her ,a professional, dynamic and well informed tourist guide.
Mrs Gerdes is passionate about the city where she lives as well as about her job. She not only knows the history of Berlin so well, but she gives information that she has picked up that would not be part of what one learns on regular tours. I would highly recommend any tourist to spend time in Berlin with her.
N.N. Italien, April 2024
Hilke is a fabulous guide! We loved our Berlin Half Day City tour with her. Hilke was entertaining, informative and flexible. We strongly recommend her if you want to learn about Berlin now and in the past.
Michelle McGregor, Australien, Okt. 2023
Very enjoyable guiding experience
Lewis Remele, United States, Sept. 2023
Hilke gave our family of 9 a wonderful tour of Berlin. She customized the tour for us and was very knowledgeable. I highly recommend her.
Steven Schleier, United States, Aug. 2023
Hilke was knowledgeable & fun. [...] This was a great tour of the highlights of Museum Island. Coming to Berlin? Book this tour.
Michael Hetsler, United States,
Juni 2023
She was FANTASTIC! She did a lot of pre-work to make sure I received the perfect tour based on my specific requests. Extremely knowledgeable and flexible on the fly. I really enjoyed spending the day with her and learned so much about Berlin!
Holly Linton, United States, Sept. 2022
Wow! Hilke was amazing! Our teenagers were dreading their third tour in 10 days. Hilke was able to adapt our tour to start in the neighborhood where they could see street art and then took us to see the sites that were interesting to them. She gave high level overviews but answered details when we asked. She has an incredible energy that got our kids interested. I wish we could bring her to every city! This is our 4th private tour and by far the best.
Tracie Kiachian, United States, Aug. 2022
Hilke was simply fantastic. Detailed knowledge of all of Berlin both past and current. Went out of her way to meet all of our needs. Would highly recommend. She was such a pleasure to have as our guide. Hope to see her again.
Ron Karpinsky, United States, Juni 2022
Herzlichen Dank noch einmal für die Führung. Es gab nur positive Rückmeldungen, alle waren sehr begeistert!
Internationale Konferenzteilnehmer, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, Okt. 2021
Hilke's the best. Recommend her highly.
Harold Rosenberg, United States, Sept. 2021
If you want to see Berlin in its present glory - you need to see it through a tour with Hilke! She is absolutely amazing! ... I cannot recommend Hilke enough!
Peter Connelly, United States, Dez. 2019
Hilke was a delight to spend our first full day in Berlin with!
Ellen Patton, United States, Sept. 2019
… she is a terrific guide, extremely knowledgeable about history, art & architecture …
Katherine McInnes, Australien, Okt. 2019
One of the best tour guides we have ever used! A great start for a Berlin visit!
William Black, United States, Sept. 2019
Hilke is amazing! Very passionate about her city and Germany's history … We strongly recommend her.
Jorge Margain, Mexiko, Sept. 2019
Hilke proved to be an excellent guide creating a vivid and memorable journey around Berlin, based on our request to see some of the less well known sites and the street art of the city.
Adrian Savage, UK, September 2019
Hilke's knowledge, love for the city and kindness are first rate!
Mark Houghton, United States, Juni 2019
Hilke was a fantastic guide ... extremely knowledgeable ... very personable and friendly and just fun to walk and talk with.
David Albert, United States, April 2019
Incredible tour! Hilke was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and made our time with her most enjoyable.
Peter Atkinson, UK, April 2019
... I am glad we were able to spend a full day with Hilke!
Karen Smart, United States, März 2019
... She is a lovely person and made us feel very welcome.
Richard Morgan, United States, Okt. 2018
Hilke was a WONDERFUL guide ... It is hard to imagine a better guide to the highlights of vibrant Berlin.
James Hargrove, United States, Sept. 2018
Wonderful experience ... Highly recommended.
Janet Simula, August 2018
... She is hugely knowledgable and experienced, sociable and with lovely humour as well ...
Karen Lubner, United States, Juni 2018
Wonderful day, Hilke was like touring with a very well informed friend ...
Margaret Eldred, United States, Mai 2018
... We had her focus on the 1930's to mid 1940's, and she was extremely knowledgeable about all of the historical events, as well as the cultural and psychological issues during that time ...
Colleen Harker, United States, Mai 2018
... Knowlegeable, professional and funny. Very engaging. She made a special effort to include our younger daughter which we all appreciated. We would give her the highest of recommendations.
Kerry Wangberg, United States, April 2018
... We REALLY enjoyed her company and feel as if we have a friend in Germany for life! Most highly recommended!
Kevin Roche, United States, Dez. 2017
... We found Hilke to be both warm and accommodating as she shared her vast knowledge and enthusiasm of both cities with us ...
James Lewenauer, United States, Okt. 2017
Hilke was a fantastic guide in every way. She was deeply knowledgeable, sensitive and highly responsive ...
Dan Ross, United States, Okt. 2017
I highly recommend Hilke. She is extremely knowledgeable, friendly and efficient ...
Sarah Henderson, United States, Okt. 2017
Hilke made our Autumn day in Berlin most enjoyable ...
Richard Bartlam, United States
Okt. 2017
... Hilke was fun and personable, very organized, knowledgable, and informative ...
Edwin Ward, United States, Okt. 2017
Hilke was a wonderful guide who made our first trip to Berlin memorable. We were impressed with her ability ...
Deborah Burroughs, United States, Sept. 2017
