I have never been to Germany before, but I have planned a vacation to Berlin for the last two weeks of March '06. I want very much to hear of your experiences with Berliners in shops, the U-Bahn, museums, etc. If my German is not very good, can people accommodate me in English? When I spent a total of 20 days in Paris recently, I found that more than a few persons were just incredibily haughty & snotty. In Venice, Florence and Rome, on the other hand, when I used my smattering of Italian, people were so indulgent and accommodating. I still have very fond memories of Italy and think the people are wonderfully down-to-earth and kind. What were your experiences in Berlin?

My German doesn't go beyond Danke and "Morgan" or "gutentag". Spent five nights in Berlin a few years ago, and last year HAD to go back for 5 more to see some of what we missed first time around. Never had a problem at all there with English. Very friendly people and great times. Berlin is a fabulous city.

My experience in Germany, as well as other countries, is this: If you automatically expect people to communicate with you in English, you may get the cold shoulder. If however, you try to speak to them in their language, no matter how badly you butcher it, you'll get a friendlier reception.

We lived there for two years... I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Frankly, I am not sure how anyone feels peeople are "haughty and snotty" if they don't know what they are saying but perhaps you relied on their "body English"..or was that "body French?"


Anyway, I agree with the others that if you at least attempt a few German pleasantries even if they are only "good day" or "thank you" etc., in German, you won;t have trouble in Berlin.

The U-Bahn/S-Bahn network is one of the most extensive city transport systems in Europe and easy to use.

Germans may tend to be a bit more reserved and formal than the folks in Italy and it would be a shame, and a big mistake, to interpret that as unfriendliness. I think you'll be glad you visited the city since it has much to offer (you might also consider taking a trip out to Potsdam to see either Sans Souci or the Nieuw Palace or both while you are there.

Have a wonderful trip.

We spent five days in berlin in July and we found the city and the people amazing. We communicated with no trouble in English. Everybody was supernice. And the city, wow, I look forward to going back!
Gloria

You will have no trouble with just a smattering of German. Berliners are very helpful but having just returned from Paris I found Parisians to be equally helpful.

Berlin is a great city make sure you visit Museum Island, the Jewish Museum and Check Point Charlie (the latter needs a bit of work done on it but very very interesting)

I found the buses were great and very efficient, you can see the city as you go from A to B.

The food hall on the top floor of the KaDeVe (wrong spelling but you will know what I mean) is wonderful, the best I have ever seen.

I concur with fellow posters. Germans do tend to be more formal on a first meeting, and Berliners, like New Yorkers, Parisians, Londoners, San Franciscans or urbanites anywhere, have a certain big city aloofness initially. Once the ice is broken, you'll find Berliners friendly and sardonically funny. I agree that walking up to someone and just speaking immediately in English will be a turn-off. A "Guten Tag! Sprechen sie Englisch?" will make a world of difference.

It doesn't necessarily follow that just because one manages to learn a little of the language of a country that one won't be dealt with in a peremptory, haughty and condescending manner bordering on arrogance. I did speak French in Paris, and with some individuals I dealt with it made no difference. It is not necessary to understand a language in order to see obvious facial expressions, attitude, and demeanor. This kind of thing was, unfortunately, my expirence with Parisians on more than one occasion. What I was really asking was, are the people of Berlin, English or no English, generally polite and helpful? Thank you for your replys.

<<"It doesn't necessarily follow that just because one manages to learn a little of the language of a country that one won't be dealt with in a peremptory, haughty and condescending manner bordering on arrogance.">>

I am sorry you had this experience in France; however, in extensive travel in Germany, I have never found this to be the case. (Although you can always find someone having a bad day!) We have found that many Germans will go out of their way to help if they can understand what you need.

We actually avoided visiting Paris due to stories we had heard and were pleasantly surprised at how nice the people there were. Shock of shocks, they held the door open for people walking behind them (even if they were several paced behind) instead of letting it slam in the face of that person, and they also let people disembark from an elevator or train car before trying to enter it.

Both of these customs were not generally in evidence during our tenure in Berlin. In fact a lady of certain age was pleasantly astonished when I held a department store door for her. This is not to say that they are rude, it's just an observation of local habits.

Have a great trip.

Well - I think a large part of how you're treated is how you treat people. And that there are some people who are very friendly wherever you go - and some that are rude or cool wherever you go.

Not speaking German is not an issue - we found almost everyone a tourist deals with - and a good many other people - had very good basic english. (We got advice from a local postman about the rules for parking our car when the sign wasn't clear.)

But I think Germans in general - esp older ones - tend to be somewhat more formal than most Italians we met. (Sorry if this seems like a cliche - but it did seem like this.) And if you're the sort of person who confuses formality with being haughty and snobby that might be a problem.

As always when traveling, it is hard to generalize about a given population's friendliness, because such impressions are ever dependent on the individuals you encounter in your travels-whether such persons, individually, happen to be friendly, helpful, and kind souls (such qualities in humans never being country-specific-the kindest, most hospitable people I have encountered as a whole in my many travels around the globe happen to largely be from Arabic-speaking countries, who, for the most part, spoke little English).

In many instances, people can seem unfriendly or short because they are in a genuine hurry or having personal problems or a bad day that may negatively affect how they are dealing with everyone, not just you, the traveler. Which is why, even when I am in a hurry, even when I am having a really bad day, if I am stopped and asked by a foreigner for directions, or other information, I force myself to smile and help if I can, as I know if I do not, and just brush them off, I will form an instant negative impression of my country and city in this foreigner's mind, just as I have sometimes formed such impressions when I have encountered such behavior from persons in foreign cities that I visited for the first time). It's this whole "do unto others" thing, you know?

I do speak German, and Berlin IS fabulous-one can never run out of things to do there; the capital of culture, and the capital of "cool" it most definitely is. Berlin is a large (5 times the size of Paris, I believe) international city, and the default language is always English, so you should have no problems (which is not to say that everyone speaks perfect English, mind, only that of all the places you've mentioned, Italy, Paris, etc., you should have the least number of problems in making your wants known in Germany as a whole, and Berlin in particular, as an English-only speaker).

Travel and tourism in Berlin is like a dream, U-bahn, S-bahn, Pergamon, Tiergarten, Schloss Charlottenburg, shopping on the Ku-damm, pastries at Cafe Kranzler, looking out over the city from the rooftop terrace of the Reichstag, (excellent rooftop restaurant there as well), inexpensive seats for the Berlin Philharmonic, Radio Orchestra, etc., great Casino, a jumping Potsdamer Platz, and last but certainly not least, a must to visit while in Berlin, the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe. All of these things, easy to find, to get to, to use, to enjoy and to reflect upon.

I've never found Berliners to be anything but helpful and nice, however, like I said, I speak German when I'm there, and I look rather German as well, so that always helps! (smile) Regardless of whether you look or speak German, euro, I think you will have an unforgettably good time, and will come away wanting to go back and experience more, as you can never exhaust all your possibilities in that city, unlike other places you may visit in Europe.

Hi
We returned from Germany last week. Went to Berlin, Dresden and Potsdam. Had a wonderful time. We can speak a few words in German, though we can understand more than we can speak. Found the people friendly in Berlin, a bit more reserved in Dresden. It felt more former communist than Berlin. The clothing not as updated, a little poorer. A massive amount of building is going on in Dresden. Potsdam, though a short distance from Berlin also felt different. Enjoyed our stay in these cities. In Dresden and Potsdam it was good to know some German, especially in Dresden as we ran across some people who spoke either none or little English.

Take the Checkpoint Charlie memorial off the itinerary, it has been razed. Like it was never there. If you are American, I suggest you read some Geman media (Stern, Spiegel, etc.) before you go. Find out what they really think. You'll be shocked.

Berlin is fantastic and a great bargain compared to other european metropolitans. I've been there 5 times within the last 6 years.

The U & S bahn are great but if you buy the day pass or Berlin welcome card, you can see the contrasting sections of Berlin by riding the doubledecker city bus. In fact you should walk & experience certain east & west neighborhoods such as Prenzlauerberg (starting from Hackescher Markt). Just like in Paris/Rome you can OD on museums,but most landmarks/downtown areas are smartly rebuilt/renovated so it's much cleaner/efficient than in Paris/Rome. The total architecture is quite engaging whether old/historical, avant-garde/modern or a combination of both.

You'll find people on the street to be quite helpful towards tourists but,in general, Germans are not that chatty/gregarious toward strangers so don't expect them to go out of their ways to strike a conversation with you although there are many exceptions.

I find people in Germany care more about being proper than people in Italy, however,I don't notice any sense of superiority towards Americans as some Parisians may have showed you. If you talk to enough locals, you'll notice that Germans actually have a habit of complaining/thinking negatively about their country rather than being proud.

Naturally, you can't expect people in Berlin to act like Italians, on the other hand, they are more genuine & trustworthy. You won't be worrying about being ripped off or pickpocketed. They also won't act snooty if you don't order wine with your food. Have a great time in Berlin!