People in berlin - quite cold?

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The Tank

Just after the Wall came down I went to the former East Berlin to see the famous Brachiosaurus skeleton in the Natural History Museum. It was on a Monday in December and absolutely pissing down with freezing rain.
The museum was closed. I didn't know that they closed on Mondays.

One of the managers saw me trying to peer through a window (having gone that far I wanted to see if I could get a glimpse). He asked what I was doing (in German). I explained and he let me in so I had my own private viewing of this huge dinosaur.
I recommend that you visit this museum, it's very good indeed.

Since then we've been good friends and I have made other friends in Berlin. I have found them to be very warm and generous people. When they discover that I am English and not American they really open up - especially the older ones.
It is infinately more friendly than London. Londoners are not, as a breed, welcoming to outsiders. Whenever I visit I get the feeling that they would only be happy if I just threw them my money and got the next train out. Berliners will talk to you and be genuinely interested (perhaps it's amusement) in you.

Try speaking German and Berliners will reply in English (or some variant thereof) because they like to practice.

Even that most surly of German officials, the bus drivers, have shown their human side when I have admitted to not understanding their bus routes.

Berliners even have a brilliant sense of humour. If you have ever tried a Berlinercurryworst then you will see that you have to have a sense of humour.

They are also different from other Germans in subtle ways such as their dialect. That's a bit confusing for someone who is not good at languages.

Apart from the distressingly prevavlent graffiti, Berlin is a very clean and safe city. There are parts where tourists shouldn't go, but there's not much worth seeing in those places anyway.

Go again. Visit a micro-bewery pub and get into conversation with a local about the beer. You'll have a friend for life - and the circle will expand. Go in December and enjoy some fantastic Christmas Markets.

boozanna

hey.

first of all: berlin wasn't all east germany, judy teen! only half of it and i myself who has got friends from the eastern part of berlin found the opposite to be true - east berlin people still seemed so much more friendly, affecionate and relaxed as capitalism wasn't part of their lifes for a long time. whereas the west-berliners in direct comparison were quite full off themselves and somehow arrogant...that was my experience some ys. ago helping out at a fashion-show with east- and west german models and crew.

you've probably got to know that 'berliners' have a very own way and dialect that seems rude and unfriendly. you gotta get used to it ;);) even hard for a german from a different part of the country.

berlin itself, yes, is just another big city in the worl (i like it though - so full of history) and very multicultural meanwhile. so generalisation about 'berliners' is a bit tricky...

and yes, you gotta keep in mind its history. ever seen the movie 'the lifes of others'? absolutely fantastic and REALISTIC. maybe you understand a bit more about their ways then... :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lives_of_Others

sorry to hear you felt so cut off - we germans can be open and friendly haha AND we've got a sense of humour!!! ;);) lol.

maybe next time??

Charlie

the history of Berlin goes back 1700 years.Which part of that history makes Berliners seem cold ,do you think?

Edgar Allan Poe

Big cities are like that. Same in New York, has nothing to do with the history. That's old stuff....

Alwin E

Skip the history part. That's what I would recommend.

I'm German myself and lived in Berlin for seven years. Germans (ALL of them!) are rather cold and reserved people it's not easy to make friends with, but once you made friends with one or two, then your whole life is like sunshine, because they'll never let you down.

But you must understand that especially Berliners are very much reserved towards tourists and keep up to themselves. They have millions of tourists every year; how could they decide? If you choose to stay for a week or three at a place in Germany, your experience would be totally different.

its the same in london. people dont talk to each other. come north and its much more friendly and caring, lancashire-yorkshire

Jareth

I've met many people from Berlin from my church life (most of my church members are missionaries for European countries, and many are from those countries) and all of them have been pleasant people. My best friends mother is from Berlin, and lived there until her mid twenties. Her father was a nazi and she is the nicest lady I have ever met (and very open minded too).

All of my friends relatives are also very nice some are from Denmark and some are from Germany. I think maybe you were feeling isolated being around people from a different culture.

Berlin is a big city. If you haven't noticed people who live in big cities are usually a little to themselves and indifferent due to all the people around them.

rio-blanco

You can say a lot worse about the Berliners (West). They are naughty --- their humor is naughty --- but they are not cold and unfriendly.

Nikki~

They don't eat enough mashed potatos n corn.

Judy Teen

This is true of many eastern european countries, including former eastern germany.

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