Being a tour guide in Berlin has been one of the very best experiences of my life. I only started to learn to tell stories properly when I was faced with groups of people who, unlike university students, are not required to listen unless what you say is interesting enough. To make the past and present of Berlin live in front of such endlessly varied audiences turned out to be challenging and deeply rewarding: their joy, their scepticism, their passion, their questions, live luminously inside me now when I write stories, or teach the history of twentieth century Berlin at university.
My years on the streets of Berlin telling stories, with the madcap beautiful humans I have met along the way, have been the best of my life so far. A part of me will always be a tour guide, alive and open under the knowing sky of my adopted home.
You can book a tour of Berlin with me here.
Lauren van Vuuren 