By Oliver Ohmann
BZ farewell visit to the big yellow. The 50 lovingly cared for PS oldies have to vacate their warehouse in Berlin-Haselhorst on October 31st. Reason: lease terminated, apartments are to be built on the site.
“We were hoping for an extension until the end, but now it’s finally over,” says Stefan Freitag (58), team leader of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Traditionsbus Berlin (ATB). “We hoped for a replacement location, for example at the former Tempelhof or Tegel airports. But there doesn’t seem to be one anywhere in Berlin.”
Stefan Freitag and a dozen bus enthusiasts will move to Brandenburg with their unique fleet. The team leader: “In Rathenow there is a former chimney factory that we have in mind. I don’t know how our work will continue after that. Rathenow isn’t just around the corner.”
Old Berlin buses have been preserved since 1989. The unique collection includes historic double-deckers that have been in service in Berlin since 1953. Photo: Christian Lohse
In 1989 the BVG lovers started buying the first big old yellow one. 49 have been added to date, many restored by hand, most of them roadworthy. Since 2000, line 218 has been used by traditional buses via the Havelchaussee. A Berlin highlight! For 450 euros you can rent a double-decker (including the driver) as a wedding carriage.
There is also a huge spare parts store in an adjoining hall Photo: Christian Lohse
“We drive around 120,000 kilometers a year,” says Freitag. Many colleagues do a lot of voluntary work to maintain the vintage fleet (the oldest bus was built in 1953). Some are former BVG employees, Freitag himself is a trained industrial clerk: “I’m a passenger with my own fleet.”
With this sentence he smiles, but it seems a bit pained. The traditionalists cannot understand that there should not be 4,000 square meters somewhere in Berlin where the treasures are housed. The BVG couldn’t (or didn’t want to) help, and neither did the Senate. Officials only gave encouraging words, but no solutions.
So the buses have to make the turn.