Free Advice about Berlin

Advice about Berlin

The former resources for a Berlin based Facebook group

A Facebook group I used to be an administrator for was run with a simple democratic approach. A rogue admin tricked us into allowing another admin to join our group, and just after we realised what had occurred, myself and the other elected admin were unexpectedly removed without any consultation with the rest of the administration/moderation team. All group moderators chose to leave within hours of this occurring.

This website is a collection of the resources we had created for the group. I am keeping them here in case they are useful to others. If the data becomes significantly out of date, then I will remove the website.

The original groups website content, used a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License and it's website design used GPL license version 2.0.

Note: You may have been redirected here from the original groups domain name. I do not control that domain. The owner of that domain is also no longer involved with the original Facebook group.

Common questions

Last updated: 17th of June 2016

This page provides short answers to some of the repeat questions found on Free Advice Berlin.

  1. I found a helpless baby bird. What should I do?
    https://www.thedodo.com/baby-bird-nest-what-to-do-1849464499.html
    http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/attracting/challenges/orphaned/document_view
    Related group posts
  2. Which pharmacies are open?
    http://www.akberlin.de/notdienst.html
  3. Where can I find a locksmith (Schlüsseldienst)?
    We have a whole page dedicated to that – freeadviceberlin.org/locksmith-schlusseldienst
  4. Which supermarkets are open 365 days of the year?
    1. Ullrich Verbrauchermarkt Filiale am Zoo 11-22 Uhr
    2. Lidl im U-Bahnhof Innsbrucker Platz 8-22 Uhr
    3. Edeka im Bahnhof Friedrichstraße 8-22 Uhr, Südkreuz
    4. Kaisers im Hauptbahnhof 8-22 Uhr
    5. Edeka im Bahnhof Lichtenberg 8-22 Uhr
    6. Edeka am Bahnhof Südkreuz 8-22 Uhr
    7. Rewe und Penny am Ostbahnhof Penny: Montag bis Sonntag von 08 bis 22 Uhr Rewe: Montag bis Sonntag von 07 bis 24 Uhr
      denns biomarkt at Gesundbrunnen
  5. Where can I print something? Copy shop.
    Many spätkauf’s (corner stores/dairies) provide printing services, even on Sundays and public holidays. There are also many dedicated print shops throughout the city as shown in this map.
  6. Where can I buy wine?
    Pretty much every späti (dairy/corner store) and supermarket sells wine, but for speciality wines, you can either order from Amazon, or perhaps try one of the many specialty wine stores shown on this map.
  7. Do I need to carry my passport or Ausweis at all times in Germany?
    No. There is a Personalausweispflicht,(you have to have a Personalausweis) but not a Mitführpflicht (you usually don’t have to carry it all the time). Check out the Ausweispflicht page on Wikipedia for more information.
  8. Where do I find a tailor?
    Some recommendations from other members can be found in our old “Tailors” group doc (which is awaiting being rewritten and moved here).
  9. Where can I find a photo booth in Berlin? http://www.fotofix.de/standorte/berlin
  10. Bike repair
    There are many bike repair (Fahrrad reparaturen) shops all over Berlin. To find one nearby, checkout the map below, or do a search in the group to see previous recommendations.
  11. Photo printing?
    Rossmann, DM and Fotoimpex have shops you can visit for photo printing. For online services, you could try fineartprint.de, jam-fineartprint.de or fotoexakt.de. And searching the group will show up many more options.
  12. How do I get rid of those nasty Berlin fruit flies?
    Put a mixture of 20% vinegar, 80% water and 2 drops of detergent in a cup. That will attract the fruit flies, who will drown because of the reduced water tension due to the soap. You can also buy traps from Amazon.
  13. How do I cancel my phone/internet/power/fitness contract?
    Contracts in Germany usually need to be cancelled a very long time in advance; 3 – 12 months is considered normal and some contracts may not be cancelled at all. To simplify the process of cancelling contracts, you can use the aboalarm.de website. If you need/want to send a fax message to a company (this seems utterly stupid, but is common place for cancelling contracts), you can use the epost.de service which can send fax messages to any German landline fax machine. Do not attempt to cancel a contract by email; many of our members have tried this and found that the companies simply lied about accepting email cancellations and forced them to keep paying.

  14. Where can I find a veterinarian?
    There are many veterinarians in Berlin. This map shows many of them, and if you search in the group, you will find specific recommendations from our members.
  15. Where can I get something translated?
    Red Tape Translations offer non-certified translations. You can find information about sworn/certified translators at the Federal Association of Interpreters and Translators website.