Berlin: From the centre to the green outskirts - a cruise through the capital

The first part of the report can be found here!

Good morning Berlin! Peter Fox is with us with his raw ode to the metropolis. This is no coincidence, but rather Spotify from the USB speaker on the aft deck. Because we've also made it through the night and the "sun is just rising". Okay, that was an hour or two ago, but it's still early for us. The smell of coffee is coming from the companionway and the light is sparkling on the Spree ahead: To the sun, brothers!

Is this also available in streaming? We're not going to check. This socialist hit is also pretty fitting right now: on our week-long charter cruise through the capital, the West is behind us and the East is ahead.

Past the Palace of Tears to the East

Shortly after nine, we cast off at the public 24-hour jetty on Schiffbauerdamm and set course up the Spree again after an exciting few days in Mitte. Past the Palace of Tears, the former border crossing hall at Friedrichstraße station, to Museum Island with the half-scaffolded dome of the cathedral, to the Humboldt Forum on the right and the Nikolai quarter on the left, where the parasols of the restaurants were still folded up.

We only had to wait for a short time at the tail unit in front of the Mühlendamm lock before we went up one and a half metres in the long chamber. Two Poles had been chatting there, one a construction worker, the other the captain of a still empty excursion steamer in the second chamber next door, coffee mug in hand, with his ship on its way to the start of the shift. On the other side, three charter boats were already waiting, the leading group in the race for the coveted berths on Schiffbauerdamm. Nevertheless, patience was required: the White Fleet had right of way for the time being.

The exit from the Mühlendamm lock marked the end of the restrictive navigation regulations for the inner-city Spree, which only allow vehicles without a radio ready for use to pass through at early or late hours.

Straight as a die Spree

With freedom regained, we now return to the beginning of this story - and to the start of the almost dead straight five kilometre section of the Spree that will now take us from Mitte to the green edge of the metropolis. And best of all: we have the still somewhat sleepy Spree almost to ourselves, while all around us the city has long since awoken.

There is movement on both sides: an ICE train pushes past Jannowitzbrücke S-Bahn station, a muscle man rehearses martial arts moves with his upper body exposed, the first deckchairs are set up and a star turns in the morning sky on the roof of Mercedes-Benz on Mühlenstraße. Graffiti and undergrowth make way for neat lawns with gleaming glass façades above.

This is followed by the park on the Spree, a section of the former death strip, and the East Side Gallery with its long section of the Wall. Until the peaceful revolution in autumn '89, the river formed the border between East and West, a wet wound right through the heart of Berlin. There is no longer any trace of it. On the contrary, Friedrichshain on the port side and Kreuzberg on the starboard side have long since formed a single district.

Also interesting:

• Berlin: Off through Mitte - through the centre of the capital
• Kiel Canal: Between the seas by charter boat
• The Eider: From inland to the North Sea

It's getting green behind the Oberbaumbrücke

They are connected by a historical structure, the Oberbaumbrücke with its twin pair of round towers reminiscent of the Middle Ages, and by a modern work of art: the Molecule Man. Standing in the water, his three thirty-metre-high aluminium figures represent the districts of Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg and Treptow that meet here.

To the right, of course: Treptower Park and Plänterwald forest meet, with the Zenner beer garden and the Insel der Jugend, behind which a flotilla of colourful pedal boats has just emerged, nestled in a prime location. To the left, on the other hand, is Rummelsburger Bucht, with rows of posh flats inside and a multitude of rafts of flats in front. They look like islands, the flotsam and jetsam of life, dammed up here by the river.

We reach the Müggelsee

At around eleven o'clock, we pass the branch of the Britzer Verbindungskanal to the west with our Linssen and shortly afterwards the Kaisersteg, a pedestrian bridge in Niederschönweide. Industry is back on the shore, yellow clinker brick factories, the University of Applied Sciences, but also many jetties and smaller boats now, plus the odd sign with the Yellow Wave, where guests are also welcome. For us, however, we continue a little further, to port, on the Müggelspree, preceded by a coal-smoking historic tugboat with a cheerful company outing on board.

At midday we reach Müggelsee, a vast expanse surrounded by forest. There is almost no wind, the water is oily and smooth in the thundery air. We have reached the easternmost point of our journey through Berlin. The 24-hour mooring at the DLRG tower is picturesque with a view of the lake, but unfortunately a little tight for our steel displacer. So we turn around and head back down the Müggelspree to the Berlin Water Sports Centre, where we are almost as comfortable at the head end of the guest jetty.

Sprayed in the Spree tunnel

Before it rains, let's go ashore! This takes us back to the lake, where a group of foilboarders are doing their weightless circles in front of the harbour bar in Müggelpark. Then through the hundred-year-old Spree tunnel from Friedrichshagen over to the southern Köpenick bank. Even down here, football fans from "Eisern Union" have declared their eternal love for FCU, which plays its Bundesliga home games not far away in the new stadium at the Alte Försterei.

On the Müggelschlösschenweg, racing cyclists meet us in the pine forest. Then the trees are replaced by sky-high slabs on Pablo-Neruda-Straße, and we cross the Salvador Allende Bridge back to the water sports centre. Just as the first drops begin to fall.

So we set off again later under an umbrella - but it's worth it: in the "Bräustübl" we are served typical delicacies just like in the days of the emperor: Königsberger Klopse and schnitzel au four. And the liquid Berlin air afterwards even makes us forget that it's autumn.

The old town of Köpenick

We have planned a stopover in the old town of Köpenick on the way back west: the next lunchtime on the Schlossinsel, on the jetty at Mutter Lustig. This is not one of the free 24-hour moorings, but when we try to register with the nice lady in the café, she just waves us off: "Two hours are free. First of all, we enjoy a coffee under the palm trees on the terrace by the water as the sun peeps through the green fans again.

We take a walk through the park and arrive at Schlossplatz, where there is a market. Perfect timing! Because what's missing for our happiness is a real currywurst! Neat in a bed of cardboard. Accompanied by a fresh beer, also from here. From the smallest brewery in Germany, right on the square. What will it be? A Babylonian or a winter bock? Well, it's not quite that cold yet.

Back across the Teltow Canal

From here, we finally enter the Teltow Canal, which branches off to the west just one and a half kilometres upstream from the Spree-Oder waterway. Let's make a long story short: its 38.5 kilometres are not the most exciting part of our trip through Berlin. Overgrown banks, rusty brown sheet piling. One bridge after another. Sometimes the S-Bahn overhead, sometimes a traffic jam. Otherwise, the city ignores its longest artificial waterway.

We spend the last night of our extraordinary cruise through the centre of Berlin in Tempelhof harbour, which is a must-see - like so much else in this incredible metropolis.

The first part of the report can be found here!

Precinct information: Berlin

Our boat

We were travelling on a Linssen Grand Sturdy 35 AC Intero from EastWest Charter (see below): length: 10.70 m, width: 3.40 m, beds: 4 (in 2 double cabins with shower and WC). The steel displacement vessel is very extensively equipped, including bow and stern thruster, chart plotter and WLAN with unlimited data volume. The hire price is from 298 euros per day for a minimum stay of seven nights. An inland boating licence is required for the boat and area.

Charter

The boat is part of the EastWest Charter fleet. The company has a total of four bases in north-east Germany: Zehdenick, Potsdam, Kröslin and Rechlin. It offers several Linssen models in various sizes and with different numbers of berths. EastWest Charter is a member of the Linssen Boating Holidays association. Contact: EastWest Charter, Waldstraße 10, 16792 Zehdenick, Tel. 03307/421 80 45, go-eastwest.com

Nautical literature

• Planning map "Wasserstraßen Berlin": Potsdam to Scharmützelsee. Edition Maritim. Colour folding map (scale 1:65,000), ISBN: 978-3-667-12161-5, €24.90. delius-klasing.de
• Cruising guide "From Berlin to Müritz. With Mecklenburger Kleinseenplatte". Edition Maritim. 96 p., hardback, ISBN: 978-3-667-12182-0, 34,90 €. delius-klasing.de
• Inland Charts Atlas 3: "Berlin and Brandenburg". Kartenwerft. 30 inland maps at a scale of 1:40,000, 19 detailed maps at a scale of 1:25,000 to 1:20,000, A3 format, ISBN: 978-3- 944082-00-4, €49.90. kartenwerft.de

Public moorings

The greater Berlin area has an excellent commercial nautical infrastructure that fulfils all requirements. There are also 16 public moorings for pleasure craft. Their use is mostly free of charge, but there is no service and use is limited to 24 hours.

There are big differences in terms of location and connections. In the Berlin-Mitte area described above, they are the only option for an overnight stay. However, you can easily reach the city centre from other parts of the city by public transport.

We used the following two moorings: Bundesratsufer (Spree-Oder waterway, km 11.9 RU, below the Lessing Bridge) and Schiffbauerdamm (SOW-km 15.3 RU, above the Marschall Bridge).

Inner-city Spree

From 1 April to 31 October, daily between 10:30 am and 7 pm, navigation on the Spree-Oder waterway between km 12.01 (Lessing Bridge) and km 17.8 (Mühlendamm Lock) is only permitted for vessels equipped with a registered, approved and operational VHF radiotelephone. This also applies to pleasure craft. All other boats must pass outside this restricted period. Mooring at the Schiffbauerdamm jetty is permitted.