Humboldt University

from the audio walk Berlin Like You’ve Never Heard It Before – True Stories & Secrets

80 Stations
254:05 min Audio
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You are standing at a place where Einstein taught, where Hegel philosophized—and where, just a few decades later, flames raged, devouring the books of Heine, Brecht, and many others. You are at Humboldt University, right in the heart of Berlin—a place that, like few others, reflects both the heights and the abysses of German history.
Founded in 1810 by Wilhelm von Humboldt, it quickly became a crucible of ideas for research, teaching, and intellectual freedom. Renowned scholars and thinkers shaped generations here. Yet, on May 10, 1933, this freedom collapsed brutally: National Socialists organized the infamous book burning on Opernplatz, directly in front of the university. Thousands of books deemed “un-German”—works by writers, Jewish authors, and political dissidents—were cast into the fire. Student helpers hurled the books onto the pyres while speeches celebrated the ideology of the National Socialists. It was a symbol of censorship, oppression, and the deliberate destruction of free thought.
After the war, the university was situated in East Berlin and fell under the influence of the GDR. It was not until reunification in 1990 that it returned to its original spirit of openness. Today, Humboldt University is once again an international hub for exchange—a place where knowledge is shared, debated, and advanced.
As you stand here, you can sense a blend of pride and solemn warning: a remembrance of great ideas—and of the responsibility to protect them. Image 1: By Christian Wolf (www.c-w-design.de), CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42539903

Image 2: By Unknown author – This image is available under the digital ID ppmsca.00342 in the Prints and Photographs Division of the U.S. Library of Congress. Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=442848

Image 3: By Bundesarchiv, Image 102-14597 / Georg Pahl / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5415527

Image 4: By Bundesarchiv, Image 102-14598 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5415528

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Other stops on this audio tour:

A Brief Excursion into Berlin's History (7:59 min) • St. Nicholas' Church / St. Nicholas' Quarter (2:49 min) • Newspaper District (4:28 min) • Checkpoint Charlie (1:55 min) • Former Gestapo Headquarters (2:57 min) • Former Tempelhof Airport (3:46 min) • 7 Wannsee Conference (4:45 min) • Walther Rathenau Memorial (2:34 min) • Olympic Stadium / 1936 Olympic Games (5:36 min) • Commune 1 (2:27 min) • Benno Ohnesorg / Student Movement (2:16 min) • Rolf Eden (1:54 min) • Café Kranzler (2:08 min) • Kurfürstendamm (3:03 min) • Zoo Palace (3:47 min) • Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (2:22 min) • Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg (3:28 min) • Schöneberg Town Hall (2:33 min) • Former Sportpalast / Sportpalast Speech (5:12 min) • Bendlerblock/Stauffenberg assassination attempt (4:47 min) • Kroll Opera House / Enabling Act (3:09 min) • Reichstag Building (4:14 min) • Reichstag Fire (4:28 min) • Brandenburg Gate (2:52 min) • People's Court (3:08 min) • Potsdamer Place (2:58 min) • Former "Führerbunker" (5:06 min) • "Tresor" (Safe) (1:43 min) • Popular Uprising in the GDR (2:11 min) • Reich Chancellery / Hitler's Seizure of Power (5:11 min) • "Die weiße Maus" (The White Mouse) (2:57 min) • Friedrichstraße Station / "Tränenpalast" (Palace of Tears) (3:46 min) • Berlin Palace (5:04 min) • Red City Hall (2:30 min) • Alexanderplatz (2:30 min) • Otto Weidt's Workshop for the Blind / Anne Frank Center (2:05 min) • Hackesche Höfe (5:21 min) • Rosenthaler Platz (2:58 min) • St. Sophia's Church (3:03 min) • Sophie-Gips Courtyards (2:08 min) • Koppenplatz (3:16 min) • Clärchen's Dance Hall (3:54 min) • New Synagogue (2:19 min) • Berliner Ensemble (3:55 min) • Friedrichstadt-Palast (4:02 min) • Dorotheenstadt Cemetery (2:25 min) • Bloody May (2:18 min) • Humboldthain Flak Tower (5:17 min) • Chris Gueffroy and the Victims of the Wall (1:28 min) • Tunnel 57 / Egon Schultz (2:40 min) • AMIGA (1:37 min) • Bernauer Street (4:07 min) • Former Bornholmer Straße Border Crossing (3:26 min) • Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Sports Park (3:43 min) • Mauerpark (4:07 min) • Arkonaplatz (3:03 min) • Zion Church (3:44 min) • Prenzlauer Berg Fire Station (3:18 min) • Hirschhof (2:41 min) • Freya Klier (2:28 min) • Prater (2:28 min) • Oderberger Straße Municipal Baths (3:36 min) • Oderberger Street 2 (1:58 min) • Currywurst (2:16 min) • Konnopke's Snack Bar (2:43 min) • Gethsemane Church (2:09 min) • Museum in the Kulturbrauerei (1:06 min) • Kulturbrauerei (3:24 min) • Frannz-Club (2:31 min) • Husemann Street (1:58 min) • Jews' Passage (3:32 min) • Prenzlauer Berg Water Tower (2:37 min) • Rosa Luxemburg Square (4:34 min) • Mont Klamott (1:43 min) • Samaritan Church (2:23 min) • Former Stasi Headquarters / Stasi Museum (2:48 min) • Berlin-Karlshorst Museum / Unconditional Surrender (2:54 min) • East Side Gallery (2:59 min) • House Squatting in the 1980s (2:34 min)

Humboldt University

from the audio walk Berlin Like You’ve Never Heard It Before – True Stories & Secrets

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