Local Information

Conference venue

DISC 2025 will be held in Berlin, Germany on October 27 – October 31, 2025. The conference will be held at the Harnack House, a conference venue of the Max Planck Society.

The venue is located in the Dahlem district of Berlin, which resides in the southwestern part of Berlin. The campus of the Freie Universität Berlin is also in the same district.

  • The closest stop is the Freie Universität U-Bahn (subway) stop. You can reach this stop using the U3 subway line. From the subway station, it is a 2-minute walk (< 200 meters) to the conference venue.
  • Another option is to take a local train to Lichterfelde West S-Bahn stop and walk for about 25 minutes (< 1700 meters) to the conference venue.


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You will need a public transit ticket from the BVG. Please see below for further details about public transit in Berlin.

You can find detailed instructions on how to get to the Harnack House here.

Getting to Berlin

Berlin is a major European capital, so it has good connections to most parts of the world. The Visit Berlin website gives some general information about travelling to Berlin.

By train

Berlin is easy to reach by train from most neighbouring countries. There are several (fairly reliable and fast) train connections from various European cities to Berlin, including night trains.

Here are some rough estimates of travel times by train to Berlin from various European cities:

  • Amsterdam (~6 hours)
  • Brussels (~8 hours)
  • Budapest (~11 hours)
  • Copenhagen (~7 hours)
  • London (~9-10 hours)
  • Paris (~8 hours)
  • Prague (~4 hours)
  • Rome (~14 hours)
  • Stockholm (~15 hours)
  • Vienna (~8 hours)
  • Warsaw (~6 hours)
  • Zurich (~9 hours)

If you are taking a long-distance train, you are likely to arrive to one of these train stations in Berlin: Berlin Hauptbahnhof (main station), Berlin Gesundbrunnen, Berlin Spandau, Berlin Südkreuz, or Berlin Ostbahnhof. From these stations you can then continue your journey with Berlin public transport.

By airplane

The Berlin-Brandenburg international airport (BER) is the central airport for Berlin.

The airport has its own train station from which you can reach to other parts of Berlin.

The public transit connection from the BER airport to the conference venue takes around 90-120 minutes. The simplest connection from the BER airport to the conference venue is to use a combination of the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn:

  • At the BER airport, take the S9 train towards “Spandau Hbf“. You need to change to a subway at the stop named Warschauer Straße (after 11 stops).
  • At Warschauer Straße railway station, change to the U3 subway line heading towards “U Krumme Lanke“. You need to leave at the stop named “Freie Universität“.

You can buy tickets for local transit at the train station from the ticket vending machines. Note that you will need an ABC-ticket.

General information about Berlin

Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is the largest city in Germany, both in area and population. With a population of around 3.8 million people, it is the city with the highest population within city limits in the European Union.

Berlin is a technological and cultural hotspot in Europe, with numerous museums and world-famous sights. In terms of nature, Berlin and its surroundings have also plenty of green areas and parks, forests, rivers and numerous lakes.

The main universities in Berlin are the

  • Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin),
  • Humboldt University of Berlin (HU Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), and
  • Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin).

There are also several research institutes in Berlin.

Safety

For a major city, Berlin is fairly safe. However, use common sense: keep an eye on your belongings in public transit, keep your valuables close to yourself, don’t wander into dark parks and alleys alone at night, and so on.

Language and currency

German is the official language in Germany. However, in the Berlin area English is widely spoken.

The official currency in Germany is the euro. The availability electronic payments (e.g., credit and debit cards) is becoming more common, but it is still less common than in many other European countries.

You should be able to pay for most things, such as hotel and restaurant fees, groceries, public transit tickets, and so on, with credit/debit cards. However, some smaller shops, cafes and restaurants sometimes only accept cash payments, especially if the total cost is small.

Weather in October and November

Berlin has an oceanic climate. The conference will take place in the autumn. In late October, the typical temperatures range between 5-15 Celsius degrees and some rain is to be expected. The daylength is around 9-10 hours.

Public transport in Berlin

Berlin has a comprehensive public transport system encompassing

  • local trains (S-Bahn),
  • subways (U-Bahn),
  • trams and lightrail (Straßenbahn), and
  • buses.

To use the public transport, you need a valid ticket. You can buy one from the Berlin public transport company BVG or the regional transport company VBB.

There are a few different options for buying tickets:

  • You can buy physical single-use tickets from BVG and/or VBB ticket vending machines at most train stations with a credit/debit card.
  • You can use the BVG ticket app on your mobile phone (requires an Internet connection).

In Berlin area, there are different transit zones. Be sure to check you have the right ticket type that covers the right zones:

  • Within ‘Berlin city proper’, an AB-ticket that covers zones A and B usually suffices.
  • If you want to get from the BER airport to the city, or vice versa, you need an ABC-ticket that covers the zones A, B and C.
  • If you’re travelling from the airport and will travel to the conference venue on most days, the most convenient option is to get a 7-day pass for the ABC zones (52.70 euros).
  • You can also buy a 7-day pass for the AB zones (44.60 euros), and then buy any extension tickets to zone C (2.60 euros per piece) as necessary.

Accommodation

There are not many hotels in the immediate vicinity of the venue, but the Harnack House has its own guest house, which may have some vacancies.

If you wish to stay in central Berlin, the most convenient public transit connection to the conference venue is the U3 subway line, which connects the Dahlem district to central Berlin.

Visa Support Letter

If you need a visa support letter please write to Stefan Schmid from an institutional email, well in advance, indicating:

  • Given name
  • Surname
  • Passport origin
  • Date of birth
  • Passport number
  • Occupation
  • Title of an accepted paper at DISC you are a coauthor of, if any