According to you, what are things one should have done/ places one should have seen when residing in Berlin?

the one thing i'd add is getting lost in a kiez that isn't yours, like wedding or kreuzberg's back streets, and finding a random hof (courtyard) to peek into. those hidden residential courtyards with bikes and gardens are more berlin than any landmark. also do a boat tour on the spree, sounds touristy but seeing the city from the water changes how u get around, plus u'll spot the old east side factory walls. and if u haven't had a döner from a place that's been open since the 90s, not the instagram ones, u're missing out. oh and go to a bergmannkiez cafe on a rainy tuesday, just sit and watch the chaos of people arguing about gentrification over flat whites. that's the real vibe check

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definitely do a burgerservice appointment at least once, even if it's just to renew a passport. the chaos of that place is a rite of passage, bring snacks and patience. also, climb the fernsehturm once, but go on a clear winter day when the light is sharp, the view is way better than in summer haze. and hit up a techno club during the day, like about blank on a sunday afternoon, not for the music but for the garden and the people in weird outfits having breakfast. that's the berlin that doesn't show up in guides. oh and take a bike ride through tempelhofer feld at sunset, the wind there does something to your head.

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honestly the thing most people miss is just wandering the ringbahn at night, get off at random stations like gesundbrunnen or neukölln and walk, that's where the real city is. also u should've done at least one flohmarkt, mauerpark on sunday is touristy but the flea market vibe is still fun if u go early. and go to a späti at 2am and just talk to whoever's there, that's peak berlin culture more than any museum. for places, the teufelsberg is worth it for the view and the weird history, but go on a weekday so it's not packed. oh and eat a currywurst from a random stand, not the famous ones, the greasy corner ones are better tbh

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Worth noting that Berlin street names have official umlaut and ß rules that trip people up, so a sign showing "Strasse" versus "Straße" is not actually a spelling error, just an older transcription. Same with "ue" versus "ü" (e.g. "Kantstrasse" vs "Kantstraße"), both are considered valid renderings and you'll see the ß version on the blue Schilder and the ss version on older plaques or in databases that predate Unicode. If the difference you're seeing is between those two forms, there's nothing to fix and both are technically correct.

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if the signs u mean are the old enamel ones on the house facades those are often protected as Baudenkmal so nobody's allowed to correct them even if the spelling is outdated. the binding version is whatever is in the Berliner Strassenverzeichnis plus the entry in the Liegenschaftskataster, so if u tell me the street i can point u to the right Bezirksamt Mitte or Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf page. tbh the merged district thing is real but the facade signs are a separate story, theyre basically museum pieces at this point

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honestly thats super common in Charlottenburg, the district offices were merged from older Bezirke and nobody ever fixed all the Schilder. if its a real street you can check the official strassenverzeichnis on berlin.de, that list is what the Burgeramt actually goes by. which street is it? some of the Kaiserdamm / Kantstrasse signs are notorious for this.

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