Trees and Elevators Near Berlin

I visited Berlin, but spent almost no time in Berlin. More specifically, I visited my friends Mike and Sandra who live in a suburb of Berlin, but the only time I actually was in the city of Berlin was on trains. 

I’d visited them for a few days back in 2007. Michael — who I met as Mike but over the years called him by a nickname related to his last name, his last name, and now prefers his full name in writing (it’s like he’s a geocacher with so many aliases, and various mutual friends always refer to him by the name they knew him as) — showed me many of the obvious tourist destinations. When I looked at what to see and do in Berlin a week or two ago I realized that everything on the “list” was either something I’d already done (the tv tower, a boat ride on the river, the Brandenburg gate, etc.) or something I wasn’t interested in (museums, castles, etc.). So we did other things, things that most first-time tourists to Berlin would not include on their agenda. 

On Friday, Michael picked me up at the local train station, I got to meet the wonderful two teenage kids (Linus and Selene). More practically, I got to do laundry in a washing machine and dryer — a real treat as all laundry earlier on the trip had been hand laundry. Then Mike and Sandra prepared a feast - grilled chicken, steak, lamb, and shrimp accompanied by potatoes, beans, salad, and more. 

Saturday morning Sandra outdid herself with by preparing a fantastic breakfast. German pastries, breads, meats and cheeses, berries, watermelon, juice, bacon, eggs, and I’m sure I’m forgetting something. 

That afternoon we adults (the kids declined) went to Baumkronenpfad Beelitzer Heilstätten. It’s a former tuberculoses sanitarium, but that’s not the interesting part. It’s got a walkway above the trees so it’s an interesting place to walk with a different view of a forest than what one usually gets. The first picture shows the walkway — we chose to ride the elevator up the 5 flights then meandered around the various trails as we descended the stairs. 

I was amused to find out that a “Douglasie” tree was translated to “Oregon pine.” Yes, the botanical name, Pseudotsuga menziesi, is a Douglas fir. The last picture is of a piece of life-sized art that I enjoyed. 

We drove there mostly via Autobahn — the German term for what I call a freeway — but took a scenic route back via a bunch of interesting small towns. We ended up taking a short walk into a forest to find a cache, which turned out to be a very nice one hidden in a style I’d never seen before (no details as it’s possible I would try to replicate it at home). 

Sunday we started with another delicious breakfast, then the adults went to see the Schiffshebewerke Niederfinow — the ship lifts (elevators). It fulfills the same function as a lock, namely helping a ship move between elevations, but in this case it’s literally an elevator. The ships actually travel above(!) a road. As Michael put it, it works because of Archimedes — the boats displace the exact amount of water (by weight) as the weight of the boats in the water. This means the counterweights are always balancing the exact same weight 

There actually two elevators — the new one that recently opened and the old one that’s about to be retired. 

The model shows new elevator (left) and the canal that goes over(!) the land. 

Here’s the “old” elevator. You can see the water at the bottom left and at the top right. 

We raced to participate in a tour of the “new” Schiffshebewerke” which I found particularly boring (it was 100% in German so while I recognized an occasional word or phrase, I didn’t have context to interpret it, though Michael and Sandra translated the parts they thought I would find interesting), then took a boat trip in the “old” one so we could experience how it works. Why the old one? Because apparently there’s a temporary issue with the new one and they’re waiting for replacement parts. 

Side view of the new elevator, view from the top of the new elevator. The boat we took is on the far left, just under the pink-ish building; that picture was taken from the top of the new elevator.

Our boat started out on the lower level. We entered the lift, the gate behind closed, then the elevator rose. Yes, there was an audience — actually there were people watching from just about every vantage point, but these people are near the “low” end of the water, though close to the top of the elevator. While in the elevator, we could see the gears moving and the counterweights lowering as we rose. The process took maybe twenty minutes. 

Then we exited, turned around, and repeated the process for the descent. A fascinating way to geek out.

Above is my favorite picture of Michael and Sandra from the weekend. What a fantastic weekend! Michael and (especially) Sandra spoiled me to no end. It was wonderful to be with friends I’ve known forever — Michael since my college days and Sandra for over 20 years (not exactly sure when we first met). And fun to meet and interact with their kids. 

Monday morning Michael and Sandra drove me back to the train station, after providing me a lunch that could feed a hungry family of four. The train is my interlude as I make the quick “social” shift to my international  geocaching family.