by Becky T
(originally published in Currents October 2003)

There are four good reasons to become familiar with an Internet café in Hamburg:

1. You know nothing about computers, and you feel that the world is passing you by. You miss out on news, especially messages sent via the AWC Hamburg email loop. An address beginning with “www” draws a blank with you. You would like to learn, but you don’t want to risk a financial fiasco by buying a computer and all that goes with it without knowing if you can find a computer geek to hold your hand.
2. You know computers but have no access to one. Your partner lets you get the news at his office computer but never on your own time. After printing out the 59th letter from your sister at the office, he makes remarks like: “Tell your sister that snail mail is still viable,” or “What would you do without me?” It’s time to become independent.
3. You are new in town and your computers are still in the box. There is no Internet connection in your apartment, and you don’t know how soon there will be, or even how to apply for one. You promised to send 30 people the daily low-down on your new overseas life and you can’t.
4. Your computer is down, dead, kaputt, and your article for the club’s newsletter is due now. You are desperate to send just this one small thing in order to get on with your life.

In all of these situations, the Internet café is the place for you. There are several ways to find one.

1. The next time you walk or ride the bus in your neighborhood, keep your eyes open for an Internet café sign or ask any stranger on the street “Wo ist ein Internet café?” I found three this way.

New Gate Internet Café in Dammtor train station, entry from Theodor-Heuss-Platz, next to McDonald’s. This place is new and inviting, and Martin speaks English. In fact, everyone who walked in while I was there, was speaking English (60 percent of the customers are foreigners, according to Martin). Open daily 8 am–midnight, except weekends when it opens at 10 am. Cost: EUR 1 for 15 minutes. Tel 401 327 70. They also have a shop at Wandsbeker Marktstr 162, tel 66 93 16 70.

Surf & Play, Kollaustraße 8, right next to Siemers Platz in Lokstedt. Open every day at 1 pm. Closes Mon-Thu and Sun at 1 am, closes Fri and Sat at 3 am. One hour costs EUR 4, with special rates for kids and students. Denis Limberg said that he would be happy to help anyone get started, practicing his English at the same time. No telephone.

Match Games, Rothenbaumchaussee 61, tel 41 49 76 26, across from the Völkerkunde Museum (Museum of Ethnology). Opens Mon-Sat at 11 am and Sun at 2 pm. Closes every night at midnight. EUR 1.60 gets you 30 minutes on the computer. Do not fear the life-sized Lara Croft or the soldier dolls in the window. They are harmless and it’s cosy inside.

2. In the “Yellow Pages” of the phone book you will find only two Internet cafés, both Spiele-Netzwerk.

Spiele-Netzwerk, Hamburger Straße 1, tel 22 92 71 36 and Kleiner Schäferkamp 24, tel 45 03 82 10, near U-Bahn Schlump and the Haus des Sports. At the Schlump location you can speak English and get help.

The “Yellow Pages” also suggest going to www.hamburg-magazin.de. When I printed out their six-page list, I found that several of their entries had already folded. Call first if you plan to check them out.

3. Go to the public library (Bücherhalle). The main library is at Große Bleichen 23-27, open Tue-Fri, 11 am–7 pm, Sat 10 am-1 pm. Closed on Sun and Mon. Take along some small change to put into the computer meter. Here you can also pick up a list of libraries in your neighborhood which offer Internet access, such as the one at Weiße Rose 1, tel 60 91 22 90 in Volksdorf or the one at Winterhuder Marktplatz 6, tel 279 26 25 in Winterhude. In 2004, the brand new central library will open in the red brick building (formerly a central post office) next to the Hauptbahnhof. Expect state-of-the-art computer possibilities.

4. Probably the first computers you saw in Hamburg were at the airport. Although the “café” part has been closed, the computers are available downstairs at Terminal 4 near the revolving doors. The cost, last I heard, was EUR 4 for 30 minutes. Available 6 am-10 pm.

5. Die Fabrik communication center, Barnerstraße 36 in Altona just reopened after renovating. (See Bloom Where You’re Planted, page 75.) The Internet café is open Mon-Fri, noon-5 pm. Adult computer courses in German are once a week. Call tel 39 10 71 33 for information.

6. Senior Citizens’ homes and centers have discovered that older people are quite capable of working the Internet. For example, the Albertinen Haus Geriatric Center, Sellhopsweg 18-22 in Schnelsen is proud of its Internet café. There are only three computers, but they are available Mon, Wed, Fri, 9 am–noon for just EUR 3 a morning. Their computer specialist Reiner Hinck is there to help you get started. Tel 55 81 0.

7. In the first rush of Internet excitement, several shopping centers and department stores set up Internet cafés. Some didn’t last long, but one which is very busy is in the basement of the Saturn store, across from Hauptbahnhof, Mönckebergstraße 1, tel 30 95 80. Open 9:30 am-8 pm, Mon-Sat. Fifteen minutes cost EUR 1; an hour is EUR 3. Be there when it opens at 9:30 if you need attention.

Don’t be put off by hoards of young people, low lights, and, in some cases, a smoky atmosphere, although not all Internet cafés allow smoking. Go in the early afternoon before schools are out, and you’ll have the place to yourself. Everyone I talked to said that you could expect support as long as you need it. They were all willing to help you sign up for an email address, specifically with servers such as hotmail, yahoo, gmx or t-online. Picking up your email messages in an Internet café is much like picking up your mail in a post office box.

Everyone will speak some degree of English, enough for “Internetspeak” which is pretty international. Expect more Internet than coffee. In all Internet cafés, you can read emails, surf the Internet and print pages. Some of them have web cams and voice chat, will laminate on the premises and will let you burn information on a CD. Soon, you’ll be so proficient that you’ll be shopping for your own computer.