Suddenly our journey with the Berlin Public Transport came to a halt. A big sign on the door of the elevator at Friederichstrasse Railway Station told us that it was broken down. It was the only elevator on the platform. I looked around to see if I could get off the platform by other means as for example a walking ramp, but there was none. There we were stuck on a very busy railway platform in Berlin, my friend was sitting in a wheelchair and the only way we could get off the platform was by the elevator.
“What now?”, I asked a man in German, who seemed to belong to the railway system.
“Take the next train to the Hackische Markt railway station and there you can get off the platform, the elevator over there is working” he answered.
“We have to change our plans” I said to my friend.
We were on our way from the Sunday Antique Market on the “Strasse des17 Juni’ to Dussman, the culture retail store in the Friederichstrasse. Comparing with a few years ago I found the market a bit devalued.

Dussmann is a fascinating store with lots of books and a huge amount of music. Our interests concerned the music department.
Each time when we visit Berlin we go to this store, because they have such a big and wide range of CD’s for sale. The section with world music is especially very interesting. It is a real paradise for us, with lots and lots of music from Eastern Europe.

We didn’t have to wait that long for the next train. We boarded the train and got off at the Hackesche Markt. Luckily everything was working there and we could enjoy a cup of coffee at the terrace. We explored the memorial and inspiring Hackesche Höfe which consists of a web of restored eight courtyards for living and working, which together forms the largest of its kind in Germany. After this visit we walked back the 3 km to our hotel in the Wallstrasse.

This was the end of our adventure travelling with a wheelchair on the public transport in Berlin. It was already a hazard way of travelling. Each time when boarding a train we had to master the gap between platform and train. It is easy to do with a buggy, but an adult weighs much more then a baby.

Our action radius became of course limited. During the next two days of our stay in Berlin, we were able to walk to the main highlights of Berlin Mitte and our favourite store. Our Australian made wheelchair proved to be a solid one mastering the cobble stones in Berlin; although one still had to manoeuvre carefully because of their uneven layout.