New Year 2018/19 and I found myself in Berlin for the third time in as many years.
I say I found myself there, I didn’t get lost or anything. When my planned trip to Lisbon fell through at the last minute I had 24 hours to decide if and where I was going to go.
Luckily for me Berlin is not only a fantastic city, one of my favourites in Europe, but it’s also as cheap as chips to get to from the UK.
Potsdamer Platz, Berlin
Brandenburg Gate Street Party
After a little bit of internet research I decided to spend New Years Eve at The Brandenburg Gate street party.
Brandenburg Gate
Sandwiched between the River Spree and Tiergarten the Brandenburg Gate “party mile” stretches some 2km along the ‘Straße des 17. Juni’ between the Brandenburg Gate at one end and Victory Column at the other.
Touted as one of the biggest and best New Years Eve parties in Europe, this free, non-ticketed open air party seemed to be the place to go to welcome in 2019 together with up to a million other people from all over the world.
Brandenburg Gate Street Party
Getting There
There’s nowhere to park in the area surrounding the party mile, although you can park at the nearby Mall of Berlin, which is a 15-20 minute walk to the Brandenburg Gate. But who wants to take the car to a new year party anyway?
By far the best way to get to the party is by S-Bhan (train) to Brandenburg Gate or Tiergarten, or U-Bahn (underground) to Brandenburg Gate.
Photo by IngolfBLN: Exiting the U-Bhan at Brandenburger Tor
Getting In / Security
At 7pm each of the six main entrances, or checkpoints, opened to the public.
Police at the Brandenburg Gate entrance
I arrived around 8pm to the entrance on the south side of the Brandenburg Gate. I wasn’t surprised to find it was already closed. But a 10 minute walk west took me to another entrance at Tiergarten.
It’s fair to say I didn’t have a clue where I was going but I knew if I followed the crowds I’d get there eventually.
Police lined the streets surrounding the area and security was tight at the entrances.
Security guards thoroughly searched bags and bodies and there were strict rules that no fireworks, bottles or sharps were allowed.
Food and Drink
Chalets and Stalls selling all sorts of alcohol, burgers, sausages, crepes and other sweet treats lined both sides of the party mile.
Photo by Rolf Dietrich Brecher 
Entertainment
The entertainment pre-midnight was so on point. A huge stage was positioned in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Every few hundred metres there were massive screens so everyone could get a good view of the many performances.
The pre-midnight line up included Bonnie Tyler, Eagle Eyed Cherry, Alice Merton as well as German artists Axel Fischer, Kirsten Ott and Nico Santos. Randomly, there was a Michael Jackson tribute act and a five or six piece man-group who performed ‘In the Navy’ and ‘YMCA’ just before midnight.
In between performances local DJ’s played party tunes and anthems to keep the party in full swing. Strangely, or at least I thought it was strange, ‘Y Viva Espana’ seemed to be a real crowd pleaser.
Just before midnight the crowd joined in on an traditional countdown from ten, or ‘zehn’. And on the stroke of midnight a spectacular firework display rocketed over Tiergarten.
The firework display continued as Tony Hadley took to the stage to sing ‘Gold’ with all the evenings previous performers joining him, much to the delight of the now high spirited crowd.
And that was the party just starting.
After the midnight celebrations, there was a bit of a mass exodus as couples and families retreated, presumably to the comfort of their hotel rooms.
Some of the younger crowd left to party the night away in Berlin’s world renowned nightclub scene. And those that stayed partied the night away with the help of some of Berlin’s top DJ’s.
I have to admit, having succumbed to the cold, I was in the couples and families camp and left the party not long after 12:30.
New Year in Berlin
It wasn’t until I left the party that I realised just how crazy Berlin is at New Year.
As I walked along busy main roads (Ebertstraße and Leipziger Platz for those of you who know Berlin) I imaged this is what walking through a war zone might feel like.
The streets were littered with firework debris and empty beer bottles. I could see fireworks in every direction in the sky above for miles. Not only that, every which way I looked there were random people in the street blowing up fireworks, rockets and bangers. The noise was constant and unreal, and to the uninitiated like me, the scene was a tiny bit intimidating.
Unfortunately not all of the fireworks went skywards. I seen one bounce off a building. Another set fire to a ten foot Santa Claus Christmas decoration.
Firework Set Fire to Santa
One thing is for sure, Berlin goes crazy at New Year. I’d had a great night. But I was glad to get back to the comfort and safety of my hotel room.
Happy New Year Everyone!
