We'll be visiting a friend in Hannover this December. It seems that Berlin is just 1 1/2 hours on the train soooo.... <BR> <BR>We need hotel recommendations for both cities -- preferrably central, charming and under $150 USD. <BR> <BR>For Berlin we need the "short-list" of sights to see. We are particularly interested in Holocaust-related sites. <BR> <BR>Thanks in advance!

When we were in Berlin last year we went to Sachenhausen. It is a concentration camp just north of Berlin. We didn't have a car but were able to take a local bus.We spent many hours wandering around. Of course there is Checkpoint Charlie. There museum is very complete.

Thanks for the info Barbara! <BR>Other German mavens out there??

Here's a travel question that needs some more answers

Sally good evening! The Germans seem to be all off-line. There must be a terrific TV programme. ;-) <BR>I am not an expert on Germany. Have been to Berlin a long time ago. What I enjoyed most was a concert by the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Philharmonie. The locals call it the "pregnant oyster" because of the particular shape of the building. I was there before the wall was torn down. The weather was miserable and I am not really crazy about going back. Although, from what I hear, Berlin must have changed a lot let's say in the 10 last years. Anyway, here is the official website, you might want to have a look at: <BR>www.berlin.de <BR> <BR>I've never had a reason to go to Hannover. But like Berlin, they have a nice site with a lot of useful info like accommodation, etc. <BR>www.hannover.de <BR> <BR>Both sites have an English version. <BR> <BR>Maybe tomorrow morning, you will have more luck. Some people over here seem to have internet access only at their office!!

I feel a bit uneasy trying to comment about Berlin without having been there yet. But during the past few weeks I've been doing some homework on the subject in preparation for a September trip and I feel that I kind of "know" the place; so here is my 2 ce... I mean Pfening... worth. <BR>The Jewish museum will reopen next month and may be worth a visit: http://www.jmberlin.de/ <BR>Berlin Walks offer several walking tours, out of which numbers 2 & 3 seem to be along the lines of your theme: http://www.berlinwalks.com/v1/berlin_tours.html <BR>Obviously it's too early for me to comment about hotels. I made a reservation at one which was recommended in the forum, through www.hrs.de

hi there, <BR>sorry, I'm not to familiar to hotels etc in Berlin, been too long since my last visit. But www.berlin.de has a real good english site where You can find every hotels in Berlin. <BR>For the holocaust and WW II sites Sachsenhausen shure is the most impressive place to go. Others are three "Gedenkstätten"Gedenkstätte <BR>1. Deutscher Widerstand <BR>Stauffenbergstr. 13 (Tiergarten) <BR>open Mo, Di, Mi, Fr 9-18, Do 9-20 Uhr, Sa/So 10-18 Uhr <BR>2. Köpenicker Blutwoche Juni 1933, Puchanstr. 12 (Köpenick) <BR>open: Di, Mi 10-16.30 Uhr, Do 10-18 Uhr, <BR>Plötzensee (higly recommanded) <BR>Hüttigpfad (Charlottenburg) <BR>open:every day 9-17 Uhr März-Okt., Nov.-Feb 9-16 Uhr <BR>And the "Reichstag" shure is worth to visit. <BR>Sorry Ursula: The Philharmonie is not the "Schwangere Auster", this is the "Kongresshalle". It was the US building for the international architecture exhibition, but it had a little broke down. I'm not shure whether it is open again. Anyway it is worth to see, even if YOu like Henry Moore. You find a few in front off. <BR>have fun <BR>Gar <BR>

I can recommend a few places in Berlin for sleeping: <BR>1) Crown Plaza - very central to the Zoo station which is the main station in Berlin. Also very close to shopping etc. <BR>2) Westin - walking distance to Brand gate, Check Charlie etc. <BR>There are a bunch of hotels very close to the Westin; four seasons, hilton etc and most of them have good specials if you can book ahead. All these hotels are close to the tube line and catching trains around Berlin is super easy...

Wow! Thanks for the help folks <BR>Does anyone know if the new Holocaust memorial in Berlin is finished yet? <BR> <BR>As for hotels -- I'm looking more for the small, historic -- although Hotel Astoria in Berlin looks like a possibility? <BR> <BR>Again thanks

Here is something which looks (kind of) historic (with the compliments of timeout.com): <BR>Hotel-Pension Funk, Fasanenstraße 69, Charlottenburg, 10719 (882 7193/fax 883 3329) U15 Uhlandstraße. <BR>Rates single DM65-130; double DM100-190. Credit AmEx, MC, V. <BR>Hotel services Lift. Room services Telephone. <BR> <BR>In the former apartment of Danish silent movie star Asta Nielsen. The proprietor does his best to maintain the ambience of a pre-war flat, and the rooms are furnished with pieces from the 1920s and 1930s. The effect is cosy, and the 14 rooms are comfortable and large, even if not all have their own showers.

We spent a week at Hecker's Hotel just off the Ku'damn last spring. You can check their website for current rates. We also were hoping to find a small, charming hotel - so much of Berlin is post-WWII that it's a challenge to find anyplace with real old-world charm (although I'm sure they do exist). We were very pleased with Heckers - small, very quiet, fantastic location with sophistocated decor. <BR>Be sure to visit the new Film Museum at the Sony Center. We especially enjoyed the Zoo and the Bauhaus Archive. Checkpoint Charlie Museum well worth the visit. We thought we'd want to seek out specific Holocaust-related sites before we arrived in Berlin - but found that just being there and walking the streets where so much complicated history took place to be almost over-whelming at times. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful place to visit - but...I use this word for lack of a better one... <BR>"haunted".

I can recommend the Hotel Funk. We stayed there last October. It is a mansion once owned by a silent movie star back in the 20's. The young lady that manages it was very helpful. Gave us so much information on transportation places to eat etc.

Anyone familiar with the Mark Aparthotel on Lietzenburger? It's a Blue Band hotel. We're looking for a 3* near the train station that offers nonsmoking rooms and this one has the best rate ($69 w/breakfast). The next closest I've found is one I did see a recommendation on here - Carmer 16 at $76.

I am a fan of the Hotel Crystal, with double with shower at about 120 US dollars. The address is Kantsttrasse 144, 10623 Berlin, the phone is 030 312 90 47 and 312 90 48, fax 030 312 64 65: they've no e-mail. The hotel is 200 yards from Savignyplatz S-Bahn (elevated railway) station, which is one stop from Zoo station in Berlin. <BR> <BR>As you say, InterCity Express restaurant car trains leave Hanover at 0600 and hourly, and take 95 minutes to Berlin Zoo. The train is amongst the finest in Europe: do ask the on-board computer for onward connections to Warsaw (Warschau) ! At Zoo you leave the train, pick up a luggage trolley, and take the lift to the ground floor. There you walk back to the S-Bahn escalator. At Savignyplatz you step onto the platform, take the lift to street level, leave the lift, cross the road, turn left (north), walk 100 yards, turn right (east) onto Kantstrasse, walk 100 yards, and you're at the hotel. All staff have good English, and the morning manager loves to advise guests on how to reach places: in particlar you need to know what hours they're open. The price includes a fair breakfast with infinite good coffee. I shall be pleased if you mention my name. <BR> <BR>Now sights. I'll start west, and move east. You reach the House of the Wannsee Conference by S-Bahn direct from the hotel to Wannsee, then bus number 114. In this villa they set up the Final Solution. <BR> <BR>The Olympia stadium has both an S-Bahn station and a U-Bahn (underground) station. Whether you've seen the film or not, the place is full of Adlof Hitler. <BR> <BR>300 yards east of your hotel, along Kantstrasse, you find Fasanenstrasse, where a left turn takes you to the Jewish community house -- good lunches. <BR> <BR>About here lies the museum Gar has told you abut, the German Opposition or Deutscher Weiderstand museum, at Stauffenbergstrasse13. In the courtyard they hanged the officers who ran the failed coup of 1944. I wouldn't try the S-Bahn for this, but bus number 200 from Zoo station. Your one-day or one week Berlin rail and underground ticket is good for busses too. <BR> <BR>The cookhouse cellars of the Gestapo are in the rather over-named "Topography of Terror", Stresemannstrasse 10, at the U Bahn station Kochstrasse. This station is next to the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie, which has its labels in English as well as German. <BR> <BR>I'm afraid I haven't seen the Jewish Museum, which is greatly praised as a building, but less so as a collection. It is open now. <BR> <BR>The New Synagogue stands glorious on Oranienburgerstrasse, very near the S-Bahn station. It has or had an attached museum, and there are good kosher restaurants nearby. The former Jewish cemetery is a few hundred yards to the east, next to the inviting Hackescher Hof. <BR> <BR>Sachsenhausen is in Oranienburg, 21 miles north of Berlin, 45 minutes by S-Bahn. <BR> <BR>Please write if I can help further. Welcome back to Europe. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR>

Barbara when you went to the concentration camp how far was it from the city and did you need the entire day for this outing?

Hi there, just noticed that this thread is 2.5 years old. However, as in my previous posting on Jewish site, Berlin Walks offer a tour of Sachsenhausen. Their website is www.berlinwalks.de

I don't work for them - just think they are very good value!

spiegelcjs

We did the trip to Sachsenhausen three years ago and the time taken from the centre of Berlin by train to Oranienburg is as Ben has said, 45 minutes.

The walk to the camp took us a further 25 minutes out into the surrounding countryside. I think it was someone on Fodors who warned that it was best to take a good map as there are no signposts/direction markers to Sachsenhausen from the town itself.

We were also advised when buying the rail tickets at the Berlin station not to ask for round-trip tickets to Sachsenhausen but clearly specify Oranienburg. It seems folks were occasionally sold tickets to towns miles away from the camp.

We spent around 4 hours there and regard it as one of the best things we did on our trip to Germany. We left the camp that day feeling very humble and more than a bit overwhelmed.

We met two wonderful elderly gentlemen working in the little bookshop at the entrance to the camp. Both were wearing little badges of their former army regiments (I think both served in the wartime Czekoslovakian Army but perhaps I've got that wrong) and went into great detail about how the camp was liberated by armies from the east.

There is an excellent little museum at the camp too that needs to be visited.

I hope you manage to take the trip.

Joe

To Joe:
thanks for this rather recent information. The decision to be made is whether to go to a concentration camp while we are in Berlin or wait until we reach Prague and go to the one near there. It is not something I am looking forward to doing but feel that going to one is something I must do.