# BERLIN: the amazing capital of Germany



## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

I finally decided to pay a visit to Berlin. Despite having visited various cities and places in Germany over the past 10 years (I don't think I had a year over the past 6 years when I didn't spend part of my holidays in Germany) I somehow never made it to Berlin despite many saying that it is the most fascinating and exciting (let alone the capital) city in the country.

I dedicated three days to Berlin which is probably just about enough to get an idea what the city is all about and see the main attractions. I visited Potsdam too which I will present at the end.

All in all I really liked Berlin. Besides all the traditional features such as museums, nightlife and other important cultural features of a big city there is one thing that I find really nice: planning and urban environments. Berlin feels very spacious and has excellent public areas all over the city center and elsewhere. People take advantage of that and you'll see picnics pretty much all over the place when the weather is good. Really pleasant and there is enough space to relax and chill out for everyone be it a large public park (Tiergarten) or a small greenland near a random highrise residential block.

Another aspect that I find great is modern architecture. Owing partially to WW2 destruction and partially to reunification investment efforts Berlin is packed with good modern stuff. It feels and looks like modern city above everything despite a decent amount of restored old buildings. Those who are not scared of highrise apartment blocks (aka 'commieblocks') will have something to see as well. Berlin has many residential areas built up with tall apartment buildings dominating a number of neighborhoods.

The pictures

View from my hotel's roof terrace. The New Brandenburg Airport terminal which is not open for business yet



More views of the neighborhood that I was staying at. It was right on the official city boundary surrounded by residential blocks on one side and empty grasslands dedicated for new development on the other


My hotel (Meininger Berlin Airport). I normally look for hotels on booking.com and this one had one of the top ratings yet was suprisingly cheap. It was one of the best hotels I have stayed at for this price range (~50EUR per night for a double room). Of course normally it makes sense to stay closer to the city center but since I was traveling with a car it made more sense to stay away and avoid any traffic-related issues including getting the Umwelt sticker which is compulsory for all cars not excluding foreign ones. With the excellent public transport in Berlin it wasn't a problem to move around



First sighting of central Berlin. Leaving an S Bahn train at Potsdamer Platz station. Public transport left me a very positive impression. S Bahn trains are not as good and comfortable as Munich or some other cities but the system overall integrates a number of transit modes (city core U-Bahn metro, suburban and cross-city S Bahn, Regionalbahn trains which can also be used as commuter trains within city transport fare zone limits, tramways and buses all of which makes a very solid and effective public transport system.

To understand how Berlin system works it's best to have a look at the map. Besides the numerous modes of public transit it's worth mentioning _how_ it's positioned in the system. There are four (to my understanding) rail transit hubs positioned at each end (north, south, east, west) of the city several km away from the center. Each hub is a meeting point of several S bahn, U Bahn, Regionalbahn and even IC/ICE services. Each hub distributes traffic to final destinations within the city or central core hubs like Friedrichstrasse or Alexanderplatz so maximizing the efficiency of passenger flows. Very smart indeed


Potsdamer Platz. The centerpiece and the main showcase of modern Berlin. It was a no-go area during the cold war division era despite being centrally located. Today it's packed with life and is an excelent example of integration of business, leisure and public life which will be well visible in some later pictures. Those three highrises are the main landmarks of the area but the bast part is, in fact, on the ground. They did a good job creating a pleasant environment for pedestrians without compromising car traffic as it often happens in some cities


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## El_Greco (Apr 1, 2005)

Looking good!


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

*Potsdamer Platz*

The following pictures were taken around Potsdamer Platz



Bus stop at Potsdamer Strasse


Potsdamer Platz Arkaden is a big (around 40 000sq m with over 130 shops and restaurants) shopping center at Potsdamer Platz


Pink Pipes at Tilla-Durieux-Park. The pipes are used to pump away the ground water from construction sites


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

*Potsdamer Platz, Tilla-Durieux-Park*

The Tilla-Durieux-Park is a not a park in a traditional sense but more of a plain green space surrounded by urbanization and measuring around 500x40 meters. It's packed with people chilling in the sun when the weather is good


Public toilet at the park


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

*Potsdamer Platz*

The three dominant highrises which include the prominent Bahn Tower and Kollhoff-Tower. The latter has an observation deck _Panoramapunkt_ at the top which I'll be visiting a little later



Canadian Embassy which is located in the area




Junk food time. The McD at Potsdamer Platz is really nice. They have glass jars full of coffee beans as part of the second floor interior design. Coffee is really decent at McD these days. Burger King and KFC really need to catch up witht heir image-building and investment in appearance and locations of their outlets


This angry sparrow was demanding food. He got a little piece of a fried potato but still had that 'hey you give me more food... you bitch" attitude. Therefore I told him to **** off. I have never seen such bold sparrows. They would land right on the table or next to it and take food from people's hands as if they don't give even a slightest amount of a **** 


Small electric cars for rent. I didn't check the pricing and conditions because I was traveling with a car anyway but I guess it may be a good idea in some situations


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Lovely! Berlin is a must visit and the Potsdammer Platz rose from its ashes. great pics, looking forward to more.


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## selters (Dec 20, 2012)

Yes Berlin! My City.


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

Geil! Really good pics Pansori, you've got an eye for compositions!


Looking forward to see more - much more hopefully. kay:


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

*Potsdamer Platz*

Thank you. There certainly will be many many more photos. 

Some street level photos from around Potsdamer Platz. Berlin has great street level planning which serves pedestrians and traffic equally good. I think it's one of the good showcases of how both pedestrians and cars can enjoy a great level of accessibility without compromising each other. 


Sony Center. It's a busy social and business location with numerous activities


The Ritz-Carlton Berlin


An open space right next to the Sony Center (Henriette-Herz-Park)


Street scene


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

*Potsdamer Platz*

Potsdamer Platz Railway station. It's an important transit hub with S-Bahn and Regionalbahn services as well as link to the nearby U-Bahn station


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## RobertWalpole (Mar 16, 2010)

Magnificent!


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## marty_2k (Sep 23, 2012)

It's a pleasure looking at the photos you've taken of the various cities you've visited. The photos are always well-composed and interesting.


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## Tiaren (Jan 29, 2006)

Amazing pictures!


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

Nice pictures! Hope you will add some other pictures of the other parts of the city. Potsdamer Platz is nice, but just one very small peace of the thousand different corners and sights of the city and all peaces are looking completly different what is really really interesting and special about Berlin - the result of departing a 4 Millionen people city into 2 parts!


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Amazing, very nice photos from Berlin :cheers:


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

yourrulez said:


> Nice pictures! Hope you will add some other pictures of the other parts of the city. Potsdamer Platz is nice, but just one very small peace of the thousand different corners and sights of the city and all peaces are looking completly different what is really really interesting and special about Berlin - the result of departing a 4 Millionen people city into 2 parts!


Thanks. I did see many parts of Berlin but didn't take many pictures at all of them. Still I have many more photos including a few from non central locations and, of course, Potsdam and the beautiful Sanssouci Park.
I did a fair amount of driving too. Berlin is great for driving. The streets are fairly wide and traffic is not too bad. I have noticed they switch off many of the traffic lights late in the evening so if you're driving at night and stick to main roads you can cross the entire city with few if any stoppings. I really love how Berlin has done it's transport, street network and pedestrian spaces. Everything seems to work just fine.


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## Skrapebook (May 7, 2010)

Berlin is my religion!
I´ve been completely fascinated by everything about this 
stunning metropole since my first visit twenty years ago.
There´s magic in the air just about everywhere down there!


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## Ysh (Nov 22, 2005)

I can't understand how manage Germans to make their country always so neat, beautiful, comfortable for living and 'gut eingerichtet'.
Thanks for photos!


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Ysh said:


> I can't understand how manage Germans to make their coutry always so neat, beautiful, comfortable for living and 'gut eingerichtet'.
> Thanks for photos!


Thank you. 

Yes, Germany is a well ordered country. At least this is very evident coming from Great Britain. 

However it must be said that it's not always the case. Berlin is far from being a very clean and tidy city. Not that it's dirty (it's still much cleaner and more tidy than London, Paris or Milan) but it's got places which completely contradict the 'neat and tidy' image of Germany (which _IS_ deserved because that's what Germany is for most part). You'll see a lot of graffitis, rubbish on the street and general disorder in _some_ locations which was rather surprising to me. Something I did not get to see elsewhere in Germany.

Munich, Frankfurt or Dusseldorf are considerably tidier and better ordered than Berlin. At least from my personal experience. Berlin, on the other hand is and feels like a much bigger city than any other city in Germany (not that it's an excuse to be less tidy. Tokyo is many times bigger than Berlin yet it's probably more tidy).



Skrapebook said:


> Berlin is my religion!
> I´ve been completely fascinated by everything about this
> stunning metropole since my first visit twenty years ago.
> There´s magic in the air just about everywhere down there!


True, Berlin in an amazing city. A true metropolis. It feels very pleasant and 'like home'. Although I could apply that to other German cities too. Especially Munich which is probably the friendliest and most sophisticated city I have been to in Europe. I guess it's part of the German character to welcome tourists and treat well those who leave their money in the country. And that's a very right attitude. I chose in the past and will choose Germany in the future as my main European travel destination for a reason which is the people and their manners. Service is always top and I know I will be treated with respect and be welcomed. It could not be more different from my experiences in France or Italy (except the Sudtirol) which is a shame.

I didn't have a chance to try out the nightlife side of Berlin but I hope I will one day. From what I've been hearing there are more than enough of great nightclubs to have lots of fun.


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## manrush (May 8, 2008)

Lovely photos of Berlin.


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

yourrulez said:


> Nice Pic Update man! I will enter some more pics and some infos of the city as an insider later that day.


That would be excellent. Some input from someone who knows the place would he more than welcome.


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

Sorry if my english isn't the very best, i try my very best. 

First some things i want to pick up:



Pansori said:


> Thank you.
> 
> Yes, Germany is a well ordered country. At least this is very evident coming from Great Britain.
> 
> ...


Yes, Berlin has more people than hamburg and munich together, which are the cities ranking on position 2 and 3 in the list of the biggest citys, compare to Frankfurt and Duesseldorf Berlin is about 6 or 7 times the population.
The main difference between Berlin and all other cities is that it was departed in 2. All normal german citys have one city center, Berlin has 2 and of cause everything between those two parts after the wall fell (like Potsdamer Platz, Brandenburg Gate, Friedrichstadt (Friedrichstraße, Gendarmenmarkt etc). That makes Berlin looking in every corner completly different, what makes the city very interesting.
Because it was departed into two parts, the city changes compare to the rest of the nation. There was a wall around the city for over 40 years, it was an island, seperated from the rest of the nation. In this 40 years a lot happened during the cold war with the city and the people living there. Goverment was just talking, people go on the streets, they wanted their freedom again. Some days like the one the Potsdamer Platz was burning they fight with stones against tanks, never giving up. I think you could image how the city looked like when things like this happens, especially when a city was completly bombed some years before. Today, 23 years after fall of the wall, it's hard to imagin it's the same city, just watch your photos. But in some details you can see it. The first thing is one you even recognize: Berlin is green, has lot of parks and always a spot to chill out. A huge number of those parks and free spots are holes, that the wall and its death strip cut in the city, now they use it as parks and chill out areas (when they don't build something on it) One of the few good thing of the wall. 
The other thing is the mentality of the people to say what they want to say and go on the streets, completly deffirent to the rest of germany and the mentality to relax and enjoy their new freedom. Thats y you find graffitys in the city, a version of saying what the people think. 
Of cause nowerdays it is just the very very light version and the fact that Berlin is a world-metropolis made and make many people from all over the world move to Berlin, so things change, but you can still feel there is something different in this city, what is good, people in the city stopped hating others and just relax, doing their job and enjoy their life in the free time (you recognized that, just look at your photo of people chilln on the green spots). Berlin became an open minded city, a hub of creativity and nations, in some districts over 160 Nations live together. The city became a hotspot for young and creative people, what makes Berlin the Number one Start-up City in Europe.
Econemy, touristic and population is exploding in the last years and of cause the rents (about 15% a year). Because of this Berlin is today the most exciting place to build for Investors. When you look over the city from a higher spot, you will see all the construction sides. A member of this forum who visited Berlin said: "Berlin is looking like a chinese Boom-town with all that cranes.". That's true. Here an excample, the construction side of the new Berlin City Castle on the Museums-Island. In the Background you see what i meen:












Pansori said:


> True, Berlin in an amazing city. A true metropolis. It feels very pleasant and 'like home'. Although I could apply that to other German cities too. Especially Munich which is probably the friendliest and most sophisticated city I have been to in Europe. I guess it's part of the German character to welcome tourists and treat well those who leave their money in the country. And that's a very right attitude. I chose in the past and will choose Germany in the future as my main European travel destination for a reason which is the people and their manners. Service is always top and I know I will be treated with respect and be welcomed. It could not be more different from my experiences in France or Italy (except the Sudtirol) which is a shame.
> 
> I didn't have a chance to try out the nightlife side of Berlin but I hope I will one day. From what I've been hearing there are more than enough of great nightclubs to have lots of fun.


You should try the nightlife, of cause at the weekend. There is no ending and Berlin is never sleeping. In the party disctricts the underground is as crowdy than in the daytimes all night long. There are about 700 Nightclubs, bars that nobody can count and over 1000 24 Hour Late Shops where you can buy beer and stuff. In the summer they also have chairs outside, so people often use it like a bar, drinking their bear and just watch the city never sleeping.
The nightlife is really wild, lots of street musican, undergroundpartys (when you are a bit lucky and in the right corner you see crowds dancing to a musican on streets, djs playing in underground stations etc ) feeling like no rules, feeling free, maybe the second good thing the wall brings. The wild nightlife is the result of squatters in the years after the wall. Of cause you will also find the fashionable and glitzy site of the nightlife, there is something for everyone.

Another fantastic thing of Berlin is, that there is a great nature nearby. Just about 20 Minutes with S-Bahn from the city center you reach fantastic outer districts with a lot of water. 7% of Berlin is water. In other world metropolitan of this size you drive 20 Minutes with the train and reach suburbs you never wanted to see. After all that talking, here are some pictures of those districts many tourist and even Berliner who life in the city center, don't visit often. And of cause some of the city center i found on my PC.

*Berlin-Wannsee*










Berlin Wannsee Ferry Station (that you can use with your underground ticket)










On the Boat










Passing "Wannseebad", the biggest beach bath in Europe










That's how it's like in the summer




















Reaching "Berlin Kladow" on the other side










One of a lot Beargardens on the Boardwalk









*
Berlin Köpenick*

Köpenick has, like some outer districts, their own old town. Special in Köpenick is, that it is surrounded by water:









































































And now some photos of the city center i took:

View from Pankow to Alexanderplatz










Pilow war at Brandenburg Gate










Part of the East Side Gallery, the longest still excisting peace of the wall what is today filled up with art.










New and Old Berlin










Behind the Brandenburg Gate watching at Reichstag










Sony Center 










Berlin Town Hall Inside










Pergamon Museum Inside



















Brandenburg Gate at Night



















Sunday Karaoke at the "Mauerpark" (Wallpark), what is a one of those former death strips of the wall. On every sunny sunday in the summer there are lot of musicans, artist, a market and people chilling and making barbecue in the park and, of course, this karaoke.










Carneval of Cultures in Berlin- Kreuzberg, always in may, about 1 Million people watching 





































And the last thing some pictures of city center during the festival of lights (always on octobre for one week)







































































































































































































Hope you got some impressions and sorry again for my bad english.


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Thanks for your comments and pics yourrulez. Next time I'll be in Berlin I'll certainly hit the nightlife scene. Berlin does have a reputation of being one of the world's best spots for that.


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## Vaidas (Jul 22, 2003)

As always, nice photos. I'd love to visit Berlin some time, been there for half a day 10 years ago, but it looks like quite a different place now


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

Yeah it`s really one of best spots for nightlife in the world. 
And yes, Berlin is fast changing.  When i`m back from work i will add a Video what is very well done out of thousands of photos like a timeshift and gives some more nice impressions.


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

http://vimeo.com/28706929

That's the link to the Video, it's about 9 Minutes and very impressive, must been a lot of work! It is giving some very good impressions on differnt spots of Berlin. It's best to watch it fullscreen, it has a good resulution.

Enjoy!


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

^^
That's a great time-lapse. It's really hard to find good ones because they don't necessarily have the most views or appear in primary search results. It would be good to see this guy visit Berlin with his camera one day. 


Meanwhile I add more photos

Back at Potsdamer Platz


A piece of Berlin Wall in its original location right in the middle of Potsdamer Platz. Prior to 1989 it was an isolated land


The 103m tall Kollhoff-Tower which has an open air observation platform at the top (Panoramapunkt). I'll get there a little later


Street crossing at Potsdamer Platz


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

View towards the Bahn Tower


Open public spaces at Potsdamer Platz




Potsdamer Platz railway station


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## inno4321 (Dec 10, 2007)

Is this love parade? or something other festival?...
By the way I like berlin LOVE PARADE!!!! Also fight with pillow

I'm little bit worry concer europe flood! finger crossed


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Railway platforms at Potsdamer Platz station. I could take an S Bahn train to my destination but decided to try a RE train just for fun


The locomotove that pulled the train (at Sudkreuz station where I had to change trains)


Night views from my hotel near Brandenburg Airport


New Airport terminal which is yet not operational after years of delays


Alexander-Meissner-Strasse which, for the time being, goes right to the middle of nowhere (you can see it on the map here). The area seems to be a new development zone. Even my hotel is shown as an empty land on the street view and there are posters of new projects on the nearby land plots. i guess this is coming along the newly built Brandenburg Airport which will make the area more attractive for business


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

double post


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

On the following day back to central Berlin. A few random photos on the way from Potsdamer Platz to Checkpoint Charlie

Bahn Tower


On the way I got a little hungry and decided to try some currywurst and bratwurst washing them off with some Berliner Kindl beer. It was all very nice . Talking of beer, I have noticed long ago that it is incredibly cheap in Germany. You can get a 500ml bottle of a decent lager in a supermarket for something like 29 Eurocents and around 50 cents for more decent beers. I wonder why is that? I would guess beer is exempt from some duty taxes? Is it because it's seen as an essential food in Germany? In UK you're not getting a bottle of decent beer for anything less than 1.5-2 Euros. Is binge drinking not a problem in German cities? If you start selling beer for 50 cents here in London, half of the population would have a hangover tomorrow 


Checkpoint Charlie which is one of the major Cold War themed tourist attractions


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)




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## DrGe (Jan 10, 2013)

Very Nice, I must visit this city


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## Chadoh25 (Dec 28, 2007)

Great photos!


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

No inno, it's the carneval of cultures, i explained it a above the picture  
I answer your questions later pansori when i got more time, during work is a bit difficult


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## tamsta (Jun 3, 2013)

That bear! Fits right in 
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3815/8964678144_2710359069_o.jpg


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

Pansori said:


> On the way I got a little hungry and decided to try some currywurst and bratwurst washing them off with some Berliner Kindl beer. It was all very nice . Talking of beer, I have noticed long ago that it is incredibly cheap in Germany. You can get a 500ml bottle of a decent lager in a supermarket for something like 29 Eurocents and around 50 cents for more decent beers. I wonder why is that? I would guess beer is exempt from some duty taxes? Is it because it's seen as an essential food in Germany? In UK you're not getting a bottle of decent beer for anything less than 1.5-2 Euros. Is binge drinking not a problem in German cities? If you start selling beer for 50 cents here in London, half of the population would have a hangover tomorrow


Mmh problem with binge drinking is a thing that depends on the point of view. In Germany drinking (beer or other) is one of the essential things like driving on the "Autobahn" (Speedway) as fast as you want.
When i look back i never had a night in Berlin where i hadn't a hangover. It's easy in Berlin - when you walk or drive with the underground towards the first bar or just change the party-district we allways pick up a 500ml bottle for the ride in the underground or the walk through the streets, that's why there are so many of that late shops.  After a while you drunk 8 of them and then some cocktails, after that going to a club and drink some more it's easy to get a hangover and quiet normal. I just party for one night, most of the clubs also have normal times, opening at midnight to about 7-9 o'clock, but if you want there are clubs that do from Suterday 4 days nonstop in B, normally they open some hours before the other clubs close, at about 5 o'clock - after hour clubs. When you tell somebody the next day that you were totally drunken and didn't know some hours of the night he would smile and say something like "Must have been a good evening" or "Half drunken is wasted money".  Drinking (a lot) is accepted here and normal, maybe you recognized it that many people (escpecially in the night) have bottles of beer with them on the streets or in the underground. I think it's a different kind of view on this like in other countrys, in London you can't buy a beer and drive in the undergorund or even walk on the streets with it, right?
But the difference is that it works here in Germany, people drink, but they also work and i never had trouble in the streets of Berlin when i did party, so it's okay.
Taxes on beer are low (don't know if there are even some on them?!), but the main fact why beer is so cheap here is that in the last years more and more people drink hard stuff like whiskey, absinth, rum, wodka etc, so the beer-industry sell less beer in the last year, as a reaction on this they drop the beer prices to make the people drinking beer again.
By the way essential things, here is a nice Link where Tom Hanks tell about his challenge on the German Autobahn, the way he told it is quiet funny. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3h2Rw1mHew


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## Autostädter (Nov 29, 2009)

Very handsome photos, thank you!


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## marlonbasman (Apr 21, 2012)

lovely modern buildings....the city is catching up with the 21st century 
but of course there are the old historical landmarks that remind us of the city's historical importance.


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Saxonia said:


> It's a mafia like system and of course forbidden in most cities. In some cases there can also be penalties. The problem is that these people are mostly illegal in germany and good organized. When the police or the regulation agency comes around they get warned and go away. A real problem and it's getting worse because more people from Romania, Ex-Jugoslawia etc. are coming illegal to Germany.


It's a bit strange though because it's really not hard to identify and track them down. Of course if uniformed policemen would come to the area they will get warned but what about some undercover police? They could even hire a random person to do the tracking. Even a random tourist like myself could do a decent job tracking down such individuals. To me it looks more like the 'let's pretend it doesn't exist' kind of attitude (because of 'human rights' and shit). 

I know people who had bad experiences with those people in Britain. Gangs of gypsies (including their children) operate in some areas in London often engaging in activities like pickpocketing. I know a case where a woman got £800 stolen right from her handbag. Despite of CCTV footage being readily available to the police and the people who committed the crime could have been easily identified the police did nothing because of 'lack of evidence'. I wonder what is their understanding of 'evidence'? An HD video footage from ten different angles showing how a crime is being committed? Or when someone gets murdered? Anything else is not good enough.


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

I think the fact with human rights is the main one in Germany why they can do what they do... 
When you ask me where i would like to life i wouldnt choose frankfurt because of high criminality (mostly in the outer districts because in the city it is so expencieve) and because its to small, i like the multimillion size of Berlin. Also in Berlin you have more (beautiful) nature around. Munich would be to conservativ to me, its not a fault to call it the biggest village in Germany. The only city i also would like live (if they close berlin *lol*) is Hamburg.  But because that never happens i would ever choose Berlin because of the size, the nature, mentality, nightlife, 24h open, art and culturell things.


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## Dr.Luay (Nov 21, 2012)

Great and amazing photos from Berlin @Pansori .. Thanks


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## Autostädter (Nov 29, 2009)

Someone posted an interesting documentary about gypsies in Madrid and Milan on this forum. Apparently there isn't much you can do. You can crack down on them (which is difficult) and deport them but they will come back. The way these people threat their children is simply horrendous.


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Autostädter said:


> Someone posted an interesting documentary about gypsies in Madrid and Milan on this forum. Apparently there isn't much you can do. You can crack down on them and deport them but they will come back. The way these people threat their children is simply horrendous.


I think there are ways to deal with it. 
A few real jail sentences for abuse of underage children and the problem's solved. Or is it less of a 'human rights issue' to exploit and abuse children rather than put some scumbag in jail responsible for that? I just don't see how that makes sense. And what is the meaning of 'human rights' in Europe?

Need examples? What about Singapore? My oh my would they not do that over there. 

Why a rational and common sense approach to ensure public order and safety is a problem and how on earth stopping criminals from committing criminal acts is against 'human rights'? I just don't get it.


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## Autostädter (Nov 29, 2009)

There you go, it's worth watching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGDj0B5WQaA


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Autostädter said:


> There you go, it's worth watching:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGDj0B5WQaA


It's a horrible phenomena. It looks dangerous and horrifying. Something which is virtually impossible to eradicate. BBC does a good job of making it a 'shocking sight'.

Now let's get thousands of kms to the East. Singapore. Imagine this happening there. The 'problem' would be fixed in a DAY. No, not by repression and 'hguman rights violations'. Just by ACTUALLY following the LAW.


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## Skrapebook (May 7, 2010)

^^

Exactly!
Inforce real Singapore laws all over Europe and the world!
That will teach the stone throwers, car burners, grafitti clutterers, vandalists and thiefs a true lesson! 
Bastards! :bash:


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## Autostädter (Nov 29, 2009)

^ Yeah, let's deal with them like we did with them bankers and bigwigs! Oh, hang on...


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## Mr Bricks (May 6, 2005)

What a great city Berlin is! I recently visited Hamburg and that as well is a fantastic city. German cities overall are amazing.


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

Yes, each one on its own way. Hope you will visit Berlin soon and take time with you, there are a lot more things to do and see than in other citys in Germany including the awesome nightlife. Also, like pansori said before, its the 2 times bigger than hamburg and 3 times munich and also feels like that. The distance from sight to sight are because of that and the fact it has more than 1 City Center quiet long.


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

Today a newspaper presented the newest statistic of tourism in Berlin:

With 11,4% increase to 25 Mio Visitors in the last year is Berlin still the fastest growing international tourist city and of cause again one of the Top3 visited towns in Europe with London and Paris.


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

yourrulez said:


> Today a newspaper presented the newest statistic of tourism in Berlin:
> 
> With 11,4% increase to 25 Mio Visitors in the last year is Berlin still the fastest growing international tourist city and of cause again one of the Top3 visited towns in Europe with London and Paris.


Is that the number of all visitors or just international?


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## tk780 (Jun 21, 2007)

^All.


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

I wonder what about international tourists then? I imagine Berlin should be pretty high too.


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## Autostädter (Nov 29, 2009)

^ The number is growing incredibly fast but it's still behind that of Rome, Amsterdam and (I think) Prague.


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

I don't know if there is more up to data list or if some other lists use different criteria but there is an article from early 2013 with 2011 data.

http://blog.euromonitor.com/2013/01/top-100-cities-destination-ranking.html

Berlin was ranked 30th (possibly higher by now) on a global level and 11th in Europe (including Turkey and Russia). I expected Berlin to be a little higher though. Perhaps top 10. On the other hand some Asian destinations leave no chance to others (and this trend will continue into the future) due to close proximity to China where outbound tourism is skyrocketing.


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

It's time to continue with photos.


Berliner Dom and Fernsehturm


Some construction taking place on the river




Hackescher Markt area


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

A lone highrise apartment building


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

I was wondering what building was this? Really mimics the interwar modernist style. I couldn't find it on Google the Street View so I assume it's completely new






Inside a new Flexity tram


A Socialist era mosaic on a building


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Alexanderplatz is one of the 'city centers' of Berlin and used to be the main central area of East Berlin of DDR. Now it's a busy shopping and transport hub which is largely pedestrianized and busy with poeple and traffic


Residential housing in the area


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

I think international tourist are about 50%, in Germany its the Nr1 City Tourist destination followed by palma de mallorca *lol*  The international tourism is growing faster than the 11%, its the biggest part of them, so its important to have the newest statistics. All in all Berlin ranked on rank 3 in Europes destinations (2011 catching rome and barcelona), coming closer and closer to paris and london. 
Nice photosby the way.


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## Kaufmann (Mar 9, 2010)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Its awesome


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Thank you Kampf. Vielen dank. 



yourrulez said:


> I think international tourist are about 50%, in Germany its the Nr1 City Tourist destination followed by palma de mallorca *lol*  The international tourism is growing faster than the 11%, its the biggest part of them, so its important to have the newest statistics. All in all Berlin ranked on rank 3 in Europes destinations (2011 catching rome and barcelona), coming closer and closer to paris and london.
> Nice photosby the way.


What about Munich? It has the Oktoberfest with something like half of the world getting there for the festival (world's biggest fair)? I had never seen a big city as crowded as Munich during the Oktoberfest (not that I really liked it... much better to go there any other time of year).


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## Saxonia (Aug 15, 2012)

Yeah, thats the reason why a Maß costs about 10€ during Oktoberfest. You get a whole crate (20x0.5l) for this in a supermarket.


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Saxonia said:


> Yeah, thats the reason why a Maß costs about 10€ during Oktoberfest. You get a whole crate (20x0.5l) for this in a supermarket.


This is a phenomena of Germany. In UK you can get a 0,5-0,66L bottle of _decent_ beer (such as Becks, Budvar, Peroni etc.) for 1.5-2.5 Euros in a supermarket. In a pub you'd have to spare 4-5 Euros for the same thing. The ratio is roughly 1:2

In Germany you can get away for as little as 30-50 cents in a supermarket while prices in decent Bierhalle would be closer to the prices of beer in pubs in Britain.

What I mean is that the ratio of supermarket:bierhalle/pub price in Germany is very high compared to many other countries (not just Britain). I find that amusing and interesting. What is more I love the fact that it's perfectly ok to hold a bottle of beer on the street and drink. If you do that in some other countries people will look at you as if you were a criminal.


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

Yeah thats right. I remembered when we go from Berlin to poland, first thing was to buy a beer there and drink it. After some minutes people came to us and told us its forbidden in Poland.  Thats one of the facta berlin nighlife is so good and feels so free, its the only city where you can even drink a beer in the Underground, in the night there is nearly nobody that dont drink a beer there  good for changing partydistrict  
I think munich and hamburg dont have half of the visitors like Berlin. And by the way "Cranger Kirmes" in Herne in the Ruhr Area has more visitors per day than Oktoberfest and i like it more than Oktoberfest, its to hyped for me.


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## Saxonia (Aug 15, 2012)

Since last year it's actually forbidden in Berlin to drink alcohol in public transports. But I have the feeling that there are not many controls. 
Beer prizes are generally to low in germany. We have many breweries and there is a prize war between the biggest of them going on for some years . I think the normal prize for a crate would be 3-4€ higher than at the moment.


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## Mr Bricks (May 6, 2005)

yourrulez said:


> Yes, each one on its own way. Hope you will visit Berlin soon and take time with you, there are a lot more things to do and see than in other citys in Germany including the awesome nightlife. Also, like pansori said before, its the 2 times bigger than hamburg and 3 times munich and also feels like that. The distance from sight to sight are because of that and the fact it has more than 1 City Center quiet long.


I've been to Berlin, but that was quite a few years ago. It's a great city, would love to go back sometime soon.


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## yourrulez (Jan 30, 2013)

Yeah i know its forbidden by german law to drink in the underground so they have to make sings with no drinking on it but the BVG said beer in the hand belongs to the lifestyle of berlin, so they dont control it. Some weeks ago i was in the S41, and a cleaner came in in the moment i opened my beer. He just smiled and said: Put the closer of the bottle inside the rubbish bag and scoll!  The mentality is a complete other, also indeed i dont want to be the guy who have to check 3 o'clock in the night for alcohol drinking people.


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## Skrapebook (May 7, 2010)

Our rules, your rulez, Berlin rules... totally! :bow:


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## missioneiro (Sep 18, 2008)

An amazing city! Unfortunately I did not had the time to go there, have only been to München, Frankfurt und ein Paar Dörfer in der nähe.


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## Terpentin07 (Oct 3, 2009)

There are so many threads over berlin but i still click on every of them. I'm still amazed about this city and also the quality of your photo's. Your comments make it also very entertaining.


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## Jugendstil (Jun 29, 2012)

Saxonia said:


> Since last year it's actually forbidden in Berlin to drink alcohol in public transports. But I have the feeling that there are not many controls.
> Beer prizes are generally to low in germany. We have many breweries and there is a prize war between the biggest of them going on for some years . I think the normal prize for a crate would be 3-4€ higher than at the moment.


Can it be that you just confuse Berlin with Hamburg?

I just know that it is illegal in Hamburg. In Berlin was just thinking?


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

A few more sightings of Berlin

Landsberger Alee in the Eastern part of Berlin. I went to this location for absolutely no reason. Just took a tram and went to the Landsberger Alee S Bahn station from where I made my way to my hotel. It's good to get out of the main central areas and see the other parts of the city



Housing in Landsberger Alee


Landsberger Alee S Bahn station


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Schloss-Straßen-Center (SSC ) in the South Western part of Berlin


A beautiful glass building in Kurfürstendamm. It's the main hi-end shopping street of Berlin. Definitely one of the most beautiful streets in the city


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)




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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

Somewhere in the Tiergarten. I'm not quite sure what animal was that but it seemed dangerous and aggressive. Some kind of predator I suppose. I think it was going to attack me but I made some smart swift moves and it retreated to the nearby bushes so giving me time to escape safely. Does anyone know what animal was this and what is done to ensure public safety in relation to dangerous wild animals in Berlin public parks?


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

*Potsdam*

Before finishing off this thread I still have a few photos from Potsdam which, albeit technically not part of Berlin, is a satellite town famous for its mansions and parks. It's really worth to dedicate an afternoon to have a walk around Sanssouci Park

Starting from The mill which was nearest to the parking 


The following photos are from Sanssouci Park which is a large public park surrounded by palaces and related buildings. A very beautiful and nice place to relax


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## Pansori (Apr 26, 2006)

*Potsdam*





Communs of the New palace


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