Berlin & Brandenburg Airports: again more passengers, more traffic

In 2016 both airports Berlin Tegel and Schönefeld saw more a rise in passenger numbers and goods shipped to and from those airports. The gross numbers for both airports are like this:

Passengers:
32.873.386 in 2016
compared to 29.507.852 in 2015 that’s a 11.4% rise.

Planes taking off and landing:
269.870 in 2016
compared to 247.570 in 2015 that’s a 9% rise.

Goods:
51.523 tons
in 2016
compared to 47.715 tons in 2015 that’s a 8% rise.

numbers & data CC BY Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg

Berlin TV Tower and friends

Berlin TV Tower, Sneakers, Street Lamp

Berlin TV Tower, Sneakers, Street Lamp - Photo: T.Bortels/nuberlin.com

The Berlin TV Tower on an almost sunny day – in the foreground a typical East Berlin street lamp and a pair of sneakers hanging from a wire that holds the power cables of the Tram line 12 near Zionskirchplatz.

Pickpockets on the rise on Berlin Public Transport

pickpockets in Berlin Public Transport: U-Bahn

Berlin Public Transport: U-Bahn - Photo: T.Bortels/nuBerlin.com

The problem isn’t really new – pickpockets have always been targeting commuters in Berlin, as in probably every other city. But an increase of 50% in 2015 compared to 2014 is an alarming figure. In 2015 over 12.000 cases were reported to the police – on Berlin Public Transport (BVG) alone.

That makes it almost every third of all cases of pocket-picking reported in Berlin. The year before *only* some 8.000 case of pocket-picking on Berlin Public Transport were reported. In 2012 the number was as low as 4.000 cases.

The rising numbers seem to be a sign of Berlin’s rising popularity. More and more people are either moving to Berlin or spending a holiday. And more and more people are using the Berlin public transport. Over 3 Million passengers are currently using the BVG on a daily basis.

Pickpockets seems to target mostly tourists – but of course also the regular Berliner can become a victim rather easily. Basically everybody knows at least someone who has been robbed while using Berlin’s public transport. So in case you are planning to use Berlin’s public transport in the near future: please be aware, that although Berlin seems to be such a nice and relaxed place to be, sometimes it’s not.

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Berlin Tourism: 30 new Hotels in the next four years

As you might know Berlin is a very popular destination for travelers from around the world. And basically since the Berlin Wall came down the numbers are only going up.

In 2015 more than 30 million nights were booked in one of the many Berlin Hotels – a new record – again. And of course everybody has to sleep somewhere – and since the numbers are expected to also go up in the future, new Hotels are being built.

According to the Berlin Hotel and Restaurant association (Dehoga) there will be some 30 new Hotels built and/or opened in Berlin in the next three to four years. In other words: every six weeks a new Hotel will open in Berlin. Or in other numbers: more than 7000 hotel rooms – or 15000 beds.

But there is also another interesting: number to this story: currently there are some 780 hotels in Berlin. One year ago there were over 800 hotels. Smaller hotels are closing down, larger hotels are opened. For example the hotel chain Motel One is planning to open their largest house with over 700 rooms right at Alexanderplatz – the high rise building Upper West near Breitscheidplatz will host some 600 rooms.

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Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church / Gedächtniskirche

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church / Gedächtniskirche - Photo: T.Bortels/nuBerlin.com

The famous Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church / Gedächtniskirche on Kurfürstendamm in the centre of the Breitscheidplatz in Berlin Charlottenburg. The church was damaged in a bombing raid during the Second Word War. After beeing renovated, it was made into a memorial hall – one of West Berlin’s most famous landmarks.

Lookong down Hardenbergstrasse – right next to Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church the rather new Waldorf Astoria (‘Zoofenster’) and the even newer ‘Upper West’ high rises can be seen in the picture.

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