I want to share with you my love for Berlin. It is an amazing city and some say it feels like the New York of the 80s. I lived in Berlin for 3 years while studying and I still miss it at times. There's just nothing you can't do in Berlin. As a student, when parties and drinks are most important to you (and at an affordable price) Warschauer Str. is the place to go. If you are more interested in history and ancient monuments, as well as famous art, don't miss the Museumsinsel (the Museum Island). If food is what you seek, venture into the temples of haute cuisine or into down-to-earth local venues offering everything from Vietnamese salads (see here for a prime example) to Currywurst (read here about my favorite joint). If you are interested in alternative lifestyles, crazy hairstyles, local designers or underground music, there's a place for you as well. Basically, whatever you want to do and experience, be assured that Berlin offers it.
I would like to guide you through a few things I have always found fascinating, entertaining, and delicious. As usual, I will center this article around food and will spice it up with some random facts and interesting stories.
When I moved to Berlin, I was about 20 years old: my first “own place“, no parents around and a whole city (the biggest in Germany with about 3 million inhabitants, check Wikipedia for additional facts about demographics etc.) at my fingertips. I had a very small (about 450 sq ft) apartment in Kreuzberg, one of the hipper boroughs of Berlin.
If you are not familiar with the city, let me give you some info about the setup. Berlin has no real city center; it is made up of boroughs and every borough has its own center. Kreuzberg has the Bergmannstr., a strip of road full of restaurants and bars and with the lovely Marheineke Market Hall with stalls offering everything from meat to veggies to shoe repairs. Mitte has the Friedrichstr., a posh shopping boulevard cramped with tourists in the summer, but offering luxurious and fun to visit shopping venues at e.g. Les Galleries Lafayette. Wilmersdorf, finally, has the famous Kuh'damm, a church destroyed during WWII and left as a memorial to the carnage of war (the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche); and a long stretch of shops, restaurants and Euro Shops (the equivalent of $ stores), catering to the uninformed tourist and charging an arm and a leg for mediocre products, most of which are made in China. The whole city center is then enclosed by The Ring, two trains that go in opposite directions around the city. In general, public transport in Berlin is excellent and affordable (though my wife says she could write a dissertation about the inefficiency of the set-up at Alexanderplatz, which looks nice and uncomplicated on the subway map but which can necessitate a 20 minute walk to get between trains): try to avoid driving and get a transport pass for the duration of your stay.
But back to why Berlin rocks. Being 20 and away from home at last, I did not care much for cooking. My Mom never really liked to cook and all my Dad can prepare are panfried potatoes; therefore, I never learned much about it. So I went out for lunch and dinner about 5 times a week and prepared spaghetti with tomato sauce or frozen pizza for the rest of my meals. What a glorious time that was though; thankfully, through those many restaurant visits I eventually became more interested in food and the preparation thereof, which culminated in me obsessing and writing about it. Back then though, not so much.
The blessing and curse of Berlin is that many places open and close so fast that you can't get used to them and are forced to try new things all the time (the blessing). The curse of that is that some of your favorite restaurants and bars will just disappear one day… But fear not! New exciting venues will open. The bars and restaurants included in this entry are ones that were there when I was studying and were still there the last time I was in the city, 5 years after moving away. That is usually a good sign of their endurability.
I'd like to walk through some of the great boroughs of Berlin with you and tell you more about what you can do with your time, both culturally and culinarily.
Mitte
Let's start with the middle of town. “Mitte“ means middle in German. This area includes many of the sights I strongly suggest visiting. Whenever I visit the city, this is where I like to go to shop, visit museums and eat. My favorite place in all of Berlin is probably the Hackesche Höfe (their website is horrible and not translated, so I&apso;ll give you Berlin's, which includes lots of info, history and transport recommendations); a maze of backyards where the poorer inhabitants of Berlin lived back in the days. It was an interesting social experiment. The apartments facing the street were occupied by wealthier individuals and the smaller, darker apartments in the back were occupied by the poor. All of the occupants shared the central courtyard(s) and by this method the poor were able to network themselves upward and the rich never forgot where they came from. Now, there are very few of these places left and the Hackesche Höfe, the best example of the architecture, is filled with theaters, restaurants and small shops and workshops offering items by local designers and artisans. In the summer I love to get a table outside of Oxymoron, a restaurant serving local fare at a very high level and with an excellent wine list. It's great to sit outside, watching the tourists and locals passing by, having a light white wine and some white asparagus in season or an excellent Schnitzel from local pigs. After eating it's great to wander around the backyards, window shopping and just wasting some time. On Thursdays and Saturdays, there's a lovely organic farmer's market just outside the backyards: a great place to shop for some veggies or meats from local farms (it's a beautiful but rather small market, if you live in Berlin, you'll probably look to the larger and more cost effective markets in the city). The whole area around the Hackesche Höfe is full of small shops and ateliers offering jewelry, clothing and accessories so I encourage you to wander and explore. Just around the corner, less than a mile away, you can get the best Vietnamese street food in Berlin (and in my opinion outside of Vietnam). Monsieur Vuong offers a wide array of foods with a menu that changes every two days. You can be assured that the menu, whatever it contains, will feature freshly prepared rolls filled with fresh herbs, seafood and vegetables, as well as salads and soups. In the summer they open the glass doors in the front of the restaurant and the whole experience feels a bit like a restaurant in a tropical country, airy and lively. The area around Alte Schönhauser Str., the address of Monsieur Vuong, is also an excellent spot to visit local fashion designers and to score high-fashion accessories at more reasonable prices than in Milan, Paris or London. I should tell you here that Berliners tend to be more avant guard with their style. If you want something more traditional and you have limited time, head to one of the big department stores. If you have a bit more time, ask your hotel's concierge for a recommendation.
You will find a great many of Berlin's museums in the Mitte. They are concentrated on the Museumsinsel. If you like ancient history, you must definitely visit the Pergamon Museum. It holds more than just the Pergamon Altar, though that is impressive in and of itself. This is my wife's favorite museum in the world after The British Museum (we're writing about it in our post about London) and it is entirely due to the fact that it holds the gates of ancient Babylon. You will also find the Berliner Dom (a Dom is a cathedral) on the Museumsinsel and I recommend a visit there as well. You will find the artwork behind the altar particularly beautiful from the balcony and I personally enjoy the crypt. It sounds morbid but it really isn't so don't let the idea put you off.
Mitte also holds the Brandenburger Tor and the Reichstag (parliament). Near the Brandenburger Tor you will find our favorite cafe. There was one in Cologne but it, sadly, closed. The Cafe Einstein has offerings similar to what you can find at an American coffee place, though with some differences. First, unlike Starbucks, the coffee and espresso actually tastes good. Second, while the Cafe Einstein is more expensive than most places that serve coffee in Germany, it is cheaper than the aforementioned Starbucks. Third, they serve alcohol and food so you can enjoy a quiet afternoon here. I have attached both the food menu and the coffee and tea menu here because their website isn't all that great and, if you don't speak German, finding said menus can be tricky. Oh, and for the record, if the menu card is in German and it says “iced“ any type of coffee, that almost always means that kind of coffee with vanilla ice cream. If you can't live without Starbucks, there is one just down the street.
Before you leave this little section of Berlin, you should also check out Vapiano, around the corner from the Cafe Einstein. Vapiano is a chain of Italian semi-fast food restaurants and, on top of having quite consistently good food, my wife and I enjoy it for the memories it evokes of our life working in Bonn. The concept is different from anything you will see in the States (unless you go to the Vapianos there, mainly on the East Coast). When you enter you will receive a card that looks like a credit card. You will receive one per person (it is how they ensure that no one leaves without paying). You then choose what you want - made-to-order pizza, pasta, or salad (or dessert or coffee or drinks), go to that station, give your order when it is your turn, swipe the credit card looking thing over the sensor they point out to you (this puts the charge onto the card), take your food and, once you have finished and ordered dessert and/or coffee (they make quite good coffee, especially cappuccinos) and swiped your card again, you take the card to the cashier at the check-out, pay and head out.
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
This district has a very alternative vibe to it - at least in some parts. Over the past years it has been gentrified a lot though. When I moved to Berlin, I lived here and the street I had my flat on was quite run down and cheap and many families who lived there had a migrant background. It was a very diverse, lively and interesting place. When I moved away three years later, most houses had been renovated and the tenants were art directors, journalists and people with funny glasses and a big paycheck. I preferred the feel before they fixed it up. But still, there are cool corners, lovely parks and interesting spots. If you have the chance, visit Bergmannstr. a strip of bars, restaurants and cafes.
Towards the East in Friedrichshain the city offers tons and tons of bars, restaurants and cafes. Most of them are mediocre at best and they pop up and disappear quickly, but if you're adventurous and try some of them you'll most likely stumble over a neighborhood gem that serves great food and/or drink. It's hard to recommend any specific place though because the landscape changes so dramatically pretty quickly. The area around Warschauer Str. is a pretty good nightlife and hangout spot too.
The real food gem of this area though is Curry 36 (website is in German but is easy to navigate and staff speaks enough English to take your order) on Mehringdamm. Currywurst is a Berlin invention born of necessity, as so many of the world's great food innovations and inventions were. In my opinion, the city has two that top all of the rest. This is the first one and, in my opinion, the best of the two (though my wife prefers the other one. You should take her opinion with a grain of salt though, as she doesn't actually like currywurst at all). This particular currywurst spot is relatively close to the Tempelhof airport/park, making it a great option for a quick, standing lunch. For the uninitiated, one always stands to eat currywurst. It's a German thing. Oh, and one MUST order it “ohne Darm“ (without skin) and one can specify the level of spiciness. In general, “spicy“ in Germany is quite mild. This place is an exception, so be warned.
While you are in this section of Berlin, I highly recommend that you visit The East Side Gallery, which is an approximately mile long section of the old Berlin wall that has been painted by famous artists as a memorial. In terms of transportation, you will find that it is a bit of a walk from the S-Bahn station on the one end and of the train station (which includes an U-Bahn station) on the other but the walk is worth it. If you don't fancy a longer walk than the one you will take just walking along the wall, this is the one time I would suggest a taxi. You can ask the driver to come back or to send a colleague to the other end of the wall in about an hour.
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
This is the area to go for some good old sightseeing, as well as for some serious shopping. Kurfürstendamm is home to a great many luxury boutiques. Colloquially this street is known as the “Kuh'damm“. If you walk down this street long enough, it runs into Tauentzienstr. in the Schöneberg district. This street holds Berlin's answer to Harrod's, the KaDeWe but you will have to wait for the section on Tempelhof-Schöneberg to read about its gloriousness. Before leaving this street, I recommend that you visit the Café Einstein Stammhaus (http://www.cafeeinstein.com/en/) and, more specifically, its downstairs bar, The Bar Lebensstern (http://www.lebens-stern.de/en/). I have included these two venues in this section because they are located on the Kuh'damm though, actually, they are technically in Schöneberg. The atmosphere, particularly of the bar, is top and if you are a connoisseur of either rum or gin, this is your place. They offer 800 kinds of rum and 200 kinds of gin.
If you enjoy a trip to the zoo, you will find the Zoologischer Garten Berlin (West Berlin's zoo during the cold war). Tickets, by the way, are quite cheap (EUR 13.00 per adult and EUR 6.50 per child on-line) but I recommend that you either order them through your hotel concierge or upon arrival because the website link to purchase tickets is entirely in German. Culturally speaking this district is also home to the Deutsche Oper Berlin (the opera) (http://www.deutscheoperberlin.de/en_en/calendar). I've never been there but you should know that most opera houses in Europe are cheaper than in the States. They also have some events that are general admission and those tickets can cost as little as EUR 10, if you qualify (students, for example).
If history is your thing, you can visit Schloss Charlottenburg, the only surviving royal residence of the former German emperors. You can also visit a less-intact site, the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche (Memorial Church). This church has been known to bring my wife to tears. It was a beautiful church until 1943, when it sustained a direct hit. The only thing that remains is the damaged spire and it has been turned into a memorial hall. It is worth visiting for what remains of its former beauty but it is more worth visiting to remember the costs of war.>br>
Tempelhof-Schöneberg
The most interesting spot here is the former airport Tempelhof. Back in its day it was the largest building in the world until it lost that title to the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, USA. It was closed as an airport in 2008 and has since then been open to the public as a park and recreational area. All runways are still in place and are widely used by inline skaters, bikers and other recreational athletes, while the lawns are occupied by sun worshipers (some will likely be topless. The Germans, especially compared to Americans, are very relaxed about the human body).
Speaking of “the largest building“ categories, in the northwest of Schöneberg one can find the KaDeWe, the largest department store in Continental Europe. It is in line with Harrod's, though smaller. In general, it is a bit on the pricy side but it is worth a visit for the sheer spectacle. Also, if you like food as much as we do, a trip to the 6th and 7th floors are great for inspiration and you can generally find a lot of hard to find items here. Despite its “priciness“ my wife and I find it difficult to leave without buying at least a bottle of bitters from one of Germany's great bitters producers: The Bitter Truth (http://the-bitter-truth.com) and Berg and Hauck's (http://www.berg-and-hauck.com). If you want to try either of these companies' bitters in a cocktail, you can find both at Amazon (www.amazon.com), Berg and Hauck's at KegWorks (www.kegworks.com), and you can find just about the full line-up of The Bitter Truth at Cask, a fantastic shop in San Francisco (www.caskstore.com).
Given that this Blog is mostly about food, I should tell you now that many of Europe's great department stores have a fine foods department. If food is your interest (and we trust it is, since you have found your way here), you should also check the food shop in the basement of the Les Galleries Lafayette. We picked up a bottle of Creme de Violette the last time we were there.
Neukölln
The latest discovery of the hipsters and the creative caste is Neukölln. Formerly, mostly inhabited by immigrants from all over the world and notorious for failed integration and social problems, this borough is now buzzing more and more with small shops and ateliers. I'd still recommend that you not walk around alone at night, but every day it seems to get better, more interesting and worth visiting. Give it a few more years before it is the next big thing to move there, which will inevitably increase prices, making it impossible for the old inhabitants to live there, pushing them further to the side and destroying what made it worth moving there in the first place.
Pankow
The borough of Pankow was merged with Weißensee and Prenzlauer Berg in a city reform in 2002. Weißensee (White Lake) houses, as you may guess, a lake. This part of the city strikes a great balance between urbanity and peace of nature. The lake area is full of historical architecture and parks that invite one to take a stroll or to pursue some variety of sports activity. Weißensee is also home of one of Europe's largest Jewish cemeteries.
Prenzlauer Berg has more of an urban feel and is a prime example of gentrification. After the unification this area of the city was the art and culture center of the world (well, at least of Berlin), but slowly people who find living in lofts, eating organic food and drinking frappe mochacinos hip moved in. Well-paid ad designers, executives, entrepreneurs and the like made it more and more expensive to live here and the real hip people: the poor, the artists and the creative people moved on to Kreuzberg (currently undergoing gentrification). Now you'll be able to observe soccer moms driving Porsche Cayennes or BMW X5s and ‘aspiring writers' sitting in one of the many cafes to ‘write' the next bestseller.
But generally, this is a really cool borough for going out to eat and to drink. A quick search on a well known review service shows that there are establishments of many varieties - lots of Vietnamese, but also German, Italian, Middle Eastern, vegetarian (this is important for those of you who are vegetarian because the single vegetarian offering in the vast majority of Germany's restaurants is mediocre cheese tortellini with tomato sauce), beer and cocktail offerings. Again, as many restaurants open and close so quickly, it's hard to recommend a specific place: talk to the locals, read some of the local blogs or just be adventurous and try something. If you haven't tried currywurst yet or if you simply haven't sated your taste for it (or if you trust my wife's opinion over mine), go to Konnopke's Grillimbiss on Schönhauser Allee. Remember the rule about ordering it “ohne Darm“ and, again, “spicy“ here will result in spicy, so keep that in mind. Also, order the Frites with Mayo, unless you don't like mayonnaise on your fries but know that you will be immediately pegged as an American for not ordering it that way (unless you order it with Curryketchup). If you want to be even more German, ask for the frites with mayo AND ketchup.
Pankow, finally, is mostly a residential area full of the typical East German high rises fitted with panel flats (i.e. ugly).
Lichtenberg
Lichtenberg is in the far east of Berlin and is mainly a residential area that does not offer too many attractions for visitors. Like Pankow it consists mainly of affordable panel flats and and a small high street with generic shops. But there is one good reason to visit: the Tierpark. This zoo of former East Berlin is comparable in size and variety to the West Berlin Zoo but is generally a bit less frequented and quieter. It is easy to reach with the subway no. 5 from Alexanderplatz. Especially on hot days, it is a nice destination because the many trees provide lots of shade and make for a refreshing stroll along the many enclosures that hold a wide variety of species.
These are not the only cities that make up Berlin but they are the most interesting and, in some cases, the ones about which I become most nostalgic. I hope that you enjoy your trip to Berlin. And, if you are not currently planning one, I encourage you to do so because it is a truly great city. It should be included with London and Paris as Europe's best/most famous cities but somehow it never is. The great thing about this for your visit is that you won't have to share the city with more tourists than there are people who actually live there. But go soon before the word gets out.