Bicycle The Berlin Wall!

Berlin reminds me of Melbourne: the city has a cool vibe,  the people are relaxed and cool, and those that get about by bicycle hang out in uber cool back-alley bars.

Like Melbournians, Beliners also love their locally-styled, locally-made and locally-sold from a boutique in the local ally fashion.

I stumbled across one such place as it opened its doors of an evening – they are so cool they only open between five and ten at night.

A Loja is a fashion house run by four young designers that specialise in creating one-off pieces that are a true expression of Berlin’s unique look.

The Berlin look, which made a rapid debut about 6 years ago, with it’s bright colours yet trashy styling is anything but the stereotypical German in socks and sandals, and has become the trade mark of Berlin’s trendy set, who also all ride bicycles.

However, to a Berliner the bicycle is almost just the fashion accessory says Esther, A Loja designer and owner.  She has 3 folding bicycles each a difference colour, or with a different style of handle-bar to go with her “trashy” Berlin fashion.

Also like Melbourne, Berlin is a city where the majority of short inner-city trips are made by car (32%), but that’s a whole lot less than Melbourne’s 77%, which makes Berlin a whole lot more uber in the bicycle department.

What gives Berlin its capital U in bicycles isn’t the unique fashion, it’s an uber cool bicycle plan and some uber cool ideas to get people cycling.

Burkhard Horn from the Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment, says Berlin hasn’t yet done enough to get people on bicycles and his department has just put out their 3rd progressive transport plan, the first was in 2003.

Horn says the Berlin government are convinced that cycling is one of the best ways to get around in Berlin, not just for leisure, but for every-day purposes.

“The infrastructure is cheap, riding is healthy for people as well as the environment, and bicycles require less space than cars”, says Horn.

 

Interestingly, the overall aim of Berlin’s transport plan is not so much focused on bicycles, but on reducing car use. The government is simply looking to the bicycle because Berlin already has a high level of public transport use.

Horn says they’d like to see bicycle use reach 18 – 20% in the next 10 years. He considers this high for a large a city like Berlin where they have long distances between were people come from to where they work.

Horn says you can’t compare big cites like Berlin to very compact cities like Copenhagen.

Thus, Berlin is not looking to cities like Copenhagen to for its bicycle strategy, which has for the most part used the expansion of bicycle paths to encourage more cyclists.

The first thing Berlin is looking at is urban development, says Horn.

“Berlin has the advantage that it’s polly-centric, with 12 main centers of work with in Greater Berlin. This style of development reduces the distances between where people live and work”.

“The first thing we must do is continue this kind of urban development, because if the distances are getting longer, between people’s home and work place, that’s more in favour of car use”, Horn says.

Bicycle infrastructure comes a close second in the plan, and third is communication.

“It’s important to tell people where they can bike, but also if people are moving to Berlin or finding work in Berlin, to tell them how they can go by bike”, says Horn.

Showing people how to get about by bicycle in Berlin, or better, showing them Berlin by bike has become another unique Berlin fashion statement.

Berlin’s divided history meant that it wasn’t a tourist destination until after the fall of the Wall in 1989.

Now Berlin’s unique history means tourist want to discover the city and as Berlin’s tourist industry grows, Berlin’s Tourism Department is promoting the bicycle as the easy and green way to see Berlin.

One of the first bicycle trails, established in 2001, follows the remains of the Berlin Wall for 163 km and traverses inner city, suburbs and countryside, and can be joined or left at 7 train stations along the route.

Bicycle tours of Berlin have become so popular that you can take anything from a classic Dutch bicycle through to a hip fixed gear, and see not just Berlin’s classic tourist spots, but Berlin’s Turkish cultural delights, Berlin’s Vietnamese quarter, Berlin’s hidden hangouts or the uber cool urban art tour.

Berlin’s unique bicycle ideas and cool bicycle concepts don’t end there.

On the final day of my week in Berlin I was treated to a visit to Berlin’s bicycle royalty.

Ulrike Saade has, for 30 years, made it her business to promote everything that’s cool, as well as all that is quirky, about bicycles and not just to Berliners, but the world.

Velo:konzept runs expos, campaigns and road shows on all things bicycles because as Saade says, “people just don’t know about all the great accessories and products for bicycles, but when they do, they like it!”

Saade has been a bicycle mechanic, head of the German bicycle shops association and now director of Velo:konzept. She got urban bicycles, instead of sports bicycles, to be manufactured in Germany, imported E bikes into Germany, has run government advertising campaigns, and now she’s encouraging the design of bicycle fashions.

Saade says getting people on bicycles is not just about bicycle plans it’s about showing people what’s possible and giving them solutions.

“When you ride a cheap bike it’s not so fun, it’s better to ride a better bike. We see in our shows, [that] people don’t know there are bicycle solutions. That’s why we do our shows. When they see what’s possible they say that’s great!”.

There is another big obstacle to increasing bicycle use in Berlin, says Saade.

“It’s always hard when you want space from the cars. People always say OK we love the concept, but when we try and get space on the road from cars, it gets hard.”

“In Amsterdam and Copenhagen they have more space [for bicycles] because they took the space from the cars.”

“It won’t be long before people say it’s stupid to give so much space for cars”, says Saade.

However, it seems transforming cities from car dominated to bicycle orientated takes time, it has been over 30 years since Saade sold her car and began promoting bicycles in Berlin, and she says there is still more to do in terms of infrastructure and getting people to feel safe on the road.

So after all this time, why does she still do it?

“It’s quality of life. It’s healthy, I feel good. That’s the most important thing”.

And so may Berlin continue on it path to being a great bicycle city as we head to a city that really is going for bicycle greatness, Copenhagen!