ABERSYCHAN pupils got a taste of history with a trip to Berlin.

Teachers Michelle Wilkshire and Barrie Evans ran a joint educational visit to Berlin last month for 23 GCSE pupils to sample culture and history.

On the first day the pupils were treated to a tour of the city by a guide, who was also a German actor.

He showed them the place where Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg was executed for attempting to assassinate Hitler, and shared stories about what Tom Cruise, who played Stauffenberg in the film Valkyrie, was like when he worked with him.

They were taken to Checkpoint Charlie and several sections of the Berlin Wall, as well as the headquarters of the Gestapo. They also visited the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate.

On the second day they visited Sachsenhausen concentration camp, which was one of the first concentration camps and was the headquarters of all Nazi camps.

The pupils were shocked to hear of some of the ritual punishments and experimentation that went on there, and that 80,000 prisoners were killed.

In the evening the pupils enjoyed a meal and a game of bowling.

On the final day the pupils visited the Story of Berlin museum, where they learned about the 800-year history of the city in a fun and interactive way.

In the afternoon, pupils were treated to a visit to Berlin Zoo.