Location

The downtown area of Magdeburg, of which we provide a map, is a distinctly recognizable area in which it is difficult to get lost. It was largely destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt with wide streets and open spaces. Only in the southern part, around the Dom (cathedral) and Hasselbachplatz, you will see a section of older Magdeburg.

The downtown area is bounded in the west by the train line. The train station Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof (Hbf), where most participants will arrive, is almost midway on this boundary. The eastern boundary is the river Elbe. At the southern end you find Hasselbach Platz. The northern boundary is Walther-Rathenau-Strasse and Universitätsplatz, a square beyond which you immediately reach the campus where the conference will be held. The campus is marked by a tall dormitory on the corner and a modern building under which you enter the campus. Between the dormitory and this building there is a digital display giving the current temperature and air pressure.

Two main roads cut across the downtown area. One is Ernst-Reuter-Allee going east-west passing the train station. The other is Breiter Weg (Broadway!) going north-south from Universitaetsplatz to Hasselbachplatz. Its northern part is a pedestrian zone. You can walk along these routes for easy orientation or take a tram to cover larger distances.

You can reach any location in the downtwon area by walking. Going east-west takes about 15 minutes, north-south about 30 minutes. The walking distance from the train station to the main campus of the university is about 20 minutes.

If you want to go for a stroll, go along the river or Breiter Weg. You can for example go down one and come up the other. When you cross the river you are on an island. Its southern part is large park.

When you pick up the conference material during the check-in registration you will receive a copy of the brochure "Follow us!" with basic information on sightseeing, a guide to a walking tour and a map. We will offer some sightseeing on Wednesday afternoon.

Public transportation

There are three tram lines between the train station (Hauptbahnhof/Brandenburger Str.) and the university (Universitätsplatz), lines 1, 5 and 8. They go east on Ernst-Reuter-Allee, then north on Breiter Weg to Universitätsplatz. The ride has just one intermediate stop on Alter Markt. Further there are three tram lines, namely lines 2, 9 and 10 that go down Breiter Weg all the way from Universitätsplatz to Hasselbach Platz.

If you are staying in the Intercity-Hotel they will give you a pass for Magdeburg's public transportation system MVB. Otherwise, you buy tickets either from the driver or in the train station at one of the counters that sell train tickets and are marked MVB, in various small green booths (e.g. in front of the train station at the tram stop you don't use, at the intersection Ernst-Reuter-Allee/Breiter Weg, at the tram stop Universitätsplatz) and some green ticket machines. To validate a ticket for a ride you have to stick it into a slot in a small orange box when entering a tram or bus, even if you bought it from the driver.

For short trips between Universitätsplatz and the train station or Hasselbachplatz you can use a ticket sold for DM 1.50 by the driver, or for DM 1.00 DM if bought in advance. With this ticket ("Kurzstrecke"), you may not go north of Universitätsplatz, west of the train station, and south of Hasselbachplatz. It is only valid for a single one way trip.

For other than these short trips, you get single tickets for DM 3.00 from the driver, or you buy a set of four tickets for DM 8.50 in advance. These tickets are valid for 90 minutes from the time indicated on the ticket after validation. You can go anywhere, back and forth, within these 90 minutes on trams and busses.

Trams go every ten minutes during the daytime Monday through Friday, every twenty minutes in the evening and on the weekend.

Arrival in Magdeburg

Most participants will arrive at Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof (Hbf). Midway on each platform there are stairs down to a passage under the tracks. This passage is closed on one end and the other direction leads straight to the main exit on the other end.

Before leaving the building there are ticket counters on the right hand side where you may wish to obtain tickets for the trams (if you are not staying in the Intercity-Hotel).

Intercity-Hotel

If you are staying in the Intercity-Hotel you just leave the station building and turn right. You will be facing the hotel.

Youth Hostel

The Youth Hostel is in Leiterstrasse, very close to the train station. Basically you go east, the direction you exit the train station, and circumvent all obstacles by going a little to the right.
When you leave the station you are in a plaza with a new building complex with, cinema, shops and offices behind it. Head towards the right diagonally until you get to the corner of these new buildings. You are across from the Intercity-Hotel. Now go left around the corner. You are going in the same direction in which you left the train station and are on Hasselbachstrasse. You have the new buildings on your left, a bus station on the right across the street. Go to the end of the block and cross a big street, Otto-von-Guericke-Strasse. You hit a construction site and go a few meters to the right. Leiterstrasse is a small pedestrian street up some steps. The Youth Hostel is on the right hand side of Leiterstrasse. You have to go along Leiterstrasse until you get to a small square with a big bucket-like well in the middle. The entrance to the Youth Hostel is to your right.

Other Hotels/University Guesthouse

For the other hotels and the university campus you turn left. There you will find a taxi if you wish to take one. A ride to your accomodation should not cost more than 10 DM, even to the Bildungshotel and Hotel Sleep & Go. For the Youth Hostel a taxi is useless.

If you want to take a tram, please ignore the tram stop right in front of the station. There you will only find trams going west and south from the station, with the exception of line 8 which also uses the stop described next. Besides, line 8 does not operate in the evening and on weekends.

Instead you go beyond this tram stop towards the cinema CINEMAX. Pass by the cinema towards the road that you see coming out under the train tracks. The tram stop Hauptbahnhof/Brandenburger Strasse that you need is hidden from view by the cinema. There you take lines 1, 5 or 8.

Hotel Ratswaage

You go one stop to Alter Markt with lines 1, 5 or 8. Get out of the tram which has just made a left turn. You walk in the direction that the tram takes about 50 meters to the next street. The hotel is on your right across this street.

Uni-Hotel

You take line 5 to the third stop Askanischer Platz. You have just passed the Uni-Hotel on your left side. You cannot see the entrance. You have to walk back along the building.

University Guest House / Hotel Sleep & Go

For the University Guest House or the Hotel Sleep & Go, you take lines 1, 5 or 8 two stops to Universitätsplatz. Get out and wait for a tram line 2. Go one stop to Pfälzer Strasse.
On Sunday or in the evening you may want to check the schedule for line 2 which is displayed in the small shelter at the tram stop at Universitätsplatz. If the number 2 tram will not come within five to ten minutes you will be faster by walking. Keep right along Universitätsplatz and go right (east/towards the river) on Walther-Rathenau-Strasse to the next intersection where you go left on Pfälzer Strasse.

Arriving at the tram stop "Pfälzer Strasse", you have just passed the University Guesthouse on your left. The entrance is from the back, i.e. inside the campus.

For the Hotel Sleep & Go you continue in the direction that the tram takes and turn right on the next corner into Lehmann-Strasse. You walk down to the next large intersection where you turn slightly left into Rogätzer Strasse. You almost immediately run into the hotel on the right hand side. This is about a five minute walk from the tram stop.

Bildungshotel

For the Bildungshotel you take trams line 1 or 8 three stops to AOK. The tram has just passed the intersection of Lorenz-Weg when you get out. Lorenz-Weg goes in one direction only. You go along Lorenz-Weg, pass under the train tracks and over a small highway. Then the hotel is immediately to your right. The walk is about eight to ten minutes.

To the conference site

If the weather permits, we suggest that you walk. All accomodations are within a 15-20 minute walk from conference site. Basically you head first for Universitätsplatz, unless you have already passed it on the way to your accommodation. Coming from downtown you go right (east/towards the river) on Walther-Rathenau Strasse to the next stop light. There you turn left on Pfälzer Strasse.

The welcome party, conference office and parallel sessions will all be in the new economics building on Pfälzer Strasse in the middle of the campus. It is the most modern building on this very short street that bisects the campus in the north-south direction. The building can easily be recognized by its glass front and a neon light display of alternately the Dow-Jones, DAX and Nikkei stock index on the roof, supposedly a work of art.

The tram stop Pfälzer Strasse of line 2 is right in front of the building. It is one stop from Universitätsplatz where line 2 meets the other relevant tram lines.

Note that there is a second campus for the medical school in the southern part of the city which you will hopefully not visit.

Telephones

You can buy phone cards for DM 12 at all post offices and at many news stands. There is a post office next to the tram stop Universitaetsplatz.

Within Germany all long distance connections begin with an area code that has between 3 and 6 digits. It begins with one zero followed by a non-zero digit.

Numbers for destinations outside Germany begin with two zeros, for and upto example:
Brasil 0055
Britain 0044
Bulgaria 00359
Canada/USA 001
China 0086
Czech Rep. 0042
France 0033
Hongkong 00852
India 0091
Italy 0039
Japan 0081
Netherlands 0031
Norway 0047
Poland 0048
Russia 007
Switzerland 0041
Spain 0034

Banks/Change

There is a bank counter in the train station that changes foreign currencies.

There is a post office (Postbank) at the tram stop Universitätsplatz. Outside is an automatic teller that takes a variety of cards, specifically Visa, Masters, American Express and EC cards.

Other major banks with automatic tellers:

Sparda (Volksbanken und Raiffeisenkassen): in the train station building, but with a separate entrance.

Stadtsparkasse: Behind Karstadt and on Hasselbachplatz, outside the Karstadt department store at the tram stop Alter Markt there are two automatic tellers that take EC and some other cards.

Deutsche Bank: near train station on corner of Ernst-Reuter-Allee and Otto-von-Guericke-Strasse

Commerzbank: Julius-Bremer-Str. 2 + 10, in Hotel Ratswaage

Norisbank: near tram stop Universitätsplatz

Weather

In the week preceding the conference we so far have mostly clear skies and freezing temperatures at night. On the webpage of German Weather Information Service you may obtain the weather of the day, unfortunately only in German at the moment.