Interview with Tina Nitsche
Tina, you are an enthusiastic and passionate tour guide in the Spree spring region. How did this come about?
My motivation as a city guide comes from my attachment to my home and the desire to do something for the place where I live. A positive concept of home is important to me - it is often misused in the right-wing spectrum. I simply want to take a bit of responsibility for the area where I live. I'm also personally very interested in architecture and the Umgebinde style of building, which is very popular here. It's great to talk about it with guests, because as a city guide you always get direct feedback and can improve your knowledge of human nature. And: there is always a need for tour guides!
How did your training go?
I started my training in 2012 and completed it at the AG Deutsche Fachwerkstädte in Fulda. Various themed blocks are offered there several times a year. Based on the impulses I received there, I then continued my personal training and adapted what I had learned to my region. The topics you learn there are, for example: Art history, jewelry and symbolism, methodology and didactics or "How do I represent my city".
All in all, I was able to complete the course well alongside my job. Of course, a certain amount of effort was essential due to the amount of work I had to do myself, but I was always able to manage it well. In 2017, I completed my training with the "Certified tour guide in half-timbered towns" award.
So you've been working as a tour guide for several years now. What is your conclusion so far?
Guiding is a great job! I think the variety of tasks is particularly important. Here in Spreequellland, we don't have "the standard tour", but rather tours that are often tailored to specific events. On the last Open Monument Day, for example, we came up with a guided tour along and up the towers in Ebersbach-Neugersdorf. Or we take guided walks together with the guests.
Many people always think that all you have to do on a guided tour is simply walk around the sights and give facts and dates. I regularly give guided tours of Faktorenhof Eibau, but I only mention three numbers during the entire tour. It's much more important to tell entertaining anecdotes and exciting background stories.
What advice and tips would you give future tour guides?
You definitely don't need to be afraid of being a tour guide. Nobody expects you to be a history and architecture expert. What counts above all is general motivation and enthusiasm for the topics on which you want to give guided tours.
As already mentioned, facts and figures are also much less relevant for a modern guided tour than you might think. Guests rarely remember such things anyway; they are much more interested in hearing stories that will stay in their memory.
No guest expects one hundred percent perfection from a tour guide - tourists know that they are just another person standing in front of them. I've sometimes found myself in a situation where I couldn't answer a question at all and that wasn't taken negatively at all.
Thank you very much for the interview!
