When travelling one can often feel more at home in a certain atmosphere provided by a specific place: the party animal in Zante; the fashionista in Paris; the shopaholic in New York…as a traveller in Berlin, you will discover that there is always a way to find a home away from home.

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Ich bin
Berlin
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When travelling one can often feel more at home in a certain at-
mosphere provided by a specific place: the party animal in Zante;
the fashionista in Paris; the shopaholic in New York…as a traveller
in Berlin, you will discover that there is always a way to find a home
away from home. Whether it is soaking up history and culture, ex-
perimenting with foreign foods, browsing sprawling flea markets or
partying until the sun rises that sates your travel desires, you will
be spoiled for choice in Germany’s dynamic free-spirited capital.
Berlin is still in recovery from its traumatic past of division, revolt
and recent rejuvenation. The result is a gritty tattooed teenager try-
ing to find its feet, scarred by its past as it plans its future and par-
ties in the meantime. Memories of tragedies faced and wounds yet
to heal mark the city passionately and the old marries the new at
each turn. Expressive art explodes on every corner in the city that
sincerely never sleeps – don’t forget to pack some gusto in your suit-
case as Berlin is open 24/7 ready to play host to a new adventure.
The city offers hospitality to all, from backpackers to high-flyers, with
enough going on to keep you busy from dawn till dusk. As a result of
its mass and versatility, it can be daunting to consider where to start
exploring – not to mention fitting it all in before the flight home. What
this guide aims to do is cover as many aspects of the city as possible
from the personal perspective of travellers navigating it first-hand.
From morning until night in borough to borough, top sights and ac-
tivities are described with helpful hints and tips to allow you to
plan ahead and make the most of your time in the colourful capi-
tal. The guides to transport and survival will assist your exploration
to get you back in one piece after receiving an addictive embrace
from a city whose vibrant magnetism will draw you back for more.
Welcome to everybody’s city: Berlin.
Heather Nimmo
Introduction

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Berlin has a long and complicated
history so you can be forgiven for
being a little confused. First ap-
pearing as the “Germanic” tribes
who sacked Rome in 410, the Ger-
man people have been caught up
in many major world events in the
last two millennium. Ranging from
the battlefield to the football pitch,
Germany has long been a ma-
jor player on the European stage.
Barbarians to Emperors
Berlin’s ancestors first gained glob-
alrecognitioninthefourthcentury,
having become a major headache
for the Roman Empire. Despite
all its size and wealth, the Ro-
man Empire only ever conquered
the Southern and Western por-
tions of Germany. The small and
itinerant Germanic tribes proved
difficult to suppress, and quick-
ly became the figures of Roman
nightmares. Their fears became
reality when the barbarian horde
swept through the Empire and
sacked its capital, Rome, in 410 AD.
After helping to destroy one of the
world’s largest Empire’s, the Ger-
manic tribes splintered apart and
formed new, disjointed groups.
Centuries later, Charlemagne
swept in gathering parts of Ger-
many into the Carolingian empire.
Berlin was not officially founded
until 1237, when it was already an
important medieval trading cen-
tre twinned with Colln. By the be-
HISTORY

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ginning of the eighteenth century
this merchant town had swelled
to a bustling city, with a popu-
lation of around 55,000. It was
around this time that construction
on Charlottenburg Palace began.
Thieves and Thinkers
On the 27th October, 1806 the
French Emperor Napoleon Bona-
parte marched triumphantly into
Berlin. Victory was short-lived
however, as French rule in Prussia
had ended by 1814. This brief reign
gave Napoleon just enough time
to steal the horse and goddess
statue from atop the Branden-
burg Gate, though visitors today
can see them rightfully restored.
During the nineteenth century,
there was a growing desire for
reform. The new middle class de-
manded their right to free speech,
while Liberalists called for a unifi-
cation of German speaking people.
With a population of 400,000, 40%
of Berlin’s budget was spent car-
ing for the impoverished. In 1848
riots across the German Federa-
tion and Austria forced King Frie-
drich Wilhelm IV to call a Parlia-
ment. Once again the victory was
fleeting, and within the year most
of the “Frankfurt Parliament”
reforms had been abandoned.
These changes in political thought
reflected the expanding economy
and industrialisation experienced
at the time. Berlin’s first U-Bahn
went into operation in 1902, while
the luxury department store Kau-
fhaus des Westens (KaDeWe)
opened its doors in 1907. Berlin
born Commercialism and mo-
dernity had arrived in the city.
“Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein
Führer!”
By 1918 hunger and dissatisfaction
with the First World War (1914-
1918) had led to massive strikes in
Germany’s capital. The stakes were
high, and Kaiser Wilhelm II was
forced to abdicate. After a flurry
of arrests, murders and exiles, the
Weimar Republic was formed. The
task before them was tough. After
the war, the allies had imposed
harsh terms on Germany under
the Treaty of Versailles, damaging
both the morale and economy. In-
flation reached its peak in 1923,
when a kilo of rye bread was said
to cost 3.6 million marks. Things
only got worse after the Great De-
pression hit in 1929, with 450,000
people left unemployed in Berlin
alone. Germany began to unravel.

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Desperate for an end to the chaos,
the German people began favour-
ing more extreme political policies,
such as the National Socialist Ger-
man Worker’s Party. This far right
party (more commonly known
as the Nazis) offered to disregard
the unpopular Treaty of Versailles,
unite German speaking peoples,
and eradicate the threat of com-
munism. By 1932 the Nazi party
had 37.4% of the Reichstag votes,
and on 30th January 1933 Adolf
Hitler was appointed Chancellor.
Visitors can now enjoy 360 panora-
ma’s of Berlin from the glass dome
on top, but it was the destruction
of the original Reichstag building
that gave Hitler the opportunity to
pass the Enabling Act. Following
this, laws no longer had to abide
by the Weimar constitution or
bear the approval of the Reichstag
Parliament – Hitler’s dictatorship
had begun. All other political par-
ties were abolished, and Joseph
Goebbels began grooming the
German people through strict me-
dia censorship. The Topography of
Terrors Exhibition details the rise
and fall of the Heinrich Himmler’s
Gestapo, the Secret State Police
who enforced this Nazi regime.
During the Second World War
many atrocities were committed,
including the direct extermination
of anyone the Nazi regime consid-
ered inferior. Jews, gypsies, po-
litical adversaries, and homosex-
uals were the main target of this
genocide and many memorials to
them can be found across the city.
Denazification
Following the defeat of Germany
in the Second World War, Germa-
ny was deemed too powerful to
be left as it was. The Allied forces
occupied West Germany (Federal
Republic of Germany) while the
Soviet troops occupied the East
(German Democratic Republic).
As the capital, Berlin was also di-
vided and West Berlin became
an island within East Germany.
Disputes over currency reform
triggered a Soviet blockade on
West Berlin (June 1948 to May
1949), during which the whole
city had to be supplied by air lift. It
was around this time a savvy West
Berliner named Herta Heuwer in-
vented the currywurst – now Ber-
lin eats around 70 million of these
snacks a year. Even after the block-
ade was lifted access remained
limited. The situation deteriorat-

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ed as forced collectivisation in
the GDR forces almost 200,000
Berliners to flee into the Western
sectors in 1960. On 13th August
1961 Berliners awoke to found a
barbed wire (and later concrete)
wall had been built to divide East
and West Berlin. It would stand
as both a tightly enforced military
barrier and a symbol of the Cold
War, until 9th November 1989.
Germany Today
Following its reunification Germa-
ny has tried to rebuild itself, with
Berlin at the very heart of these
reforms. The German Parliament
(the Bundestag) held its first ses-
sion in the redesigned Reichstag
in 2000. In 2009, Usain Bolt was
the first man to run 100m in 9.58
seconds, in Berlin. Pay a visit to the
Olympicstadion where this World
Record was set and see the unu-
sually blue track for yourself. With
more museums than average rainy
days a year, be sure to enjoy Ber-
lin’s rich history during your visit.
Laura Clancy

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First arriving in Berlin and trying to
figure out your way around can be
daunting. Looking at the sprawling
collection of lines that represent
the S and U-Bahn system map can
be enough to give you a headache
– and this is before even consid-
ering the separate representation
of the tram system. Have no fear
however – what may at first appear
a labyrinth of unrelated transport
systems, all in fact work in tandem
to get you from A to B as efficiently
as possible.
Overview
Here are the basics. The entire net-
work is run by the BVG and, in com-
parison to other major European
cities, is punctual and certainly
inexpensive. You have the rapid
underground trains (U-Bahn sys-
tem) and suburban trains (S-Bahn
system). These systems form the
backbone of the transport within
Berlin, and are supported by bus-
es and trams at street level. Whilst
it is only on Fridays and Saturdays
that the trains run all night, even
on a normal day they mostly run
from approximately 4am-1am. Not
only that, but even in that period
when the trains are not running,
their routes are, for the most part,
covered by night buses – these
buses are indicated by the letter
‘N’, followed by a number.
Tickets
Each of the tickets offered by the
BVG are valid for transfers both
within the same mode of trans-
port, and also between different
modes of transport. Once you get
TRANSPORT

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the hang of the systems, you will
therefore have no problem mov-
ing seamlessly within the U-Bahn,
S-Bahn, tram and bus systems. The
transport network is divided into
three zones, and there are multi-
ple different ticket options to help
you get the best value for money:
• Einzelticket – a basic sin-
gle ticket; €2.60 for zones A and
B, €3 for all three zones. With this
ticket, you are allowed unlimited
transfers within a time period of
two hours – however, you are not
allowed to make return journeys.
• Kuzstrecke ¬– a short trip
ticket. For only €1.50, you will be
able to travel up to six bus stops,
or three train stops. However,
transfers are not allowed.
• Tageskarte – a day tick-
et, valid until 3am the following
morning. This ticket allows you to
have unlimited travel within zones
A, B and C for €7.20.
• Sieben-Tage-Karte – a sev-
en-day ticket allowing unlimited
travel, within all of the zones, for
€35.60.
• Monatskarte – similar to
above, except that the unlimited
travel is for zones A and B only, for
one month, for €81.
• Kleingruppenkarten –
for the families and other small
groups, this option allows a group
of up to five people unlimited trav-
el within all three zones or €16.70.
All of the above tickets can be
bought from machines which ap-
pear as large yellow boxes. These
ticket machines can be found on
station platforms, or on trams (but
not on the trains themselves) –
they also have the ticket options
and instructions in English. Tickets
can also be bought from bus driv-
ers, but only single and day tick-
ets. Be careful to validate your day
tickets by punching them into the
yellow machines before you travel
– transport officers often carry out
spot checks, and failure to present
a validated ticket can result in a
€60 fine!
Adventurous routes
If you were wanting to avoid the
usual tour companies which prey
on tourists, there are a few key
routes to seeing as much of Ber-
lin as possible, for as cheap as
possible. S41 and S42 are S-Bahn
routes which circumnavigate Ber-
lin – these circular routes are the
best routes for making the most of
the exciting Berlin suburbs – you
can alight at most of the stops on
this route and find a train to take
you more central whenever it suits

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you. The bus 100 running from Al-
exanderplatz to the Zoologischer
Garten will show you many of Ber-
lins most famous sites on the way,
including the Brandenburg Gate,
the Reichstag and the Tiergarten.
Bus 200 passes similarly iconic
sights such as the Berlin Philhar-
monic, and the Airforce Headquar-
ters. For the more adventurous,
the S7 train can take you all the
way from central Berlin to nearby
beautiful Potsdam.
Alternatives to public transport
Therearemanytaxioptionsaround
Berlin. Like everywhere nowadays,
Uber is an option. However, the
official cream-coloured Berlin tax-
is are widespread – journeys are
nearly always metered. The only
alternative is if you ask for what
is called a Kurzstrecke, a short trip
costing a flat rate of €4 for up to
2km or five minutes.
Unlike many other major cities,
Berlin has a large and efficient bi-
cycle-path system making travel by
bike simple and safe. Bikes can be
rented from many different com-
panies all over Berlin – expect to
pay €10 and upwards to rent a bike
for one day. Very helpfully, bikes
can be taken on U- and S-Bahn
trains – just as long as you pay
the necessary extra for a Fahrrad
(bike) ticket.
Helpful hints
The modern world can be fantas-
tic – many of the major mobile
network providers now allow free
roaming within Europe. In practi-
cal terms, this means the availa-
bility of mapping systems, such as
Google Maps, wherever you go.
As such, this takes away some of
the daunting nature of exploring
a new city. One of the most useful
apps in terms of avoiding getting
lost however is named Citymap-
per. This offers maps for a range
of cities, including Berlin, and sug-
gests routes to wherever you may
need to go – home, work or an
exciting landmark. The routes are
perhaps the most useful – you can
evaluate the most useful depend-
ing on journey length and amount
of transfers, and it helpfully also
tells you the direction you need to
travel in, and the names of all the
stops involved.
Kieran O’Malley

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Health & Safety
You’ll find that Berlin is generally
a very safe city and by being care-
ful and vigilant, one can avoid any
unpleasant experiences. Walking
around the central areas of Berlin
is considered safe at night but be
wary when walking in the eastern
suburbs. Pickpockets are com-
mon around major public trans-
port stations and commonly tar-
get obvious tourists who are not
careful enough. Always be wary
of where you place your wallet
and avoid carrying valuable items
when walking in crowded spaces
like markets. In the event that you
lose an item, most Berliners are
considerate enough to return it to
a transport official who will take it
to the lost and found offices which
can be found around the city.
Berlin is one of the sunniest cit-
SURVIVAL
GUIDE

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ies in Germany and can get very
warm, so be sure to stay hydrated
to avoid falling ill. In case you do
get ill and would like to purchase
some medicine, look out for the
red sign that reads ‘Apotheke’. Be
aware that many medicines that
you may be able to buy over the
counter in your own country, such
as antibiotics, must be prescribed
by a doctor in Germany, so it is ad-
visable for you to carry your own
medicine to avoid any difficulties
with prescriptions. However, pain-
killers like Ibuprofen are available
at the ‘Apotheke’ without a pre-
scription.
Food & Water
Berlin is still considered a rather
affordable city when it comes to
food and drinks. You will find that
you can dine in restaurants without

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breaking the bank and fast food ki-
osks selling anything from kebabs
to noodles are dispersed all over
the city. If you’re looking to enjoy
Berlin on a budget, make the most
of the supermarkets, where you
can find anything you might need
for a nice dinner indoors or a nice
picnic in a park. Tap water in Berlin
is safe to drink and it is a great idea
to carry a reusable bottle while
you go sight-seeing, because staff
at cafes and restaurants are always
happy to fill it up.
Waste Disposal
The Germans take recycling very
seriouslyandyoumayfindtheirap-
proach to trash handling very com-
plicated at first. Take your empty
beer bottles and plastic soda bot-
tles to a supermarket for recycling
and you’ll get some money back
for it. Any glass bottle or jar that
cannot be recycled should be dis-
posed of in their designated bins,
which are sorted by colour. Paper
should also be recycled; packag-
ing made of paper and cardboard,
magazines, waste paper, etc. be-
long in the blue bins. Cans, plas-
tic, polystyrene, aluminium and
composite materials should be put
in the yellow bin. Everything else,
which includes kitchen scraps,
peels, leftover food, tea bags and
garden waste, makes up almost 50
percent of the total garbage pro-
duced in Germany and should be
disposed of in the brown bins.
Zachary Delf
Language
Whilst Germans are famously good
when it comes to speaking English
– and therefore you could quite
happily pass, for the most part,
in Berlin with no German what-
soever – a little bit of German can
take you a long way. The follow-
ing words and phrases have been
hand picked as the most useful for
your time in Berlin. Viel Glück!

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Kieran O’Malley

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Name: Amy Bretherton
Age: 21
City: Kilmacolm, Scotland
Superpower: To be able to speak and un-
derstand every language in the world
Spirit Animal: An armadillo, cos I love
Spanish and they always look happy
Heather Nimmo
18
Glasgow
Telepathy but it can be switched on & off
so that I don’t have to hear weird things
A slug
Jessica Munday
Age: 25
Nationality: British
Residence: Surrey
Supernatural power: I’d love to be able
to read people’s minds, it would be so
interesting.
Spirit animal: A bird so I could fly to so
many amazing places.
PROFILES

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Name - Kirsty Mason
Age - 22 From - Chester
Super power - moving things with my
mind so I could act out the scene from
Mathilda
Spirit animal - a penguin because it’s
cute and wobbly
Hey, I’m Keziah! I’m very nearly 20,
and I was born in Norfolk but I’m
currently studying History at Oxford. If
I had any superpower, it would be to
be able to stop time for everyone but
me, so I could get everything done.
My spirit animal is almost certainly an
owl: big eyes, curious, and so not a
morning person!
Laura Clancy, Yorkshire (England).
19 years old. If I had any superpower
it would be flying. My spirit animal: a
house cat.
My name’s Lourdes Cifuentes Cases,
Spanish, but living in Sutton (England).
With 27 years old I am the grandma of
the team. I would like to reincarnate,
while keeping the memories, so I can
experience different kind of lives and
see the world evolve. My spirit animal
would be the wolf.

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Kieran O’Malley, 21 years old. British (but an
Irish family!). I live in London when not in
term-time – during term-time, I live in Bris-
tol and study chemistry at the University of
Bristol.
If I could have any superpower, I would be
able to fly – that way, I could visit as many
places as I want too. I would then be able to
escape the weather whenever it gets cold!
Spirit animal: Cheetah – I vary between hyper-
actively energetic, and beyond sleepy!
My name. Alejandro Puente Sánchez. Where
I come from? Beautiful Mexico City(CDMX).
Age:21. Superpower; Mmm… that’s hard…
Nature control? 4Elements Bending? Weath-
er control? Plants control/bending. ability to
degrade plastic clean up pollution, restore the
atmosphere? Clean up the ocean and radio-
activity? communicate with animals? Make
plants grow faster… Transform into animals/
animal instinct/abilities? whatever it takes to
restore Planet Earth.Spirit Animal: That’s even
harder… could be the jaguar, Harpy Eagle,
Quetzalbird , serval cat. Blue whale. Mongo-
lian Wild Horse, Indochinese tiger,Andean
Condor, Wolf…, Bird of Paradise, Giraffe. Gosh
I just love animals, each one of them is special
in its own way
Zachary Delf, 21 years old. I am
from Singapore, but I live in Bath
(England). Techno King.

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Ich
bin
Berlin
© All text and photos created by our team.