Thanks for all the responses, but as it turned out, the Gods were smiling on me and CO. We actually arrived in TXL early, and with my LO boarding card and my 1K Star Alliance I am sending this from the very comfy TXL Senators lounge. As it turns out, I could have stored my luggage here and gone into the city if needed. But instead I will be leaving in about 5 min for my flight to WAW.
PS the keyboard here is VERY different than in the US