Situation · Tourist ill in Berlin
Tourist ill in Berlin
Tourist ill in Berlin is an occasion for a private medical home visit, for which RAB Arztbesuche dispatches a licensed physician to your home, office or hotel in Berlin daily from 6 am to midnight.
Falling ill on a Berlin trip should not cost you the holiday in a foreign emergency room. We come to your hotel, Airbnb or apartment — board-certified, English-speaking, with full diagnostics. The GOÄ invoice is accepted by German private insurers and international travel insurance alike.
Medically reviewed by Susanne Reiche · Last reviewed
Ill on a Berlin holiday — the common scenarios
Berlin welcomes around 13 million guests a year from Germany and abroad — city travellers, school trips, honeymooners, weekend visitors, concert-goers, sports travellers. Falling acutely ill in this city usually means having no local GP, no familiar insurance network. The emergency room is an option but for non-life-threatening complaints time-intensive: three to five hours of waiting for low-acuity triage in central Berlin is standard. The statutory on-call line 116117 only partially serves foreign visitors without German health insurance. The private house call sits exactly in that gap.
We treat tourists from around the world. English is the default. Further languages are arranged shift-dependent. The GOÄ invoice can include an English diagnosis translation and is accepted by all German private insurance tariffs and by the major international travel insurers (Allianz Travel, AXA Assistance, Europ Assistance, AIG Travel Guard, Generali Global, ERV, World Nomads, Bupa, Cigna Global). Most travel insurers reimburse the full GOÄ amount; we recommend a quick call to your insurer before the visit.
Typical tourist reasons in Berlin
Gastroenteritis after unfamiliar food or hotel breakfasts, acute respiratory infections after long flights, migraine after a sightseeing day, acute otitis (often in children on a Berlin trip), sports injuries after cycling tours, sunburn, lumbago after long walks, allergic reactions to food or pollen, cystitis from poor hydration, syncope, high-fever infections in the hotel room.
English examination and diagnosis translation
The examination runs fully in English on request. Diagnosis explanation, treatment plan and behavioural instructions are all discussed in English. You receive prescription and sick note in the form your insurer or employer back home accepts. We translate the medical certificate; a certified translation can be arranged. If you need follow-up care back home we provide a discharge letter to present there.
How a tourist visit works
You call — or ask reception to call. We take down symptoms, hotel/apartment address, language and travel insurance. Within minutes you receive a time window. The physician calls before arrival. On site the examination runs in English, with rapid diagnostics as indicated and treatment on the spot.
You receive a prescription routed to a Berlin pharmacy on request, an English sick note/certificate and the GOÄ invoice with English diagnosis. We call back the next day for follow-up if useful. If you are fit to travel home, we document it; if not, we document the recommendation to postpone — relevant for travel insurance.
International travel insurance — what to do
Note your insurer name, policy number and the 24/7 assistance phone. Before or during the visit at the latest the insurer / assistance provider should be informed — some require pre-authorisation for reimbursement. From us you receive a detailed GOÄ invoice with English diagnosis to submit for reimbursement.
Typical cost for a tourist visit in a hotel or apartment with examination, rapid test and first-line treatment: EUR 220 to 380. Weekend, holiday and late-evening surcharges apply per GOÄ. Most international travel insurers reimburse in full. For life-threatening emergencies call 112.
Emergency? Dial the emergency number
If unconscious, with severe chest pain, breathlessness or heavy bleeding, dial 112 immediately. Our service complements the emergency services — it does not replace them.
Case profiles
Typical scenarios
Honeymoon couple with gastroenteritis at the hotel
Couple from Australia, third day in Berlin, both ill since the night. We come to the Mitte hotel, examine both, antiemetics, bland-diet plan in English, fit to fly two days later, English sick note for employer.
Family with otitis in a child after the flight
US family, three-year-old daughter with earache and fever after a long-haul flight. Otoscopy shows otitis media, pain drops, age-appropriate antibiotic (indication given), instructions for the Berlin holiday, follow-up at home recommended.
Lumbago after sightseeing
Tourist from Japan, acute lumbago after a long walk, in a Charlottenburg apartment. No neurological deficit, pain injection, muscle relaxant, modified city programme recommended, English sick note.
School trip with febrile infection
Italian high-school student (17) on a Berlin school trip, youth hotel in Friedrichshain, 39 °C and sore throat. Streptococcus rapid test negative, viral infection, symptomatic therapy, instructions for the teacher in English, fit to travel on the following day documented.
Frequently asked questions
Will my travel insurance reimburse the invoice?
Most international travel insurers reimburse GOÄ invoices in full. We issue the invoice with English diagnosis translation. Please inform your insurer before or during the visit — some tariffs require pre-authorisation.
Does the doctor speak English?
Yes — every colleague treats fluently in English. Further languages are arranged from the team on request.
Where do I get the prescribed medication?
We tell you the nearest pharmacy and can route the prescription there. Berlin operates an emergency-pharmacy rota covering nights and public holidays.
Am I fit to fly home?
The physician assesses individually. If clinically fit, you receive a confirmation. If impaired (vomiting, oxygen saturation under 92 %), we recommend postponement with a medical justification — relevant for travel insurance.
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