The Reverse Culture Shock is Real – My Berlin experience
Germany's reputation doesn't survive contact with its trains and services.
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I am German. I grew up there, and I navigated this country as a wheelchair user for the first 29 years of my life, and then I moved to the UK. That was twenty years ago. When I go back now, something strange happens. I expected to see progress. Instead, I feel the gap between the country I remember and expect, and the country that exists, and that gap keeps widening every time I visit. I expected things to have improved when I visited, but they hadn’t. That is reverse culture shock: not a tourist being disappointed, but rather returning to the place that shaped me and finding it harder and harder to defend.
The Myth of German Engineering
Germany has a reputation for engineering and efficiency, and for a long time, the world believed it. I did too, and sometimes still do. I’m currently in the process of buying a German dishwasher, so that you know what I mean. So it’s a particular kind of whiplash to arrive at a newly built platform and find steps.
The new airport in Berlin also has a brand-new railway station, with double-decker airport express trains. Unfortunately, the train doesn’t meet the platform height. The train is far lower than the platform. The floor with a decline inside the train is not high enough to match the platform. So the conductor has to put another mobile boarding ramp inside the train on the declined floor, which makes the whole boarding experience “interesting”.
When I arrived at the airport railway station, it wasn’t an issue. I had a very lovely conductor who did everything in his power to help me and everyone else who was just arriving in Germany. So I was quite optimistic when I set off on my way back, 5 days later, at Hauptbahnhof. First, nobody came. And then a ca. 10-year-old boy watching me had the brilliant idea to press the wheelchair button inside the train. Not once, ten times. This did the trick, and a furious conductor appeared, telling me off for not booking assistance 24 hours beforehand. I didn’t even know I had to. After all, this is an airport train. They can’t really expect people who aren't from Germany to know exactly when they are travelling and how to book, and there wasn’t an issue on the inbound train. Conductor Outbound was stressed by my pure existence big time. I played dumb and tried to reassure her that she would manage. She did, of course.
No Victorians to blame
Other than the Brits, the Germans have no Victorians to blame for their steps everywhere. They have many new or refurbished platforms and buildings. One that someone designed, approved, and signed off on after the Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz had been law for over two decades. Last year, the tram line in front of my hotel got refurbished and was unusable during my time there. So this year I was again optimistic that I would be able to use it without manoeuvring a step into the tram. Wrong again. There was a big fat step, and the driver didn’t move when I looked at it in disbelief. I had to ask him to open “the ramp” onto the tram, or do something, as I had no idea how this whole system works. And ‘ramp’ is an overstatement. It was a little lid that was far too steep. That was the moment when I seriously asked myself, who invented the measuring tape? Certainly not the Germans. I have no idea if this was the driver’s fault or if this is meant to be like that. Anyway, it became close to unusable for me.
Then, the pretty new U5 U-Bahn with its brand-new trains. I had no issues boarding the U5 trains at the closest station to my hotel. So I assumed (big mistake!) that the next station, Rotes Rathaus, wouldn’t be a problem either. The network plan had a lift sign and was labelled in the same way as my station at the hotel. To my big surprise, the new and shiny U5 had a big fat step again out of the train. A friend had to lift me out of the train. Luckily, I wasn’t on my own.
No Equality Act
Here is what people often miss: Germany does not have anything equivalent to the UK Equality Act 2010. The Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz and even the Anti-Discrimination Act, the main disability equality laws, apply either primarily to federal public bodies or are a paper tiger. Enforcement remains weak and difficult for individual disabled people in a service environment outside employment. It is nothing compared to the UK law. There is no meaningful compensation mechanism for disabled people who face barriers. It’s all very bureaucratic, and organisations rarely get a slap on the wrist. And they know that. You can complain, and you can be ignored or get a very German letter back, and that is largely the end of it. Often, you feel more offended than you were before.
That legal vacuum matters enormously. In the UK, the Equality Act creates at least the theoretical conditions for accountability. It is imperfect and under-enforced, but the principle is there: reasonable adjustments are a legal duty, and failure to do so has consequences. In Germany, the duty is thinner, if it exists at all, and the consequences are close to nonexistent. So when a bus driver refuses to let you board, as this happened to me as well this time and last time I visited, there is no legal lever to pull. The architecture of complaint leads nowhere.
The infrastructure problems are one thing. But there is something else I notice when I go back, and it is harder to name because it requires me to say something uncomfortable about the culture I come from.
I have lived in the UK for twenty years. The British have their own deeply ingrained awkwardness around disability: people pushing the back of your wheelchair without asking, for example. But the intention reads as engagement. Someone has clocked you. You exist to them. When I go back to Germany, the experience is the opposite.
Brits to the rescue
On my way to the Hauptbahnhof, my very heavy suitcase tipped over on one of the many tiny steps they have everywhere. My wheelchair could cope; my suitcase couldn’t. On a very busy pavement, nobody came; nobody offered help, even though I was visibly struggling. Then a tourist couple appeared and helped me to get the suitcase up again. Funny enough, they were Brits. They were not awkward; they were just polite and pulled me out of a situation I couldn’t get out of myself.
There seems to be an active effort not to notice disabled people in Germany in day-to-day life. People look past you. Help is rarely offered without being asked for. If something is visibly difficult, the prevailing social code seems to be to respect your autonomy by leaving you entirely alone with the problem. I grew up in that culture, and I did not fully understand what it cost me until I had something to compare it to. I blame the much higher level of exclusion of disabled people in general in Germany compared to other countries.
Exclusion from the start
Germany has a special school system that would shock every Brit. When I went to school in the 80s and 90s, more than 90% of disabled children went to special schools. I was in the 10% bracket and went to a mainstream school. If you exclude disabled people from the start, society will not learn how to treat disabled people normally and equally. They are not used to it. Until today, Germany has sheltered workshops for disabled people. They got heavily criticised for it by the United Nations and other bodies. Currently, there is a campaign to secure a decent salary for people in sheltered workshops. They often get no more than €200 a month.
I understand some of the history that sits underneath this. Germany carries the weight of the Nazi time that systematically murdered disabled people, framed as mercy, encoded as policy. That history has created a particular wariness: a reluctance to comment on, draw attention to, or overtly engage with disability in public. The social discomfort is real, and it runs deep. But understanding the history does not mean accepting the outcome. Disabled people are not made safer or more equal by being politely ignored and excluded. Also, Berlin is more progressive in terms of accessibility than other German cities. Two years ago, I was in Düsseldorf and couldn’t even get off the tram at Hauptbahnhof. This is a political decision not to fix things, and this is a sign of normalised exclusion.
Another example: I never saw so many misused accessible toilets in my whole life in one week. And when I asked a waiter at a restaurant if they had an accessible toilet, he insisted I use the toilet now because he wanted to block it later with a table for a big group. So I had to go to the toilet when he decided, or not go at all. It was hilarious, if not sad.
I still live in hope
There is a version of Germany that gets this right, where accessibility is not an afterthought carved out of the original design and where a disabled person is neither stared at nor carefully unseen. Level boarding of the ICE-L is a good example or the re:publica conference I have been going to for nearly two decades, where they get it right. It’s often driven by very few people with decision competence who don’t look away but actively decide to do the right thing. That’s great, and it can be fruitful, but it’s not enough for a whole country. They need proper legislation. Germany is already 30 years behind. The UK has changed so much since 1992, when I first visited as a teenager, not just because everyone is so kind, but also because of the Disability Discrimination Act and the Equality Act that followed. It’s actually a good example of how a country can change. It’s still not perfect, but there was a huge progress. I won’t lose hope of seeing progress when I visit Germany next time. Even though I might get disappointed again.
Some interesting links
It’s 2026, and still, airlines refuse disabled people boarding, this time a 13-year-old boy with Tourette’s at Gatwick Airport and a sunflower lanyard around his neck. Ironically, Gatwick Airport is the birthplace of the sunflower lanyard, but that didn’t seem to change anything on the ground for British Airways. I find it seriously disturbing how people with Tourette’s are still treated (wasn’t everyone so very keen to improve services for neurodivergent people? Lip services…). It’s a textbook example of what I have written about the sunflower lanyard last time. No lanyard will solve training and attitude issues.
Eurostar reports a big increase in assistance requests. It’s higher in London than in Paris, despite the 2024 Paralympics.
Belfast Grand Central Station has become the first integrated bus and rail station in the UK & Ireland to provide the innovative 'NaviLens' navigation technology service, supporting blind and visually impaired people.
The notorious broken lift at St Pancras will be out of service for refurbishment from 15 June. All platforms for Thameslink services are affected. And no, there will be no additional lift afterwards, which would be so desperately needed.
Trains between Belfast and Dublin get level boarding. Hooray!
Something to watch
Last week, I was at the re:publica 2026 conference in Berlin. It’s a conference where digital and societal developments are discussed. I have been going to this conference for nearly two decades and nearly every year, and it’s a great source of inspiration for me. This year, my favourite talk was “Cory Doctorow – On Enshittification – and what can be done about it.”
Author and activist Cory Doctorow explores the decay of online platforms as they prioritise profit over user experience. Despite the current state of the internet, Doctorow expresses active hope, distinguishing it from passive optimism.
Bits, Bobs & Jobs
Bloomberg is searching for an Inclusion, Global Accessibility Lead
The MI5 is searching for an Accessibility Specialist. Yes, really.
Someone leaked plans to rebuild Euston station. London Centric about what the new HS2 station could look like, the battles behind the scenes, and why it could be overcrowded from the start. By the way, London Centric is really worth a read. Proper local journalism.
TfL could take over the Heathrow Express train paths to Heathrow in 2028. After I changed trains twice Thursday night (at Terminal 2 and Whitechapel) to get to Woolwich at 2315, this is music to my ears. Let the Elizabeth Line run to Terminal 5 more often.
Some final words
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Who is writing this newsletter?
I’m Christiane Link, and I improve the customer experience in aviation, transport, and travel. I worked as a journalist for over two decades and travelled extensively for business and leisure. I’m a wheelchair user.
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As always, beautifully written and very engaging.
I'm quite surprised to hear of a modern city with such disregard for disabled people.
There's hope for us yet here in the UK 😃