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

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

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.

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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

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.

 

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Beach at Weißen See | Relaxing | Free
Seeweg | Outer – North&East | +49309253241
Autumn – Spring 11:00 – open end daily

The days are getting longer, the sun is shining, Berliners might actually be smiling. It’s spring! It might be too early to go swimming, but the lush countryside around Berlin is perfect this time of year. In Friedrichshagen you can take a walk around the Müggelsee, find out what neue sachlichkeit architecture looks like and maybe even take in a quirky museum. And if that’s not enough, check out the restaurant at the Berliner Bürgerbräu, where you can enjoy views of the lake as you sip your Rotkehlchen.

After your beer, hop on one of the regular boats that ply the Müggelsee, it will take you up through Neu Venedig (Little Venice), a small, picturesque community set on – you guessed it – canals, before the boat heads back to Friedrichshagen. You can even hop off and head into the forest at Müggelberg – Berlin’s highest natural elevation – don’t worry, at 150 meters it won’t leave you out of breath!

Finally, on Sundays, 08:00 – 16:00, a flea market gets going just opposite the S-bahn station. Here you just might get lucky and find that Erich Honecker bust you have always been looking for.

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Friedrichshagen | Relaxing, Restaurants | Beer € 3
Müggelseedamm 164-166 | Outer – North&East | +4930640820
10:00 – 23:00 daily

This park began life in East Berlin in the late 1960s as Kulturpark Plänterwald, the GDR’s only amusement park. it was privatized after the wall fell.

Then came a rather turbulent period involving bankruptcy, drug smuggling and imprisonment (really, I am not making this up!). Since its closing in 2001 the park has been a favorite target for urban explorers eager to claim bragging rights or take surreal photos of rotting fiberglass dinosaurs, overgrown roller coasters or comically mustachioed heads that in simpler times served as fun cars. And the only way to get in was to break in.

Perhaps the family that owns the place finally realized there was no stopping the marauders and it was time to make a little money off them. Tours were intermittent for a while but it looks like they are scheduled regularly. A cafe has even been opened in the park in recent months, perhaps a good sign that this place might soon undergo a much needed renovation. Even the Bimmelbahn (park train) is up and operating, subject to frequent malfunctions, though that is something Berliners are learning to live with.

Tours (€ 15.00, pp) meet every Saturday and Sunday at 13:00, prior registration is required. The park can be reached from S-bahnhof Treptower park. Walk all the way to the end of the park, past the Zenner Biergarten and in the woods to the right you’ll find a fence for the park. You can find the main entrance in the forest.

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Spreepark | Coffee & tea, Relaxing | Drink € 3
Kiehnwerderallee 1-3 | Outer – North&East
Sat – Sun 11:00 – 18:00