Berlin taxi - Lost item recovery?

Do you have a receipt?

Did you order the taxi? Taxi call? If yes ask them which taxi was ordered.

Berlin has a central lost and found. Contact them or go there by U6 subway line (station Platz der Luftbrücke).

How many taxi companies are there in Berlin? Do you remember the color of the cab,or any distinctive features? Maybe you could look at photos of the various types and figure it out. Then contact the taxi company to report it.

Lola, info: taxis in Berlin have all the same color. Berlin had as of end of March 1,749 taxi companies with 5,620 licensed vehicles (official source).

The taxi was not 'ordered' from taxi service. We flagged it down on the street. So no traceability back to a specific taxi company.

No receipt, just a quick cash transaction.. 14 euro fare, I gave him 15, and left. So, no good way to trace it back to a specific driver.

No name, email or phone to identify me in the bag.. perhaps a lesson going forward(?).

I don't have an Apple phone, so Airtags is not an option.

In regards to the choice of location of the shoulder bag.....yes.. 99% of the time it remains on my shoulder...yet in the process of helping my wife with her seatbelt, I unconsciously must have removed the shoulder bag. Not something I generally do....

I can replace the camera and other items...it's really just the years of photos on the SD card that I really wish to recover. I had only a small percentage of the SD card photos backed up elsewhere.

My wife told me not to replace the Rick Steves bag with a like item, claiming bad luck, as an identical one was stolen from my luggage in Italy last year... Despite her warnings, I really like that particular shoulder bag, and will likely order another.

Thank you MarkK for the tip on the Berlin lost and found link. I will certainly pursue that. Your help is very much appreciated.

I did find this info about a central lost property office in Berlin. It is a long shot, but you could try contacting them?
https://www.berlin.de/en/tourism/travel-information/1735948-2862820-lost-and-found-and-lost-property-offices.en.html

Where did the tax driver drop you off? If it was at a hotel or other place of business, there is a possibility the driver would take the item there.

I’m sorry this happened to you. The first photo on my SD card has my name, email, and mobile phone number in the hope that if I lose the camera someone would look through the photos and contact me. I also keep a card with the same information in my purse, wallet, backpack, and suitcase for the same reason. I know this doesn’t help you now, but it is something to consider for the future.

Thank you Laura. A wise suggestion - providing contact info as the first file on an SD card. A good tip (for next time) And thank you for the Berlin Lost and Found link. I've submitted a claim with them. Lessons learned the hard way.