There are already more than 20 million overnight stays per year. And the number keeps growing.
Tourists love Berlin.
The British, Dutch, and Americans are the most frequent visitors. (No less than 10% more Dutch visitors than last year. Could it have something to do with our move? We’ve already had lots of visitors, :-).
But now it’s Christmas. Just one more full day.
And then the city will be empty.
The English stay in England.
Americans in America.
And the Dutch in the Netherlands.
That’s just how it goes.
For true Berliners, it’s the perfect time to take a deep breath and enjoy the nearly empty streets. Even at tourist hotspots, you’re briefly immersed in deafening silence.
On the sidewalks, there are no clusters of people with maps standing right in the middle of the path—and thus conveniently blocking the way so you can’t get past them. No, you can keep walking. Stroll, even. The pace of Berliners who stay in the city for Christmas slows down.
That’s because the city is now home to an incredible number of people who have moved here in recent years from other corners of the country—from Bonn, Castrop-Rauxel, Paderborn, and Buxtehude; from Göttingen or Eckernförde.
They’re called “Wahlberliner.” (And strictly speaking, so are we. Not only because we’ve now “returned” from the Netherlands, but also because I, along with my parents, once came here from the Baltic Sea. To Berlin, the city of our choice.)
So all these people have parents and grandparents living in the farthest corners of Germany. That’s where their “home” is, and that’s where they’ll be sitting under the Christmas tree.
That’s why quite a few windows in our neighborhood have remained dark these past few days—without any Christmas lights.
And in the city center and the popular Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood, you could almost hear a pin drop during the Christmas holidays. Because all the large families are in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, up in the mountains, or in small villages. With Grandma and Grandpa.
Let them do what they want.
So we have the city all to ourselves for just a little while.
Just for a veeeery short while, because the peace and quiet will be over again in the coming days.
For New Year’s Eve this year, the city is expecting more tourists than ever before—2 million, just for the New Year’s celebrations.
But today it’s still quiet.
I’m going to enjoy it while I can.
