Steven Richards
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My name is Steve and I am originally from Western Australia. I first visited Berlin as an 18-year old in 2004, then once again in 2007, then once again for the winter of 2009/2010, and finally in September 2013…at which point I made Berlin my home. Of course that wasn’t the plan when my Australian partner and I arrived - but one university degree, two kids and a marriage later, we are still here…
I have been employed on a full-time basis by On the Front Tours since early in 2026, presenting tours in English and German. As the lead guide, I focus most of my attention on the history of the Third Reich in Berlin and Brandenburg, with a particular focus on battlefield tours (Seelow Heights, Halbe/Wünsdorf, Battle for the Reichstag), concentration camps (Sachsenhausen, Ravensbrück, Neukölln), the history of the Shoa (Wannsee, Gleis 17, Old Jewish Cemetery) and resistance. I also do some freelance historical work on the side, co-managing a project for the creation of a memorial at the former sub-camp Neukölln (KZ-Außenlager Neukölln) since 2025 and writing articles for the English-language magazine The Berliner.
Through my work, I am able to nerd out in the archives, nerd out at historical sites, and nerd out with my clients. I am enthusiastic about history wherever I find it - and since 2013, Berlin’s rich and dynamic history has only added fuel to the fire. The focus of my studies over the years complements this, as I have focussed on the history of Berlin in the 20th century, as well as the development of civil society initiatives in the former West Germany as sites of collective memory formation (eg. Stolpersteine / tripping stones). The Master's degree I completed in Berlin in Public History coupled with being a member of several of these civil society initiatives, provides me with the ability to pull back the curtain on historical sites and interpretation centres in Berlin - we can discuss not just what happened in the past, but why history is presented in this particular way.
I am passionate about providing clients with historical accounts of the spaces in front of them, that pay heed not only to what happened “back then” but the time between “then and now”. And in Berlin, the place that has been dubbed “the Rome of 20th-century history” there is ample opportunity to communicate how the past casts its shadow over the present.
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