Berlin, Capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, is located at the heart of Europe and also, after EU enlargement in 2004, at the centre of the European Community. With about 3,400,000 inhabitants, Berlin is the largest City in Germany. It is 38 kilometres long and 45 kilometres wide and covers an area of 889 square kilometres. In the middle of the Brandenburg region, the city occupies the flatlands on the banks of the Havel and Spree rivers and is criss-crossed with numerous canals.

Additional information about Berlin.

Public Transport: Berlin has an extensive network system of underground lines (U-Bahn), urban railway lines (S-Bahn), buses and tramways (Tram), allowing you to reach every location and sight in town in a safe and convenient way.

Climate:
Berlin lies between oceanic and continental stamped climate. During the summer-months daily-temperatures reach 22-23 °C (72°F), but there are also days with temperatures up to 30°C (86°F).
In winter highest temperatures are between 2-3°C (35°F). Longer periods with snow and ice are not unusual.

Currencies:
Since January 1st 2002 in Germany and some other European countries the EURO has become the offical currency.

Doctors:
Citizens of the EU do not have to buy special insurance to cover emergency treatment. Addresses from doctors of all specifians can be found in the "Yellow Pages". In case of sudden illness at night or on Sundays, there is an emergency service.
Medical emergency service: +49(30)31 00 31
Dental emergency service: +49(30)89 00 43 33
A special service: Doctors at your service in Berlin
Call a doc: 01804-22 55 23 62 (0,24 Euro for calls from landlines in Germany)

Electricity: Electric sockets in Germany carry 220 V and conform to the standard continental type. Travel adaptors may be useful for electric appliances with other standards.

Emergency number:

• Police: 110
• Fire Brigade and Ambulance: 112
• German Red Cross: +49(30)85 00 55
• Ambulance:+49(30)31 00 31
• Emergency Poison Help-Line: +49(30)192 40

Confidential Help-Line: 0800 111 02 22

Opening hours:
Big shopping-centres and shops in shopping malls are open till 8 p.m. on weekdays and on Saturdays. The other shops close at 6.30 p.m., generally, there are no lunch-breaks.

Pharmacie:
In Berlin pharmacies can be found all over the town. For overnight service there are always one or two pharamacies in every district.

Telephone:
Public phone booths stand on every street corner. There are different types of public phone booths. The older ones are coin-operated with 20 Cent as minimum to make a call. The most public booths require a telephone card, which are sold at post-offices, press-shops as well as in the Tourist Info Centers.

Time:
Berlin is in the Central-European time-zone, which means one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. Additionally, Berlin has a summer time, meaning that during spring and summer (from March to October) the clocks are put forward one hour.

Arrival by Plane:
You can fly to Berlin from 167 airports in 53 countries. Aircrafts operated by over 67 different airlines land in Berlin. If charter flights are included, that figure rises to 99. The largest of Berlin's three airports are Tegel and Schoenefeld. Tegel continues to function as the gateway to western Europe. Most of the flights to eastern Europe and Asia are handled by Schönefeld.
 
Arrival by Train:
You can reach Berlin from all directions by using the fast InterCityExpress-, InterCity-, EuroCity- and InterRegio Trains. Besides the two centrally located train stations Zoologischer Garten and Ostbahnhof Berlin has four more stations in Lichtenberg, Spandau, Wannsee and Schoenefeld. All train-stations are well connected to the public transport.
 
Arrival by Car:
All motorways to Berlin lead to the Berliner Ring (A10). From there you can get to the inner city on various access roads.
If your destination is situated in the western city, you should use the A115. The A113 takes you to to the south-east quarters. For access to the north of the city, make use of the A114 for Pankow/Weissensee, for Reinickendorf the A111.
Berlin has two city centres: city west and city east. Please notice, that the direction sign "Mitte" leads to the district "Mitte", that means city east. The western city is situdated around the Kurfürstendamm, driving time from "Mitte" appr. 15 minutes.
 
Arrival by Bus:
There are many possibilities to get to Berlin by coach. The city's largest long-distance coach station is situated in Charlottenburg near the Exhibition Centre (ICC), here you will find connexions to over 350 destinations in Germany and Europe.

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