Image by Ciarán Fahey

For me one of Berlin’s most fascinating sites is also one of its lesser-known – the former Stasi Prison in Hohenschönhausen. A tour of this so-called “detention facility” with one of its former inmates helps lift the lid on the chilling methods of East Germany’s secret police as they sought to protect their raison d’être. It never fails to cast a shiver down my spine.

Some 250,000 political prisoners passed through its doors over 40 years, many never to be heard from again, before it was finally shut down on October 3rd, 1990. Ordinary people were subjected to all sorts of unthinkable psychological torture, with the prison authorities becoming sadistic experts in interrogation and intimidation.

East Germany’s Ministry for State Security (Stasi) had been set up to protect the socialist state and it did so with brutal efficiency. Anyone could be snatched without warning, and kept for months in total isolation with only the prospect of further interrogation to break the monotony. Many former prisoners later died of leukemia-related illnesses, believed to have been contracted from X-ray machine radiation. Some of those who survived now offer guided tours so the terrible secrets of a dark past can be revealed and never forgotten.

Most of the tours are in German, but excellent tours in English are available daily. It really is a fascinating insight into the inner workings of a state in constant paranoia. Registration is now in a new office opposite the prison.

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Stasi Prison | Art & culture, Relaxing | Tour € 5
Genslerstraße 13A | Outer – North&East | +493098608230
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 15:00, Sat – Sun 10:00 – 16:00, Tours in English daily at 14:30

Image by Ciarán Fahey

For a quiet place to get lost in your own thoughts and imagination, there can be few quieter than the utterly charming Visual Café in Pankow.

Shuffling feet and the intermittent growl of the coffee machine are all you’re likely to hear. No music affronts the senses as there’d be very little point – most of the customers are students, staff or friends of the neighbouring Visual Hands school for the deaf and hearing-impaired. Indeed the Visual Café is actually run by the school and those involved with its laudable programme of courses, events and activities. But back to the café – it’s simply delightful.

Communication is by sign language but there’s no need to be fluent. The ridiculously-friendly staff make it easy to feel at home. I was able to communicate without difficultly.

Before you know it, you’ve whiled away an hour or three over a very reasonably-priced coffee (€1), latte (€2.20), beer (€2) or coke (€1.50). For something more substantial (and a good deal healthier), the day’s range of tempting homemade hearty soups are written on the board, and also excellent value.

The real charm of this hidden gem however, is the peace and quiet in a very tasteful and comforting environment. Contemporary wooden furniture is accompanied by classic couches which are decidedly hard to escape from. Not that you’ll want to.

Word of warning – opening times are haphazard, and you may be disappointed to find them closed on occasion, but they were very much open when I dropped in last week.

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Visual Café | Coffee & tea, Relaxing | Coffee € 1.00
Schulzestraße 1 | Outer – North&East | +493044328500
14:00 – 20:00 daily (usually)

Image by Ciarán Fahey

A short tram ride east will bring you all the way to Asia. Well, not quite – Berlin’s public transport isn’t that good – but the M8 will bring you as far as the Dong Xuan Center where a thriving Vietnamese community is blossoming on what used to be decrepit industrial wasteland.

‘Little Vietnam’ consists of an untidy collection of huge hangers stuffed to the brim with shops upon shops selling all manner of stuff you never knew you needed. Tacky and flashy are the order of the day – this is the place to come for neon shop signs, plastic flowers, cheap wedding dresses, rubber reindeer or plastic figurines. Those friendly one-armed waving cats can of course be found here, as can porcelain pigs engaging in activities no decent porcelain pig would normally be found in.

Weird wares are scattered all around, sandwiched between karaoke bars, shoe shops, barbers, hair salons and nail salons. It’s another world. Old men play cards at a furious pace around tables under clouds of smoke, money changing hands quicker than the eye can see. Live carp patiently await purchase in huge tanks at the back of supermarkets crammed with tins of things I’d never heard of and crazy fruit I’d never seen before.

Browsing through the hustle and bustle is hungry work and a number of restaurants of questionable hygiene offer authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Again, you might have no idea what you’re eating but hey, it’s cheap, cheerful, and certainly an adventure!

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Dong Xuan Center | Bars, Coffee & tea, Shopping, Snacks, Restaurants (Vietnamese)
Herzbergstr. 128 | Outer – North&East | +493055152038
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 18:00

Image by Robby Block

In the 1800s forests and farmlands marked the edge of city and land was bought up in Weißensee by the Jewish community as the old cemetery on Große Hamburger Straße in Mitte had reached capacity. Overtime, the city has grown around the cemetery, though the cemetery itself feels like a primeval forest.

Nothing reminds you of your own mortality like a visit to a cemetery, and no other cemetery can be a better reminder. In winter, crumbling black art nouveau mausoleums are outlined in snow and you have the place to itself. In spring, an abundance of flowering trees is a striking contrast to the somber atmosphere of the graveyard. In summer lush ferns erupt through forgotten graves. And in fall, the golden gingko trees are simply radiant in the dull gloom.

After years of neglect, this cemetery is getting some much needed attention, though many doubt it can be enough to save it. Berlin’s Jewish community once numbered over 600,000, and today there are just 14,000, too small to keep up with maintenance without outside help. Renovation is proving costly and although the city pledges to help, the estimated 40 million euro required seems out of reach. A bid has been made for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List, but no decision has been taken yet.

A new documentary film, winner of the Berlinale Panorama Audience Award 2011, about the cemetery is out, and I strongly recommend it. Catch it now while it’s still in the cinemas.

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Jewish Cemetery Weißensee | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Herbert-Baum-Str. 45 | Outer – North&East
Sun – Fri 07:30 – 17:00

Image by Ciarán Fahey

Prying into East Germany’s deepest darkest secrets at the Stasi Museum offers a scarcely-believable glimpse into what it must have been like living under its communist regime. What was once (not all that long ago) the headquarters for the dreaded Ministry for State Security (Stasi) now houses a remarkable collection showcasing the incredible means by which this secret police force spied on its own citizens and engaged in espionage and counter-espionage abroad.

You couldn’t make it up – set up by the political dictatorship to quell opposition and keep a population under control, the Stasi developed an insatiable curiosity to know absolutely everything. By the time the fall of the Berlin Wall brought an end to its shady dealings, it had 91,015 employees and gone through 175,000 informers.

Cameras and microphones were hidden in places no honest cameras or microphones should be found, and some of these are now on display – camouflaged briefcases, a watering can, a dustbin, a pen, a flippin’ tree trunk. Even a camera designed to look like a coat button! The Stasi also developed the means to track people by their own particular scents. As I said, you couldn’t make this stuff up.

Following renovation last year, you can now visit Erich Mielke’s office. He was the last Stasi head honcho before the whole thing went belly up with the fall of the Wall.

There’s only limited information in English, though the hidden camera/microphone exhibits have explanations. Even if you could understand the rest, you wouldn’t believe it anyway.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Stasi Museum | Art & culture | Ticket € 5
Haus 1, Ruschestraße 103 | Outer – North&East | +49305536854
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 18:00, Sat – Sun 14:00 – 18:00