Travellers encounter surprising, creative details elsewhere as well. Those who keep their eyes peeled and engage with the unusual will encounter works of architectural art, which playfully refer to the fun of travelling. Here are a myriad of coins from all over the world, which Cisca Bogman and Oliver Störmer have embedded in the ground; there, a huge pearl necklace by Olaf Nicolai wrapped around a passenger boarding bridge, apparently forgotten in the haste of departure.
Regional and International Diversity
Conversely, those who are able to take their time are sure to find something in one of the 35 shops in the Market Place, which include Boss, Burberry, Hermès and Montblanc. The range of cafés, bars and restaurants also thrives on diversity with its mix of regional and international offerings. Upscale bars and restaurants, including Traiteur by Borchardt and Lutter & Wegner, sweeten the waiting time before departure or the connecting flight.
“Architect Meinhard von Gerkan created a temporary piece of home with warm colours, walnut veneer and Jurassic sand-lime brick”
An airport is a place of transit and transfer, a non-place where you go to get away. However, the new BER has nothing of other airports’ empty functional architecture; it is more than just a passage from A and B. Architect Meinhard von Gerkan created a temporary piece of home with warm colours, walnut veneer and Jurassic sand-lime brick. This concept of a “home away from home” is also noticeable in the lounges, in which the visitor feels at home straight away; this is particularly the case in the exclusive VIP lounge “Zeitgeist” alongside the TEGEL and TEMPELHOF lounges.
Comfortable Lounges
A visit to TEGEL brings comfort and exceeds all business expectations. A retreat over 500 square meters with a view of Berlin for occasional focused work, social chats with friends and business meetings. The design reflects an understated elegance with clear lines; the food and drink leave no desires unfulfilled and the dedicated team also serves kosher and halal dishes. The entrance is located on the Schengen departures level in the northern Main Pier.
TEMPELHOF, on the other hand, provides space, and not only because it is almost twice as large. Because here, your eye wanders into the distance over the runway and into the green of the surroundings. Dramatic clouds build up, accumulating in the blue of the Brandenburg sky. Just like TEGEL, the services on offer are state of the art. Travellers will find the entrance to the lounge on the Schengen departures level in the southern Main Pier.
Looking Ahead
In turn, the utmost comfort and exclusive indulgence awaits the discerning traveller in the “Zeitgeist” VIP lounge. Here, the journey is truly a reward and not just a necessary evil. This lounge turns travelling into something special again with a complete service from reception to riding to the aircraft in a limousine. Those who are not satisfied with enjoying exclusive Cohibas in the cigar lounge or indulging in the à la carte menu with oysters, lobster bisque or braised roast wild boar can treat themselves to a suite and enjoy the most precious thing of all: peace and privacy.
The VIP lounge’s wall design refers to one of East Berlin’s most iconic buildings. Elements of the mural from the “Haus des Lehrers”, unravelled into something new, stand for the city’s heritage and looking ahead.
This stance also becomes clear in the choice of name: Berlin Brandenburg Airport is named after Willy Brandt (1913-1992), one of the most extraordinary statesmen of the 20th century, Mayor of Berlin, Federal Chancellor and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Right at the entrance (or exit, depending on how you look at it), Brandt gives travellers a quote to take with them on their journey, a motto and legacy for an airport that is more than just a place where planes take off: “If I were asked to say what, apart from peace, was most important to me, then my answer would be: freedom.”