A visit to Germany

Onkel Neal · 06-21-12, 08:05 AM

I will be going through Germany next week, and I have a couple days to see the countryside and visit. I am trying to arrange a rental motorcycle in Wuppertal so I can ride to Berlin Friday, then back Sat. So, if the plan works, I will be in the capital Friday afternoon. If I cannot get a bike

I will take a train.

Any suggestions as far as what to see in Berlin?

Danke!
Onkel Neal

Kongo Otto · 06-21-12, 08:31 AM

Check Point Charlie museum

http://www.berlin.de/orte/museum/hau...e/index.en.php

Other interesting sites:
http://www.berlin.de/mauer/orte/index/index.en.php

Herr-Berbunch · 06-21-12, 08:50 AM

Quote:

A visit to the Reich

Discretely whispers *I think they've stopped calling it that, for now!*

Onkel Neal · 06-21-12, 09:12 AM

Oh?

Sorry!!

Thanks for that, and for the museum suggestions!

I think I have a motorcycle rental and the fellow agreed to come by the shop after they close and let me return it Sat!! Woot, Onkel Neal turned loose in the Rei...err, lovely German countryside on 2 wheels!

HunterICX · 06-21-12, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

I think I have a motorcycle rental and the fellow agreed to come by the shop after they close and let me return it Sat!! Woot, Onkel Neal turned loose in the Rei...err, lovely German countryside on 2 wheels!

Nice find, though could use a bit more XT660Z's

(Pengiun's link has them

) To be fair she's not build to eat 520ish KM on a big straight road to Berlin. but her big sister the Super Tenere 1200Z does

HunterICX

Dan D · 06-21-12, 10:41 AM

@Neal

“Wuppertal”, why on earth Wuppertal?

Well, I guess I better don’t ask.

Wuppertal-Berlin that is 323 miles one way; or 6h 41 minutes.

If you really want to do that, please be careful, keep in mind: basically no speed limits on the Autobahn, watch out for those überfast drivers who approach you from behind on the speed lane, don’t underestimate their speed.

No need for you to call for asylum in Ecuador like Assange: If you get into trouble with the authorities, give me a call, I will try to help. My mobile phone number is still the same as it was last time (Subsim meeting Copenhagen).

Berlin, places of interest: Oranienburger Straße, Museumsinsel, Reichstag.

If you decide not to go to Berlin, then a short meeting at Düsseldorf with a couple of subsim members from the North Rhine-Westfalian chapter of subsim (Penguin?) could be an alternative. I think I could make it.

Skybird · 06-21-12, 09:15 AM

kurzer...!

What's your interests when visiting a city of that size?

The mayor of Berlin - a very incompetent and arrogant man, btw. - says Berlin is "poor, but sexy". I am not convinced that it is that sexy, but I am damn sure that it is poor.

If you use public transportation, try to avoid the "S-Bahn". Too many problems with that, it is impossible to make a statement on whether or not it will work reliably the day you use it. It is a disaster story since several years now. Could as well let you wait three hours for the next train. Subway worked fine last time I was there, it was always my preferred transportation method. But better do not travel by subway ("U-Bahn") alone in the night. Assaults take place quite frequently now.

Prepare for some extraordinary unfriendliness if you happen to run into a Berliner original. "Kodderschnauze" is part of the old Berliner's way of life.

Where else do you go in Germany? The "Spreewald" is not far away, if it is countryside you look foor, that might be a good target mark. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreewald If you crisscross the country, as usual I recommend the old town of Lübeck, also that of Wismar close by. Both towns belonged to the famous Hanse alliance and you see it in architecture: Wismar looks like a smaller copy of Lübeck.

Penguin · 06-21-12, 09:43 AM

We've had a Berlin thread with many suggestions some time ago, here it is: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=190487

If your bike rental doesn't work out, here are 2 alternatives: Yamaha
Honda but very good and service oriented
Both are located 20 minutes by train from Wuppertal, in Düsseldorf - our state capital, with much more to see than in W-town.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

Discretely whispers *I think they've stopped calling it that, for now!*

only if foreigners are around

McBeck · 06-22-12, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

I will be going through Germany next week, and I have a couple days to see the countryside and visit. I am trying to arrange a rental motorcycle in Wuppertal so I can ride to Berlin Friday, then back Sat. So, if the plan works, I will be in the capital Friday afternoon. If I cannot get a bike

I will take a train.

Any suggestions as far as what to see in Berlin?

Danke!
Onkel Neal

On your way to Denmark?

Karle94 · 06-22-12, 06:17 AM

Places to see:
- Jewish-museum
- Berliner Fernsehturm
- Reichtag/Bundestag
- Berliner Dom
- DDR-museum
- Sachsenhausen concentration camp

Oberon · 06-22-12, 06:47 AM

Don't forget the Brandenburg Gate, and what's left of the wall. IIRC there's an aircraft museum not far from Berlin too, let me look.

Yes, there's the Luftwaffe museum at Gatow:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftwaf...der_Bundeswehr
http://www.aviationmuseum.eu/World/E...Bundeswehr.htm

Looks like quite a nice collection there of aircraft from both sides of the curtain.

A bit more sinister is the Stasi Museum:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi_Museum
Or The Memorial
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin-...ausen_Memorial

The Glienicke Bridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glienicke_Bridge

DDR Museum:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_Museum

Obviously, I defer to those with more local knowledge as to whether these museums are worth the visit, but certainly there is a lot of history in Berlin itself and the surrounding environs...that which survived it that is.

Wreford-Brown · 06-22-12, 07:41 AM

Neal,

I'm an Englishman living in Germany and have spent a couple of long weekends in Berlin and love the city. I also have friends in Wuppertal and was down there a couple of weeks ago. Not too much to do (we spent most of it in their place) but the hanging train is definitely worth a go.

As for Berlin, in my preference order:
Boat trips. They run regular boat trips up and down the river/canal system which the story of Berlin in WW2 and the Cold War. Check the notice boards and they'll tell you when the trips are being run with an English speaking tour. Trips range from 60 mins to 2 hours and are a great introduction before you walk round the city.

Reichstag (Bundestag). The queues can be long but you can pre-book yourself in for lunch at the restaurant on the roof. You jump all of the queues and go straight to the restaurant, eat lunch then can look around all you want. The lunch itself is not too expensive - about what you'd expect for food in the city. Good for 2 hours (including lunch)

Berlin Wall Memorial. They have revamped a section of the Berlin Wall so it looks like it did during the bad old days, plus there's a high building next to it so you can look over and see into the area. Good for a couple of hours.

Topographie des Terrors. This is a relatively new exhibition which is based around the old SS HQ in Berlin (which was bombed to the ground, although you can see some of the old foundations). It outlines the atrocities committed by the Nazis during their reign and is a bilingual exhibition. Well worth a visit, and one of the longest unbroken stretches of the old Berlin Wall is right next to it. Good for a few hours.

Brandenberg Gate. Definitely something to see while you're walking around.

Check Point Charlie. There's a small museum dedicated to escapes over the years including some of the more innovative ones. If you don't want to pay for the museum, try looking on the billboards which run along the line of the old wall in that area - they contain most of the history and are bilingual.

Alexanderplatz. The centre of old East Germany. For great views across the city go up the TV tower (with a decent camera). Good for a couple of hours.

All of the above you can cover in a (long) day on foot. If you have more time and want to see something outside the city centre:

Sachsenhausen (Oranienberg). We found out about this by accident. Oranienberg was an old SS garrison town with the Berlin concentration camp in it. It's not a death camp but originally held all of the political prisoners from Berlin before being expanded towards the end of the war. It was in the old Soviet sector and the Russians used it for their political prisoners and put a large war memorial in it, so you get WW2 and cold war history together in one place. We intended to go for a couple of hours but spent a full day there - it's about 1 hours drive from the city centre. It's a part of Berlin that fewer tourists get to see.

Luftwaffe museum. About 45mins west of the city centre (but within the city limits) the Luftwaffe museum is on the airfield that serviced the Berlin airlift. Mixture of aircraft - a few WW2, a number of Cold War and quite a few eastern block aircraft that I hadn't seen elsewhere. Quite a few helicopters including Hind and Hip, which I've seen in action but never been close enough to almost touch. Good for a few hours.

Schloss Charlottenburg. The largest palace in Berlin. Great building and gardens but it was bombed in WW2 and most of the internal furnishings and paintings were destroyed / stolen so it was a disappointment. If time is tight, avoid the disappointment.

The best way to see Berlin is to walk around it - we walked everywhere and found some real gems, from small hidden-away public gardens to walking around a corner to find some serious bullet holes in buildings where the area was obviously hard fought over. The best places for this are along the old Berlin Wall demilitarised zone.

If you're travelling Wuppertal to Berlin I'm at about the halfway point around 30 mins off the motorways (about 2 miles from the old Bergen-Belsen concentration camp). If you need a rest stop, PM me for my phone number and address. I've also got my Berlin map with all the tourist locations marked on it, so if you've got an address I can mail that to you (or try and scan it?).

Enjoy your vacation!

Onkel Neal · 06-22-12, 08:25 AM

Very very cool, thanks for all the info and tips. I have to decide if it's a good idea to squeeze in a long ride, but I don't want to miss the opportunity to see such a historic city.

Edit: For any Subsim members wanting to meet up, perhaps we could assemble on Sat evening in Dusseldorf, around 6 or 7pm? Any ideas where?

vienna · 06-28-12, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Is the bunker still around? Can't remember if they destroyed it or not.

The Bunker is a memory; the Soviets did everything possible to obliterate it. The site is now a parking lot and some buildings with a modest plaque describing what was once there. The plaque also has a photograh of Hitler, one of the very few official places with any depiction of the Reich...

...

kurfürst · 06-28-12, 03:13 PM

Hi Neal,

this might be interesting for you:

http://berliner-unterwelten.de/home.1.1.html

the tours are often booked for weeks in advance, but maybe you´re lucky and there´s a chance to pop in. Those "Berliner Unterwelten" tours are very, very interesting and full of history, from WW2 to the cold war.

Viel Spass, Kurfürst

06-21-12, 08:05 AM	#1
Onkel Neal Born to Run Silent Join Date: Jan 1997 Location: Cougar Trap, Texas Posts: 21,385 Downloads: 541 Uploads: 224	A visit to Germany I will be going through Germany next week, and I have a couple days to see the countryside and visit. I am trying to arrange a rental motorcycle in Wuppertal so I can ride to Berlin Friday, then back Sat. So, if the plan works, I will be in the capital Friday afternoon. If I cannot get a bike I will take a train. Any suggestions as far as what to see in Berlin? Danke! Onkel Neal

06-21-12, 10:41 AM	#6
Dan D Grey Wolf Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: 9th Flotilla Posts: 839 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	@Neal “Wuppertal”, why on earth Wuppertal? Well, I guess I better don’t ask. Wuppertal-Berlin that is 323 miles one way; or 6h 41 minutes. If you really want to do that, please be careful, keep in mind: basically no speed limits on the Autobahn, watch out for those überfast drivers who approach you from behind on the speed lane, don’t underestimate their speed. No need for you to call for asylum in Ecuador like Assange: If you get into trouble with the authorities, give me a call, I will try to help. My mobile phone number is still the same as it was last time (Subsim meeting Copenhagen). Berlin, places of interest: Oranienburger Straße, Museumsinsel, Reichstag. If you decide not to go to Berlin, then a short meeting at Düsseldorf with a couple of subsim members from the North Rhine-Westfalian chapter of subsim (Penguin?) could be an alternative. I think I could make it. __________________

06-21-12, 09:15 AM	#7
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,650 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	kurzer...! What's your interests when visiting a city of that size? The mayor of Berlin - a very incompetent and arrogant man, btw. - says Berlin is "poor, but sexy". I am not convinced that it is that sexy, but I am damn sure that it is poor. If you use public transportation, try to avoid the "S-Bahn". Too many problems with that, it is impossible to make a statement on whether or not it will work reliably the day you use it. It is a disaster story since several years now. Could as well let you wait three hours for the next train. Subway worked fine last time I was there, it was always my preferred transportation method. But better do not travel by subway ("U-Bahn") alone in the night. Assaults take place quite frequently now. Prepare for some extraordinary unfriendliness if you happen to run into a Berliner original. "Kodderschnauze" is part of the old Berliner's way of life. Where else do you go in Germany? The "Spreewald" is not far away, if it is countryside you look foor, that might be a good target mark. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreewald If you crisscross the country, as usual I recommend the old town of Lübeck, also that of Wismar close by. Both towns belonged to the famous Hanse alliance and you see it in architecture: Wismar looks like a smaller copy of Lübeck. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert. Last edited by Skybird; 06-21-12 at 09:26 AM.

06-22-12, 06:17 AM	#10
Karle94 The Old Man Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Norseland Posts: 1,355 Downloads: 253 Uploads: 0	Places to see: - Jewish-museum - Berliner Fernsehturm - Reichtag/Bundestag - Berliner Dom - DDR-museum - Sachsenhausen concentration camp __________________ Find my mods here: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/lzgciodldp58p/SH4_Mods My SH4 blog here: http://karle94.blogspot.com/

06-22-12, 07:41 AM	#12
Wreford-Brown Sea Lord Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: In sight of Stonehenge Posts: 1,750 Downloads: 51 Uploads: 26	Neal, I'm an Englishman living in Germany and have spent a couple of long weekends in Berlin and love the city. I also have friends in Wuppertal and was down there a couple of weeks ago. Not too much to do (we spent most of it in their place) but the hanging train is definitely worth a go. As for Berlin, in my preference order: Boat trips. They run regular boat trips up and down the river/canal system which the story of Berlin in WW2 and the Cold War. Check the notice boards and they'll tell you when the trips are being run with an English speaking tour. Trips range from 60 mins to 2 hours and are a great introduction before you walk round the city. Reichstag (Bundestag). The queues can be long but you can pre-book yourself in for lunch at the restaurant on the roof. You jump all of the queues and go straight to the restaurant, eat lunch then can look around all you want. The lunch itself is not too expensive - about what you'd expect for food in the city. Good for 2 hours (including lunch) Berlin Wall Memorial. They have revamped a section of the Berlin Wall so it looks like it did during the bad old days, plus there's a high building next to it so you can look over and see into the area. Good for a couple of hours. Topographie des Terrors. This is a relatively new exhibition which is based around the old SS HQ in Berlin (which was bombed to the ground, although you can see some of the old foundations). It outlines the atrocities committed by the Nazis during their reign and is a bilingual exhibition. Well worth a visit, and one of the longest unbroken stretches of the old Berlin Wall is right next to it. Good for a few hours. Brandenberg Gate. Definitely something to see while you're walking around. Check Point Charlie. There's a small museum dedicated to escapes over the years including some of the more innovative ones. If you don't want to pay for the museum, try looking on the billboards which run along the line of the old wall in that area - they contain most of the history and are bilingual. Alexanderplatz. The centre of old East Germany. For great views across the city go up the TV tower (with a decent camera). Good for a couple of hours. All of the above you can cover in a (long) day on foot. If you have more time and want to see something outside the city centre: Sachsenhausen (Oranienberg). We found out about this by accident. Oranienberg was an old SS garrison town with the Berlin concentration camp in it. It's not a death camp but originally held all of the political prisoners from Berlin before being expanded towards the end of the war. It was in the old Soviet sector and the Russians used it for their political prisoners and put a large war memorial in it, so you get WW2 and cold war history together in one place. We intended to go for a couple of hours but spent a full day there - it's about 1 hours drive from the city centre. It's a part of Berlin that fewer tourists get to see. Luftwaffe museum. About 45mins west of the city centre (but within the city limits) the Luftwaffe museum is on the airfield that serviced the Berlin airlift. Mixture of aircraft - a few WW2, a number of Cold War and quite a few eastern block aircraft that I hadn't seen elsewhere. Quite a few helicopters including Hind and Hip, which I've seen in action but never been close enough to almost touch. Good for a few hours. Schloss Charlottenburg. The largest palace in Berlin. Great building and gardens but it was bombed in WW2 and most of the internal furnishings and paintings were destroyed / stolen so it was a disappointment. If time is tight, avoid the disappointment. The best way to see Berlin is to walk around it - we walked everywhere and found some real gems, from small hidden-away public gardens to walking around a corner to find some serious bullet holes in buildings where the area was obviously hard fought over. The best places for this are along the old Berlin Wall demilitarised zone. If you're travelling Wuppertal to Berlin I'm at about the halfway point around 30 mins off the motorways (about 2 miles from the old Bergen-Belsen concentration camp). If you need a rest stop, PM me for my phone number and address. I've also got my Berlin map with all the tourist locations marked on it, so if you've got an address I can mail that to you (or try and scan it?). Enjoy your vacation! __________________ All my mods are available at MediaFire: SH3 Mods Other modders SH3 mods SH4 Mods ...you can't please all of the people all of the time...

06-21-12, 08:31 AM	#2
Kongo Otto Commodore Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Augsburg / Germany Posts: 631 Downloads: 203 Uploads: 0	Check Point Charlie museum http://www.berlin.de/orte/museum/hau...e/index.en.php Other interesting sites: http://www.berlin.de/mauer/orte/index/index.en.php

06-21-12, 09:12 AM	#4
Onkel Neal Born to Run Silent Join Date: Jan 1997 Location: Cougar Trap, Texas Posts: 21,385 Downloads: 541 Uploads: 224	Oh? Sorry!! Thanks for that, and for the museum suggestions! I think I have a motorcycle rental and the fellow agreed to come by the shop after they close and let me return it Sat!! Woot, Onkel Neal turned loose in the Rei...err, lovely German countryside on 2 wheels!

06-22-12, 06:47 AM	#11
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	Don't forget the Brandenburg Gate, and what's left of the wall. IIRC there's an aircraft museum not far from Berlin too, let me look. Yes, there's the Luftwaffe museum at Gatow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftwaf...der_Bundeswehr http://www.aviationmuseum.eu/World/E...Bundeswehr.htm Looks like quite a nice collection there of aircraft from both sides of the curtain. A bit more sinister is the Stasi Museum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi_Museum Or The Memorial http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin-...ausen_Memorial The Glienicke Bridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glienicke_Bridge DDR Museum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_Museum Obviously, I defer to those with more local knowledge as to whether these museums are worth the visit, but certainly there is a lot of history in Berlin itself and the surrounding environs...that which survived it that is.

06-22-12, 08:25 AM	#13
Onkel Neal Born to Run Silent Join Date: Jan 1997 Location: Cougar Trap, Texas Posts: 21,385 Downloads: 541 Uploads: 224	Very very cool, thanks for all the info and tips. I have to decide if it's a good idea to squeeze in a long ride, but I don't want to miss the opportunity to see such a historic city. Edit: For any Subsim members wanting to meet up, perhaps we could assemble on Sat evening in Dusseldorf, around 6 or 7pm? Any ideas where? Last edited by Onkel Neal; 06-22-12 at 09:19 AM.

06-28-12, 03:13 PM	#15
kurfürst Chief Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Guetersloh, Germany Posts: 310 Downloads: 153 Uploads: 0	Berliner Unterwelten Hi Neal, this might be interesting for you: http://berliner-unterwelten.de/home.1.1.html the tours are often booked for weeks in advance, but maybe you´re lucky and there´s a chance to pop in. Those "Berliner Unterwelten" tours are very, very interesting and full of history, from WW2 to the cold war. Viel Spass, Kurfürst __________________