My site diary

Armin looks forward to spring and green BER

Wonderful! I love sunshine. And I love this time of year when nature begins awakening again. The first spring flowers are appearing...

BER – online and at the ITB

The wait is finally over: Berlin is welcoming visitors from all over the world...

Armin is looking forward to the ITB, new destinations and BER

It’s that time of year again: just five more days until Messe Berlin opens its doors for the ITB trade show...

Armin Plays Fireman

There’s a constant coming and going these days at the terminal of Berlin Brandenburg Airport with passengers wandering here and there...

One Million! Yahoo!

Who’s want to be a millionaire? We do! And yesterday was the day we welcomed our millionth visitor to the construction site: Ms Emiko Konishi from Berlin-Tiergarten...

One Opens, The Others Close

Please note today’s date. It’s 3 February. Precisely. That means we are four months away from the day when the new airport is set to open...

Armin already packs his case

In a nutshell, yesterday morning went something like this for me: The alarm clock had only just rung and I quickly gave my four arms a good stretch and leapt out of bed to pack the large suitcase...

New Year reception at the BER construction site

On Monday the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport was a major topic on more than one occasion. BER landed, in a sense, in Berlin in the morning...

Green electricity

I think this is very fitting, isn’t it: Whilst my girlfriend Antonia is at Green Week – the international food, agriculture and horticulture fair in Berlin – we at the airport have just signed...

Armin is blown away

Word has spread that Berlin and Brandenburg will soon be home to Europe's most modern airport – BER...

New Year, New Name

The new year usually begins with good resolutions and goals. Mine started with a new name for the company formerly known as “Berlin Airports...

2012 is Set to Be a Cracker for Armin!

This last weekend was a real cracker! Nearly a million people saw out the old year at the biggest New Year’s party in the world...

Armin Is Thrilled About the New Fire Station

Only a few days to go now and then Father Christmas will be here again. It’s good to remember, though

Armin Is Looking Forward to Christmas

Is it the same with you? Only a few days now until Christmas Eve, but the money is still sitting in your bank account...

Clear Run from Posen to Berlin

On St. Nicholas’ Day, the day when we here in Germany find all kinds of goodies in the shoes we have cleaned and put out the night before for the white-bearded man in his large red coat, I found a letter...

The TÜV Comes to BER

Yes, the TÜV – Germany’s technical inspectorate, the people generally known for renewing a car’s “MOT” roadworthiness certificate (or not, as the case may be) – is here. And no, it’s not my clapped-out Opel Kadett...

Armin Is Looking Forward to Trial Operations at the Airport

The moment I opened my eyes this morning, I had a weird feeling, like butterflies in my stomach – excitement, obviously...

Armin is delighted with the planning security

Today, the stage was finally set for the new airport. The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig ...

Armin sums up the World Routes

They’ve all left now – the 2,700 airline and airport representatives, tourism promoters and route planners that were in Berlin last weekend...

Armin loves clean water

I often like to compare our new airport with a small town. After all, when you consider how well our BER is going to function and perform in future ...

BER Departures – This Way Please

Eigentlich wird sie ja oft den Frauen nachgesagt: die Orientierungslosigkeit. Ich muss allerdings zugeben, auch an dieser Schwäche zu leiden...

Armin is looking forward to visitors from all over the world

Ni hao, Bom dia, yassu! You don’t understand a word? For days I’ve been practising how to say “Hello” in lots of different languages.

By train to the plane

“Blast!” I thought this morning when I wanted to head off in my good old Opel Kadett. It was nowhere to be seen! It was probably parked illegally and got towed. So I had no choice but to take the train to work.

The building site – a hive of activity

These past weeks, whenever I’m at work I always feel reminded of home. That’s because at first glance the building site looks like an ants’ nest...

Future jobs

You should have seen their faces. Big, inquisitive eyes. Looks of amazement. More than 2,000 youngsters flocked to yesterday’s Training Fair at Schoenefeld Airport...

Neighbours for the BER: Ground-breaking Ceremony for the Berlin Air Show, ILA

We still have a bit more than a year to go till the next Berlin Air Show, the ILA, but like last year’s, it is likely to attract about 250,000 aviation fans keen to be where the representatives of international aerospace companies negotiate new business deals and present their aircraft to the public – both in the air and on the ground.

Armin dreams of emigrating

You know what, I’m going to emigrate. I’ve had enough. Just look at the date then look out the window and you’ll understand what I mean. Yes, I’m sick and tired of the weather.

The First Check-in Completed!

Admittedly, it was just one old and also rather dusty suitcase – but it was still a very special piece of luggage!

Armin Spares a Happy Thought for Dahlewitz Park

How, in this kind of weather, is an ant, or anyone else for that matter, supposed to be in the mood for anything? ...

Armin Enjoys the Tranquil Moment – in the Quiet Room

Oh, that was great. Mmm! The sunshine! And the glorious heat! I’ve just had a wonderful holiday in Greece...

Armin elated over passenger figures

Right, so now I’d like to hear someone tell me that no one needs BER. You bet we need it! Our sensational passenger numbers in particular prove we do...

Armin welcomes the future – at least for a Sunday

Somehow it seems only natural that we always have to wait for the future. Well, maybe not always...

Armin Is Blown Away

I was in town with my girlfriend, Antonia, yesterday. First we went to Alexanderplatz, then on to Berlin’s famous high street, Kurfürstendamm...

Armin’s counting down

We’re nearly there: in just under a year’s time the new BBI Airport – err, I mean, of course, Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt – will be opening...

BBI southern runway completed

4,000 metres in length and 60 metres in breadth – our southern runway’s completed. I’m proud, I’ll admit it....

Armin is looking forward to the AirCargo Center Berlin

Last year, we managed to almost double the amount of belly freight handled at Berlin Airports. Belly freight is the freight that is transported on ordinary passenger flights ...

Art and Easter Eggs

Did you know that it was the custom for Ancient Egyptians to exchange eggs as presents to mark the coming of spring? ...

A new semester begins

Oh, how wonderful I imagined student life would be. The early bird catches the worm? ...

Happy Birthday, Armin!

One, two, three, four! For he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellow! And so say all of us!! Thank you, thank you! Today is truly a day for celebration...

Armin at the ITB

When my girlfriend Antonia announced this morning over breakfast that she’s ‘just flying to New York in two weeks to go shopping’ my jaw dropped. Just flying to New York, eh?

Armin Looks Forward to the ITB

Brrr, it’s freezing again here. I just hope it won’t be much longer before warmer weather returns. A short trip to Thailand or maybe Mombasa ...

Air freight at BBI: fast, safe and efficient

The new airport BBI will be an important hub for passenger traffic, as I recently explained to my friend Antonia. “But it will be just as important for air freight”, I added...

Armin lets fly

It’s not often, but occasionally I just have to let fly. Not quite as you may think however! ...

Armin looks to the future

Tick, tack, tick, tack – Sind sie auch so ein Mensch, der ständig auf die Uhr schauen muss? Oder ist Ihnen die Zeit vielleicht völlig schnuppe?...

1500 Panes in the Facade

Well, we’ve just put another old year behind us and I’ve decided to do the same with all my bad habits and odd little quirks...

Christmas on site

So, Advent's here again. A festive time of peace and reflection? Well it may be at home with my girlfriend, Antonia, in our cosy little anthill...

Armin looks forward to a nice cosy terminal

If you ever wanted to know exactly what a Siberian winter feels like, all you need to do right now is take a step outside your front door...

Famous Aviators for the Roadways

The road network at the new BBI airport is 90 per cent complete today, but until recently one important thing was still missing...

Armin and his Winter Wonderland

When I crawled out of my anthill this morning, the construction site had been transformed into a glistening white landscape...

Anti-corruption Ombudswoman

Transparency International, the global coalition against corruption, publishes its Corruption Perceptions Index every year...

Work never stops on the building site – not even in winter

Yes, the cold and windy season is back again, with the temperatures dropping faster than the leaves off the trees. Despite the inclement weather ...

Armin Builds Bridges

Passenger boarding bridge, bus or Shanks’s pony? When I fly somewhere, I never know how I will make my way from the passenger boarding bridge...

Antonia goes shopping

Yesterday, my friend Antonia told me exactly what she thinks travelling will be like at the new Airport BBI. It was a little like this ...

A small town at the airport

Yesterday we launched work on the Airport City at BBI by casting the foundations for a crane. A small town will take shape here in front of the terminal ...

Armin and the flying carpet

"Peter Lindbergh will be in town soon." This is what Antonia told me this morning at the breakfast table. "Peter Lindbergh, now who is that?" ...

Sweet dreams: New Airport Hotel

I dropped off on the sofa again last night while watching my favourite film, Antz – probably because I already know it inside out...

Four Years of BBI Construction

“Boy, how you’ve grown!” I haven’t been able to get these words out of my head these past few days.

A Hangar for the BBI

Es ist früh am Morgen, sagen wir so kurz vor acht, und doch ist schon eine Menge los: Dutzende Techniker schwirren ...

Marathon Man

You haven’t heard a squeak from me since last Sunday, and there’s a very good reason for that! I, Armin the Marathon Man, succeeded in completing every single metre of a 21.0975 kilometre course.

Die Gurke fliegt

Lord only knows how many outlandish vegetables my good friend Antonia has tried to get me to eat!

Armin crosses bridges

Antonia had a good laugh at my expense again at the breakfast table this morning. While tucking into my toast and aphid honeydew, I was singing “Over seven bridges”.

Armin does his sums

In this day and age of computers and the internet, I do my humble bit to try and persuade people not to forget the printed word ...

Hot, hot, hotter, BBI

Once again, the sun has taken hold of the construction site this week. And this summer’s “phew, it’s hot” festival is now well under way.

Armin meets children on school holidays

From one blazing inferno to another. After what felt like 55 °C in the Barcelona sun, I returned to Berlin yesterday to much the same.

Armin Goes On Holiday

Spain of all countries! After yesterday’s World Cup match, I was on the point of unpacking my case, I can tell you.

The First Plane Takes Off on 3 June 2012

A few weeks ago, the European Commission brought a new directive into force that materially affects the new Capital City Airport BBI.

Armin is electrified

Seit einigen Tagen schon stehe ich ständig unter Strom. Das hat zweierlei Gründe: Erstens hat mich das WM-Spiel...

Armin is loving the fine weather

“What wonderful weather today”, I said to my girlfriend Antonia yesterday evening ...

Armin Looks Ahead

I hung up a calendar on the wall of our anthill this morning – one of those with a page to tear off every day.

Armin in the Snow

Slowly but surely I’m running out of words to express just how much I loathe this frosty weather and all the snow and ice on the construction site...

Armin at the Carousel

You know how it is: the aircraft has barely touched down and made its way its parking position, and already things start getting hectic....

Armin at the New Year’s Reception

First Daisy and now Bob, high pressure from Scandinavia, bringing bitter cold weather back to Germany...

Armin, the Student

Over the past few weeks, the media have often reported on the education strike and how students armed with mattresses ...

2010: Plenty of Work to Do

The year is barely two weeks old and already I’ve broken all my New Year’s resolutions.

Our first tenant

Although the new airport for the Berlin and Brandenburg metropolitan region doesn’t open until October 2011...

BBI becomes BER

Well, wouldn’t it be nice to be chancellor? At least for a few years in the past. Then you’d be in with a realistic chance ...

Power for the BBI

This morning, as I opened the third little door in my advent calendar, I was greeted by the sight of a tiny light bulb.

The Giants Are on the Move

Does anyone enjoy moving? Packing everything up, carting boxes and crates, unpacking and reassembling are things we all like to get out of the way ...

An Airport for the Region

Well, I think it’s amazing. In just two years’ time, we will be able to fly from the new BBI to New York, Beijing or London...

The Brain of the BBI

Good things come in threes, as we say in Germany: Today we celebrated the third topping-out ceremony at the site this year.

High, Higher, Highest

No news here, really: I’ve been talking for months now about how the terminal building on our BBI construction site has been growing higher and higher...

Armin has drinking water on tap

I don’t want to show off or anything, but did you know that we ants are the most successful insects around? Well, we are...

Armin joins in the bustling exhibition

My head is buzzing: I’ve just spent three days at the commercial property trade show Expo Real in Munich...

Attention all students!

Go back to school? Me? No way! I’m one of those people who belong on a construction site and as you all know...

Reception for state visitors

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe – who will be the one to go?! If only it were that easy. This Sunday is election day and I still have no idea...

Armin invites a caterpillar

Well, I have to say, caterpillars are actually totally alright. And those of you who know...

Quiet Learner

School started again last week in Brandenburg and Berlin and I thought I could just stroll into a classroom...

More Than a Few Spadesful

Do you remember? It’s exactly three years since the Berliner Tageszeitung splashed “Six shovels for Schoenefeld” across its cover page...

Shopping at the BBI

I went to Tegel Airport the other day to pick up my girlfriend Antonia – she had just been away on a three-day shopping trip to London with her friend...

The Roof's Going On!

Getting ready to go to work yesterday, everything was the same as usual to begin with. After breakfast – a bread roll and a cup of black coffee...

The World comes to Rangsdorf

Rangsdorf is a small village south of Berlin. Life here is usually quiet, cosy and unhurried. However, over the past three weeks...

A pulpit for the airport

“In church, a pulpit is a slightly elevated platform”, well, that’s what my friend Antonia recently told me over breakfast between two sips of coffee...

Proud and melancholy

I must admit, I’m feeling slightly melancholy. Letting go is never easy, especially with four ant hands. But I’m still proud...

All you kids on holiday, check this out!

If you haven't heard of it already, you really should get to know about it now: I'm talking about our popular holiday special, "A Day at the Airport". How often do you get the chance...

Here’s to good neighbourliness

As I always say: you’ve got to make an effort to maintain good relations with your neighbours. That’s why I regularly invite Mrs Schmidt...

BBI for 27 million passengers

Everyone’s talking about the crisis: the financial crisis, the economic crisis, the car crisis – and my beloved Antonia even mentioned “relationship crisis” last night...

BBI funding has been settled

There are days when my friend Antonia takes one look at me when I come back from the site – covered in dust and dirt from my feelers to my boots...

The BBI Station

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine an announcement coming over the PA system of a long-distance train...

Please don’t land here!

Who would have thought it? Some things are so wonderfully easy to solve. Just grab a big pot of black paint and a thick brush and paint large...

On the village Green

Last week yet again, I had the impression that even with four hands, I didn’t have enough to cope with all my work...

Off-site Appointment: Noise Control for Selchow

As you know, I’ve really had my hands full this week with the anniversary celebrations for our 1000th day of work on site...

Work on the BBI

Günter has one. Klaus has one. And Mahsun and Jürgen also have one. What is it they have? Quite simply a job on the BBI construction site...

The Intermodal Airport

We already have our hands full on normal days here on the construction site for the new BBI, but at the moment we are celebrating...

1000 Days of Work on the Site: Time to!

The big day is here at last! I’ve been waiting for it for so long now, eagerly counting down the days and tossing and turning restlessly at night...

1.000 Days of Work on Site: Let’s Party!

What a lot of excitement! I get butterflies in my tum just thinking about it. Hardly a night goes by without me tossing and turning restlessly...

Armin Goes Shopping

The famous KaDeWe department store on Berlin’s Ku’damm is to my darling Antonia what the new industrial park on the BBI construction site is to me.

Electricity, Heating and Air Conditioning for the BBI

I’m not one to let my temper be spoiled easily. But it is annoying to come home after a long day’s work to find you have no electricity.

Countdown to the final at the building site

The building site is just like everywhere else in the city at the moment: the only topic on everyone's lips is the local football team Hertha BSC...

Tower Number 2: The Future BBI Tower

“72 metres!” was the answer I gave my darling Antonia when she asked me last night, her limpid almond eyes wide with curiosity

Armin visits the BBI Campus

I always manage to surprise my friend Antonia. “What’s with the get-up?”, she asked me this morning, eying me with a skeptical look ...

Another Milestone

Yes, hand on my heart, sometimes I do feel a little bit melancholy. But in a positive way, of course! You see, I’ve just ...

Now For the Taxiways

Yes, it’s true, Easter is over – sadly. “But here on the construction site, we’re still in party mood,” I told Antonia yesterday ...

Bright, colourful Easter

Now you see them – now you don’t. The Easter eggs, I mean. I’ve hidden some for the children who will be visiting us at the BBI Infotower over the Easter weekend...

As Busy as Ants

People are always saying what busy, active creatures we ants are. And it’s true, as well. In a scientific study not so long ago ...

The Construction Site by Night

At night, all cats are grey. Nonsense! And if you think everything grinds to a halt and fades into darkness on our BBI construction site at ...

Safety First On Site

Safety is always a top priority here on the construction site and that’s how it should be. After all, there are more than 1500 people working ...

The World in Berlin

It comes round every year and every year it’s wonderful. The world is once again Berlin’s guest and people from all over the globe...

It’s a Bat’s Life

While we’re dragging ourselves out of our cosy beds in the early hours every morning ...

Armin in the Garden of Eden

Ever since the Infotower was opened, a relatively steep spiral staircase has been my highway to heaven...

The Construction Site Straight from a Fairy-Tale

When the snow returned to Berlin, the first thing I did was to climb to the top of the Infotower to have a proper look before starting work.

Armin is online

It may seem strange, but sometimes I find myself asking why I even bother to leave my ant’s nest. Do you know the feeling?...

Armin’s Mobile Autograph

My skin colour is actually a fresh, healthy blue, but every time someone asks me for an autograph I turn a deep purple.

Armin and the New Year’s Reception

The last, and I mean the very last thing a man, even an ant man like myself, needs on the morning after the night before is good advice...

Big Freeze on the Construction Site

Sometimes I am truly amazed at the world we live in. We get a light fall of snow, the weather turns fresh and before you know it, the weather report is talking about “Arctic cold”...

The New Year Already the Daily Round

No, I didn’t have a hangover on New Year’s morning, really I didn’t. No such bad luck, thank goodness! ...

Armin and the Winter

Antonia was going absolutely crazy. “Look Armin, it’s snowing! And the snow’s actually sticking!” whooped the ant of my heart....

The Infotower Turns One

When I saunter around the construction site of the future Capital City Airport BBI with visitors, the first impression they get is ...

Armin Raves about Bridge Building

As an ant, tunnels are naturally more my thing – not bridges. But somehow I have always been very fond of bridges...

BBI in the Lecture Theatre

Now and again my girlfriend Antonia accuses me of professorial manners. I don’t know why. ...

Our Heartbeat - The Concrete Pump

A construction site like ours is a bit like a living organism. There’s the site office, that’s the brain, and there are the site roads ...

Jobs at the BBI

There are still pretty much three years to go until the BBI opens. But already the future Capital City Airport is proving to be quite a job engine...

Armin Pays a Visit to the Museum

“You don’t seriously think I’m letting you loose among people looking like that?” Antonia said to me after breakfast ...

Armin and the Bomb

People like us builders, who dig deep down into the ground for a living, unearth all manner of objects over the course of our working life ...

Armin and the Crane

Every morning, Ecki and I start work with a breakfast conference...

Armin at the Children’s Party

Was I nervous when I arrived at Potsdamer Platz last Sunday for the World Children’s Day children’s party! ...

A Trip to the Construction Site with Antonia’s Parents

Antonia and I were having visitors – her parents. I always get a bit nervous when they come because naturally I want to offer my future in-laws ...

New Bus Service to the Infotower

I well remember that for five whole years a red pavilion on stilts was Berlin’s landmark attraction. ...

Armin Does an Eye Test

Antonia teases me sometimes when I screw up my eyes because I can’t make out the nameplates ...

Armin Gasps for Breath

The great thing about our summer tour – and it’s something I notice over and over again ...

“I want fun?” Armin is always having fun!

I’m actually away with the BBI Infobus on our summer tour of Brandenburg until 12 September ...

Traditional rambler

Pedro and I were standing on the edge of the Zuelow lakes bundling brushwood into fascines to strengthen the marshy hiking trail ...

Lesson in Strausberg

I travelled to today’s stop on our BBI Summer Tour on Berlin’s local commuter train network, the S-Bahn. You see, Strausberg is barely an hour away from my anthill on the BBI construction site!

Having a Cool Time!

But there’s no shade to be found anywhere – or is there? When we parked our Infobus in front of the Schlossparkcenter in Senftenberg today, I couldn’t help dreaming about crawling into a cool anthill.

Armin’s Green Heart

Oh, if only I were young again! Not that I feel old or anything... But anyway, I don’t want to get personal. After all, this is not supposed to be about me...

Two Countries in One Afternoon

Now the longer I’m on the road, the more I notice many stories my homeland has to tell. A trip around the world would be hard put to keep up. Today, we’re in Guben.

On Our Way to the Singers’ Monument

I had just been about to take a little stroll around the town and a look at the singers’ monument outside the savings bank. Now I change my mind.

Home Game in Luckenwalde

I’ve been back sleeping in my own bed at home since yesterday – at least for a little while. Our summer tour is “playing at home” until tomorrow.

A Very Special Drill

We are on the road in our beautiful Brandenburg with the BBI Summer Tour 2008. A fire engine has just overtaken us with its siren weewaaing loudly. That set me thinking about my construction site back in Berlin.

Great Work, Driver

On we go on our BBI Summer Tour 2008 through Brandenburg. We’re already quite a team and have an established routine for unpacking and packing everything up again.

Neuruppin’s Famous Son

There’s something I’m beginning to see more clearly on our summer tour: it’s not just the people of Brandenburg who want to find out more about the BBI, it works the other way round, as well.

Cottbus discovers the BBI

I’ve been on the road, as they say in rock music circles, for four days now. And as I’m a bit of a musician myself, I know all about that. ...

An Ant Goes Out Touring

Summer slump? What’s that? We certainly haven’t noticed one here on the site so far. Quite the opposite, in fact. ...

Builders’ Ballet for the BBI Terminal

Today saw the start of work on the passenger terminal at the BBI construction site. Two coaches were filled to the last seat with journalists...

We’re Still Digging

What an excavation job that was! But now we’ve finished. Once again, we’ve come one big step closer to completing our Capital City Airport, ...

3rd AirportRun: 4,000 Guests, 1,800 Competitors, One Happy Ant

Long faces were not the only ones to be seen yesterday, the day of the Euro 2008 final. ...

On Your Marks, Get Set – Half-Marathon!

Now I’m really getting butterflies! It’s just two more days to the 3rd AirportRun and I am so excited! I’ve stopped training now because peace and relaxation are what you need just before the race. ...

AirportRun: 21 Ks to the Cream Cake

It’s a very old question, no doubt about it. One of those questions that always splits athletes into two camps – the stoics and the epicures. ...

The 3rd AirportRun: One Breathless Ant

There are some things in the life of a man, ant man or otherwise, that he will never forget. ...

Great Crush at the Infotower

Yesterday was actually my day off, but I definitely wasn’t planning to miss the opening of the Infotower to all visitors.

A City Tour with Antonia

Today was my day off. And because I had been promising Antonia for a long time that I would do something with her ...

An Ant Gazes into the Sky

“That’s so big it can’t possibly fly!” says Antonia, my girlfriend. She can be so negative sometimes. ...

Brandenburg Dunescape

I know, I know: I’m an ant, so I’m a prime suspect. But I swear I had absolutely nothing to do with the many hills on the airport site!

Springtime is planting time!

It was a warm month, April. Warm and damp – very damp even. “With 80 litres of rain per square metre, in fact, it was way above the average of 60 litres,”

Iron-bending Hercules

On the construction site of the new BBI, there’s always hammering, banging and chiselling going on somewhere.

An ant with something to celebrate

Dear People, Today is a day for celebration! No, it’s not my birthday, but it is something similar...

Big things

Antonia always makes fun of me when we’re on the BBI construction site and I stop to stare at one of the excavators, ...

Armin and the ITB

Last week, the whole world was visiting Berlin. In the end, everyone here was just longing to go away somewhere. An amazing 186 countries had come to the International Travel & Tourism Fair, ITB, to promote their travel destinations. From A for Australia to Z for Zimbabwe, the choice was endless.

Yet more visitors

That’s how it should be! We are seeing a steady stream of visitors to our site at the moment....

Dear Readers,

I just knew it: “lefties” have no time for fools and fancy dress, as they proved on Shrove Tuesday, when they opted to take a look round my construction site ...

Ameisenland

What can I say? There’s just no understanding women! “Your antennas seem to be badly out of order at the moment,” ...

New Year’s Reception: Traditional, Splendid and Substantial

I was absolutely flabbergasted! And so was our Berlin Airports CEO, Dr Rainer Schwarz...

BBI Infotower: Places Free Again

16 January 2008Dear Readers, I would at last like to reward your loyalty today – with a genuine insider tip.

2008: A New Year Begins!

Here I am, back again, wonderfully refreshed after the long Christmas break and bursting with energy for the forthcoming events on the BBI construction site.

Merry Christmas and time to reflect

It's Christmas. You could say, year after year. Or maybe not? My girlfriend Antonia said to me this morning: "Darling, let's not buy each other presents this year."

Farewell North Runway

Admittedly I do feel just a little bit sad to see our old north runway at Schoenefeld being torn up.

A pair of gleaming wellies

As I always say, a good job is worth doing well – and my efforts have certainly paid off once again.

The future – and Berlin – are this close!

It’s less than two weeks since we launched our construction site marketing activities and opened the BBI Infotower ...

An eyecatcher

This is something I have been looking forward to for weeks now and the big day arrived today! ...

Only six more days...

Hello people, you’ll hardly believe this, but it’s true. Here I am on Cuba, snorkelling in the shallow waters...

I’m off for a bit

An interview with Klaus Schwake on ecological monitoring of construction

Those who think all we are interested in here at the construction site is concrete pillars, pipes and diggers are mistaken. We also take care of garlic toads, bats and old trees.

The countdown is ticking...

Even if the construction of our underground railway station is, without a doubt, the most impressive project at our site at the moment, I am particularly fond of the BBI Infotower.

Fluttering Mice

Have you ever wondered why the German name for bats is “Fledermaus” (flutter-mouse)? I mean, what is so mousy about the funny little animals? ...

How We Saved the Three Oaks

Did I ever tell you about the three old oak trees? I’ve been meaning to for quite a while but there’s always so much to report ...

A Visit to airportworld

I’m really beginning to wonder how much longer this is going to go on. Every morning, really every morning ...

Berlin in Celebratory Mood

When Klaus Wowereit invites me to a party, I don’t wait to be asked twice. And certainly not when the party in question is the traditional courtyard party at the “Red Town Hall”. ...

An interview with Ulf Hofmann, project manager for the BBI railway station

Six weeks ago, we started construction work on the underground BBI station. At present there’s a gigantic hole to be seen there.

One Year Working on the BBI Construction Site

It’s incredible how time flies! Work on the BBI construction site has already been in full swing for a year.

Goodbye, Zülow carers!

Today, we have said goodbye to the boys and girls at the international work camp in the Zülow Marsh...

The BBI Ayers Rock

What do you mean, no holiday mood? Even if I can’t get away right now, I’m still experiencing a lot. It’s just a question of imagination, as I always say...

Who, why, how, what?

As the BBI construction site spokesman, I’ve got used to being asked lots of questions now. Some days, though, I have the feeling all I’m there for is to answer questions...

Pelobates fuscus or the garlic toad

I've never met her. How should I? She hibernates all day and is active all night...

Summer, Holiday Time, Spanish Dreams

Mamma mia, I’m really ready for a couple of weeks’ holiday. Somewhere on the Mediterranean, maybe - Mallorca, paella, sangria ...

236 Concrete posts

It’s just one big event after another here at the moment! Last week I was celebrating my sensational performance in the AirportRun...

2nd AirportRun: Speed Record

Eagerly awaited throughout months of preparation and every stage carefully planned. At last, the big day arrived, the day of the AirportRun.

Final spurt: only four days left to the AirportRun

I am absolutely worn out. Only four days to go to the AirportRun and I'm getting more and more nervous. If I don't manage it, how will my lads see me? ...

Low Steve almost sent us flying

There's nothing better than a short, sharp summer shower. The clear air that follows it, the cooling-off, the tang in the air – glorious. Did I say “short, sharp summer shower”?...

A hot night in Brandenburg

One thing before I get going: this time, nothing went wrong! I had my second big appearance yesterday, at the Brandenburg Summer Evening party ...

On your marks...

The countdown is on. In a good three weeks' time, the starting whistle will blow for the 2nd Airport Run. I'm feeling fitter than I have for a long time because I've been training hard over the past few months, doing tempo runs, sprints and long-distance runs ...

Our canteen: Whatever you fancy

Lunch is a must. It’s hard to work on an empty stomach so it’s great that there’s an A1 canteen on the BBI construction site. Not only do they have scrumptious food, they also have charming people to serve it. I have been speaking to one of them today, Janet Kelm from Berlin...

Back and forth

27 April 2007: Back and forth If you only knew how much I’ve got on my plate at the moment! Our structure 262 is almost finished and there we are, busy hammering, banging and painting away, putting the last finishing touches before we hand it over ...

Rissole in malt beer

Butterflies in my tum! My fist big entrance on the construction site and I haven’t slept a wink for two nights. I even managed to get my girlfriend’s back up last night, poor thing ...