Berlin Escapade

We traveled from Bristol airport, where Special Assistance makes traveling for people with a disability as stress free as possible, you can book it as you confirm your holiday. Don’t forget you have to book batteries onto the plane via passenger assistance. I took an electric wheelchair with which I took 2 x 10A lithium batteries (marked with a plane)with fire resistance bags. I found this was ample to get me around, also my brother noticed he could talk to me easier as he was by my side and not talking to the back of my head, which I find difficult to hear when I’m being pushed. Bristol airport is well organized and they are more than helpful and treat you as an everyday customer. My brother has never used this service and was impressed by their professionalism, he also liked it when they said to him have a nice holiday with your father. There are a whole host of people who travel with Special Assistance and some you might think they don’t need it, but never judge(there by the grace of God). As you have booked Special Assistance you are met at the arrival airport, Willy Brandt, Brandenburg, where they have their own special assistance team, who are just as good as their counterparts in Bristol. In Berlin airport, it is well spread out and they have places marked at the carousel for disabled passengers to collect their luggage. I found the airport was more geared towards every type of passenger than Bristol ( Willy Brandt has only been open 4 years,2020).

We both decided to immerse ourselves into the total travel experience, so instead of getting a taxi into Berlin, we took the S-Bahn, which runs every 20 minutes. At this point I will have to pay homage to my brother as he did all the work in making sure we were on the right platform and getting the right train. Finding the right platform is as much fun as anywhere if your new to the area. At this point we didn’t realize how friendly everybody was, they couldn’t do enough for you. The train/underground operate with an App to buy tickets, the BVB, you just pay for how long you are going to travel in blocks of 2 hours for three different zones and its inexpensive. There are ticket machines on the stations where you can pay with euro’s. The trains are much better equipped for wheelchair users. I could easily roll on and roll off.

We booked an Air BNB in Pottsdamer Platz and again was easy too find from lift exit from the U-Bahn. It was a short walk around the corner. One problem Berlin shares with every large city is rough sleeping and drug/alcohol misuse, as with other cities they do hide away. The apartment, Gabriele Tergit Promenade 21, Tiergarten, was very clean, compact with plenty of storage and easy for me to get around. The entrance to the building is fitted with a touch button to open the door, the only problem was there is no button to open a heavy internal door to the lift, reception is staffed during the day and they are very helpful. Located in the basement is a coffee and food hall, very convenient and a cafe just outside, great for morning coffee and croissants. Also nearby is a supermarket and various restaurants all together in the mall, again everyone was helpful and nothing was too much trouble. This is where I have to pull myself up as it doesn’t happen too often, but people appear not to see you in a wheelchair, it gets a bit awkward when they just ignore you.

Olympic Stadium

It’s a testament to the German politicians that they have not tried to destroy everything that the Nazi’s built or tried to hide it away, but they have left it so that future generations will never forget. They have done it with dignity and it appears that everyone is on board. As we had limited time we concentrated on the history that was relevant to our visit, from Bismarck to the Berlin Wall. I was lucky my brother used to teach history and just hope I can do him justice by remembering how he portrayed it to me.

As I have mentioned the transport system is very good, they even tell you if the next tube has disabled cars, they come virtually every five minutes. On arriving at the station for the Olympic Stadium, you walk past the old station entrance and exit which has been restored to what it was for the 1936 Olympic games. The stadium was rebuilt on the orders of Hitler when he found that little progress had been made to renovations of the original stadium which was meant for the 1916 Olympics.

The staff are superb and again nothing is too much trouble, they are still renovating the whole stadium so at the time we were there the entrance to the stadium is on your left. The only thing that has changed is where Hitler and his entourage sat. The stadium is used today for Hertha Berlin football team, they have used it since 1963.

The stadium hosted the 1934 Women’s World Games and was updated for the 1936 Olympics, they are still recovering and repairing the whole site. There are six statues around the stadium of athletes depicting the ideal Aryan body.

Inside the stadium you can still see where the Olympic flame was alight and view out too where the bell tower is, where they rang the bell for the winners. It is located in the horse arena, they have only recovered the swimming and diving pool recently and it is open to the public. Obviously there are parts where a wheelchair cannot go, but you can get around a majority of the stadium and is equipped with disabled toilets.

Football pitch inside Olympic stadium, you can feel an uneasy sense just looking down to the left where Hitler and his entourage sat. As with other stadiums they have incorporated disability areas, but it is an eerie sensation, as what happened to minority groups(which of course I am one) during the Nazi reign.

Victory Column, Bismarck and cheese rolls

Leaving the Olympic Stadium we made our way back to the U-Bahn and headed for Zoologischer Garten station, this is the stop for Berlin’s Zoo, we skirted around this and made our way through the park towards the Victory Column. This is where we stopped off for something to eat. As we didn’t want to waste time looking for somewhere to have food, my brother makes a wonderful packed lunch of cheese and tomato rolls. We sat in the woodland surrounding the Zoo, It was very tranquil and it didn’t feel like you where in the middle of a large city, the weather was a beautiful, there was a lot of people enjoying the August sunshine even nudists.

The Victory Column was commissioned by King Wilhelm I in commemoration of Prussian victories in the Unification Wars against Denmark, Austria and France.

You are able to go inside the column but not if you rely on a wheelchair, which is unfortunate but you can understand why they cannot put lifts everywhere, nevertheless it is a fantastic marvel to see. Nearby is a statue to Bismarck, who was famous as being the Iron Chancellor and unifying Germany.

As you walk towards the Brandenburg Gate on your left is a memorial to Russian soldiers killed during WWII and the battle for Berlin up until 1945.

Further on down you come to the Bundestag, where you can go inside for a fee, but I believe you have to book in advance so check before you go. It is quite impressive with its glass dome.

After a short walk you come to the impressive Brandenburg Gate, it is best(as my brother suggested and he was right) to go through to the other side and look back to the Victory Tower. Be prepared for a lot of people from tourists to artists.

As you go back through the gate and turn left you are able to view the Holocaust memorial designed by Peter Eisanman, with its undulating concrete slabs of different height you can find it is disorientating. As I have said before Germany doesn’t want to forget and it is very brave to confront the past and learn from it.

It wasn’t a long walk from Zoologischer Garten to the apartment, and it’s all flat, I was impressed my batteries lasting. Nearby to us was a shopping mall that had several restaurants under one ‘roof’, from Vietnamese to Indian, Spanish to Cambodian. My brother was smiling like a Cheshire cat, the food was fantastic and everything about the place was good, I didn’t feel uncomfortable and everywhere we went in Berlin we felt safe. I must point out two police officers were exceptional, we couldn’t find a lift down to platform at Friedrick Strasse station and they went out of their way to find it. There was work being carried out on the station and one of them went down to the platform we wanted, two minutes later he appeared like magic, the lift was hidden behind some boarding, once again a big thank you to these two.

On day two we ventured out to Cecilienhof in Potsdam, on this occasion we had to catch different tubes and a train and finally a bus, all of which cater for wheelchairs to a far better standard then in Britain. We had to change at Freidrick Strasse U-Bahn where we had to look around for the next tube to Pottsdam, so be prepared to be a bit frustrated. At Pottsdam station the Tourist Information center is inside the station, which is very busy. We caught a bus out to Cecilienhof, you catch it from outside the station, again catering for wheelchair to roll on and roll of not like British Buses, it was well worth it. It was built by crown Prince Wilhelm II for his oldest son Crown Prince Wilhelm and his wife Cecilie.

This was where Stalin, Truman and Churchill (later his successor Attlee) decided Germany’s future after the war. It is a beautiful place, the gardens are well maintained and accessible for wheelchairs even a disabled toilet (get key from cafe), nice glass of Berliner. The gardens are extensive and another opportunity to relax with cheese and tomato rolls. You can go down by the lake, I didn’t as the path was a bit steep. I thoroughly recommend visiting this impressive palace. You can pay to go inside but as it didn’t appear easy for a wheelchair I didn’t want to damage anything, as anybody who uses them knows this is easy to do.

We caught the bus back to Pottsdam where we walked back to Freidrick Strasse station, the weather was on our side. There are so many things to see and it was all easily accessible with dropped kerbs and walkways well maintained. On our way we visited Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church which was designed by Wilhelm II for his grandfather Wilhelm I in 1890, it was bombed during the war and they have built a new church next to it using the glass that was shattered from the stained glass windows, using the different colors can cause a dazzling effect inside. The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church holds very impressive murals and shows an interesting story.

This part of Berlin is similar to Oxford street in London bustling and vibrant. We got the tube back to Pottsdam Platz, where we tried different cuisine from the same place in the mall, we also enjoyed a pint of German lager, a good way to end the day.

Our final full day we made our way to Checkpoint Charlie, it is a must see but be prepared it is busy with like minded tourists. You can also go and see the museum, but this is not disable friendly, this is where my brother came to my rescue without his help and patience I would never got around as it is set over many levels , if you are able I really do suggest try. It took awhile to go around and to see the different tactics used to escape East Berlin and also to rejoin families behind the ‘Wall’.

The next must visit is harrowing, Gestapo Headquarters. The exhibition is not in the same building but in purpose built area, it shows the complexity and organizational skills they possessed, also their grip on the population and much more. The original has been turned back over to an administrative center for Berlin. But first lunch and you guessed it, cheese and tomato rolls, we sat outside where they have left the Berlin Wall to view and also incorporated personal stories.

The Topography of Terror is fascinating and also horrifying, but it is one thing everybody must go and see. The museum from my point of view is well laid out and accessible for all, you need to put aside a couple of hours to see it. I have to admit it has left a mark on me, I cannot get my head around how easy it is for this to happen.

It was our final night and we have been looking forward to a kebab, but found it hard to find a traditional place , but luckily as we walking from Checkpoint Charlie we found a traditional Turkish kebab restaurant, it can be found on Kochstrasse in between Friedrichstrasse and Wilhelmstrasse. The waiter was brilliant, as instead of looking down towards me, he knelt by the side of my wheelchair and explained the menu. It feels less intimating. The salad they gave us was quickly demolished by my brother without a second glance. This restaurant is another excuse to go back to Berlin.

As our flight was midday we made a leisurely trip back to the airport, be prepared to get to the S-Bahn from the U-Bahn in Freidricke Strasse, you need to exit the the tube station and walk across to the main station. At the airport it was easy to navigate and Passenger Assistance was very good, just be prepared, the airport is huge.

Things of note :- Lifts at all tube stations but might not come out where you expect, also to find lifts into stations can be become entertaining but it all adds to the holiday. Rush hour on the tube is similar to UK so be prepared to be invisible to some people.

I have not gone into any depth about the history of all the places we visited as I will leave that to you to find as much or as little as to what you want to know. I primarily have written this to show how disabled friendly Berlin is and also how accommodating airports are.

I just want to thank my brother again for his patience and for accompanying me as I would not have been able to do it.

Berlin what a wonderful city, I will definitely come back.