Berlin
by Andrea Schulte-Peevers · 20 Oct 2010 · 638pp · 156,653 words
Nazi state police, the Sturmabteilung (SA) pursued opponents, arresting, torturing and murdering people in improvised concentration camps, such as the one in the Wasserturm in Prenzlauer Berg. North of Berlin, construction began on Sachsenhausen concentration camp Click here. During the so-called Köpenicker Blutwoche (Bloody Week) in June 1933, around 90 people
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Wilmersdorf, Tempelhof, Kreuzberg and Neukölln – all these areas later formed West Berlin. The Soviets, meanwhile, held on to eight districts in the east, including Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, Treptow and Köpenick, which would become the future East Berlin. The Soviets also occupied the zone surrounding Berlin, leaving West Berlin completely encircled by
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to embrace a more multifaceted realism. In the ’70s, when conflicts of the individual in society became a prominent theme, underground galleries flourished in Prenzlauer Berg and art became a collective endeavour. In postwar West Berlin, artists eagerly absorbed abstract influences from France and the USA, with some theorists positing that
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even doubled as workshops or sewing studios. The plan’s principal legacy was the ring of working-class districts with high-density housing (such as Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg, Wedding and Friedrichshain) that almost encircled central Berlin by 1900. Return to beginning of chapter THE GRÜNDERZEIT The founding of the German empire
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other communal facilities. Best approach is via Aroser Allee. Wohnstadt Carl Legien (Map; Erich-Weinert-Strasse, Georg-Blank-Strasse, Gubitzstrasse, Küselstrasse, Lindenhoekweg, Sodtkestrasse, Sültstrasse, Trachtenbrodtstrasse; Prenzlauer Berg; Prenzlauer Allee) For this development, the one closest to the city centre, Taut arranged rows of four-to-five-storey-high houses and garden spaces
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& NORTHERN WILMERSDORF SCHLOSS CHARLOTTENBURG AROUND SCHLOSS CHARLOTTENBURG KURFÜRSTENDAMM & AROUND WESTERN CHARLOTTENBURG CHARLOTTENBURG LOOP SCHÖNEBERG KREUZBERG RADICAL KREUZBERG FRIEDRICHSHAIN A SOCIALIST SAUNTER ALONG KARL-MARX-ALLEE PRENZLAUER BERG PRENZLAUER BERG WESTERN SUBURBS DAHLEM & AROUND WANNSEE SPANDAU SOUTHERN SUBURBS NEUKÖLLN TREPTOW KÖPENICK EASTERN SUBURBS LICHTENBERG MARZAHN NORTHERN SUBURBS MOABIT PANKOW WEDDING * * * * * * top picks East Side
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until hit by bombs in 1943. * * * TRANSPORT: MITTE – SCHEUNENVIERTEL Bus No 240 runs west along Torstrasse to the Hauptbahnhof and east to Greifswalder Strasse and Prenzlauer Berg. S-Bahn S5, S7 and S9 link Hauptbahnhof, Friedrichstrasse and Hackescher Markt with Zoologischer Garten station in the west and Alexanderplatz in the east. Tram
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M4, M5 and M6 connect Hackescher Markt with Alexanderplatz; M1 connects Museumsinsel and Prenzlauer Berg with the Scheunenviertel; M2 runs north from Hackescher Markt via Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz and on along Prenzlauer Allee. U-Bahn Handy stations are Weinmeisterstrasse and
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lost their edge as the adventurous avant-garde moved on to the artists’ squats and crumbling tenements formerly trapped behind the Wall. Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg have since mutated into posh enclaves of models, media professionals and trust-fund bohemians and not even Friedrichshain is immune to gentrification if the impending
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in works that show death as a nurturing figure, cradling its victims. There’s also a copy of Gustav Seitz’ Kollwitz sculpture on Kollwitzplatz in Prenzlauer Berg. Special exhibits supplement the permanent collection twice annually. English-language audio guides cost an additional €3. MUSEUM FÜR FOTOGRAFIE/HELMUT NEWTON SAMMLUNG Map 266 2188
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stop at Ostbahnhof, Warschauer Strasse and Ostkreuz; S8, S41 and S42 stop at Frankfurter Allee and Ostkreuz. Tram M10 from Nordbahnhof to Warschauer Strasse via Prenzlauer Berg; M13 from Warschauer Strasse for Boxhagener Platz and Frankfurter Allee. U-Bahn Served by U1 from Charlottenburg, Schöneberg and Kreuzberg; U5 from Alexanderplatz along Karl
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a drooping career, and it seems the same can be done with entire neighbourhoods. No other eastern district besides Mitte rejuvenated faster after reunification than Prenzlauer Berg. Once trapped behind the Berlin Wall, it catapulted from war-scarred backwater to charismatic hipster haven in less than a decade. Berliners may whisper
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its bars, cafés and restaurants. Although there are no classical neighbourhood attractions, you too should budget some time for this leafy and vibrant neighbourhood. Prenzlauer Berg has always had great bone structure, so to speak. Badly pummelled but not destroyed during WWII, it languished for decades with its grand 19th-century
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decrepit buildings for virtual pennies and peeled away decades of grime to reveal gorgeous façades and stucco-ornamented interiors. Now pretty as a polished penny, Prenzlauer Berg’s town houses sparkle in freshly applied pastels, their sleekly renovated flats and lofts the haunts of urbanites, gays, creative types, families and professionals.
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alive a burgeoning scene of world-cuisine restaurants, trendy bars, cultural venues, designer boutiques and ‘bio’ (organic) supermarkets. And here’s another thing about Prenzlauer Berg: it has a record-breaking birth rate. Wherever you look, you see women with bellies like pumpkins at various stages of ripeness, 11th-hour mums
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was among the dozens commissioned by Emperor Wilhelm II to ‘create a bulwark against socialism, communism and atheism’ which, he feared, were fomenting in Prenzlauer Berg and other working-class districts. Ironically, rather than stifling such movements, the Gethsemane church encouraged them. Its congregation can look back on a proud tradition
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the church’s south side commemorates the democracy movement. Today the church is a small but active parish that hosts concerts and other events. * * * TRANSPORT: PRENZLAUER BERG S-Bahn S8/85, S41 and S42 stop at Schönhauser Allee, Prenzlauer Allee, Greifswalder Strasse, Landsberger Allee and Storkower Strasse. Tram M1 from Museumsinsel via
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Cadillac’ models – like the new one on Gendarmenmarkt (Map) – can even accommodate women. But you still can’t get coffee… * * * Return to beginning of chapter PRENZLAUER BERG Walking Tour 1 Senefelderplatz Trivia quiz: who’s the inventor of lithography? Why, Aloys Sene-felder (1771–1834), of course. That’s him in marble
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U8 and U9. * * * Wedding is a sprawling former western district that extends east of the Tegel airport, north of Tiergarten and Mitte and west of Prenzlauer Berg. Seestrasse and Osloer Strasse are major east–west arteries, while Beusselstrasse, Chausseestrasse and the continuation of the latter, Müllerstrasse, are important north–south thoroughfares. The
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no-no inside. Return to beginning of chapter SHOPPING * * * OPENING HOURS HISTORIC MITTE MITTE – ALEXANDERPLATZ AREA MITTE – SCHEUNENVIERTEL POTSDAMER PLATZ & TIERGARTEN CHARLOTTENBURG SCHÖNEBERG KREUZBERG FRIEDRICHSHAIN PRENZLAUER BERG * * * * * * top picks AM1, AM2, AM3 Berlinomat Flohmarkt am Mauerpark Harry Lehmann KaDeWe * * * What’s your recommendation? www.lonelyplanet.com/berlin Despite its thirst for
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locals. Go to posh Charlottenburg for international couture and to Kreuzberg for second-hand fashion. In Mitte, bustling Friedrichstrasse has cosmopolitan flair, while Scheunenviertel and Prenzlauer Berg are hotbeds for a regularly changing roster of hip designers. Schöneberg has the fabulous KaDeWe department store, but its side streets are lined with niche
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Red October beer, falling asleep to the Sandmännchen (Little Sandman) TV show or listening to rock by the Puhdys. Return to beginning of chapter PRENZLAUER BERG Kastanienallee is popular for Berlin-made fashions, with several designer stores lined up just south of the U-Bahn station Eberswalder Strasse. Schwedter Strasse, towards
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tips. RATZEKATZ Map Toys 681 9564; www.ratzekatz.de, in German; Raumerstrasse 7; 10am-7pm Mon-Sat; Eberswalder Strasse With its ‘baby town’ reputation, Prenzlauer Berg is certainly a good neighbourhood to seek out playthings for kids – and this shop enjoys an ideal location on charming Helmholtzplatz, so purchases can be
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chapter EATING * * * SPECIALITIES WHERE TO EAT VEGETARIANS & VEGANS PRACTICALITIES HISTORIC MITTE MITTE – ALEXANDERPLATZ AREA MITTE – SCHEUNENVIERTEL POTSDAMER PLATZ & TIERGARTEN CHARLOTTENBURG & NORTHERN WILMERSDORF SCHÖNEBERG KREUZBERG FRIEDRICHSHAIN PRENZLAUER BERG OTHER SUBURBS SPANDAU NEUKÖLLN KÖPENICK WEDDING * * * * * * top picks Café Jacques Edd’s Engelbecken Fellas Henne Il Casolare Si An * * * What’s your recommendation? www.
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good food sources. ‘Bio stores’ that specialize in natural food, organic, hormone-free and sustainable food are cropping up throughout town but especially in Prenzlauer Berg. Return to beginning of chapter HISTORIC MITTE Mitte is awash with swanky restaurants where the décor is fabulous, the crowds cosmopolitan and menus stylish. Sure
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2pm Sat; Wilmersdorfer Strasse) Fresh fruit and veg plus artisanal cheeses, pesto etc, on a beautiful square around a neo-Gothic church. Kollwitzplatzmarkt (Map; Kollwitzplatz, Prenzlauer Berg; noon-7pm Thu, 9am-4pm Sat; Sene-felderplatz) Posh player with velvety gorgonzola, juniper-berry smoked ham, homemade pesto and other exquisite morsels. The Thursday
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casual belly-filling station. Burgers made with organic meat cost a few cents more and tofu types have their own half-dozen selections. Also in Prenzlauer Berg (Map; 7469 5737; Pappelallee 19; Eberswalder Strasse). BURGERMEISTER Map American € 2243 6493; Oberbaumstrasse 8; burger €3.20; 11am-2am or later; Schlesisches Tor You
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breakfast where you fill in a form with your preferred combo of breads, cheeses, jams, meats and eggs. Return to beginning of chapter PRENZLAUER BERG Being largely residential, Prenzlauer Berg has an exceptionally high density of neighbourhood restaurants to cater for on-the-go locals with more money than time. Most are convivial, elbows
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brunch altar until 3pm. Return to beginning of chapter DRINKING * * * ETIQUETTE SPECIALITIES HISTORIC MITTE MITTE – SCHEUNENVIERTEL POTSDAMER PLATZ & TIERGARTEN CHARLOTTENBURG & NORTHERN WILMERSDORF SCHÖNEBERG KREUZBERG FRIEDRICHSHAIN PRENZLAUER BERG * * * * * * top picks Ä Freischwimmer Heinz Minki Kiki Blofeld Kptn A Müller Möbel Olfe Prater Würgeengel * * * What’s your recommendation? www.lonelyplanet.com/berlin Berlin
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-yoghurt number is so light and creamy it tastes practically calorie-free. After 5.30pm, all cakes sell for half price. Other branches are in Prenzlauer Berg (Map; 4401 7273; Rykestrasse 39; Senefelderplatz) and Charlottenburg (Map; 8872 9383; Fasan-enstrasse 29; 11am-7pm; Uhlandstrasse). For the Charlottenburg branch, enter through the
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first drink. Also check MC Charles’ website, www.english-events-in-berlin.de, for updates and additional goings-on. * * * Return to beginning of chapter PRENZLAUER BERG BECKETTS KOPF Map Bar 0162-237 9418; www.becketts-kopf.de, in German; Pappelallee 64; 8pm-4am Tue-Sun; Schönhauser Allee Sensuous lighting gives even
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Further north, Torstrasse and Kastanienallee boast un-elitist but fashionable haunts, as well as plenty of more down-to-earth venues extending up into lively Prenzlauer Berg, which has a particularly well-developed café culture. An up-and-coming area is along Invalidenstrasse north of the Hauptbahnhof. Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf in the
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(the wittily named Fisch Sucht Farrhad – or ‘Fish seeking Bicycle’). KULTURBRAUEREI Map 4431 5152; www.kulturbrauerei-berlin.de; Schönhauser Allee 36, Prenzlauer Berg; Eberswalder Strasse The mammoth former Schultheiss brewery is Prenzlauer Berg’s cultural powerhouse, at the centre of everything that goes on in art, shopping and nightlife. The roll-call of individual
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lease was up in 2008, so check the website to see what the future holds. PFEFFERBERG Map 4438 3342; www.pwag.de; Schönhauser Allee 176, Prenzlauer Berg; Senefelderplatz Also converted from a brewery, Pfefferberg is rougher, readier and more alternative than the Kulturbrauerei, with a cheerfully shabby summer garden, a lounge
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a predominantly 18-to-35-year-old audience from East Berlin. Return to beginning of chapter GAY & LESBIAN BERLIN * * * SIGHTS SHOPPING DRINKING SCHÖNEBERG KREUZBERG FRIEDRICHSHAIN PRENZLAUER BERG NIGHTLIFE CLUBBING CINEMAS FESTIVALS & EVENTS SLEEPING FURTHER RESOURCES MEDIA ORGANISATIONS TOURS WEBSITES * * * * * * top picks Berghain Connection GMF @ Weekend Greifbar Heile Welt Klub International Propaganda @
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with beer, peanuts and flirty chat before moving on to business in the cruisy Greifbar (left). VILLIS Map Bar 4471 9081; Greifenhagener Strasse 45, Prenzlauer Berg; from 7pm; Schönhauser Allee At this unpretentious neighbourhood-style bar, the crowd skews older and you can actually hear yourself talk. Pick from a huge
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online. Check the website, it has all the details. Schall & Rauch Map Guesthouse €€ 443 3970; www.schall-und-rauch.de, in German; Gleimstrasse 23, Prenzlauer Berg; s/d €45/83, incl breakfast; Schönhauser Allee This well-established guesthouse above the eponymous café Click here has huge, sunny rooms, some with plank
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400 varieties of schnapps. Wi-fi is €5 for 15 minutes. Ouch! * * * top picks CHEAP SLEEPS Circus Hostel East Seven Hostel Meininger City Hostel & Hotel Prenzlauer Berg Motel One Berlin-Alexanderplatz (opposite) Wombat’s City Hotel Berlin (left) * * * MÖVENPICK HOTEL BERLIN Map Hotel €€€ 230 060; www.moevenpick-berlin.com; Schöneberger Strasse
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guest kitchen, free wi-fi, lift, good security and free luggage storage. Brownie points for being close to Checkpoint Charlie and happening Bergmannstrasse. For the Prenzlauer Berg branch, Click here. RIVERSIDE LODGE HOSTEL Map Hostel € 6951 5510; www.riverside-lodge.de; Hobrechtstrasse 43; dm €21-22, d €52, linen €2.50,
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special events. * * * top picks ECCENTRIC SLEEPS Eastern Comfort Hostel Boat (opposite) Ostel (opposite) Propeller Island City Lodge Schlafen im Spätkauf * * * Return to beginning of chapter PRENZLAUER BERG HOTEL APARTMENTHAUS ZARENHOF Map Apartment Hotel €€ 802 0880; www.apartmenthaus-zarenhof.de; Schönhauser Allee 140; apt €80-160, breakfast €11; Eberswalder Strasse; A homage to
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Map) is a free public hotspot. The website www.hotspot-locations.com can help you pin down others. * * * Al Hamra (Map; 4285 0095; Raumerstrasse 16, Prenzlauer Berg; 9-4am; Prenzlauer Allee) Surf & Sushi (Map; 2838 4898; Oranienburger Strasse 17, Mitte; noon-late Mon-Sat, 1pm-late Sun; Hackescher Markt, Oranienburger Strasse) Fat
The Rough Guide to Berlin
by Rough Guides · 550pp · 151,946 words
3. Alexanderplatz and around 4. The Spandauer Vorstadt 5. Potsdamer Platz and Tiergarten 6. City West and Schöneberg 7. Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain, Neukölln and around 8. Prenzlauer Berg and around 9. The eastern suburbs 10. The western suburbs 11. Out of the city LISTINGS 12. Accommodation 13. Eating 14. Drinking and nightlife 15
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the inevitable onward march of gentrification. Friedrichshain also offers some unusual architectural leftovers from the Eastern Bloc of the 1950s, while to the north yuppified Prenzlauer Berg is one of the few places in which the atmosphere of prewar Berlin has been preserved – complete with cobbled streets and ornate facades. North of
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you may find that buying a day ticket and hopping on and off the #100 (between Zoo Station and Alexanderplatz) and #200 (between Zoo and Prenzlauer Berg) services with a guidebook is more flexible (and certainly cheaper). Most bus tours depart from the Kurfürstendamm between Breitscheidplatz and Knesebeckstrasse, making the rounds several
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48; / Friedrichstrasse; map); Auguststr. 29a, Mitte ( 030 22 50 80 70; Rosenthaler Platz; map); Bergmannstr. 9, Kreuzberg ( 030 215 15 66; Gneisenaustrasse; map); Kollwitzstr. 77, Prenzlauer Berg ( 030 93 95 81 30; Eberswalder Strasse; map); and Goethestr. 46, Charlottenburg ( 030 93 95 27 57; Wilmersdorfer Strasse; map). There’s also a seventh
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sechstagerennen-berlin.de. Late Jan. A Berlin tradition since the 1920s, this six-day nonstop cycle race takes place in the Velodrom, Paul-Heyse-Str., Prenzlauer Berg. Lange Nacht der Museen lange-nacht-der-museen.de. Late Jan. Many of Berlin’s museums extend their hours – most until midnight – with surprisingly
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and around Museum Island and around Alexanderplatz and around The Spandauer Vorstadt Potsdamer Platz and Tiergarten City West and Schöneberg Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain, Neukölln and around Prenzlauer Berg and around The eastern suburbs The western suburbs Out of the city The natural place to start exploring Berlin is at its most famous landmark
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is virtually all of GDR vintage. A magnet for lefties, anarchists and students, it has managed to resist the levels of gentrification borne by neighbouring Prenzlauer Berg thanks to an organized squatter scene, activist demos and the occasional car-burning frenzy; one such riot in July 2016, sparked by a squat
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and Mitte. Forming Friedrichshain’s northwestern boundary is Volkspark Friedrichshain, one of the eastern city’s oldest and nicest parks; it’s best accessed from Prenzlauer Berg. zoom left zoom right Oberbaumbrücke Warschauer Strasse The handsome, neo-Gothic Oberbaumbrücke connects Friedrichshain with Kreuzberg, across the Spree. The double-decker bridge (and
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a jolly old electric shock via the two-player Pain Station. < Back to Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain, Neukölln and around Northeast of Mitte, the district of Prenzlauer Berg was originally a densely populated working-class district. It was fought over street by street during the war, which meant that many of its hallmark
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retains a distinctive buzz, with lots of independent bars and cafés, boutiques and health-food stores, plus the buzzy Sunday flea market at the Mauerpark. Prenzlauer Berg is strung out along several arterial roads that are well served by public transport from Alexanderplatz or Hackescher Markt. From Alexanderplatz, Otto-Braun-Strasse, which
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Wedding are up-and-coming areas peppered with the kind of underground spaces that were once common in Prenzlauer Berg during the 1990s. ARRIVAL AND GETTING AROUND: PRENZLAUER BERG AND AROUND Prenzlauer Berg The quickest way to get to Prenzlauer Berg is by public transport from Alexanderplatz. Tram #M4 travels up Greifswalder Strasse to Weissensee, the #M2
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the Museumswohnung Zimmermeister Brunzel (Museum Apartment of Master Carpenter Brunzel) was once one of hundreds of Mietskasernen, or tenement flats, that sprouted in districts like Prenzlauer Berg to house workers between the 1870s and 1890s. Virtually all followed standardized plans that were loosely based on the traditional Berlin courtyard layout of places
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city still has a small Jewish community. Senefelderplatz and around Although it’s not an official boundary, Senefelderplatz forms a natural segue between Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, connecting with Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz to the south and Kollwitzstrasse and Schönhauser Allee to the north. Previously known as Pfefferberg (Pepper Hill) after the
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should keep their heads covered, skullcaps loaned free at the entrance • 030 441 98 24, jg-berlin.org • Senefelderplatz The Jüdischer Friedhof Schönhauser Allee, Prenzlauer Berg’s Jewish cemetery, opened in 1827 when space ran out at the Grosse Hamburger Strasse cemetery. Almost 22,000 people are buried here, including painter
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them: “On this spot in 1933 decent German resistance fighters became the victims of fascist murderers. Honour the dead by striving for a peaceful world.” PRENZLAUER BERG Museum Pankow – Prenzlauer Allee Prenzlauer Allee 227–228 • Mon–Fri 9am–6pm • Free • 030 90 29 53 917, berlin.de/museum-pankow/ • Senefelderplatz or
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Wasserturm area, the largely overlooked Museum Pankow – Prenzlauer Allee, the principal of the three institutions that make up the Pankow Museum, documents the history of Prenzlauer Berg and its mainly poor working-class inhabitants from the nineteenth century to today. The permanent exhibition consists mainly of photos and text (German only) displayed
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in 2007, who used black-and-white photographs and a €6 million budget to lavishly re-create the remarkable original. Kollwitzplatz and around Senefelderplatz A Prenzlauer Berg focal point, Kollwitzplatz is named after artist Käthe Kollwitz, of whom there’s a large statue in the little park on the square. From
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trams and traffic and a mix of cheap and trendy shops fight for space and attention. Eberswalder Strasse and around U-Bahn Eberswalder Strasse is Prenzlauer Berg’s busiest hub; under the station and the elevated railway tracks along Schönhauser Allee lies the famous sausage kiosk Konnopke’s. North of the
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station, Schönhauser Allee assumes its true identity as Prenzlauer Berg’s main drag, an old-fashioned shopping street that, thanks to its cobbles and narrow shop facades, still retains a vaguely prewar feel – an
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Wedding and Gesundbrunnen With their long-standing immigrant population and increasing influx of creative expats, Wedding and Gesundbrunnen – two adjoining districts that lie west of Prenzlauer Berg (and form a northern extension of the borough of Mitte) – are generally regarded as outlier areas. Both areas have something of a frontier feel in
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by would-be escapees and relates stories of success – three hundred people managed to escape the GDR in this way – and failure. < Back to Prenzlauer Berg and around Berlin’s eastern suburbs have inevitably changed significantly since reunification but they’re still in many ways the best place to gain some
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.de. Part of a national chain, offering rooms ranging from the simple to the luxurious. Brilliant Apartments brilliant-apartments.de. Specializes in apartments in the Prenzlauer Berg district. Citybed 030 23 62 36 30, citybed.de. Online accommodation booking, with prices starting at around €25 per person. Ferienwohnung Berlin ferienwohnungen-berlin.
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four-star has comfortable, colourful rooms and a couple of restaurants serving north German and international dishes, plus a fitness centre and roof terrace. €110 PRENZLAUER BERG Acksel Haus Belforter Str. 21 030 44 33 76 33, ackselhaus.de; Senefelderplatz; map. Small, offbeat hotel on an attractive residential street in the
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heart of the lively Prenzlauer Berg scene. Themed rooms (Rome, Picasso, Safari) come with access to the Mediterranean garden. €130 Linnen Eberswalder Str. 35 030 47 37 24 40, linnenberlin
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73 36 23, lettemsleephostel.berlin; Eberswalder Strasse; map. Quirky hostel with clean and comfy, if basic, rooms, just steps away from the action in Prenzlauer Berg. Big plus points include the cosy living room, coffee and tea; DVD evenings; summer beer garden; and communal kitchen. Discounts for stays of three nights
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and restaurants, which often use lard and beef stock liberally. Berlin also has several vegan supermarkets and shops, including Veganz (stores in Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain and Prenzlauer Berg and; veganz.de) and Neukölln’s Dr Pogo (Karl-Marx-Platz 24; veganladen-kollektiv.net). USEFUL PHRASES I am a vegetarian (feminine ending in parenthesis
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. Mains around €12–21. Daily 6pm–late. Chutnify Pflügerstr. 25 030 25 89 31 00, chutnify.com; Hermannplatz; map. The sister restaurant of the Prenzlauer Berg original is just as colourful, and serves the same delicious array of south Indian cuisine. Tues–Sun noon–11pm. Industry Standard Sonnenallee 83 030 62
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be easier. Most of the edgier places are to be found scattered throughout Friedrichshain, eastern Kreuzberg and Neukölln – and increasingly in Treptow – with Spandauer Vorstadt, Prenzlauer Berg and City West having succumbed to gentrification and offering mostly cocktail bars and commercial clubs rather than raves. As in most major cities, Berlin’s
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pankow.de/biergarten/; Vinetastrasse; map. Set within a partly revived but still semi-dilapidated nineteenth-century brewery right next to a bustling main road between Prenzlauer Berg and Pankow, this beer garden has a somewhat unique ambience. It offers a decent selection of beers and wines, a ramshackle assortment of deckchairs, benches
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rainy days). Herman Schönhauser Allee 173 030 44 31 28 54; Senefelderplatz; map. Located along the busy section of Schönhauser Allee that links Mitte with Prenzlauer Berg, this Belgian-themed bar – run by welcoming and knowledgeable owner Bart Neirynck – has an incredibly broad selection of beers. It’s a great place
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experimental and political art, pushing far beyond the boundaries of mainstream classic theatre. Tickets €10–36. EXPERIMENTAL AND FREE THEATRE BAT Studiotheater Belforter Str. 15, Prenzlauer Berg 030 755 41 77 77, bat-berlin.de; Senefelder Platz; map. Originally founded in 1975 for workers and students, this can usually be relied on
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interesting, modern and experimental. The theatre also features a major annual contemporary dance festival in August. Tickets €5–30. Schaubude Berlin Greifswalder Str. 81–84, Prenzlauer Berg 030 423 43 14, schaubude-berlin.de; Greifswalder Strasse or tram #M4; map. Former GDR puppet theatre now presenting weekly changing shows for adults and
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the Alexa Centre, just southeast of Alexanderplatz. Meanwhile, many of the city’s funkiest speciality shops and expensive boutiques are concentrated in Charlottenburg, Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, and more independent stores can be found around Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain and Neukölln. BOOKS AND MAGAZINES Berlin boasts a great variety of new and secondhand bookstores
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prices down. Stock is always changing but expect handbags and shoes, suits and jackets from top designer brands. Mon–Sat noon–8pm. Eisdieler Kastanienallee 12, Prenzlauer Berg 030 28 38 12 91, eisdieler.de; Eberswalder Strasse; map. Urban fashion design for men – clothing and accessories – including brands like Qwstion, Onitsuka Tiger,
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pricey avant-garde and androgynous clothing, complemented by bags, belts, jewellery and more. Mon–Fri 10am–7pm, Sat noon–6pm. Flagshipstore Oderberger Str. 53, Prenzlauer Berg 030 43 73 53 27, flagshipstore-berlin.de; Eberswalder Strasse; map. Great one-stop shop to explore the urban collections of some thirty local designers
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soma-berlin.de; Weinmeisterstrasse; map. Cool labels like nümph and King Louie, plus an impressive range of accessories. Mon–Sat noon–8pm. Thatchers Kastanienallee 21, Prenzlauer Berg 030 24 62 77 51, thatchers.de; Eberswalder Strasse; map. Upmarket fashion store for women who like their clothes classy and sexy but not over
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and other Italian deli items. A second branch is in the Marheineke Markthalle. Mon–Fri 9am–8pm, Sat 9am–4pm. Goldhahn und Sampson Dunckerstr. 9, Prenzlauer Berg goldhahnundsampson.de; Eberswalder Strasse; map. Foodies’ paradise selling herbs, spices and other tasty delicacies from all over the world, plus cookbooks and kitchen utensils. Regular
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einhornonline.de; Uhlandstrasse; map. Excellent wholegrain breads and cakes, baked in-house, at this popular veggie caff. Mon–Fri 10am–5pm. LPG BioMarkt Kollwitzstr. 17, Prenzlauer Berg 030 322 97 14 00, lpg-naturkost.de; Senefelderplatz; map. Europe’s largest organic supermarket with a staggering 18,000 products, many from the countryside
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long hours and is cheap despite its central location. Speciality food shops are spread throughout the city, with an extra emphasis on Vietnamese stores in Prenzlauer Berg and Turkish and Middle Eastern foods most readily available in Kreuzberg and Neukölln. HOMEWARE Hallesches Haus Tempelhofer Ufer 1, Kreuzberg hallescheshaus.com; Hallesches Tor;
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women’s clothing, kitsch Berlin-themed postcards and games plus locally produced artworks. Mon–Fri 11am–8pm, Sat 11am–6pm. Supalife Kiosk Raumerstr. 40, Prenzlauer Berg 030 44 67 88 26, supalife.de; Eberswalder Strasse; map. This funky little boutique sells the wares of Berlin urban artists, from comics and fanzines
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www.xenon-kino.de; Julius-Leber-Brücke; map. Gay cinema that often screens English-language independent films. Tickets €7.50. BOOKSHOPS Anakoluth Schönhauser Allee 124, Prenzlauer Berg 030 87 33 69 80, anakoluth.de; Schönhauser Allee; map. Well-stocked lesbian bookstore, which also puts on exhibitions and readings. Mon–Fri 10am–8pm
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relentless urbanization. Between 1890 and 1900, Berlin’s population doubled to two million and thousands of tenement buildings sprang up in working-class districts like Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding. The poor conditions here meant its residents were solidly behind the Social Democratic Party (SPD), whose deputies were the chief dissenters within the
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affordable housing and both approached this in similarly dismal ways, illustrated by the high-rises of Marzahn. More sensitive regeneration projects followed in areas like Prenzlauer Berg in the east and Kreuzberg in the west. Reunification and the twenty-first century After the Wende, attention shifted to the building projects in areas
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Linden and around Museum Island Alexanderplatz and around The Spandauer Vorstadt Potsdamer Platz and Tiergarten City West Schoneberg Western Kreuzberg Eastern Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain Neukölln Prenzlauer Berg Pankow Wedding and Gesundbrunnen The eastern suburbs Köpenick The western suburbs Charlottenburg and Spandau The Grunewald Out of the city Potsdam and Sanssouci < Back
The Passenger: Berlin
by The Passenger · 8 Jun 2021 · 199pp · 63,724 words
Juliane Löffler. The Evicted Generation — Annett Gröschner Annett Gröschner was one of the many liberty-craving young East Berliners who moved into the run-down Prenzlauer Berg district in the 1980s. After the fall of the Wall the local authorities promised to restore the buildings and keep the existing social fabric intact
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created my playground.’ Gloomy – that was her first impression of the city on the other side of the Wall. She went on bicycle safari: Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg, Mitte – façades perforated by bullet holes, aged streets patched up with tar. Pale-yellow trams crawled past sooty-brown houses. Trams were not something she
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German word quer, which can mean to go against something: against the norms of being white, heterosexual, living in Berlin with your small family in Prenzlauer Berg, going to bed at 10 p.m. so you can be at your best for your job the next morning. It means living out a
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another. Tonight we build a sense of oneness out of our diversity. The Wasserturm, a former water tower, is one of the iconic landmarks of Prenzlauer Berg. The building, in which people were once imprisoned and tortured by the Nazis, has now been converted into private apartments. The Evicted Generation The writer
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Annett Gröschner was one of the many liberty-craving young East Berliners who, in the 1980s, moved into the run-down Prenzlauer Berg district, a refuge for artists, intellectuals and dissidents. After the fall of the Wall the local authorities, which owned most of the buildings, promised to
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Berlin University of the Arts, having also worked at Humboldt University. She is the author of numerous books on the city of Berlin and on Prenzlauer Berg, the neighbourhood in which she has lived for almost forty years, and she also works at the local museum. My Berlin begins on a summer
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suggest that this would ever change. Ever since I’d seen Konrad Wolf’s film Solo Sunny in 1980, about a misfit singer living in Prenzlauer Berg, I’d had a setting for my dream of independence: a flat with a large room on the fourth floor at the rear of a
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a telephone, a large room with many books, a record player, tea in ceramic cups, a typewriter. Here I would be free. ‘The roofs of Prenzlauer Berg were a good place to be in those days. You stood above all the shitty conditions down below, close to the sky, and every few
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was, scarcely two hundred metres away, my rope ladder made of thoughts. There is a photo, taken in the 1970s by Helga Paris, of a Prenzlauer Berg street, old people shuffling along wide paths paved with the granite slabs known here as ‘pork bellies’, cars by the kerbside, the façades of the
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rubble was being cleared away it had just been piled into the cellars. The filmmaker Jörg Foth wrote that whenever you rounded the corner in Prenzlauer Berg that corner was missing. In the provinces of the GDR the saying ‘city air makes you free’ had a very special meaning. It actually dates
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freedom. The Stasi found me a month later and took me to the police headquarters on Alexanderplatz for questioning. Even in the bewildering backstreets of Prenzlauer Berg one could not truly hide. I nevertheless felt at home here among those like-minded people – people who put on performances, wrote poems, made earrings
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in a big city, even a big city in stasis. I spent the turn of the year 1988–9 on a roof. The roofs of Prenzlauer Berg were a good place to be in those days. You stood above all the shitty conditions down below, close to the sky, and every few
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crashed, and I sat with all the other passengers on a hill next to the wreckage and knew in my dream that it was still Prenzlauer Berg. Still East. Today planes land at the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Schönefeld. Where once we hung out our laundry to dry there are expensive
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the upheaval was so peaceful – because there was nothing worth defending. The 1990s were a transition period, bringing the return of many who had left Prenzlauer Berg for the West in the years before the Wall came down and the emigration of others who had until then remained. Some changed jobs. One
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name just a few. Up to the mid-1990s there were few ways – certainly none of them financial – in which the people who came to Prenzlauer Berg, primarily from West Germany but also from all over the world, differed from the artists who were already living there before the fall of the
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availability of accommodation became increasingly squeezed once the principle of ‘restitution before compensation’ was enforced in Prenzlauer Berg and elsewhere. There followed a spate of ‘warm renovations’ – arson attacks, often undetectable, for the purposes of insurance fraud. Prenzlauer Berg was turned into the largest construction site after Potsdamer Platz, and cheap, hard-to-heat
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, with the harmless-sounding term Abgeschlossenheitsbescheinigung (certificate of completion), led to the flats within the blocks being sold off individually. That changed everything for the Prenzlauer Berg scene, which was sucked up into the vortex of a large-scale population exchange, suffering what might from an outside perspective be viewed as collateral
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in strawberry foliage’ – as the German title of Comrade Couture (Ein Traum in Erdbeerfolie), Marco Wilms’s 2009 film about the underground fashion scene in Prenzlauer Berg, translates – vanished into thin air. Prenzlberg was cute, and what is cute loses the power to unsettle. For the high-income bourgeoisie, mostly from the
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inheritance generation, it became fashionable to buy a flat in Prenzlauer Berg instead of a home on the edge of the city. Location, location, location was now the guiding principle. The word that
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Prenzlauer Berg was now domesticated spread far and wide. Meanwhile, cultural institutions were dismantled and funds cut as the financial crisis of 2008 started a capital flight
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intensified, affecting most artists and writers. Structurally Kreuzberg, which was on the western side of the Wall, is the most obvious point of comparison with Prenzlauer Berg. In much the same way it drew young people with pacifist inclinations from the provinces to settle and rescue houses earmarked for demolition and to
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years two features protected Kreuzberg from change beyond recognition: a population of Turkish and Arab origin and a low availability of property for private ownership. Prenzlauer Berg did not enjoy the same kind of population diversity, particularly since every flat conversion caused the area, and possibly the city, to lose at least
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now among their own kind in nurseries and primary schools. Nowhere do teachers get to feel their loss of status so keenly as in a Prenzlauer Berg primary school. Now, however, Kreuzberg, too, is being bought up. ‘Fewer than 20 per cent of those living in the
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Prenzlauer Berg redevelopment areas at the start of renovation are still there today.’ With a short break I have lived in Prenzlauer Berg for thirty-eight years, fifteen of which I have spent as a freelance writer on the
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, ‘we are only the administrators. Your block is in co-ownership.’ The pedestrian bridge between Kopenhagener Strasse and Dänenstrasse, one of the few corners of Prenzlauer Berg that still retains the feel of the 1990s. The cellar of the Kohlenquelle, the bar to the left of the end of the bridge, was
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development, people fulfilling this function were referred to as ‘dry dwellers’. By the time of the surveyor’s phone call I had been living in Prenzlauer Berg for almost thirty years. I had lived in properties of the municipal housing management and in the notorious Alscher houses, named after the company that
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homes and sold off to individual owners. Fewer than 20 per cent of those living in the Prenzlauer Berg redevelopment areas at the start of renovation are still there today. In the Winsviertel quarter of Prenzlauer Berg the proportion is just 16 per cent, only half of whom are still in the same flat
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of a company that carries out cautious urban renewal asserted that after the fall of the Wall there had been no long-established population in Prenzlauer Berg which required protection from displacement; it had become a transit area for young people, and those with long-term housing needs were by that time
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the priority task of socially acceptable urban renewal – that is, to protect low-income tenants from being displaced – had not even been deemed necessary in Prenzlauer Berg. With the help of a false assertion a failure of social urban renewal could be spun as a success: look how lovely it all looks
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the city and on their neighbours. As rates of property ownership increased, clubs, leafy trees, pubs, smoking corners and even playgrounds started to disappear from Prenzlauer Berg. The area has become a boring, snoring place that I would have left long ago if it weren’t my home. This is not something
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he’d gone before I was able to regain any sense of having dominion over my own home. He immediately complained that doing business in Prenzlauer Berg was not easy, what with the riff-raff on site, prices distorted and about to go into a bubble, or something like that, whereas the
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terraced part of the area was an honest business. He told me he had received several phone calls from people who had heard the name Prenzlauer Berg, thought it had a good ring to it and had a sense that their money would be safe here. I told him that as far
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the flat won’t bring them any children. I have been living north of the Ringbahn, Berlin’s circular railway, for four years, still in Prenzlauer Berg but in a residential part designed in the 1920s as a counter-balance to the styles of the Gründerzeit. The homes are small, low-rise
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bridge from the city centre, and the pushchairs and bicycles cheaper. As long as I can pay the rent, I’ll stay here. Today’s Prenzlauer Berg with its stock of Gründerzeit housing is no longer inhabitable as a real place for autonomous art – for now. One could wait until the clinker
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in 1999, ‘At some point the stage has been reached where the myth has found its fixed form and will survive for thousands of years. Prenzlauer Berg does not actually need to have existed; the myth is enough. It should be encouraged. The spirit hovers over it, and there the matter is
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that its dilapidated Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark gives the impression of being some kind of throwback to a more primitive time in otherwise spruced-up Prenzlauer Berg. In fact, so dilapidated is the iconic GDR-era stadium that it has now been slated for demolition and the team obliged to return to
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small supporter base. BFC has spent the past few years trying to attract more people to its new home in the currently hip district of Prenzlauer Berg, without much success so far, whereas the hipster image seems to come naturally to Union. Perhaps match days at the BFC ground still feel stuck
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I overran, the Mauer, the Wall, brought lots of green space with it. Ride your bike along the Mauerweg path and you’ll see. In Prenzlauer Berg it even opens out into a park, the Mauerpark. For some time now I have been even greener, because there were bomb sites everywhere in
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undergoing rapid transformation. Füsers wrote that during his research he found just one old Eckkneipe in the Mitte neighbourhood and only two or three in Prenzlauer Berg. A hundred and fifty years ago Berlin had the highest density of public houses of any city in Europe. The 1806 Berlin Lexicon recorded 155
Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
by Tim Mohr · 10 Sep 2018 · 370pp · 107,791 words
. But I quickly discovered a scene exploding with color and creativity behind the dilapidated, shrapnel-pocked façades of the central East Berlin boroughs of Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, and Friedrichshain. Hidden behind unmarked doors, down ladders in empty lots, nestled among the crumbling bricks of a candlelit basement or a disused cistern, in
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clubs and bars, and continued to spend long nights in many more. I moved away from the zoo, first to Friedrichshain, then to Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, and a stay that was supposed to last six months stretched out for a year and then another and another and another. That Berlin—the
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, and never went home again. 5 The first place Pankow fled to was a friend’s apartment on Göhrener Strasse, just down the road in Prenzlauer Berg. The friend lived in the rectory of Elias Church, which was run by an opposition-friendly minister named Georg Katzorke. Things quickly got complicated there
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when Pankow fell for the minister’s daughter. The next place he landed was an apartment on Wörther Strasse, near the water tower in central Prenzlauer Berg. A friend of Pankow’s had just fled the country, so Pankow squatted the guy’s now-empty place. There were two versions of squatting
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parts of cities like Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, and Halle. By the early 1980s the government estimated that 800 people were squatting in East Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood alone; that number would double by the end of the decade. It was one way opposition-minded youths started to carve out physical space
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which led to strife at home. More and more of them sought out living space between the cracks, occupying legal apartments illegally or squatting in Prenzlauer Berg or Friedrichshain. In order to live outside society, as they were being forced to do, they had to create space beyond the dictatorship’s web
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12, Esther, now seventeen, and a boy named Robert Paris peeled off from the others and headed home. Robert’s place, on Stargarder Strasse in Prenzlauer Berg, was on Esther’s way home. Esther had recently seen a West German calendar at a friend’s place—it was one of those word
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to make their live debut—at a blowout on the final night of 1981 in an artist’s atelier on Lychener Strasse, in the bohemian Prenzlauer Berg district. As the punk scene had exploded over the course of 1981, artists and alternative literary figures all over the country had quickly taken an
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she wanted to explore the possibility. Through his family, Moritz Götze knew some artists and artisans in East Berlin and gave Jana an address in Prenzlauer Berg. He said she could just knock on their door and they’d let her sleep there. She packed a few things and headed to the
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stay in her little village on the outskirts of the city. So her mother agreed to have her spend three weeks of every month in Prenzlauer Berg and work as a guest apprentice at her aunt’s ceramics atelier; for the fourth week of every month Mita would be at home under
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very quickly if he didn’t find a job. They helped him land one as a handyman at a church facility on Göhrener Strasse in Prenzlauer Berg—the rectory and meeting halls of the nearby Elias Church, the same place where Pankow had crashed when he first fled his parents’ home. Postler
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her new home in the way she knew best—by causing chaos. One night she and Mita ran out of matches while walking around in Prenzlauer Berg and went into a bar to buy a pack. “Let’s see your papers first,” said the proprietor. “Are you crazy?” said Jana, “We just
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. Jana and A-Micha got engaged and set a date for the fall. Soon Jana and Mita squatted another apartment, on Stargarder Strasse, back in Prenzlauer Berg, not far from Mita’s aunt’s atelier. This apartment had been abandoned by somebody they knew—he’d been arrested and slapped with Berlin
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—A-Micha had gotten to know more and more peace and environmental activists, in part because some of them were squatting in a building in Prenzlauer Berg near his own. Laying flowers to honor Mühsam was another moment when the different groups realized they shared goals, and older activists were forced to
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. This was getting fun. 29 On the morning of Thursday, August 11, 1983, Jana heard a knock at the door of her squatted apartment in Prenzlauer Berg. It took a while for the sound to register. She and Mita had been out late partying the night before and had been in bed
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the apartment of a guy named Aljoscha, who had both East German and Swiss passports and was a fixture in the social scene of bohemian Prenzlauer Berg. His place was a party hub frequented by a lot of musicians, including punks. Interpersonal tensions created an even bigger problem for Planlos than the
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at a standstill that fall, mutual animosity simmering and tempers flaring, Lade called a band meeting at Café Mosaik on Prenzlauer Allee—one of the Prenzlauer Berg cafés frequented by bohemian types. Lade was the only band member to speak. He gave Pankow one more chance: leave Nase because she’s with
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his former buddies got out of prison. Before long Jörn disappeared to Berlin, slipping off the grid and living illegally in a derelict building in Prenzlauer Berg, among the many punks who had taken up similarly tenuous, invisible lives inside the physical borders of East Germany but somehow outside the DDR. But
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Becker/Nikolaus Becker Fotografie East Berlin punks at Plänterwald, ca. 1981 Harald Hauswald / Ostkreuz Agency Punks on Alexanderplatz, ca. 1982 SUBstitut Archive Rosa Extra in Prenzlauer Berg, 1982 Harald Hauswald / Ostkreuz Agency Keule, Colonel, and Esther Friedemann, ca. 1982 Helga Paris Archive Hand-printed poster for the first punk festival at Christus
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Tatjana Besson of Die Firma (standing behind Landers) at a planning session at the squat Eimer, 1990 Maurice Weiss / Ostkreuz Agency Buildings being razed in Prenzlauer Berg in the late 1980s Harald Hauswald / Ostkreuz Agency Ratte, bassist of HAU and L’Attentat, on a train to Berlin, 1983 Christiane Eisler / Transit Agency
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IV Rise Above 38 On the last night of 1983, Elias Church in Prenzlauer Berg hosted a punk gathering and somewhat subdued New Year’s party. The event had originally been planned for September, but no church had agreed to
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. Kriening asked Paul to come meet Aljoscha on the afternoon of Thursday, March 31, 1983. Paul waited for Kriening and Aljoscha at Senefelder Platz in Prenzlauer Berg. Paul was shocked when Kriening showed up with a balding old man in jeans, a T-shirt, and a leather vest. Who the hell is
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country, not leave it. I will not let them defeat me. Upon her release, A-Micha and Jana moved into a squat on Schliemannstrasse in Prenzlauer Berg. Mita was living nearby in a place she had squatted on Gleimstrasse. The punk council—originally formed at Pfingst Church, now based at Erlöser—and
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Open Work had started to facilitate the squatting of apartments, particularly in the crumbling nineteenth-century buildings of Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain. There were nearly-entire buildings squatted on Lychenerstrasse, Schliemannstrasse, and Dunckerstrasse in Prenzlauer Berg, and on Simon-Dach-Strasse in Friedrichshain. The punk network maintained a catalogue of empty apartments various people
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lumped together and called die anderen bands, or the other bands; that is, the outsiders. 47 In the 1980s, rent on an official apartment in Prenzlauer Berg cost about fifty East marks a month. You could get twenty freshly baked bread rolls for one mark. But one blank cassette cost twenty marks
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B had a cousin in West Germany who sent him a nice tape deck as a gift. For a time, nearly all the recordings in Prenzlauer Berg were made on that deck. But while lots of bands and musicians recorded on Flake’s tape deck, Flake’s own band Feeling B was
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headed to the schools, gyms, and municipal buildings that made up the polling locations. Teams of monitors blanketed the stations in three East Berlin districts: Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, and Weissensee, and more limited monitoring took place in Leipzig, Dresden, Erfurt, Rostock, Potsdam, Halle, Magdeburg, Weimar, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Jena, and other cities
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. In Berlin’s Weissensee, monitors attended 66 of 67 polling stations; in Friedrichshain, 82 of 89; in Prenzlauer Berg, 41 stations, which represented a third of the total. Once polling stations closed at six on that sunny spring evening, election officials dumped the ballots
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were published in official Eastern media. Obviously the specific numbers didn’t jibe with the monitors’ figures any more than the initial numbers had. In Prenzlauer Berg, for instance, monitors in just one third of the total polling stations counted 2,659 votes against the ruling party slate; the official tally for
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protests sprung up elsewhere around the country. From October 2 on, thousands of Berliners attended candlelit vigils held nightly in front of Gethsemane Church, in Prenzlauer Berg. A-Micha was still living in his squatted apartment on Schliemannstrasse, just around the corner from Gethsemane Church. In the chaos around him, and in
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police brutally suppressed demonstrators during and after the official celebrations; one demonstrator died and about five hundred were detained as protestors roved the streets of Prenzlauer Berg. Similar clashes took place all over the country. Again ordinary citizens were confronted with state-sanctioned violence inflicted on peaceful protesters, in Berlin, in Leipzig
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weekly meetings in January 1990. The more she listened, the more interested she became. By early 1990 about fifteen buildings had been squatted in Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, and Lichtenberg, including Köpenicker Strasse 137 and Kastanienallee 85/86, which still exist in largely the same form today, as residential collectives. On the
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. There were similar plans for mass demolition in Berlin’s historic districts. One would have razed two-thirds of the buildings in some sections of Prenzlauer Berg. In Friedrichshain, all six of the buildings squatted on Kreuzigerstrasse were slated for demolition in early 1990. If not for the rethinking caused by the
Pocket Rough Guide Berlin (Travel Guide eBook)
by Rough Guides · 16 Oct 2019 · 212pp · 49,082 words
not to miss Itineraries Places Spandauer Vorstadt The Museum Island Unter den Linden and the government quarter Alexanderplatz and the Nikolaiviertel Potsdamer Platz and Tiergarten Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding Friedrichshain West Kreuzberg East Kreuzberg Neukölln Charlottenburg Schöneberg Day-trips from Berlin Accommodation Essentials Arrival Getting around Directory A–Z Festivals and events
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unfinished air and change remains an exciting constant in the city, though it’s not without its growing pains, with gentrification a red-hot topic: Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte have been yuppified beyond recognition, while in Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg and Neukölln cars are torched, windows smashed in and hip cafés spray-painted with
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authentic and traditional German restaurants to stylish dens of cool. A particular Berlin favourite is the weekend brunch buffet, served in cafés across the city – Prenzlauer Berg is a good bet for these. OUR FAVOURITES: Cocolo, Katz Orange, Tempo-Box Drink The majority of bars are independent, and relaxed licensing laws means
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they can usually close when they like. Though there are a decent spread of bars everywhere, the biggest concentration is around Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg and Neukölln, with many operating as cafés during the day serving snacks and light meals, and then as bars later on, staying open all
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an expensive city, and there are plenty of fun ways to explore on the cheap. Breakfast. Tuck into the weekend veggie breakfast at Morgenrot in Prenzlauer Berg, where the amount you pay depends on your income. Take the bus. Public buses #100 and #200 will give you a guided tour of some
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Spandauer Vorstadt 2 The Museum Island 3 Unter den Linden and the government quarter 4 Alexanderplatz and the Nikolaiviertel 5 Potsdamer Platz and Tiergarten 6 Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding 7 Friedrichshain 8 West Kreuzberg 9 East Kreuzberg 10 Neukölln 11 Charlottenburg 12 Schöneberg 13 Day-trips from Berlin Spandauer Vorstadt Shops Restaurants
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cakes, and sandwiches using bread from local artisan bakeries all make The Barn well worth a visit. They also have a spacious roastery-café in Prenzlauer Berg (Schönhauser Allee 8) and a couple of other locations in the city. Chén Chè MAP Rosenthaler Str. 13 Rosenthaler Platz 030 28 88 42 82
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London’s Abbey Road, world-renowned for its excellent acoustics. < Back to Potsdamer Platz and Tiergarten Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding Shops Restaurants Snacks Cafés and bars Built in the nineteenth century as a working-class district, Prenzlauer Berg was neglected by the GDR after World War II, becoming a crumbling ghetto for intellectuals, punks
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, and its distinctive Alt Berlin atmosphere, with lots of independent bars and cafés, Kastanienallee’s boutiques and the buzzy Sunday flea market at Mauerpark. While Prenzlauer Berg’s nightlife has been reduced to a few late-night bars, just over the famous Bösebrücke – where the Bornholmer Strasse border crossing was first officially
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its large immigrant population and edgy charm, this up-and-coming borough is peppered with the kind of underground spaces that were once common in Prenzlauer Berg during the 1990s. Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer MAP Bernauer Str. 111–119 Bernauer Str./ Nordbahnhof 030 46 79 86 666, www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de. Open
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”, which attracts massive crowds from 2.30/3pm. Kollwitzplatz Roger d’Olivere Mapp/Rough Guides Kollwitzplatz MAP Kollwitzplatz Eberswalder Str./Senefelderplatz. Kollwitzplatz is one of Prenzlauer Berg’s best-known and most attractive squares. It was named after artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945), who lived in the area at the turn of
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’s more impoverished and downtrodden citizens. This was one of the first areas to be gentrified when the Wall fell in 1989 and today symbolizes Prenzlauer Berg’s yuppie status as well as its bias towards families (some call this part of the city Pramzlauerberg). It’s a lovely place to come
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Allee 23–25 Senefelderplatz 030 44 19 824. Mon–Thurs 8am–4pm, Fri 7.30am–1pm. Free. A short hop from the Senefelderplatz U-Bahn, Prenzlauer Berg’s small but charming Jewish cemetery (Jüdischer Friedhof) was built to cater for the overspill from the one on Mitte’s Grosse Hamburger Strasse. It
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, constructed by the English Waterworks Company and finished in 1877, the 30m-high cylindrical brick water tower, known as “Dicker Hermann”, has become one of Prenzlauer Berg’s unofficial symbols. Among the oldest of its kind in the city, it was one of the first places to provide running water in the
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it was a small brewery and pub. It was expanded to its current size after 1880. Since the late 1990s, it’s been one of Prenzlauer Berg’s major commercial hubs, with offices, bars, restaurants, clubs and an eight-theatre cinema (Kino in der KulturBrauerei; 018 05 11 88 11, cinestar.de
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87 10, lucky-leek.com. Wed–Sun 6–10pm. This high-end vegan spot occupies a smart space inside an old building on one of Prenzlauer Berg’s loveliest streets. The menu is inventive and service excellent, but you’ll certainly pay above average for the experience. Mains around €18; five-course
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44312854. Sun & Mon 6pm–midnight, Tues–Thurs 6pm–1am, Fri & Sat 6pm–2am. Located along the busy section of Schönhauser Allee that links Mitte with Prenzlauer Berg, this Belgian-themed bar – run by welcoming and knowledgeable owner Bart Neirynck – has an incredibly broad selection of beers. It’s a great place to
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MAP Metzer Str. 33 Eberswalder Str. 030 44 27 656, www.metzer-eck.de. Mon–Fri 4pm–1am, Sat 6pm–1am. The oldest inn in Prenzlauer Berg (1913) inevitably packs plenty of old-school charm. It’s faded slightly since its days as a major meeting point for
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Prenzlauer Berg’s more bohemian contingent in the GDR, but still serves a decent Pilsner and delicious Bolettes (meatballs) and Bockwurst. Morgenrot MAP Kastanienallee 85 Eberswalder Str.
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509, dunckerclub.de. Mon from 10pm, Thurs from 9pm, Fri & Sat from 11pm. Entry fee varies but free Thurs. Duncker touches the musical parts other Prenzlauer Berg clubs don’t reach, thanks to a mix of new wave and indie nights and particularly its weekly “Dark Mondays” – one of the city’s
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veer from hip-hop and soul to world and funk (never techno), plus film and art nights and a decent bar and café. < Back to Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding Friedrichshain Shops Restaurants Cafés and bars Clubs and venues Though part of an ensemble of former East inner-city areas, Friedrichshain has developed
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a slightly differently mien than that of neighbouring Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg. A magnet for lefties, anarchists and students, it has managed to resist the same levels of gentrification thanks to an organized squatter scene, activist demos
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the centenary of Frederick the Great’s accession to the throne, Volkspark Friedrichshain is one of Berlin’s oldest parks. Casually straddling the boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain, it’s a sprawling place featuring lots of recreational opportunities (tennis courts, volleyball nets and climbing walls) and a wealth of impressive monuments
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part of the district to the east. Indeed, walking along café- and boutique-lined streets like Bergmannstrasse you’re reminded of the gentrified environs of Prenzlauer Berg. At the end of this street is Viktoriapark, whose Iron Cross monument gives the district its name, and nearby is Chamissoplatz, which hosts a popular
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Berlin Hotel Adlon Helmut Meyer zur Capellen ACCOMMODATION Spandauer Vorstadt Unter den Linden and the government quarter Alexanderplatz and the Nikolaiviertel Potsdamer Platz and Tiergarten Prenzlauer Berg Friedrichshain West Kreuzberg East Kreuzberg Charlottenburg Schöneberg Berlin’s accommodation options run the gamut from cheap and cheerful hostels to corporate hotels, super-deluxe five
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hotel has 44 rooms in an elegant house, with decor that nods to Berlin’s fascinating history, including photos, illustrations and maps. Great location for Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte. Breakfast (€9) not included. Doubles from €87 SOHO HOUSE MAP. Torstr. 1 Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz 030 40 50 440, sohohouseberlin.com. Private members
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Ku’damm and Potsdamer Platz, this large, fancy hotel has two restaurants, a New York-style cocktail bar and spa. Breakfast €22. Doubles from €99 Prenzlauer Berg EASTSEVEN MAP. Schwedter Str. 7 Senefelderplatz 030 93 62 22 40, eastseven.de. Laid-back hostel located on the border of Mitte and
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Prenzlauer Berg. Rooms (singles, doubles, twins, dorms) and public areas are clean and functional, furnishings are decent quality and there’s a lounge area with books and
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in eastern Berlin – covers most of the gaps left by the U-Bahn; several useful tram routes centre on Hackescher Markt, including the M1 to Prenzlauer Berg. A night-time network of buses and trams operates, with buses (around every 30min) often following U-Bahn line routes; free maps are available at
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PRINT Maps Small print MAPS Spandauer Vorstadt The Museum Island Unter den Linden and the government quarter Alexanderplatz and the Nikolaiviertel Potsdamer Platz and Tiergarten Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding Friedrichshain West Kreuzberg East Kreuzberg Neukölln Charlottenburg Schöneberg PUBLISHING INFORMATION Fifth edition 2020 Distribution UK, Ireland and Europe Apa Publications (UK) Ltd; sales
Germany
by Andrea Schulte-Peevers · 17 Oct 2010
Bonn said a DNA test on blood confiscated during a Spanish doping case matched his own. Erik Zabel (b 1970), who comes from Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district, achieved the remarkable by winning the green jersey six years in a row from 1996 to 2001 in the Tour de France and publicly
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INFORMATION Bookshops Discount Cards Emergency Internet Access Internet Resources Left Luggage Media Medical Services Money Post Tourist Information SIGHTS Mitte Potsdamer Platz & Tiergarten Kreuzberg Friedrichshain Prenzlauer Berg Charlottenburg Southwestern Berlin Eastern Berlin ACTIVITIES Cycling Running Swimming WALKING TOUR BERLIN FOR CHILDREN TOURS Bus Tours Bike Tours Boat Tours Walking Tours Speciality Tours
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FESTIVALS & EVENTS SLEEPING Mitte Prenzlauer Berg Potsdamer Platz & Tiergarten Kreuzberg Friedrichshain Charlottenburg EATING Mitte Prenzlauer Berg Potsdamer Platz & Tiergarten Kreuzberg Friedrichshain Charlottenburg Schöneberg DRINKING Mitte Prenzlauer Berg Potsdamer Platz & Tiergarten Kreuzberg & Kreuzkölln Friedrichshain Charlottenburg & Schöneberg ENTERTAINMENT Listings Tickets Nightclubs Live Music Cabaret & Varieté
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the headlines in recent years. Two decades after the rejoining of the city halves, Berlin is reaching a watershed moment. Districts such as Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, once pioneers of progressiveness, are now firmly in the grip of gentrification and boho-bourgeois pram-pushers. Global developers are building up the banks of
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Tower). The Scheunenviertel area, anchored by the Hackesche Höfe, is jammed with bars, restaurants, galleries and designer boutiques. To the north, gentrified and family-dominated Prenzlauer Berg beckons with a vibrant cafe culture, a bevy of unique owner-run shops and pockets of nightlife action. South of Mitte, Kreuzberg counts Checkpoint Charlie
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) The ultimate in books and music; lots of reading corners and occasional signings, concerts and other events. East of Eden (Map; 423 9362; Schreinerstrasse 10, Prenzlauer Berg) Living-room-type store perfect for browsing. Marga Schoeller Bücherstube (Map; 8862 9320; Knesebeckstrasse 33, Charlottenburg) Literary lair with plenty of English titles. Schropp (Map
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Film und Fernsehen or walk a few steps west to the Kulturforum and the superb Gemäldegalerie. At night, sample the cuisine and bar scene of Prenzlauer Berg (p140 and Click here). Three Days Follow the two-day itinerary, then devote the morning of day three to Schloss Charlottenburg where you shouldn’t
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with trails, playgrounds, tennis courts, a half-pipe, an outdoor cinema and lots of greenery for sunning, grilling and picnicking. Return to beginning of chapter Prenzlauer Berg Ageing divas know that a face-lift can quickly pump up a drooping career, and it seems the same can be done with entire neighbourhoods
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. It helps that Prenzlauer Berg has always had great bone structure, so to speak. Badly pummelled but not destroyed during WWII, the district was among the first to show up
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alive a burgeoning scene of world-cuisine restaurants, trendy bars, cultural venues, designer boutiques and ‘bio’ (organic) supermarkets. Berliners may whisper behind raised palms that Prenzlauer Berg is losing its edge but that isn’t stopping them from coming here. Return to beginning of chapter Charlottenburg The glittering heart of West Berlin
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(still with wartime-era shrapnel wounds in the wainscoting) are now the luxury suites. Great cocktails in the Bebel Bar. Return to beginning of chapter Prenzlauer Berg East Seven Hostel (Map; 9362 2240; www.eastseven.de; Schwedter Strasse 7; dm €17, s/d/tr/q €37/50/51/78, winter discounts, linen
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eight stylish and modern units with full kitchens that sleep up to six and are located on Oderberger Strasse and Rykestrasse, both hip drags in Prenzlauer Berg that put you close to everything. Miniloft Berlin (Map; 847 1090; www.miniloft.de; Hessische Strasse 5; apt from €105) Fourteen architect-designed lofts in
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-apartments-berlin.de; Kopenhagener Strasse 72; apt from €50) Huge selection of stylish, hand-picked one- to four-room apartments in Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Tiergarten and Schöneberg; headquarters located in Prenzlauer Berg. * * * Return to beginning of chapter Charlottenburg Propeller Island City Lodge (Map; 891 9016 8am-noon, 0163-256-5909 noon-8pm; www.propeller
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9597; Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse 7; dishes €6; 11.30am-10pm Mon-Fri, 1-10pm Sat & Sun) Build-your-own burritos. Return to beginning of chapter Prenzlauer Berg Konnopke Imbiss (Map; 442 7765; Schönhauser Allee 44a; dishes €1.30-3.90; 6am-8pm Mon-Fri, noon-7pm Sat) Legendary Currywurst kitchen. Hans Wurst
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0070; Dorotheenstrasse 65; from 6pm Mon-Fri, 9pm Sat) Postage-stamp sized bar with five-star ambience and killer cocktails. Return to beginning of chapter Prenzlauer Berg Klub der Republik (Map; Pappelallee 81, from 10pm) No sign for this ballroom-turned-bar, so just look up until you see some steamy windows
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party nights and jam sessions, all amid superb acoustics and decor teetering somewhere between kitsch and cult. Magnet (Map; 4400 8140; Greifswalder Strasse 212-213, Prenzlauer Berg) Small, cheap and dingy, this indie bastion is known for bookers with an astronomer’s vision to detect stars in the making. LCD Soundsystem and
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stores calibrated to the needs, tastes and pockets of locals. Go to Charlottenburg for international couture, Kreuzberg for second-hand fashions, and to Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg for indie designers. Schöneberg has the fabulous KaDeWe department store, but its side streets are also lined with niche shops. Note that some smaller stores
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, the bourgeois to the bizarre, the mainstream to the flamboyant. The rainbow flag has proudly flown in Motzstrasse and Fuggerstrasse in Schöneberg since the 1920s. Prenzlauer Berg has the hippest gay scene in eastern Berlin, with hubs along Greifenhagener Strasse, Gleimstrasse and Schönhauser Allee. Kreuzberg has more of an alt-flavoured feel
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, Roses is a glittery fixture on the local lesbigay booze circuit with bartenders that pour with a generous elbow. Zum Schmutzigen Hobby (Map; Rykestrasse 45, Prenzlauer Berg) Local trash drag deity Nina Queer presides over this louche den of kitsch and glam with decor, clientele and goings-on that aren’t for
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latest scoop. There are also frequent gay parties at SO36 Click here. Berlin Hilton (Map; 4405 1681; www.berlinhilton.de, in German; Schönhauser Allee 36, Prenzlauer Berg; Wed) On hump day, ‘Hiltonistas’ descend upon the small and low-tech NBI club for a heady dance mix of electro-rock and campy singalongs
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. Would Paris approve? Chantals House of Shame (Map; 281 8323; www.siteofshame.com; Schönhauser Allee 176a, Prenzlauer Berg; Thu) Chantal’s legendary party (currently at Bassy) is beloved not so much for its glam factor as for the over-the-top trannie shows
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on nutty, naughty shows that are not for the faint of heart. Expect the best; fear the worst. * * * Kollwitzplatzmarkt (Map; Wörther Strasse btwn Knaackstrasse & Kollwitzstrasse, Prenzlauer Berg; noon-8pm Thu, 9am-4pm Sat) Velvety gorgonzola, juniper-berry-smoked ham, crusty sourdough bread and all manner of organic produce are the kinds of
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in the German capital. On weekends, a DJ pumps out high-energy sounds to get you into party mood. Tausche (Map; 4020 1770; Raumerstrasse 8, Prenzlauer Berg) Heike Braun and Antje Strubels, both landscape architects by training, make by hand cool bags in various sizes that are practical, durable and stylish. Best
Germany Travel Guide
by Lonely Planet
Museum sinsel cluster in the historic city centre – Mitte – which is also home to the maze-like hipster quarter called Scheunenviertel. North of Mitte, charismatic Prenzlauer Berg entices with gorgeous town houses, cosy cafes and a fun flea market, while to the south loom the contemporary high-rises of Potsdamer Platz. Further
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crowds on Thursday, when all five stay open as late as 10pm. Berlin is a sprawling city split into 12 official Bezirke (districts, eg Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg), which are subdivided into individual neighbourhoods called Kieze . Need to Know For security reasons, compulsory reservations for visiting the Reichstag must be made online
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the futility of war at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche and a spirit-lifting shopping spree along Kurfürstendamm and at the KaDeWe. Ride the U2 to Prenzlauer Berg and ring in the evening with a cold Pilsner at Prater beer garden or pub, then wrap up the day with a leisurely dinner in
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, it features lots of interactive stations alongside hundreds of original exhibits, including an ultrarare 1972 Pong arcade machine and its twisted modern cousin, the ‘PainStation’. PRENZLAUER BERG Prenzlauer Berg went from rags to riches after reunification to emerge as one of Berlin’s most desirable residential neighbourhoods. Its ample charms are best experienced on
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80% of the pre-reunification residents, who could simply no longer afford the ever-rising rents or felt no cultural affinity for fancy coffee drinks. Prenzlauer Berg Sights 1 Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer A4 2 Kollwitzplatz C3 3 Mauerpark B3 Activities, Courses & Tours 4 Berlin on Bike C3 5 Berliner Unterwelten A1 Sleeping
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Prater C3 Shopping 24Flohmarkt am Arkonaplatz B3 25 Flohmarkt am Mauerpark B3 26 Kollwitzplatzmarkt C3 27 Ta(u)sche C2 Thanks to these changed demographics, Prenzlauer Berg has slowly but irrevocably lost its standing as a hipster and party quarter. After coming under fire from noise-sensitive neighbours, many beloved venues have
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romantic at sunset, especially in late spring when purple flowers blanket the slopes. Kollwitzplatz SQUARE Offline map Google map (Senefelderplatz) Kollwitzplatz is the heart of Prenzlauer Berg poshification. To pick up on the local vibe, linger with the macchiato mamas and media daddies in a cafe or join them at the organic
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Berghain/Panorama Bar (p) and the hard-core Lab.oratory Offline map Google map (www.lab-oratory.de; Am Wriezener Bahnhof; Thu-Mon; Ostbahnhof). In Prenzlauer Berg gay-geared locales are fairly spread out, although Gleimstrasse and Greifenhagener Strasse are hubs. Berlin’s gayscape ranges from mellow cafes, campy bars and cinemas
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.ninaqueer.com; Revaler Strasse 99, RAW Tempel, gate 2; Warschauer Strasse, Warschauer Strasse) Berlin’s trash-drag deity Nina Queer has flown her long-time Prenzlauer Berg coop and reopened her louche den of kitsch and glam in less hostile environs amid the Friedrichshain kool kids. Wednesday’s Glamour Trivia Quiz is
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Offline map Google map 4372 0646; www.marietta-bar.de; Stargarder Strasse 13; from 10am; Schönhauser Allee, M1, Schönhauser Allee) Retro is now at this Prenzlauer Berg self-service retreat, where you can check out passing eye candy through the big window or lug your beverage to the dimly lit back room
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mood. Clear lines and blonde-wood furniture dominate both public areas and the rooms. Eco credentials include natural soaps, filtered water and an organic cafe. PRENZLAUER BERG EastSeven Berlin Hostel HOSTEL € Offline map Google map (9362 2240; www.eastseven.de; Schwedter Strasse 7; dm €17-19, d €50; ; Senefelderplatz) Friendly and fun
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35 rooms, including themed ones decorated with historical photos, paintings and information about Berlin landmarks. Bikes for hire at a small fee. Meininger Hotel Berlin Prenzlauer Berg HOSTEL, HOTEL € Offline map Google map (6663 6100; www.meininger-hotels.com; Schönhauser Allee 19; dm €15-28, d €44-100; ; Senefelderplatz) Run with panache
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. Plenty of options have been popping up lately, but these are our favourites: Brilliant Apartments Offline map Google map (8061 4796; www.brilliant-apartments.de; Prenzlauer Berg; apt from €84; ; Eberswalder Strasse) The name is the game in these 11 stylish and modern units with full kitchens that sleep from one to
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six people and are located on Oderberger Strasse and Rykestrasse, both hip drags in Prenzlauer Berg that put you close to everything. Miniloft Berlin Offline map Google map (847 1090; www.miniloft.com; Hessische Strasse 5, Scheunenviertel; apt from €138; ; Naturkundemuseum
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.de; Kopenhagener Strasse 72; apt from €75; Schönhauser Allee) Huge selection of stylish, hand-picked, one- to four-room apartments in Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Tiergarten and Schöneberg; headquarters located in Prenzlauer Berg. ÏMA Loft Apartments Offline map Google map (6162 8913; www.imalofts.com; Ritterstrasse 12-14; apt €55-200; ; Moritzplatz) These uncluttered, contemporary
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the wines. The two-course lunches are superb value at just €6.50. At dinnertime, reserve ahead for the seats at the communal wooden table. PRENZLAUER BERG Lucky Leek VEGAN €€ Offline map Google map (6640 8710; www.lucky-leek.de; Kollwitzstrasse 46; mains around €12; dinner Tue & Thu-Sun; ; Senefelderplatz) This sprightly
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the stage; shy types may prefer music and mischief in a private party room. Some nights are LGBT-geared, like Monday’s Multisexual Box Hopping. PRENZLAUER BERG Prater BEER GARDEN Offline map Google map (448 5688; www.pratergarten.de; Kastanienallee 7-9; from noon Apr-Sep in good weather; Eberswalder Strasse) Berlin
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-to-the-minute concept stores and edgy galleries. »Friedrichstrasse/Gendarmenmarkt Material-girl heaven with lots of hip big-ticket designer labels and exclusive concept stores. »Prenzlauer Berg (eg Kastanienallee, Stargarder Strasse) Neat knick-knacks, buzzing boutiques, local designers, streetwear. »Charlottenburg Mainstream chains to high-end spends along Kurfürstendamm and Tauentzienstrasse, speciality boutiques
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RE7 and RB14 in timetables. The S-Bahn S9 runs every 20 minutes and is slower but useful if you’re headed to Friedrichshain or Prenzlauer Berg. For the Messe (trade-fair grounds), take the S45 to Südkreuz and change to the S41. Trains stop about 400m from the airport terminals. Free
Berlin Now: The City After the Wall
by Peter Schneider and Sophie Schlondorff · 4 Aug 2014 · 313pp · 100,317 words
flocking to the city. For some time now, they have no longer been fixated on the Scheunenviertel (literally, “barn district”) around Hackescher Markt or in Prenzlauer Berg, where the first new galleries cropped up after the fall of the Wall. They have spawned new, rapidly changing neighborhoods in Berlin: near Checkpoint Charlie
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means to remove them. As a result, significantly more balcony-buttressing virgins, their breasts amputated by the teeth of time, and crippled knights endured in Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain than in West Berlin. After reunification, the East Berlin façades, along with their stucco figures, were spruced up, filling West Berliners with envy
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. Perhaps the most vibrant memorial is the so-called Mauerpark—literally, Wall Park—that separates the West German district of Wedding from the East German Prenzlauer Berg. All that remains of the Wall here is a roughly two-hundred-yard-long section of the Hinterlandmauer—the wall that fugitives from East Germany
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our grasp, we’re going to have an enormous problem on our hands.” HELP, THE SWABIANS ARE COMING! I knew the eastern Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg from before the fall of the Wall. Among the friends I used to visit there at the time were Klaus Schlesinger, and Gerd and Ulrike
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state. Any such impulses were reliably held in check by the bottle of whiskey we always immediately broke open. Living in Prenzlauer Berg in the 1980s was a credo of sorts. Prenzlauer Berg was one of the few neighborhoods that had barely been damaged in the war. Eighty percent of its buildings—mostly six
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Hohenschönhausen. There they found apartments that, even though they had lower ceilings, featured bathrooms, toilets, central heating, and television outlets. Those who stayed behind in Prenzlauer Berg were people who didn’t particularly care about the living standards in the Plattenbauten—or rather, who didn’t mind the shortcomings of the old
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apartments: writers, artists, intellectuals, contrarians, adventurers—people leading every kind of precarious existence. And that was how Prenzlauer Berg turned into a sort of habitat for nonconformists, whom Mielke’s “company” suspected of being dissidents. Indeed, almost all protests in East Berlin—against the
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Communist Party’s election fraud, which finally led to the great rally of November 4, 1989—began at the Gethsemane Church in Prenzlauer Berg. One of the last holdouts in Prenzlauer Berg today is the literary historian Wolfgang Thierse, a former member of the civil rights movement and of the New Forum. In January
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residence in the western district of Dahlem that he was entitled to as president of the Bundestag. The only reason he can still afford his Prenzlauer Berg apartment, he explains with a laugh, is because he still has the old rental agreement from the East German days. In fact, over the course
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of the cemetery, Primor was unable to hide his astonishment at the former East German’s extensive knowledge. Already before the fall of the Wall, Prenzlauer Berg had cultivated a unique mixture of poor bohemians. The East German authorities had been quick to shut down the first “Kinderladen,” a kind of antiauthoritarian
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writer Stefan Heym had canvassed for the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), which replaced the former Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), by claiming that Prenzlauer Berg was going to turn into the biggest poorhouse in Berlin—nay, in Europe. Thierse, his social-democratic challenger, declared that, to the contrary, this barely
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Thierse lost the elections, his prediction proved to be right. It wasn’t long before an international run on the neighborhood began. The complicated name Prenzlauer Berg, explains Thierse, “soon fell from the lips of European and overseas investors, who barely knew where the neighborhood was located, more easily than the names
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and hasn’t reduced the preponderance of white complexions—it is mostly other Europeans and Americans, and rarely Turks, who have taken up residence in Prenzlauer Berg. Today, Prenzlauer Berg is considered the district in Europe with the most children—not necessarily to the delight of the “digital bohemians” with their iPhones and tablets
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sidewalks and public spaces. Without suspecting it, with his appeal for Swabian assimilation, Thierse had struck at the very heart of German-German sensitivities in Prenzlauer Berg—except that this time it wasn’t about the well-known differences in mentality between East and West, but between North and South. A significant
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nighttime noise limits stand for something that, if anything, is more important than cleanliness: tolerance and open-mindedness. In reality, the influx of Swabians to Prenzlauer Berg was already causing a fair amount of resentment, along with slurs like “Swabians—out!,” long before Thierse uttered his remarks. Swabians in
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Prenzlauer Berg are accused of wanting to introduce not just Wecken and Pflaumendatschi, but also other aspects of their lifestyle into their new habitat: all restaurant tables
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it, the number of report-happy neighbors has risen noticeably since the invasion of the Swabians. The truth is, the dispute about the Swabians in Prenzlauer Berg merely brought to light a point of contention that now affects all the city’s coveted residential areas. The Swabians represent a wealthy minority that
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. What they want is to breathe in the air and adventure of the alternative lifestyle that developed in formerly or still poor areas such as Prenzlauer Berg and Kreuzberg. But by buying and renovating apartments and buildings in these neighborhoods, they’re driving out the very untamed life that drew them there
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. Because of course it isn’t coincidental that, to date, it has affected only the left-governed districts of the former East German capital: Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg, and Weißensee. On the other hand, so far the indignant market fundamentalists have failed to come up with any alternative suggestions as to what might
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for this purpose became available for sale that people adopted this habit. Others suspect that the change is due to the cleanliness-obsessed Swabians in Prenzlauer Berg. Whatever the reason, a pedestrian scraping the sole of his shoe against the curb has become a rare sight in the city. And what has
Berlin Like a Local
by Dk Eyewitness · 170pp · 32,491 words
similar blend of old and new, with refurbished Kneipen (traditional Berlin beer bars) and a festival-like atmosphere in airfield-turned-park Tempelhof. {map 3} Prenzlauer Berg P-Berg, as it’s lovingly known, is to the east what Charlottenburg is to the west: a pretty exclusive place to live. Nestled at
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mind, even during the lunch rush. g Brunch Spots g Contents Google Map CAFé MORGENROT Map 1; Kastanienallee 85, Prenzlauer Berg; ///crowds.rooftop.tiptoes; www.cafe-morgenrot.de After the wall fell, Prenzlauer Berg was the epicentre of the left-alternative lifestyle. One place that still retains that spirit, despite gentrification in the area
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only open 11am–3pm. Besides, revolutionary discussions take their time. g Brunch Spots g Contents Google Map CAFé ANNA BLUME Map 1; Kollwitzstrasse 83, Kollwitzkiez, Prenzlauer Berg; ///troubles.sang.space; www.cafe-anna-blume.de We have this place to thank for kicking off Berlin’s brunch craze back in 2005. Despite
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with visiting friends and feast on the family-style sharing plates. g Special Occasion g Contents Google Map KOCHU KARU Map 1; Eberswalder Strasse 35, Prenzlauer Berg; ///scoots.balance.vitals; www.kochukaru.de This is the kind of neighbourhood joint that everyone wants at the end of their road. The menu blends
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sake martini – the perfect drink to toast that promotion or new job. g Special Occasion g Contents Google Map OSMANS TÖCHTER Map 1; Pappelalle 15, Prenzlauer Berg; ///civic.cultivation.measure; www.osmanstoechter.de Growing up, Turkish-German owners Arzu and Lale realized just how much the preparing of Turkish dishes brought their
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kimchi tacos and bibimbap – is in a different league. g Street Food g Contents Google Map STREET FOOD AUF ACHSE Map 1; Schönhauser Allee 38, Prenzlauer Berg; ///audibly.boat.mimics; www.streetfoodaufachse.de Where food trucks go, Berliners follow – when this weekend market Street Food on the Move rolls around, at least
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potent cocktail with champagne and cognac dating back to the 19th century. g Secret Speakeasies g Contents Google Map BECKETTS KOPF Map 1; Pappelallee 64, Prenzlauer Berg; ///dozen.nearing.employer; www.becketts-kopf.de What started as a hobby in cocktail making for husband-and-wife duo Oliver and Cristina swiftly turned
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am Neuen See Insel der Jugend GolgAtha Freiheit fünfzehn CapRivi Schleusenkrug g Beer Gardens g Contents Google Map PRATER GARTEN Map 1; Kastanienallee 7–9, Prenzlauer Berg; ///elated.pots.fenced; www.prater-biergarten.de Open any Berlin guide and you’ll find this bustling joint topping the list of open-air watering
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with vim and moving to DJ sets on sticky dance floors. g Dive Bars g Contents Google Map 8MM BAR Map 1; Schönhauser Allee 177B, Prenzlauer Berg; ///hats.massing.potato; www.8mmmusik.com This grungy dive bar is a Berlin rock ’n’ roll institution. Frequented by the owner’s star-studded friends
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organic Chardonnay paired with the fresh pasta dish of the day. Bellissimo. Drink | Wine Bars For those who cherish quantity over quality, Weinerei Forum in Prenzlauer Berg is the ultimate serve-yourself wine bar with a trust-based price concept. Evenings here (it’s a popular café during the day) usher in
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the mainstream and into your bands, this is the spot for you. g Record Stores g Contents Google Map MELTING POINT Map 1; Kastanienallee 55, Prenzlauer Berg; ///same.reddish.tonight; (030) 4404 7131 Vinyl junkies who prefer the funkier elements of house music prize this P-Berg store. With records either stacked
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jewels from local flea markets, so you don’t have to. g Record Stores g Contents Google Map OYE RECORDS Map 1; Oderberger Strasse 4, Prenzlauer Berg; ///improve.locating.ranged; www.oye-records.com Worship at the altar of dance music? Hit up this effortlessly cool spot to snaffle exclusives and hang
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, the prices aren’t cheap, but the items are set to last another lifetime. g Beloved Markets g Contents Google Map MAUERPARK Map 1; Mauerpark, Prenzlauer Berg; ///animate.life.vanished It may be the city’s largest Sunday flea market, but one visit here and you’ll realize the biggest draw is
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your own art piece to take home while enjoying a tipple. g Home Touches g Contents Google Map VEB ORANGE Map 1; Oderberger Strasse 29, Prenzlauer Berg; ///exposing.vivid.seasons; www.veborange.de Sure, a minimalist aesthetic of clean lines and muted tones has taken Berlin’s apartments by storm, but there
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dance classes. There’s often craft beer tasting sessions, too. g Book Nooks g Contents Google Map SAINT GEORGE’S Map 1; Wörther Strasse 27, Prenzlauer Berg; ///juror.light.cultivation; www.saintgeorgesbookshop.com Spend enough time trawling the shelves here and you’ll chance upon a well-thumbed classic that takes you
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generate energy for the concerts, cabaret and dance shows put on here. g Cultural Centres g Contents Google Map KULTURBRAUEREI Map 1; Schönhauser Allee 36, Prenzlauer Berg; ///friction.aims.hamster; www.kulturbrauerei.de It’s culture, rather than beer, that’s brewed up in this 19th-century brewery nowadays (though the beer
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wish into a collection at the end of a show. g Live Music g Contents Google Map MUSIKBRAUEREI Map 1; Am Schweizer Garten 82–4, Prenzlauer Berg; ///recently.watched.novelist; www.musikbrauerei.com Friends tell friends, who tell yet more friends, about this tumbledown brewery, one of the scene’s most whispered
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with a small group. Your best bet is booking ahead. Try it! TWIRL SOME TASSELS Amp up the fun and take a burlesque class at Prenzlauer Berg’s famous Berlin Burlesque Academy (www.berlin-burlesque-academy.com), where you’ll learn about the fabulous art of performing. g NIGHTLIFE g Contents Nights
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film landscape has you covered. FLYING SOLO Hog the armrest A tiny cinema with the feel of a living room, the indie Lichtblick Kino in Prenzlauer Berg is the perfect place to cosy up and take in a political documentary without your friend whispering away beside you. IN A PAIR Mate date
Lonely Planet Pocket Berlin
by Lonely Planet and Andrea Schulte-Peevers · 31 Aug 2012 · 277pp · 41,815 words
Sights Berlin Local Life Berlin Day Planner Need to Know Explore Berlin Reichstag & Unter den Linden Museum Island & Alexanderplatz Potsdamer Platz Scheunenviertel & Around Kreuzberg Friedrichshain Prenzlauer Berg Kurfürstendamm The Best of Berlin Berlin's Best Walks Historical Highlights Walking the Wall Traipsing Through Tiergarten Berlin's Best... Eating Bars Clubs Live Music
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Before You Go Arriving in Berlin Getting Around Essential Information Berlin Neighbourhoods Reichstag & Unter den Linden Museum Island & Alexanderplatz Potsdamer Platz Scheunenviertel & Around Kreuzberg Friedrichshain Prenzlauer Berg Kurfürstendamm Welcome to Berlin The glass-domed Reichstag building (Click here) THOMAS WINZ/LONELY PLANET IMAGES © Berlin is a bon vivant, passionately feasting on the
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at Qiu (Click here), hop on the U2 and train it to Eberswalder Strasse to embark on a saunter around boho-chic and beautifully gentrified Prenzlauer Berg. Check out the shops and ornate townhouses lining Kollwitzplatz (Click here) before resting over coffee and cake at Kaffee Pakolat (Click here). In the
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; S-Bahn Ostkreuz) 14 Zum Schmutzigen Hobby Gay Bar Offline map Google map Berlin’s trash-drag deity Nina Queer has flown her long-time Prenzlauer Berg coop and reopened her louche den of kitsch and glam in less hostile environs amid the Friedrichshain kool kids. Wednesday’s ‘Glamour Trivia Quiz’ is
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to rock by the Puhdys. (www.mondosarts.de, in German; Schreinerstrasse 6; noon-7pm Mon-Fri, 6pm Sat; U-Bahn Samariterstrasse) GRAHAM MONRO/GM PHOTOGRAPHICS © Prenzlauer Berg Prenzlauer Berg went from rags to riches after reunification and emerged as one of Berlin’s most desirable residential neighbourhoods. Its ample charms are best experienced on
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Oderquelle (Click here) or – for an even more local experience – hoof it over to Frau Mittenmang (Click here). For a local’s day in Prenzlauer Berg, Click here. Prenzlauer Berg Sights 1 Kollwitzplatz D6 2 Jüdischer Friedhof Schönhauser Allee D7 3 Gethsemanekirche D2 Eating 4 Frau Mittenmang E1 5 A Magica D2 6 Oderquelle
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’, a climbing wall operated by the German Alpine Club. Sights 1 Kollwitzplatz Square Offline map Google map This parklike triangular square was ground zero of Prenzlauer Berg’s revitalisation. Grab a cafe table and watch the leagues of yoga mamas, greying hipsters and gawking tourists on parade. Kids burn energy on the
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-7.30pm Sun; U-Bahn Eberswalder Strasse) Top Tip Shopping Areas Aside from the Schönhauser Allee Arcaden mall by the eponymous U-/S-Bahn station, Prenzlauer Berg is mercifully devoid of chains. Streets where indie boutiques thrive include Kastanienallee and Oderberger Strasse, Stargarder Strasse and the streets around Helmholtzplatz. Most stores
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Oranienstrasse and Mehringdamm. Across the river, Friedrichshain has fewer gay bars but such key clubs as Berghain/Panorama Bar and the hardcore Lab.oratory. In Prenzlauer Berg gay-geared locales are fairly spread out. Party Spectrum Berlin’s gayscape ranges from mellow cafes, campy bars and cinemas to saunas, cruising areas, clubs
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touches to ease life on the road. EastSeven Berlin Hostel (www.eastseven.de) Spotless, well run and central with charming staff and chilled ambience in Prenzlauer Berg. Meininger Hotel & Hostel (www.meininger-hotels.com) Top-flight chain with mod rooms; run with panache and professionalism. Motel One Berlin- Alexanderplatz (www.motel-one
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Scheunenviertel. Short-Stay Apartments Brilliant Apartments (www.brilliant-apartments.de) Seven stylish units with full kitchens in Prenzlauer Berg. T&C Apartments (www.tc-apartments-berlin.de) Nicely furnished and well-kept apartments and flats in Prenzlauer Berg, Mitte and Schöneberg. All Berlin Apartments (www.all-berlin-apartments.com) A wide range of good
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RE7 and RB14 in timetables. › The S-Bahn S9 runs every 20 minutes and is slower but useful if you’re headed to Friedrichshain or Prenzlauer Berg. › Trains stop about 400m from the terminals. Free shuttle buses run every 10 minutes; walking takes about five minutes. › You need a transport ticket covering
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