Berlin (1-2 April 2006) Introduction

I am in Germany, right? So it doesn't make sense if I don't visit the capital. Furthermore, I'm a history buff, so Berlin is definitely a must-go. I was thinking of how I can categorise my posts on Berlin, so I thought categorising by place seemed more logical than by chronological order.

This was my first time on a night train, departing Munich Hauptbahnhof at 2302H on Friday night and reaching Berlin bright and sunny on Saturday morning, 0702H. I thought of alighting at the Berlin Zoologischer Garten Station before it goes to the Berlin Ostbahnhof, so you can imagine my horror when this was the first sign I saw after I woke up.



Anyway, managed to find my way to the hostel, nice little place called Meninger. Not too cramp nor shabby.

My chief complaint about Berlin is that it's not as colourful as Munich, neither is the transport system as convenient as in Munich. For example, you have to go down 1 platform, walk 100m down the road and climb up to another platform just to change train lines, supposedly in the same train station. Furthermore, the train stations are plain trashy, especially those in East Berlin:





OK, there're a few nice ones, and here's the best of all, the new Berlin Hauptbahnhof:









As you can see, glass roof and all, very modern and elegant. Berlin Hauptbahnhof is constructed over the former Lehrter Bahnhof, which linked Berlin to Lehrte from 1871 to 1951. It stopped serving as a regional railway station in 1951, but continued to be used as a S-Bahn station. In June 1992, the Federal Government decided to build the new Hauptbahnhof on the site of the former Lehrter Bahnhof. Construction of the tunnels began in 1995 and the building in 2002. Most of it is completed and the official opening ceremony is scheduled for 28 May 2006, just in time for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. During this ceremony, the station will officially be renamed "Berlin Hauptbahnhof" over its present name of "Berlin Hauptbahnhof - Lehrter Bahnhof".