Yesterday (Monday) I made the trip for a tour of the Teufelsberg. More about my actual experience in another post,
...But for those thinking of going?
OMG THIS SOO FITS IN WITH THIS YEARS THEME (AND LAST YEARS PAWPET SHOW) YOU GOTTA GO SEE THIS PLACE!!!!
*ahem* Well, that's my opinion, obviously but still, if you are up to the trip and are willing to spend the money for one of the Art walks or the Historic tour, and are Impressed with Grafitti_style art (I wasnt...until yesterday), here is how to do it.
First - buy the Berlin Welcome Card from the hotel concierge. It comes with a guide book and map of the town, sights, and discouns, plus the actual ticket-like card. Then grab a 1,0 litre bottle of water (you will need it) and head to the train station on the other side of the canal.
On the platform, stick your pass (the end which looks like an actual train ticket) into the validator box this is a small box on a post near the ticket vending machine. Get on the next S42 train that comes by (the S42 goes anticlickwise around the city, the S41 goes the other way to bring you back).
Exit the train at the SECOND STOP. This should be Ostkreuz station. Go down to the lower platform via the escalator, and get on the S7 train bound for POTSDAM. that is the train headed west, through the town center. The OTHER S7 goes to AHRENSFELDE, to the East - and that is the train you take on the way back.
Ride through town. Get off at GRUNEWALD (german for "greenwood") and either take a taxi, or start walking to the west.
Once you cross the first street, you are on the road / path which will most directly take you up throught the woods and up the hill to the base. This is the " Neuer Schildhornweg". Follow it through the woods, then through a small, private resdential cottage community, then keep going until the pavement ends...then turn right. At this point you are on a short connector road - "Verbindungschaussee" - which, in about 400m or so, crosses an asphalt road. This is the " Teufelsseechaussee", the road to the top of the mountain. Turn left. Walk until you come to a lane entering from the right; this is the actual continuation of the road to the base (if you go straight and come ta a parkinglot on your right, you've gone too far). NOTE: THIS IS A STEEP CLIMB, but not terribly long; If you are overweight and almost 60, like me, It will be like a treadmill stress test. TAKE IT EASY, and you will survive it, like I did. Younger folks in reasonable fitness will perhaps feel a bit winded but otherwise this presents no real obstacle.
At last - and rather suddenly - you are at a locked gate, almost overgrown and hidden by ivy and oaks and other wild greenery. At the appointed times, someone will come down open the gate, take your money (there is a discount with the Berlin Welcome Card), and a tour guide will take you from there.
the Art and the Historic walks cover essentially the same ground. The history walk spends more time to cover the history of the mountain, but frankly, if the advertised "former American soldier who worked there" isn't available ta answer questions (and he wasn't there for our group) you might be better off with the cheaper (and less time-consuming ) Art Walk.
To return - just retrace your steps. Take the S7 bound for Ahrensfelde, and change train at Ostkreuz, going up the escalator to catche the S41. Second stop is Sonnenallee.
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Before you get back on the train at Grunewald bhf - might I recommend stopping for a bier or softdrink at the Bayreuth-style cafe just before you go under the station. They also serve various ice cream sundaes, an excellent refresher after that long walk through the woods (I Warned you that you would need that liter of water!).
