Tag Archives: Railway

Lost in the German public transport system

ÖPNV (VBB) public transport in Berlin, Photo: www.berlin.de

ÖPNV (VBB) public transport in Berlin, Photo: www.berlin.de

„Entschuldigung, wo ist die S-Bahn Station?“
„It’s in the other side of the station; here it is the U-Bahn!”
„Oh! It’s not the same, good to know. Thanks”.

Just another example of my experiences in trying to find the right train and going to my destination. My average so far is two to three mistakes in each new journey by train or by any means of public transport in Germany for that matter.

I come from a small village with just around 6,000 residents. It’s located 20 kilometres from Nazareth, and yes it is “the” Nazareth from the Bible, although I’m not really sure exactly how far my village is from Nazareth, although I think about 20-30 minutes by car which seems around 20 kilometers to me.

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The German Hauptbahnhof

Dortmund Hauptbahnhof, a typical German main station

Dortmund Hauptbahnhof, a typical German main station (Flickr: das_kine)

One of the first words that British schoolchildren who take German learn is Bahnhof, and very soon after, they are told about the prefix Haupt-: and, badda-bing, badda-bahnhof, you’ve got one of the most important words in the German language, a kind of key to the German soul.

What? A word which, translated, means “main station” – and this is supposed to open the treasure chest of the German psyche? Yes, you got it! Just give me a few minutes, and I’ll show you how.

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