Ringing in 2015 with a BANG [Berlin]

I haven’t been to many well-known places for New Years apart from Las Vegas, but I am going to make a gamble and declare Berlin as the loudest NYE on the planet.

There is just something about Germans and fireworks.

They love to set them off anywhere and at any time, so if you are hoping to sleep on NYE in Berlin, BRING. EAR. PLUGS.

Although, how much sleep are you really wanting if you are spending NYE in one of the most popular NYE destinations in the world?

I am honestly not someone who gets excited over NYE because it’s just a day.

Is there a party thrown for every new month?

Every new week?

I couldn’t care less about the “holiday,” but as I was in one of the most popular places to spend the day, I decided to make the most of it and I wanted to do that in the most popular spot in the city to ring in the new year:

Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor).

Every year, over a million people pack together around the most famous sight in Berlin to listen to bands play, eat some fair food, drink some glühwein, and watch a spectacular display of fireworks.

I checked the area out and left at around 7pm wanting to

1. Get some cheaper food outside of the gates, and

2. Meet up with some people I met at my hostel to go there together.

BIG MISTAKE.

It turns out that the gates close when it gets too crowded, so I’d say come no later than 8pm if you want to see the shows and be in the middle of it all. Earlier if you want a good spot.

So we ended up being locked out.

Instead, we checked out Neukölnn neighborhood and dodged a few MANY fireworks. One just a couple feet from our faces.

Around midnight, I wanted to at least TRY to see the fireworks.

Why come to Berlin for NYE if you aren’t going to try to see the main event??

So, I found an area a looooong ways away from the gate. The crowd was too dense to permeate any further, so I had to make do with what I could.

For about an hour, we all watched the fireworks being set off from everyone around us. It was a show in and of itself.

Then, at midnight (there was no countdown?!?!) a grandiose display of fireworks began in the distance.

Then, once that 15-minute show finished, the others in the streets resumed setting off their own displays, hitting buildings, street lights, and (I’m sure of it) people.

After that, everyone headed out to wherever they planned to go and that was that.

All in all, NYE in Berlin is nothing to go out of your way for, but if you are near or already there, the fireworks were good albeit SCARY (loud and close to hitting you).