Chapters meeting 2009/Practical information
See wikitravel:Berlin for a detailed presentation and the detailed interactive map for Wikimedia Conferences 2009.
Map
editAccommodation
editPlanned accommodation (hostel): Apartmenthaus am Potsdamer Platz [1]
Rooms contain 3 or 4 beds. People will be assigned by gender beforehand (switching will be possible).
- Location
- Schöneberger Schöneberger Ufer 75-77, close to Potsdamer Platz and the Zoo
- Car park is available (5 € / day)
- U-bahn (underground): "Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Platz", lines U2
- bus station: "Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand", lines M29
- Checkin from 2pm
- Checkout until 11am
- Breakfast 7:30 - 9:00 (included)
- bring your own towels!
Venue
editVenue for the meeting: Deutsche Telekom Laboratories [2]
- Location
- Deutsche Telekom AG
- Laboratories
- Ernst-Reuter-Platz 7
- D-10587 Berlin
- U-bahn (underground): "Ernst-Reuter-Platz", line U2
- See the map
Transportation
editBerlin has an excellent public transportation system (i.e. buses, trams, underground, rail) that runs day and night. Transportation between conference sites, as in between hostel, T-Labs, and c-base will all be by public transportation.
You will receive public transportation tickets at check-in for all three conference days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday). Please don't buy single or multiple day tickets on your own for those days.
Arriving in Berlin
editby plane at Tegel airport
editIf you arrive on Thursday, there will be volunteers at the airport welcoming you. They will give you a single ticket for the bus and directions for how to get to the hostel.
If you cannot find a volunteer or you arrive before or after Thursday, please use the instructions below:
| Tegel airport (TXL) → hostel | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy a single ticket "Berlin AB" (€ 2,10) when entering the bus | |||||
| # | board at | line | direction | get off at | travel time |
| 1 | Tegel Airport |  109
|
S+U Zoologischer Garten | U Uhlandstraße | 25 min |
| 2 | U Uhlandstraße | M29
|
U Hermannplatz | Gedenkstätte deutscher Widerstand | 8 min |
by plane at Schönefeld airport
editIf you arrive on Thursday, there will be volunteers at the airport welcoming you. They will give you a single ticket for the bus and directions for how to get to the hostel.
If you cannot find a volunteer or you arrive before or after Thursday, please walk to the train station (a few hundred meters from the terminal), buy a ticket and take a train:
| Schönefeld airport (SXF) → hostel | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy a single ticket "Berlin ABC" (€ 2,80) at a ticket machine and stamp it using one of these devices | |||||
| # | board at | line | direction | get off at | travel time |
| 1 | Flughafen Schönefeld Terminal Platform 3 or 4 |
 RE 7 or RB 24leaves every hour at XX:25 and XX:55 |
Nauen or Dessau | Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) | 28 min |
| 2 | Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) | M85
|
S Lichterfelde Süd | Potsdamer Brücke | 16min |
| 3 | Potsdamer Brücke | M29
|
U Wittenbergplatz | Gedenkstätte Dt. Widerstand | 1 min |
by train at Hauptbahnhof (Central Station)
edit| Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) → hostel | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy a single ticket "Berlin AB" (€ 2,10) when entering the bus | |||||
| # | board at | line | direction | get off at | travel time |
| 1 | Hauptbahnhof bus station (street level) | M85
|
S Lichterfelde Süd | Potsdamer Brücke | 16 min |
| 2 | Potsdamer Brücke | M29
|
U Wittenbergplatz | Gedenkstätte Dt. Widerstand | 1 min |
Getting around within Berlin
editto T-Labs
edit| hostel → T-Labs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | board at | line | direction | get off at | travel time |
| 1 | Gedenkstätte deutscher Widerstand | M29
|
U Hermannplatz | U Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park (street level) | 2 min |
| 2 | Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park (aboveground) | 
|
Ruhleben or Theodor-Heuss-Platz | Ernst-Reuter-Platz (underground) | 11 min |
| c-base → T-Labs | |||||
| # | board at | line | direction | get off at | travel time |
| 1 | walk to Jannowitzbrücke station | ||||
| 2 | Jannowitzbrücke (aboveground) |  5, 7, 75 or 9
|
Westkreuz, Potsdam, or Spandau | Zoologischer Garten (aboveground) | 15 min |
| 3 | Zoologischer Garten (underground) |
|
Ruhleben or Theodor-Heuss-Platz | Ernst-Reuter-Platz (underground) | 2 min |
to c-base
edit| hostel → c-base | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | board at | line | direction | get off at | travel time |
| 1 | Gedenkstätte deutscher Widerstand | M29
|
U Hermannplatz | U Moritzplatz (street level) | 15 min |
| 2 | Moritzplatz (underground) | 
|
Wittenau | Heinrich-Heine-Straße | 1 min |
| T-Labs → c-base | |||||
| # | board at | line | direction | get off at | travel time |
| 1 | Ernst-Reuter-Platz (underground) |
|
Pankow | Zoologischer Garten (underground) | 2 min |
| 2 | Zoologischer Garten (aboveground, follow -Signs)
|
5, 7, 75 or 9 |
Strausberg, Ahrensfelde, Wartenberg, Flughafen Schönefeld | Jannowitzbrücke | 15 min |
| 3 | walk to c-base | ||||
to hostel
edit| T-Labs → hostel | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | board at | line | direction | get off at | travel time |
| 1 | Ernst-Reuter-Platz (underground) |
|
Pankow | Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park (aboveground) | 11 min |
| 2 | U Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park (street level) | M29
|
U Hermannplatz | Gedenkstätte deutscher Widerstand | 2 min |
| c-base → hostel | |||||
| # | start | line | direction | get off at | travel time |
| 1 | walk to Jannowitzbrücke station (underground) | ||||
| 2 | Jannowitzbrücke (underground) |
|
Hermannstraße | Moritzplatz (underground) | 1 min |
| 3 | U Moritzplatz (street level) | M29
|
U Hermannplatz | Gedenkstätte deutscher Widerstand | 15 min |
Information for car-drivers: Environmental Zone in Berlin
editOn 1st January 2008 the city of Berlin established an Environmental Zone. You need to have a special sticker (costs: 5-6€) to be able to drive in the inner-city (conference, accommodation, etc is here!), which marks your car to be classified in a certain exhaust emission standard. Please keep all documents providing any information on your car with you. Get a sticker before you enter the inner-circle.
Other itineraries
edit- Journey planner for public transportation in Berlin
Weather
editForecast looks like mixed spring weather, not too cold, mostly dry.
Money
editBring cash, Germany is not credit-card-friendly at all.