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City of Berlin

Berlin is located in the central part of Europe, typical flight times to neighboring European capitals are 1-2 hours. Berlin is Germany's largest city, the capital city and one of the 16 states of Germany. About 3.5 million people are living here, 450 thousand of them are from foreign countries. From all European capitals Berlin is one of the greenest, every street has trees and one third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes. The average temperature in September is 19oC (66F) at day, 10oC (50F) at night, the probability for rain is 30%.

Transportation

Airports
At present Berlin has two international airports:
Tegel-Airport (TXL) about 10 km from city center
     and the new BBI (to be completed in 2012)
Schoenefeld-Airport (SXF) about 25 km from city center.
If you want to continue to Geneva for ECOC2011 there is one direct flight per day from SXF by easyJet® .
(Example: SAT 17 Sep, 13:55, 1:40h, 55Euro)

     (The historic Berlin Tempelhof Airport is closed since 2008 and Berlin's largest public park now)

Public Transportation System
The easiest and cheapest way to come around in Berlin is to use the public transportation system.
If you arrive in Berlin on Wednesday, September 14th in the evening and leave on Saturday, September 17th at noon it is recommended to buy a Berlin CityTourCard ABC (72 hours) for 23.90Euro.
This allows to use all trains and busses in Berlin and vicinity including the airports for 72 hours, starting from the validation stamp. (Please validate at a stamp machine before the first use)
Please note: In the train doors do not open automatically at each station, you have to press a button.
(Click here for more information)

Taxi
For 10 km in a Berlin taxi you have to pay about 20 Euro. (Click here to calculate a trip)

People

Many people in Berlin can communicate in English. Historically the typical Berliner preferred direct speech and truth on the expense of politeness.
This changed significantly since the government moved from Bonn to Berlin after the German unification. Politeness has improved very much while keeping the (Politeness * Truth) product almost constant.
The "overwhelming kindness" of Berlin taxi drivers, bus drivers and bicyclists is something special.
(People from NYC will feel at home)

Safety

Dial 110 for police or general emergency, 112 for fire engine or health problems.

In general Germany is a safe country, violent crime is rare, but can occur.
For comparison: Homicide rate per year per 100000 inhabitants:
USA            : 6.1, NYC 16.8
Switzerland: 2.9, Geneva 4.2
Japan          : 1.1, Tokyo 1.4
Germany     : 0.98, Berlin 3.8

Total homicides 2009: Germany 628, NYC 597, Berlin 61, Geneva 8
There are no explicit "no go areas" in Berlin.


However, Berlin has some special dangers:

Beware of dog-droppings:
Berliners love their dogs and feed them well, so you may step in one result on the sidewalks.


Beware of bicyclists:
Many German streets and sidewalks have dedicated bike lanes for use by bicyclists. Whether you are driving or walking, be aware that bicycles have priority use of these lanes.
Most of them prefer speed at the expense of safety, frequently ignore traffic lights and drive in the opposite direction.