Sarah Curth (1989)

The beach at the lake Weißer See in the district Weißensee seems to be one of the last oases in the concrete jungle of Berlin and is situated only 20 minutes by tram M4 from Alexanderplatz.

It looks like a park from the outside, and as soon as you enter the green forest you will find a circular lake, which seems totally isolated from the outside world. Even in Winter it’s a really nice place to have some hot drinks while watching the sunset.

The beach is open every season and the access is free in spring.

The old building which has housed the c/o Gallery since 2000 is the ancient imperial post office. Especially at night the big illuminated entrance impresses the passerby.

Founded by a designer, a photographer and an architect the gallery became one of the biggest private art institutions in Berlin. This year the “International Forum For Visial Dialogues” celebrates its 10th year.

Temporary exhibitions present the artworks of upcoming and famous photographers. The specific of the location is that the showrooms and the halls aren’t renovated so the rooms contrast with the exhibit. Take a look at the bathrooms in the first floor where old and new design collides in a very interesting way. Antique Columns in the hall and an ornate tiled floor are special details which make this gallery so like-able. Currently the gallery celebrates its 10th year of existence.

Here you can find the English program of the current exhibitions. Admission is € 10.00, but reduced is only € 5.00 (for students, children). 

The futuristic appearing building of the Bauhaus-Archiv is a real landmark in the urban landscape of Berlin. Combining two houses and a bridge on which you can walk “over” the house makes the museum a special playground of architecture. Planned by the Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius in 1964 and built up in 1976-79 in a modified version the white building is a hidden eye-catcher on the bank of the Landwehrkanal.

The Archive/Museum attends to research and retrospection of Bauhaus architecture, art and design in the 20th century. It is the worldwide biggest collection of originals of the classical modernity. In a permanent exhibition which will be showed in December again, you can only see a part of the collection but the most interesting Bauhaus examples of architecture, furniture, ceramics, metal, photographs as well as artworks of the famous Bauhaus teachers Gropius, Itten, Klee, Feininger, Kandinsky, Albers, Schlemmer, Moholy-Nagy and van der Rohe.

Here you can find information in English about the permanent and the special exhibitions.

For a deposit of €10.00 you can rent an audio guide that explains the samples in your language. On wednesday, thursday and friday the entrance fee is one euro cheaper.

The Knorrpromenade is a narrow, short street – or better: a little esplanade – in the middle of the quarter Friedrichshain. After you had a walk on the Boxhagener Platz (check the Boxhagener Platz flea market article) and after some creamy cupcakes at Cupcakes you shouldn’t miss to look for this little idyll.

The houses were built in 1911-1913 to attract more wealthy people in this worker’s area. Today it is the last example for a bourgeois housing complex in Friedrichshain. The now listed buildings are all individual because they were planned by different builders.

On the southern entry to the street you will find the rests of an old gate with ornaments. When I walk through this quiet homely allee I always get the same feeling: I want to live here! In this place the world seems still fine.

Since spring 2011 an independent organisation was founded to renovate the destroyed Ornamental gates at the entry near Wühlischstraße. On their website you’ll find many beautiful photos and more about the history of this small allee.

The window is covered up by paper and the entrance hidden. It looks like a shop under construction but every minute people go in and out. This is Dr. Pong: Prenzlauer Berg’s Ping Pong-Bar.

When you enter you get the feeling that this is not an official bar but a member’s only club. The Spartan interior includes little more than a ping-pong table and some chairs. The walls are empty, but the club is crowded. Upon further exploration, you will find a bar, a small lounge and a DJ stand. No luxuries here, just a comfortable, cozy grotto that offers a remarkable alternative to all the normal bars where you just sit, stand or talk.

In the bar’s main room, people with table-tennis paddles run in circular fashion around the ping pong table. Most of the people are not professional players and some have never played before, so don’t worry if you don’t hit the ball (and as a good excuse, you can always say that beer makes you lose your body control). Anyway, there is always a new round, which gives you the chance to show your hidden talent.

One of the bar’s owner’s interests is, according to the bar’s manifesto, “losing the definition between game/sport and partying”. A “healthy addiction” to beer and ping pong makes you definitely want to come back to this inconspicuous place.

By the way, you don’t need to bring your own ping pong paddle; you can borrow one at the bar for a deposit of 5 euro.