June 2002 - Nr. 6
Berlin by Water
TWIG - Berlin may be brimming with great hotels, from the opulent Ritz Carlton to the old-world pensions off the Kurfürstendamm. But to experience the city from a different angle, try staying on a freighter on the River Spree. The German capital may not seem like a nautical town, but almost 20 square miles of it are covered with water. It boasts more bridges than Venice - 1,700, to be exact - spanning the Spree, the Havel and their many canals. Six shipping companies include Berlin in their cruise programs. Most of these anchor outside the city center, but smaller vessels can thread their way toward the heart of the capital by canal. Many of these offer guest accommodations, as well as the chance to explore the city and its environs from a sun deck, drink in hand.
"The smaller ships are becoming more and more popular, because with them you can easily take the Spreebogen to the center," says Hans Breitenmoser, managing director of the cruise company Reederei Kreuzfahrten VertriebService (KVS). KVS runs regularly scheduled cruises from Berlin to Hamburg or Stettin on the Oder. Three of its ships, with 10 to 15 cabins each, can also be chartered by groups for individualized tours. Passengers can watch the city drift by while relaxing in a lounge with a fully stocked bar or enjoying an on-board meal prepared by the crew.
For an even more unusual maritime adventure, visitors can tour Berlin by water plane. The blue-and-yellow, single-motor Duck 01 flown by Air Service Berlin takes off gently from the Treptow Harbor in the Spree to offer passengers a bird’s-eye view of the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag and other Berlin monuments. A 30-minute tour - complete with lifejackets - costs 123 euros (US$112). Tours should be booked well in advance, as the plane only takes four guests at a time.
Anyone with a penchant for ships and boating should pay a visit to the historic Museum Harbor on the Fischerinsel, near the Muehlendamm locks in the oldest section of Berlin. Thirty old steam ships are anchored there, some of them still in service. The Shipping Society of Berlin-Brandenburg is also pushing to restore the historic harbor in the city center, the Humboldthafen, between the government district and the Lehrter train station.
Berlin offers at least two floating restaurants: the Capt’n Schillow and the Theaterschiff Mephisto. They will likely be heavily booked next year, when the city will celebrate its waterways at the recreational fair "Berlin Watertown."
