At Berlin Central Station, Deutsche Bahn becomes the “Titanic”: train journey into nothingness

There were hundreds of us, of course, thousands of us standing on the platform. Another huge delay, of course. And when we finally boarded, this music came from above. Was there live piano playing at the main station ? Was it coming from one of the shops? We didn't know; we just heard a tinkling version of Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," the soundtrack to the 1997 sinking of the Titanic, trickling across the tracks of Berlin's main station.

The film is based on the true story of the giant steamer that was deemed unsinkable and then, on its very first trip, hit an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic. A mythical story, like an ancient legend of the modern age. Our steamer, on the other hand, simply wouldn't leave. We sat there for two hours, packed, on the train. And it wasn't even because of the apocalyptic storm , the whole catastrophe. A few of the doors at the front of the train simply wouldn't open or close, I don't remember which. You just couldn't leave, that's normal.

Maybe the train never left, we don't know. After two hours, we were allowed to board another one, which then departed at some point with two or three passengers. Panic attacks due to shortness of breath and lack of space were normal. And then that most depressing feeling in Germany: being engulfed in anger, futility, and a sense of the world ending because of Deutsche Bahn. Again and again, a hundred times, what feels like a thousand times. And you don't even want it, you're actually a fan of this kind of mobility.

Berlin: The only place that is still normal

But I sat there and couldn't get the song of doom out of my head. And I thought about Jeff Bezos , who booked all of Venice for his wedding. About the heads of government of the Western world who hold Donald Trump's hand until he's as content as an orange baby, or Jeff Bezos, or some other medieval king. And then there's Iran's atomic bomb.

The day before, I happened to run into two globetrotting friends at the swimming pool who were staying there again. They said that compared to the rest of the world, Berlin was the only place that was still normal. I listened to them in amazement. Yes, I thought from my seat, it really isn't that bad. It's just the demise of Deutsche Bahn, which I'm witnessing as a passenger, and which is now even playing the appropriate soundtrack.