Sunset at the Reichstagsgebäude

   
      The Reichstagsgebäude is the seat of the German Parliament. Its glass dome can be seen from all over the city center, a gleaming reminded that Berlin is the capital of Bundesrepublik Deutschland. The building's history is perhaps more exciting than its current use.

     It was built to serve the Imperial Diet, a parliamentary body of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894, and was in use until 1933, when it was set on fire. The fire was used as an excuse by the Nazi party to crack down on Communists. Thereafter, it fell into disrepair until the early 1960's when it was protected from the weather. It was not touched again until after the reunification of Germany in 1990.

      Norman Foster led the full restoration of the building, including a replacement dome. Built into the dome was a ramp for visitors to the Reichstagsgebäude, where they could look down upon the floor of the Bundestag. Symbolically, this was to remind the legislators that the eyes of the German people are always upon them.

      The restored building is a striking combination of Neoclassicism and modernism. The external architecture belies the modernity of the interior. Most notably, the frieze contains a dedication, "Dem deutschen Volke," which means "To the German people".

      The night I went, there was also a light show on the Bundestag office buildings neighboring the Reichstagsgebäude, along with a video about the history of the building, subtitled in English.

Today, anyone can schedule a visit to the dome after registering online. An appointment time slot and a government issued photo ID like a driver's license or passport are required for entry. If you neglect to book a slot, you can check a booth across the street to see if any are still available for that day. Once there, a self guided audio tour is provided for the walk up the dome. You can stay on top for as long as you wish, and can even eat at the restaurant on the terrace.

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If you liked what you read, please like, share, use the referral links to help support us! Careful on the way down that ramp, it makes you dizzy. Also, don't ask for an audioguide in Russian as a joke unless you speak it. The guy speaks Russian and you'll get rather embarrassed.

Fire in the Sky: Pyronale

   

Photo by Bethany Jana

 
      The Pyronale is an annual international firework championship held annually on the Maifeld at Olympiastadion in Berlin. This year, I had the chance to view from the top of a "mountain" in Berlin, the Drachenberg. The Drachenberg, whose name means "dragon mountain," is located in the Grünewald, a massive park in the western part of Berlin. The hill next to it is called Teufelsberg, or Devil's Mountain. An abandonded American signals intelligence station sits atop it, further adding to its intrigue.

      From the top, Berlin is laid out before you. Despite only being 99 meters tall, Drachenberg provides an unparalled view to the expanse that is Berlin. On a clear day, the whole skyline is visible, while Spandau is visible from the Northwest side of the hill.

     At night, the soft lighting of the Funkturm shines in front of the lights of Alexanderplatz, the Fernsehturm, and Potsdamer Platz. The sky on a clear night is filled with stars. The night I was there though, the sky was filled with fire.

      When I arrived, the hill was already packed with people waiting for the fireworks show to begin. It took almost 20 minutes to find my friends who had already arrived. Once we found them, we sat down on the far side of the hill to watch the show. It began with a flurry of small, bright fireworks, and then mounted into a 20 minute crescendo of light. After a short pause, the next team's show began on a more subdued note. It emphasized waterfall style fireworks, painting Pollock's in the sky.

      The final show was a cacophony. Fireworks of all kind were used simultaneously, their booms echoing over the city. As the last finale came to a close, the hill began to applaud. The fire and smoke was gone. The stars shown once more over the city. After a short pause, the mass of humanity decamped, off to a new adventure, for this chapter had come to a close.

The video was only filmed vertically because it was pulled from Snapchat. Please withhold judgement and anger.

      Drachenberg is a large flat-top hill. It takes about 15 minutes to walk up to the top of it from the nearest S-Bahn station, S-Heerstraße.  S-Heerstraße can be reached using the S5, S75, Bus 218, M49, X34, and X49. To get to Drachenberg from the station, you need to take Teufelsseestraße Southwest. It will turn into Teufelsseechaussee. From there, a footpath will fork off to the right, and that will take you up the hill.

Pyronale 2017 will take place on September 1st and 2nd.

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Berlin: The Basic Tour

Now that you've not only arrived in Berlin, but also know how to purchase BVG tickets and have the ability to navigate it, it's time to figure out where to go. Berlin has a multitude of parks, museums, cultural centers, memorials, monuments, lakes, restaurants, rivers, historic sites, clubs, stores and everything in between. You cannot possibly see everything, no matter how long you are there. What you can do is make a good attempt.

The first basic tour for most usually turns out to be a bus tour. Berlin has private tour buses, but let's be honest here, those cost way too much. The BVG runs a bus line that is not only double-decker, but also passes some of the most iconic landmarks (Sehenswürdigkeiten) of Berlin. And it is ridden using a normal BVG ticket. The 100 Bus line was created after the Fall of the Berlin Wall (der Mauerfall) to link the East and the West. It starts in Alexanderplatz and makes its way west until it reaches the Berlin Zoo station. (Zoologischer Garten) I highly recommend taking it to begin your time in Berlin.

Zoologischer Garten is a great station to continue sightseeing and shopping at. As you exit the station, you should be able to see the ruins of a church. It is the Kaiser Wilhelm II Memorial Church (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche). As you get closer, you will begin to see a blue building. That is the newly built part of the church. The interior is astoundingly beautiful.

The interior of the new Gedächtniskirche.

The ruins of the Gedächtniskirche

The church is situated at a fantastic place to start shopping. If you cross the island it is situated on to the opposite street, you will find yourself on Kurfürstendamm, Ku'damm to locals. It is the premier high street in Berlin. Continuing down Ku'damm away from Zoologischer Garten, you will eventually see a massive building on your right. That is Kaufhaus des Westens, or KaDeWe. It is a massive department store, on the order of Harrod's in London. I used it as far more of a wishing store, than actually buying anything. Except chocolate. They have an amazing truffle selection on one of the upper floors as well as a wide selection of "American food".

KaDeWe's interpretation of "American food".

After you're finished there, (it might take a while) you'll find yourself at Wittenbergplatz. The U-Bahn station is a beautiful example of old German architecture. You can either take the U2 back to Zoologischer Garten or walk. This part of town is particularly beautiful at dusk.

U-Bahnhof Wittenberplatz.

Looking down Ku'damm from Wittenbergplatz.

Zoologischer Garten is a great station for connections back towards the center of the city. The S5 and the S7 will both make the same stops until you get to Friedrichsfelde-Ost in the far east. If you still have some time after the sightseeing and shopping, head back to the Hauptbahnhof. From the S-Bahn platform head down and follow the signs to the U55. It goes straight to the Brandenburg Gate. (Brandenburger Tor) The area around the Tor is lit at night, and makes for a memorable time.

The Tor on the Day of German Unity. (Tag der deutschen Einheit)

While looking at the gate from the front, the United States Embassy (Botschaft) will be on your left, the French Embassy on your right, and the British farther back on the left. After you're done viewing the Tor, walk through it and turn left. Keep walking until you come to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas) on your left. Walking through the Memorial at night is a haunting experience. Be sure to be respectful whilst inside the memorial despite others' behavior.

Next, reverse course and head back towards the Tor. Go past it, and walk to the end of the street, and turn left. Cross the street, and you will find yourself in front of the Reichstag, the seat of the German parliament (Bundestag). It's another building that is stunning at night. After the Reichstag, go left and continue through the gardens, and past the large glass Bundestag building. Eventually, you should be able to see a field of grass that ends in a bridge back over to the Hauptbahnhof. The river that bridge crosses is called the Spree. The lights on the water at night make it to the perfect way to end a day in Berlin.

From the Hauptbahnhof, you can make it back to any part of Berlin rather quickly. Use the BVG app to find the best route.

This day of sightseeing only barely scratches the surface of what Berlin has to offer. Hundreds of museums, parks, and landmarks still await you. Go out and explore, and see what beauty you can find in Bärlin.

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Berlin: First Movements

First Post in Berlin Series

First things first. When you get out of a train and enter the main station area, do not, I repeat Do Not sign any kind of petition that is offered to you. I know it talks about helping the disabled of Europe, but it's absolutely fake. The same piece of paper is used by theft rings around Europe. I have seen it in seven cities so far. Don't sign it, you're in serious risk pickpocketing if you do.

Now that that's clear you can start to navigate public transport to your place of residence while you're in Berlin. The first line of defense for navigating Berlin is the BVG App. iOS Android Google Maps works, but is not quite as good as BVG Fahrinfo.

A fair understanding of the Schnellbahnnetz is also a good to have. It's really rather simple as one can see.

2008 version of the Berlin rapid transit system. The 2016 one is available here.

This map includes SBahn (City light rail), UBahn (Subway), and RE/RB (Regional trains). The oblong oval shape is a continuous line known as the Ringbahn and is number S41 and S42. The rest of the lines snake through the city's various Bezirke (Boroughs) until their termini.

UBahn stations come in many forms. This one is on the U2.

The city is divided into three different fare zones: A, B, and C. Tickets are sold for AB, BC, or ABC. Single use extension tickets are also available to add one zone of validity to a ticket for two hours. Single tickets are valid for two hours within their fare zones for one direction of travel and cost EUR 2.70. The ticket must be validated at a machine in the UBahn station, on an SBahn platform, or in a a bus or tram. They are small yellow or red boxes with a slot that the ticket must be inserted into. It is then stamped with a date and station code.

Illuminated signs in English and German show when the next bus
for each route are coming at busy stops. This one is at S-Bahnhof Heerstraße.

Tickets valid for a longer period of time are also commonly used. There are day, two day, three day, four day, five day, six day, week, and monthly tickets. For tourists, a selection of tickets that include museum entrances and other benefits are available. For longer term visitors there for three weeks or more, month tickets make more fiscal sense. They are known as Monatskarten. One month of an unreduced VBB Umweltskarte which is valid on all BVG forms of transportation costs EUR 81.00 per month for zones AB. If you are a student studying in Berlin on a study abroad program and have a valid Berlin issued photo ID you may be able to use the Monatskarte Azubi/Schüler for EUR 57.00 for zones AB. If at a German university, there should also be an office to purchase semester-long tickets at for further reduced prices. An ID from BVG is required to use the reduced tickets.

Tickets are most commonly purchased from yellow machines at train stations, and single tickets are sold on buses. The machines take cash, EC cards (A unique German kind of charge card), and some debit cards. Many convenience stores also sell tickets. One way to save a small amount of money is to buy four tickets at the same time in a 4-Fahrten-Karte configuration. Each ticket must be individually validated when it is used.

Now you have everything you need to make it to your accommodations without problem.

Next: Berlin: The Basic Tour

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Mitfahren mit der Deutschen Bahn: The German Train System

Intercity train leaving Spandau

The German train network is one of the best in Europe. You can get to almost anywhere in Germany by train with enough time and determination. Deutsche Bahn (DB) is the largest passenger train company in Germany. It is a private company, but is wholly owned by the German government.

The rail network includes a wide variety of train types.

ICE

• Inter-City Express
• Fastest rail service in Germany
• Costs more than other train services for a full-flexible ticket
• Nicest cars by far

IC

• Intercity
• Second fastest service
• Usually connects major cities within Germany
• Has a more extensive network of stops than ICE

EC

• Eurocity
• Same speed as IC
• Connects major German cities to major foreign cities with fewer stops in-between than IC

CNL

• City Night Line
• Connects major cities that are distant
• Stops infrequently
• Runs overnight and aims to arrive early in the morning
• Sleeper cabins available, but rather pricey
• Common routes include Hamburg-Munich and Munich-Venice

IRE

• Inter-Regio-Express
• Connects regions to one another
• Usually has fewer stops than RE that run the same routes
• Route from Berlin to Hamburg on IRE is only EUR 29,99 roundtrip

RE

• Regio-Express
• Regional train
• Connects larger and mid-size cities within a region
• Stops less frequently than RB
• Each state usually has it's own RE system
• Berlin and Brandenburg have formed an alliance under the VBB to make it easier to travel around the Berlin-Brandenburg area

RB

• Regional Bahn
• The shortest distance mainline rail service
• Services small cities as well as medium and large
• Stops frequently
• Often takes a significant amount of time more than other regional trains to go the same route
• Before using it, one should check that an RE is not available that is faster

S-Bahn

• Stadtschnellbahn
• A subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, usually in a partnership with a regional transit authority such as BVG (Regional transportation authority for Berlin)
• Light rail system in major cities that connects parts of the city to each other
• Berlin is known for its Ringbahn, a large circular SBahn route that runs continuously

U-Bahn

• Untergrundbahn, literally underground train
• Managed wholly by the regional transit authority, not DBahn
• Has the shortest distance between stops of any train system
• Stops are concentrated in the city center, and usually fan out from there
• Berlin has many transfer stations where UBahn lines overlap

ICE cabin.

Booking a Ticket

When booking a ticket, the train type, time before departure, ticket class, ticket flexibility, and ticket demand must all be taken into account. A full price ticket allows one to take any train running that particular route of the same class of train. For example if a full-fare ticket is booked from Frankfurt am Main to Stuttgart on an IC train and you miss the scheduled train, you must take another train that is also IC from Frankfurt to Stuttgart even if an ICE is leaving sooner on the same route.

Full-fare tickets are also rather cost-prohibitive. Sparpreis is an excellent option for booking train tickets far below their book-value. There is one major difference between the two tickets. Sparpreis tickets are not flexible. If a train is missed, or even one connection is missed and DBahn is not on strike, a new ticket must be purchased. Sparpreis is usually the lowest price possible for a certain route without the use of additional price reduction cards. 

You have five main options by which you can book a ticket on DBahn. The first is through the use of their website. It has an English language version that makes most tasks easily accomplishable. 

The second is through the DBahn App which is available for iOS and Android. It recently gained the ability to purchase a wider variety of tickets than it could before. 

The third is to call DBahn and then receive the tickets through mail. Don't do this. Really. Just don't. It's like dealing with Delta customer service and USPS at the same time.

The fourth option is to walk into a train station and find a DBahn ticket office. The people there can usually help you find harder to custom routes well in advance of travel. You should really only use it if you need it though.

The final option is the ticket kiosks that are in nearly every train station in Germany. They are red and white and accept credit and debit cards as well as cash. They are easy to use and have multiple language options. I highly recommend them. 

Ticket Types

DBahn offers a wide variety of ticket types beyond normal point-to-point route tickets. Each ticket type allows one to accomplish a different set of goals. Before choosing one, be sure that you really need it and cannot do the same cheaper with point-to-point tickets.

Länder-Ticket

• Allow you to travel with up to five people an unlimited amount of times within a certain state
• Can only use RE, RB, SBahn, and usually UBahn and local transport in major cities
• Some states have other train services also available for use with the tickets
• Valid on weekdays from 9:00 AM to 3:00 AM the following day, midnight on holidays and weekends
• Available for booking on the DB app with the exception of the Hessen-Ticket
• Usually cost EUR 23 for one person, and EUR 5 additional for each person
• Particularly useful in Bavaria if coming from outside Munich as it is also valid on MVV and all Meridian trains

Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket

• Allows unlimited travel for one day from midnight until 3:00 AM the following day
• Available for Saturday or Sunday
• Valid across all of Germany on regional train services; IRE, RE, RB, SBahn; also includes some local rail services
• Costs EUR 40 plus EUR 4 per person, up to five people
• Also valid in some parts of Poland, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, and Denmark

Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket

• Same concept as the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket, except it is valid on weekdays
• Costs EUR 44 plus EUR 8  per additional person, up to five total
• Valid from 9:00 AM until 3:00 AM the following day
• Valid across Germany including some local rail services

Ostsee-Ticket

• Allows a traveler to depart from a selection of cities in the North of Germany, (Berlin included) and travel to a limited list of destination cities on the Baltic Sea
• Includes cities in Poland and Germany
• Valid on nearly every train type
• Both trips must be selected before the Ostsee-Ticket is shown as an option
• The price changes throughout the seasons from EUR 34 to EUR 44
• The departure and return must be within fifteen days of one another

BahnCard

BahnCards make train travel in Germany much cheaper if you travel often. Most only make sense to purchase if you will be in Germany for more than three months. The number that follows the BahnCard is the percentage discount that a cardholder receives on each ticket purchased using the BahnCard. For example the BahnCard 25 gives the holder 25 percent off each ticket price, both full-fare and Sparpreis. The normal BahnCard 50 does not include any discount on Sparpreis. If you are under 18, the JugendBahnCard 25 is the optimal purchase. It only costs EUR 10. For those under 27, the best option is the My BahnCard 50. It costs only EUR 69, and includes a 25 percent discount on Sparpreis. For those older, and who don't ride trains enough to justify the steep price of the Bahncard 100, the Bahncard 50 is the optimal choice if a discount on Sparpreis is not important.

Safe travels, and good luck mit der Deutschen Bahn!

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Berlin: Making it There

Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom)

The next whistle-stop on the Minerva rotation is Berlin. It happens to be a city that I have a fair amount of experience in. I lived there for about eight months during my exchange year. It is a city unlike any other that I have been to. It is much grittier than other major German cities. It isn't spotless. The subways aren't exactly timely, the entire city isn't an utterly safe playground for the unprepared. All of that gives Berlin a unique personality. 

Berlin was first chartered in 1237. Over the years it has grown and expanded, eventually surpassing the city that first gave it life. Its land area is divided into twelve Bezirke. Each Bezirk acts very similarly to a small city. They are governed by an elected council and a mayor. The Bezirksamt is subordinate to the Senat von Berlin. Berlin's population totals 3.5 million people. Berlin still bears many scars from the events of the 20th Century. Many of the landmarks from World War II no longer stand. Marks of the Cold War are still evident in the center and east of the city. 

Before you get to exploring the city itself, you must first make it there.

German Parliament (Reichstagsgebäude)

Berlin is also unique in the sense that it is rather isolated in comparison to other major European cities. But one must remember that this is relative. It really isn't very far away from anything if you are used to American-sized distances. 

When booking flights you should remember this. The two airports servicing Berlin are rather small. Oftentimes, flights in and out of Tegel and Schönefeld are rather costly. You should look at flights into Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf, Prague, Amsterdam Schiphol, and Munich before booking a flight into Berlin. Specials that can save you large amounts are common going into these airport depending on what your city of origin is.  All of these airports have easy access to trains to Berlin. The cost of the train must be factored into the airport decision. Trains can be easily booked ahead of time with Deutsche Bahn. See this post about the German train system for information about booking train tickets in Germany. Train tickets should be airport of choice to Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) or Ostbahnhof if staying in the East.

• Frankfurt am Main (FRA) - Berlin Hbf ~ 4:30
• Düsseldorf (DUS) - Berlin Hbf ~ 4:10
• Munich (MUC) - Berlin Hbf ~ 7:00
• Prague (PRG) - Berlin Hbf ~ 5:35
• Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) - Berlin Hbf ~ 6:35

Beauty is everywhere in Berlin, even in the Altspandau U-Bahn station.

Buses are another option, but it should be kept in mind that a bus to Berlin is not as comfortable as the train, as fast as the train, and large luggage makes it unwieldy to get to many of the bus stations in the first place. Bus pricing is also usually fairly similar to the lowest train fare class. 

Next: Berlin: First Movements

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