14 August 09

City Focus

City Focus Berlin

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Ryanair Magazine deputy editor Ed Chamberlin fi nds his bearings in Prenzlauer Berg, one of Berlin’s trendiest and prettiest districts.

City Lens Berlin
Ah, the Biergarten! The Germans somehow pull it off so much better than everyone else, don’t they? Prater Garten in Prenzlauer Berg is Berlin’s oldest biergarten, dating back to the mid-1800s, and is still thronged with local beer lovers every evening.

City Soul Berlin
Here's a riddle: you have owned the same bike for years and years, riding it to and from work every day. Inevitably, over time, worn out parts need replacing. The tyres are changed, you add new handlebars, perhaps a more comfy saddle. Eventually, not a single part of the original bike remains. Now, is it still the same bike?

The same riddle could be asked of Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin’s most picturesque neighbourhood, which houses many of the city’s students and artists. As you walk the tree-lined streets, your stroll is punctuated by buildings and roads being refurbished and re-laid, updated, modernised, nipped, tucked and styled. It’s as if the district is constantly shedding its skin.

Not surprisingly, all this cosmetic care has made “Prenzlberg”, as it is affectionately known, Berlin’s beauty spot. For tourists and city-dwellers alike, arriving in the area usually happens via the Eberswalderstrasse U-Bahn. As you step out, a panic of activity is taking place, as Prenzlauer Berg’s three main streets, Eberswalderstrasse, Kastanienallee and Schönhauserallee crash into one another head on. Walk straight on, following the railway tracks overhead and you arrive at a Berlin institution. Konnopke’s Imbiss (see 12 on map) may look like a lowly hot dog stand, but after 75 years of serving the best Currywurst in town, it’s now considered a local treasure. Go ahead, order one with a side serving of pickles and a drink. It will barely come to €4 and tastes delicious.

Now you’ve eaten, you can be on your way to explore the area. From this point, you have three choices: Eberswalderstrasse, Kastanienallee and Schönhauserallee. Start with Eberswalderstrasse and follow it round for five minutes until you hit the Mauerpark. Formerly part of the Berlin Wall, seeing it today – with vibrant graffiti covering every inch, joggers jogging, jugglers juggling and students lazing on the grass with picnics – is an uplifting testament to the city’s ability to transform itself over time. If you are lucky enough to be there on a Sunday, you will be caught in a throng of treasure-hunters in the Mauerpark Flea Market, which is simply bursting with strangely desirable rubbish for sale.

If the market isn’t on, never mind – back on Eberswalderstrasse, Stiefel Kombinat is a simply delightful vintage clothing and bric-a-brac store. So much so, that this writer, who treats a shopping trip like a trip to the dentist, found himself compulsively exploring every corner. A huge collection of leather shoes, charming old suitcases, and bits and pieces of furniture will have you involuntarily reaching for your wallet.

Loop round onto Oderbergerstrasse, and you have reached one of Prenzlauer Berg’s loveliest streets. The trees lining it on both sides disguise the fact that cars are going by a couple of metres away, and you’ll find a great collection of boutique ice cream cafés, restaurants and bars. Drop into Kauf dich Glücklich for a few scoops of ice cream and sit down at one of the tables that seem to have been scattered across the terrace at random to watch people walk by. Or perhaps continue further down to Frl. Marie Kaffeehaus, where you can sit in hammock chairs and order a three-tiered tower of breakfast for two, preferably around lunchtime.

Oderbergerstrasse intersects Prenzlauer Berg’s most happening street, Kastanienallee. It’s here that you can get an impression of the personality of the residents. The art supply shops such as Luxus International and McPaper betray the creative bent of the Prenzlbergers, while the array of international restaurants demonstrates their cosmopolitanism. For sushi, try Zaza at no. 12, for Italian check out Pasta & Passione , for Middle Eastern try Ali Baba at no. 28, and for Indian drop by Sangeet at no. 2. The wonderfully modest Lichtblick Kino shows an appreciation of alternative film, while the general oddity shops (including one that seemed to sell only old computers like Amstrads and Commodore 64s) reveals a love of bizarre objects and retro design.

And then night falls, the shops shut and the bars open. There are too many individual bars up and down the street to list here, but we particularly liked the gritty cool of Café Morgenrot and the modern nighthawks’ hangout that is Laub & Frey.

But the ultimate piece of Berlin weirdness is hidden away back on Eberswalderstrasse. Dr Pong is that rarest of beasts – a table tennis bar! Although the dusty, graffiti-covered walls and punishing techno may not generate the most inviting atmosphere, once you have a paddle in one hand and a beer in the other, and are marching around the table with the other patrons playing “round the world”, you begin to wonder why there aren’t more bars like this. It’s just the best fun you’ll have for ages!

Finally, you have no excuse for not visiting one of Berlin’s proudest and longest-serving venues – Prater Garten has been in operation since 1837 and is the city’s oldest beer garden. Order a few Steins of their in-house Pils and relax in a setting that has housed happy drinkers for almost 200 years.

A wonderful exhibit of the history of Prater Garten, as well as the history of Kastanienallee in general, is on display not in a museum, but in the Hotel Kastanienhof. The walls are adorned with lovely old photographs of people going about their early-20th-century business on this street, old signs advertising now-defunct wares and display cabinets with artefacts from a bygone era all add an atmosphere to this already charming and very well-located guest house. As a springboard into Prenzlauer Berg, there’s nowhere better.

However, if you are of a more deluxe bent, Hotel Königin Luise is the place for you. Quietly nestled in pastoral surroundings on the appropriately named Parkstrasse, every room has its own balcony, from the most modest single to the most elaborate suites and rentable apartments. The apartments and suites with kitchens have a small cookbook compiled by celebrity chef Holger Stromberg. If you feel like whipping up a storm in the kitchen, just call down to the desk, name the dish you want to make and the necessary ingredients will be delivered to your room for you to prepare. It’s an ingenious idea!

But perhaps you don’t feel like cooking? Well, in Prenzlauer Berg, you can’t do any better than Gugelhof. In a rustic, woody environment, it serves cuisine from Alsace – a region where German and French traditions collide – which is traditional, modern, hearty, subtle and generous.

Gugelhof sits at the corner of another of Prenzlauer Berg’s gems: Kollwitzplatz is a cute, green square, with more table tennis tables and an excellent eco-market on Saturdays. You’ll be spoilt browsing the food, drink and other organic produce on offer, as you fight for the attention of stallkeepers alongside prampushing parents and epicurean locals.

Once the market closes, the stalls swiftly disappear, and Kollwitzplatz reverts to its original state. It is a fast-motion allegory for the area in general: undergoing brief changes while remaining the same. So, to return to the original riddle, it is still the same bike – and yes, it’s still Prenzlauer Berg.

GET OUT OF PB!
Of course, Berlin is more than just Prenzlauer Berg. The city’s tumultuous history hasn’t necessarily made it the prettiest in the world, but it is studded with some essential attractions and iconic buildings. For instance, the Brandenburg Gate, which historically stood on the dividing line between East and West Berlin, and over which Reagan beseeched Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall!”.

Then there’s the quirky World Time Clock, which tells the time in all places in the world at once, on Berlin’s most famous public square, Alexanderplatz. The Fernsehturm, Berlin’s tallest building at 368m, is readily visible from all over the city, and in turn offers outstanding views. Add to that the Reichstag, the Jewish Museum, the KaDeWe department store, Charlottenburg Palace and streets such as Kurfürstendamm and Unter den Linden, and you have enough to keep you occupied for days.

Cram in as much as possible in a day with Berlin City Tours (tel: +49 151 5408 8570, www.berlincitytours.com), who can take you around the city by bus from as little as €20. Hop on and off when you reach landmarks you are interested in, or stay onboard for a full two-hour tour.

City Cents Berlin

1 / AMPELMANNCHEN
These green and red sweets are in the shape of the Ampelmännchen, literally “little traffic light man”. This guy is an icon in Germany, after the pedestrian crossing lights were introduced in 1961 – and is one of the few leftovers from communist East Germany that remains popular to this day (www.ampelmann.de). €3.50

2 / LEATHER WRISTBAND WALLET
Forget leather trousers, Germans these days prefer far subtler uses of cowhide. This locally handmade leather wristband is popular among clubbers, who brandish them in style, while at the same time hide their money and “other things” in the clever little zip on the inside.€12

3 / EISWEIN
Eiswein is quite a delicacy in Germany and elsewhere. It is made by freezing the grapes on the vine before being pressed. This results in an extremely sweet dessert wine – and an expensive one at that. We were in Prenzlauer Berg and picked up a bottle from Schramms (83 Kastanienallee, tel: +49 (0)30 449 5979). €30

4 / ROWAN BERRY AND APPLE MARMALADE
The Germans love strong flavours, hearty dishes, cakes and sweets. They like jam, too, and plenty of homemade stuff is available from markets around town, such as on Kollwitzplatz, where we picked up this rowan berry and apple variety by the Spreewald-based company Rosenrot & Feengrün. €4

5 / FERNSEHTURM CANDLE
Alongside the Brandenburg Gate, the Fernsehturm is an icon of Berlin architecture, visible from all over the city. In a tribute that’s either romantic, tacky or downright blasphemous, light the wick at the top of this candle one evening and watch the building melt to the ground. €13

6 / LOCAL ART
Prenzlauer Berg is known locally as a haven for creative types – something that is evidenced by the mountains of graffiti that adorn walls and pavements. Grab a small piece of art by Tom Bäcker (www.a-pointof-view.de), whose miniature mounted photographs will make nice adornments for your home.

7 / BERLINER KINDL WEISSE
Rebelliously contravening Germany’s beer purity law (in which beer can only be sold as “beer” if it contains a core of water, barley and hops), Berlin’s Kindl beer is normally injected with a “Schuss”, of either Waldmeister, which makes it green, or Himbeer, which makes it red. €2.50 each

8 / SUPERBRIGHT MICROLIGHT
Bikes are everywhere in Berlin, so why not get in the saddle yourself? Try Orangebikes (37 Kollwitzstrasse), and for safety’s sake, shell out for one of these rubbery lights, which curl round the frame of the bike like an octopus and shine an ultra-bight beam out ahead of you. €11

9 / BERLIN KAFFEE
What could be more quintessentially Berlin than coffee made entirely in… Peru? Well, never mind, Berlin Kaffee (www.trescabezas.de) makes for a lovely cup of morning Joe, thanks to the hand-picked Arabica beans, and clean flavour. Hmm, perhaps “Peru” is a typo of “pure”?

10 / TOY TRABANT
Like the Ampelmännchen, Trabants have managed to maintain popularity long after the fall of the Berlin Wall. While you may want to save your money for a more prestigious model, these Trabi toys cars will help you pay tribute to an old classic, without having to wait two years for it to be delivered!

City Lives Berlin

We talk to Brits Sarah Braimah and George Watts, who run Berlin accommodation website Be-My-Guest.com

SARAH BRAIMAH: "I was working in London for six years and my job came to an end. I had been here for my 30th birthday, and absolutely loved it, so I thought, 'You know what, I'm going to move to Berlin and see what happens'."

GEORGE WATTS: "It was in fact because I had been here previously and suggested this place to Sarah that she came to check it out, then later on I decided to come along too."

SB: "We planned to stay for just six months, but three years later we're still here. I wanted to get a job in a boutique or café – a place where I could meet people and practise German."

GW: "At first we had all the usual difficulties of trying to speak German…"

SB: "For some reason, it wasn't unusual for my sentences to include quite a few, um, 'inappropriate' words by mistake, much to the amusement of my German colleagues and my embarrassment!"

GW: "There are quite a lot of words that sound similar in English and German but have different meanings. For example, when we were looking for flats, the advert would say 'renoviert,' which we thought meant 'renovated', but it actually means ‘decorated’ – which varied in taste and styles."

SB: “The idea for Be-My-Guest.com came to us as we travelled a couple of times to Berlin before moving here, but never found somewhere that we felt comfortable staying. We were more interested in finding a stylish apartment or guest room, which had local character, to help us connect with the city as a local would. So that’s where the idea came from – to offer affordable local-style apartments and guest rooms.

"Prenzlauer Berg is an area of two faces. First, you’ve got the posh district – babies in buggies rule the streets around Kollwitzplatz, where the organic market takes place – then you've got the more happening, younger area of Kastanienallee. There's a load of bars there, open really late. It's a very good vibe."

GW: "In the last 10 years, it's changed almost unrecognisably in some areas – Helmholtzplatz, for example, is now a cool area with cool bars, but used to be a junkies' hangout."

For more details, visit www.be-my-guest.com

HOTELS

1 / HOTEL PENSION KASTANIENHOF
65 Kastanienallee, tel: +49 (0)30 443 050,
www.kastanienhof.biz

2 / HOTEL KONIGIN LUISE
87 Parkstrasse, tel: +49 (0)30 962 470,
www.deraghotels.de

3 / PARK PLAZA
162 Storkower Strasse,
tel: +49 (0)30 421 810,
www.parkplaza.com/berlinde

4 / PFEFFERBETT HOSTEL
18-19 Christinenstrasse, tel: +49 (0)30 9393 5858,
www.pfefferbett.de

5 / HOTEL JURINE
15 Schwedter Strasse, tel: +49 (0)30 443 2990,
www.hotel-jurine.de

CULTURE/SHOPS

6 / LUXUS INTERNATIONAL
101 Kastanienallee,
tel: +49 (0)30 4432 4877,
www.luxus-international.de

7 / LICHTBLICK KINO
77 Kastanienallee,
tel: +49 (0)30 4405 8179,
www.lichtblick-kino.org

8 / STIEFEL KOMBINAT
21 Eberswalderstrasse,
tel: +49 (0)30 5105 1234

9 / MAUERPARK FLEA MARKET
63-64 Bernauer Strasse,
tel: +49 (0)17 629 250 021,
www.mauerparkmarkt.de

10 / EXCUSE MY FRENCH
39 Sredzkistrasse,
www.excusemy.fr

RESTAURANTS

11 / GUGELHOF
Kollwitzplatz/37 Ecke Knaackstrasse,
tel: +49 (0)30 442 9229,
www.gugelhof.de

12 / KONNOPKE’S IMBISS
44a Schönhauserallee,
tel: +49 (0)30 442 7765,
www.konnopke-imbiss.de

13 / PASTA & PASSIONE
94 Kastanienallee, tel: +49 (0)30 4050 0920,
www.pasta-passione.com

14 / FRL. MARIE KAFFEEHAUS
11 Oderbergerstrasse, tel: +49 (0)30 4404 0866,
www.frl-marie.de

15 / ONKEL HO
10a Gleimstrasse, tel: +49 (0)30 4435 6379,
www.onkel-ho.net

BARS

16 / DR PONG
21 Eberswalderstrasse,
www.drpong.net

17 / KAUF DICH GLUCKLICH
44 Oderbergerstrasse,
tel: +49 (0)30 5015 4791,
www.kaufdichgluecklich.de

18 / CAFE MORGENROT
85 Kastanienallee, tel: +49 (0)30 4431 7844,
www.cafe-morgenrot.de

19 / PRATER GARTEN
7-9 Kastanienallee,
tel: +49 (0)30 448 5688,
www.pratergarten.de

20 / LAUB & FREY
79 Kastanienallee, tel: +49 (0)30 4403 4484,
www.laubundfrey.de