Chapters meeting 2009/Practical information

See wikitravel:Berlin for a detailed presentation and the detailed interactive map for Wikimedia Conferences 2009.

Map

Accommodation

Planned 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

Venue 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

Berlin 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

by plane at Tegel airport

If 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

If 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 24 leaves 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)

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

to T-Labs

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

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

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

On 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.

Information and addresses needed to get a sticker de/ en/ fr/ it/ tr/ ru/ po

Other itineraries

Journey planner for public transportation in Berlin

Weather

Forecast looks like mixed spring weather, not too cold, mostly dry.

Money

Bring cash, Germany is not credit-card-friendly at all.