Down to the details...

Arriving on a Friday (8:00am) into BERLIN/TEGEL (TXL).

How long should I plan for it to take 21 US citizens to get through customs? Is it normally a quick process? What about travelling with two young adults (16) who are not with their parent? Do I need documentation saying they are on a school trip?

How do we get from TXL to Oranienburg?

Is there someplace at Oranienburg station to stow our luggage while we visit the Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen?

How do we travel from Oranienburg to Fangschleuse? How long will this take? (I have used the www.bvg.de website but cannot find Fangschleuse station! But that is where our contact wants to pick us up!)

Thanks!

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It will take you longer to get your luggage than to go through Customs and Immigration.

If you Google %26quot;Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen%26quot; it%26#39;ll take you to their website which has an English language option. Click on %26quot;Visitor Service%26quot; then %26quot;Addresses, Hours and Directions%26quot; .

It lists several options for going from central Berlin to the sight.

The German Rail site www.bahn.de can help you with the journeys. It has an English language option.

Use %26quot;Oranienburg bahnhof%26quot; and %26quot;Fangschleuse bahnhof%26quot; in your searches.

I punched in the trips and they require a number of changes. Trying to shepherd 21 tourists through the maze would require more patience than I could ever muster. I would seriously look into hiring a driver and coach to pick you up at the airport, take you to the Sachsenhausen camp and then to your contact.

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%26gt; What about travelling with two young adults (16) who are not with their parent? Do I need documentation saying they are on a school trip?

No. Only if they would travel alone it would be wise having a document that their parents allowed this.

%26gt; How do we get from TXL to Oranienburg?

BVG timetable

http://www.fahrinfo-berlin.de

From: TXL

To: Oranienburg

To: Gendenkstaette Oranienburg (for the memorial site)

You can however walk from Oranienburg station to the memorial site (a 20 min walk).

http://www.stiftung-bg.de/gums/en/index.htm

%26gt; Is there someplace at Oranienburg station to stow our luggage while we visit the Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen?

There are luggage lockers at Oranienburg station. But no idea how many. To find 21 free luggage lockers will be difficult.

You could also use the luggage office at the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station). Capacity wise the better choice. Both will cost you more time than go through the customs at the airport.

%26gt; How do we travel from Oranienburg to Fangschleuse? How long will this take?

To: Fangschleuse Bahnhof

Bahnhof = railway station.

Fangschleuse Bahnhof is in Grünheide. Like Oranienburg a town outside of Berlin. Both are in the zone %26quot;Berlin C%26quot; (dark grey on the below map). Albeit in opposite directions.

www.s-bahn-berlin.de/pdf/s_bahn_netz.pdf

Oranienburg is the end station of S-Bahn line S1. Direction 11 o%26#39;clok. Also served by RB and RE trains.

Fangschleuse is only served by the RE 1 line. Direction 3 o%26#39;clock.

TXL - Sachsenhausen memorial site - Fangschleuse means a travel time of nearly 3 hours. Plus the time to store and regain the luggage. Oranienburg - Fangschleuse is approx. 80 km.

In my opinion that%26#39;s way too much crammed into the arrival day.

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