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Strausberg And Köpenick
Jul. 13th, 2023 11:33 pmThe job search has already started to become draining, which isn't helped by the hot weather, which is making the office hit 30C on some occasions. I also feel I have done all I can right now, so have decided I am going to take the particularly hot days off and take the opportunity to look around Berlin some more. This is what I did today, heading to Strausberg and then Köpenick in the east of the city.
It was odd not having Wolfie with me, but he has encouraged me to get out and about, telling me I should take advantange of having some time off while still being paid. This is a fair point, particularly at this glorious time of the year, so after waiting an eternity for my phone to charge, I left the house shortly after midday bound for Strausberg. You sometimes forget how big this city is as it took nearly two hours to get there, with a change at Ostbahnhof. The town is quite deep into Brandenburg but is on the S5 at its eastern extremity. Indeed, the railway goes to single track for the last four stops, giving it quite the rural feel.
The town of Strausberg itself is quite typical and quaint, with one main high street along which most of the shops sit. There was a nice little church, the Marienkirche at one end, which was adjacent to Markt and the old town hall. At the far end, there was the Kulturpark, which looked like some scrappy grassland. They were setting up a beer festival there, which sadly begins tomorrow. I won't be able to make it. I was surprised to discover that Strausberg has a Whisky Shop, while there was also a yellow #89 tram which looked a little like the Berlin ones but seemed to be independent. My research suggests it's actually a light railway that uses tram stock. It connects Strausberg's main railway station, which is inconveniently 3.5km outside the town, with the far more convenient Strausberg Stadt S-Bahn station which is only five minutes' walk from the centre. Every second S-Bahn train terminates at Strausburg, not traversing the single track up past Strausberg Stadt to the terminus of the S5 at Strausberg Nord, which is interesting.
Strausberg sits on Straussee and it was here I went first, after picking up an ice cream from one of the local restaurants. I came here because of this Tim Traveller video, which detailed the first (and now last) overhead wire electric ferry in Europe. This is one of the first things you see when approaching the town from the S-Bahn station as the overhead wires need two huge towers to support them. On the town side there is a clock and on the forest side there is a memorial to the man who constructed it. Watching the ferry go back and forth was quite something and an hour after exploring the town (which is really all it took - the highlight being a small garden that had totem poles carved into the Sparkasse logo, assumedly the sponsors), I boarded the boat to go to the forest. At €1.90 one way for the seven-minute journey it wasn't particularly cheap, but the sailing was smooth and the views from the lake quite stunning. It was also good seeing the canoeists and paddelers get out of our way. There were quite a few people on the boat, around 20 including two families, one of whom almost left their kids' shoes behind. The ferryman spotted them and returned them.
I toyed with just heading back over the lake to the town, but I fancied a walk, and so traversed the southern half of the lake following a specially marked path. It was easy to follow, labelled with a white and yellow licquorice allsort design. It was quite nice just getting lost in nature, frequently stumbling across naked old men with their todgers out who were sunning themselves by the lake. Either that or it was families picnicking or a group of teenage boys swinging themselves on a rope swing into the lake. It was all rather joyous and frivolous, lifting the mood, while signs along the route detailed the history of the town which saddles the lake. There were a few other walks to other nearby lakes too, but I decided to complete the half-circuit, getting back to Strausberg itself shortly after 4pm. As I walked, I thought about Wolfie a lot, and particularly his 'Snooty Boy' character in VR. I did miss him.
Köpenick was another hour and a quarter away, back down the S5 and changing at Mahlsdorf onto the #62 tram. Fortunately, once I arrived back at Strausberg station, there was an S-Bahn train in just one minute, with the level crossing lowering just emphasising the rural nature to the place. Once I got to Mahlsdorf, I realised I hadn't had any lunch, so grabbed a packet of crisps from the vending machine before realising there was a Backwerk in the modest station concourse. A Geflugelroll later and I was boarding the tram and heading through semi-rural idylls on the way to Köpenick.
I had seen Köpenick a few weeks earlier on Trax's raft trip but of course that was from the water. I wanted to check it out on land. Getting there was slow going, particularly after the Köpenick S-Bahn station as we were stuck in rush hour traffic, but soon we were following the twisting medieval roads of the town and I was deposited right outside the impressive Rathaus. This was built around 25 years before the one in Spandau (and again before Köpenick had been incorporated into Berlin proper) but it's much more impressive, in red-brick Brandenburg style. The old Rathaus had stood here since 1763 and there have been two major additions since, with restoration work currently ongoing too. It has a huge clock tower and a statue of Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt, who disguised himself as a captain and led a band of real soldiers in an invation into Köpenick on 16 October 1906 which resulted in the arrest of the mayor and the robbing of the city treasury. This inspired the Carl Zuckmayer play Der Hauptmann von Köpenick. The Rathaus also overlooks the river, which is another idyll, with shimmering water and boats on the opposite bank.
Behind the Rathaus is the Evangelische Stadtkirchengemeinde Köpenick, which is the second clock tower you can see from the river. This is quite a pleasant large church but I couldn't get too close as there was a scary skinhead walking his two dogs standing in the grounds. I liked the fact the trams here seemed to operate on a one-way system, having to pick their way through the winding streets of the Altstadt before being able to barrel down the wider more open boulevards of the newer parts of the city.
Walking past the Rathaus from the church, you meet a main road, over which there is situated the white and cream coloured Palace. You can see the back of this from the river, but the front is where the grandiosity is. There are some workshops to the left as you enter the main portal, with the Palace being situated on the right. In front of you, there is a pleasant garden that makes up the majority of Schlossinsel. Indeed, it is an island as you need to cross over a narrow stream before you enter the portal. Sadly, I arrived at 5:50pm and the Palace closed at 6pm, so I didn't have long to explore. People were still hanging about in the gardens though but I was fearful I couldn't escape, so I had to do a whistlestop tour in ten minutes. Thirty minutes later, I noticed, the gates to the portal were still open.
Back over the main road on the Rathaus side, there is a small cobbled square, on which sits a horse statue and a Buddie Bear. There is also Germany's smallest brewery. Sitting ouside in the sun was mighty tempting, but my stomach was full of Coca-Cola and I had to get back and eat with Wolfie. I had also hoped to do some writing tonight, but I am so tired after over 21,000 steps of walking that I have struggled to muster the energy. Therefore, I decided to get back on the tram, which again picked its way through the streets of the Altstadt. As it did, I noticed there is a whisky festival here over Wolfie's birthday, which we may attend. The journey back was largely uneventful, although once I got back to Spandau and had picked up some groceries, the driver of an M32 bus seemed to accelerate towards some kids who were jaywalking. He did beep his horn for an incredibly long time, but there was much anger from pedestrians waiting to cross at the lights. I just kept my head down and ignored it.
All in all then a very good day. The 24-hour ABC metro ticket only cost me €10.30 and the whole day itself was less than €20. I am thinking of taking a few more days off next week to go exploring. Going outside of the city gets expensive very quickly but there's an awful lot to see inside the metro area. It also makes a nice break from the job searching, while it seems a good opportunity to do some cheap touristy things.
It was odd not having Wolfie with me, but he has encouraged me to get out and about, telling me I should take advantange of having some time off while still being paid. This is a fair point, particularly at this glorious time of the year, so after waiting an eternity for my phone to charge, I left the house shortly after midday bound for Strausberg. You sometimes forget how big this city is as it took nearly two hours to get there, with a change at Ostbahnhof. The town is quite deep into Brandenburg but is on the S5 at its eastern extremity. Indeed, the railway goes to single track for the last four stops, giving it quite the rural feel.
The town of Strausberg itself is quite typical and quaint, with one main high street along which most of the shops sit. There was a nice little church, the Marienkirche at one end, which was adjacent to Markt and the old town hall. At the far end, there was the Kulturpark, which looked like some scrappy grassland. They were setting up a beer festival there, which sadly begins tomorrow. I won't be able to make it. I was surprised to discover that Strausberg has a Whisky Shop, while there was also a yellow #89 tram which looked a little like the Berlin ones but seemed to be independent. My research suggests it's actually a light railway that uses tram stock. It connects Strausberg's main railway station, which is inconveniently 3.5km outside the town, with the far more convenient Strausberg Stadt S-Bahn station which is only five minutes' walk from the centre. Every second S-Bahn train terminates at Strausburg, not traversing the single track up past Strausberg Stadt to the terminus of the S5 at Strausberg Nord, which is interesting.
Strausberg sits on Straussee and it was here I went first, after picking up an ice cream from one of the local restaurants. I came here because of this Tim Traveller video, which detailed the first (and now last) overhead wire electric ferry in Europe. This is one of the first things you see when approaching the town from the S-Bahn station as the overhead wires need two huge towers to support them. On the town side there is a clock and on the forest side there is a memorial to the man who constructed it. Watching the ferry go back and forth was quite something and an hour after exploring the town (which is really all it took - the highlight being a small garden that had totem poles carved into the Sparkasse logo, assumedly the sponsors), I boarded the boat to go to the forest. At €1.90 one way for the seven-minute journey it wasn't particularly cheap, but the sailing was smooth and the views from the lake quite stunning. It was also good seeing the canoeists and paddelers get out of our way. There were quite a few people on the boat, around 20 including two families, one of whom almost left their kids' shoes behind. The ferryman spotted them and returned them.
I toyed with just heading back over the lake to the town, but I fancied a walk, and so traversed the southern half of the lake following a specially marked path. It was easy to follow, labelled with a white and yellow licquorice allsort design. It was quite nice just getting lost in nature, frequently stumbling across naked old men with their todgers out who were sunning themselves by the lake. Either that or it was families picnicking or a group of teenage boys swinging themselves on a rope swing into the lake. It was all rather joyous and frivolous, lifting the mood, while signs along the route detailed the history of the town which saddles the lake. There were a few other walks to other nearby lakes too, but I decided to complete the half-circuit, getting back to Strausberg itself shortly after 4pm. As I walked, I thought about Wolfie a lot, and particularly his 'Snooty Boy' character in VR. I did miss him.
Köpenick was another hour and a quarter away, back down the S5 and changing at Mahlsdorf onto the #62 tram. Fortunately, once I arrived back at Strausberg station, there was an S-Bahn train in just one minute, with the level crossing lowering just emphasising the rural nature to the place. Once I got to Mahlsdorf, I realised I hadn't had any lunch, so grabbed a packet of crisps from the vending machine before realising there was a Backwerk in the modest station concourse. A Geflugelroll later and I was boarding the tram and heading through semi-rural idylls on the way to Köpenick.
I had seen Köpenick a few weeks earlier on Trax's raft trip but of course that was from the water. I wanted to check it out on land. Getting there was slow going, particularly after the Köpenick S-Bahn station as we were stuck in rush hour traffic, but soon we were following the twisting medieval roads of the town and I was deposited right outside the impressive Rathaus. This was built around 25 years before the one in Spandau (and again before Köpenick had been incorporated into Berlin proper) but it's much more impressive, in red-brick Brandenburg style. The old Rathaus had stood here since 1763 and there have been two major additions since, with restoration work currently ongoing too. It has a huge clock tower and a statue of Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt, who disguised himself as a captain and led a band of real soldiers in an invation into Köpenick on 16 October 1906 which resulted in the arrest of the mayor and the robbing of the city treasury. This inspired the Carl Zuckmayer play Der Hauptmann von Köpenick. The Rathaus also overlooks the river, which is another idyll, with shimmering water and boats on the opposite bank.
Behind the Rathaus is the Evangelische Stadtkirchengemeinde Köpenick, which is the second clock tower you can see from the river. This is quite a pleasant large church but I couldn't get too close as there was a scary skinhead walking his two dogs standing in the grounds. I liked the fact the trams here seemed to operate on a one-way system, having to pick their way through the winding streets of the Altstadt before being able to barrel down the wider more open boulevards of the newer parts of the city.
Walking past the Rathaus from the church, you meet a main road, over which there is situated the white and cream coloured Palace. You can see the back of this from the river, but the front is where the grandiosity is. There are some workshops to the left as you enter the main portal, with the Palace being situated on the right. In front of you, there is a pleasant garden that makes up the majority of Schlossinsel. Indeed, it is an island as you need to cross over a narrow stream before you enter the portal. Sadly, I arrived at 5:50pm and the Palace closed at 6pm, so I didn't have long to explore. People were still hanging about in the gardens though but I was fearful I couldn't escape, so I had to do a whistlestop tour in ten minutes. Thirty minutes later, I noticed, the gates to the portal were still open.
Back over the main road on the Rathaus side, there is a small cobbled square, on which sits a horse statue and a Buddie Bear. There is also Germany's smallest brewery. Sitting ouside in the sun was mighty tempting, but my stomach was full of Coca-Cola and I had to get back and eat with Wolfie. I had also hoped to do some writing tonight, but I am so tired after over 21,000 steps of walking that I have struggled to muster the energy. Therefore, I decided to get back on the tram, which again picked its way through the streets of the Altstadt. As it did, I noticed there is a whisky festival here over Wolfie's birthday, which we may attend. The journey back was largely uneventful, although once I got back to Spandau and had picked up some groceries, the driver of an M32 bus seemed to accelerate towards some kids who were jaywalking. He did beep his horn for an incredibly long time, but there was much anger from pedestrians waiting to cross at the lights. I just kept my head down and ignored it.
All in all then a very good day. The 24-hour ABC metro ticket only cost me €10.30 and the whole day itself was less than €20. I am thinking of taking a few more days off next week to go exploring. Going outside of the city gets expensive very quickly but there's an awful lot to see inside the metro area. It also makes a nice break from the job searching, while it seems a good opportunity to do some cheap touristy things.
