Image by Ciarán Fahey

Ambling along the cobbled streets of Prenzlauer Berg, between the pretty houses, you may be surprised to stumble upon two towers rising majestically from an idyllic leafy park. Known locally as ‘Thin Hermann’ and ‘Fat Hermann’, these are in fact two water towers, Berlin’s oldest, built in 1856 and 1877 respectively, with the “fatter” in operation until 1952.

It housed its workers in novel apartments and these are much sought after as living quarters to this day. In 1933 opponents of the Nazis were rounded up and held without trial in a now-demolished machine house before being murdered. Surrounding street names recall the resistance.

Dark past notwithstanding, the small park itself is beautiful, home to the snazziest kids’ playground I’ve ever seen (with trampolines!) and a short stroll up the mound (built on the former water storage tank) to the skinnier tower offers great views of the locality and my beloved Fernsehturm (the TV tower). See the Fernsehturm article.

Benches invite quiet contemplation and rabbits hop nonchalantly around the shrubbery. I tried talking to them but they just hopped away – typical Berliners. Never mind. No part of Berlin’s beauty is complete without the garish grounding of its graffiti and the bottom of the tower bears the marks of street artists.

Faraway sounds of the city: construction work, the rumbling of car tyres on cobbles, the laughter of children in the park’s Kita (Kindergarten), drift up from below, but these just reinforce the fact that here, you really are away from it all.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Wassertürme P’Berg | Relaxing | Free
Knaackstraße, 23 | Prenzlauer Berg
24 hours daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

More than 20 years after it was taken down, the Berlin Wall continues to be the city’s principal attraction for visitors.

The success of sights like Checkpoint Charlie and the recently repainted East Side Gallery has convinced the city powers to rebuild it – some of it at least – as a memorial on Bernauer Straße, where a section of the original Wall still stands.As expected, flocks of tourists eagerly make their way to the site, perhaps in their hurry overlooking a discreet installation in the former “ghost station” of Nordbahnhof.

Pictures and placards in German and English tell the incredible tales from the division of the city’s public transport system and the madness which ensued once the Wall went up in 1961. (The 50th anniversary of its construction took place on August 13th last.)

Barbed wire and bricked-up entrances were the order of the day, as the East German government sealed off all possible escape routes to the West, creating these ghost stations where trains passed through East Berlin on their way from one section of West Berlin to another. Passengers could only glimpse out at the dimly lit eeriness patrolled by border guards as they whizzed by.

Stories of courageous escapes, explanations, diagrams and multimedia all feature in this fascinating but small exhibition of the crazy realities of life in the shadow of the Wall. Best of all – it’s free!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Nordbahnhof | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Gartenstraße | Mitte
24 hours daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

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.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
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

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

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.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Visual Café | Coffee & tea, Relaxing | Coffee € 1.00
Schulzestraße 1 | Outer – North&East | +493044328500
14:00 – 20:00 daily (usually)

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

The heavenly smells wafting from Schwarze Pumpe will draw you in from the cold even before you’ve realised whether you’re hungry or not. In fact, you may wander in for just one Hefeweißbier (€2.90) and find yourself ordering a delicious Chili Con Carne (€4.50) too, as I did.

This cosy little pub/café/Kneipe has long been a favourite with locals, offering heart-warming (limbs too) German fare at its most tempting since it opened in 1993. Daily specials like Fenchel-Tomaten-Suppe (€3.50), broccoli and potato bake (€6), cheese Spätzle (schwäbische noodles) with salad (€6), or Grünkohl in Kräuter (cabbage in herbs, €3.50) are written on a board and taste much better than they sound. (Thankfully this rule applies to most German cuisine.)

A menu also offers set dishes at very reasonable prices – breakfast, including the typical Rühreier (scrambled egg) with bread for €3.20, is served from 10:00 -14:00, the kitchen remains open to 23:00, and a very popular Sunday brunch is available for just €5 every… well, Sunday.

This old-fashioned joint looks like it hasn’t been done up in years, exactly as I like it, and the homely feeling is extenuated by the friendly staff who seem to know everyone who walks in the door.

With the day’s newspapers available for perusal, good music, a cosy atmosphere, simple wooden decor and delicious food and drink, you might find yourself staying longer than originally planned. And with the nights getting ominously colder, where’s the harm in that?

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Schwarze Pumpe | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (German) | Apfelschorle € 1.50
Choriner Straße 76 | Mitte | +49304496939
10:00 – 01:00 daily (Kitchen ’til 23:00)

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

Apparently the Irish drink more tea per capita than any other people in the world. As soon as I moved here I had to find where I would get my tea.

The Berliner Teesalon on Invalidenstraße proudly states that it has “tea specialities from all over the world”. And it does! This charming old-style Laden is home to over 250 types of tea including a whole shelf devoted to my own beloved Barry’s Tea! (I’m sipping it now as I type.)

It was only after I left Ireland that I realised there was more than one type of tea and the Berliner Teesalon seems to have all of them under one roof: black teas from India, white teas from China, green teas from Japan… Oolong, Pu Erh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, rooibos, Jasmine and flower teas – they’re all in tins and boxes which line the shelves in this veritable treasure trove of tea. Of course there are all sorts of tea implements available too, from teapots of all shapes and sizes to strainers and sieves to ensure the perfect cup.

To help tea aficionados with their choices, once every month or so customers are invited to try a selection of teas over a couple of hours for €12 (check website for dates). House-mixed teas in colourful tins prove very popular as gifts. “Es gibt nicht den Tee,” replied the woman when I asked which was the best. It just seems I’ll just have to try them all.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Berliner Teesalon | Coffee & tea, Shopping | Barry’s Gold Blend (80 bags) € 7.25
Invalidenstraße 160 | Mitte | +493028040660
Mon – Fri 12:00 – 19:00, Sat 10:00 – 16:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

As city squares go, they don’t come much uglier than Alexanderplatz. Surrounded by a rash of imposing GDR-style unimaginative blocks, with perhaps Berlin’s ugliest fountain plonked in the middle, this is not the place to come for a romantic stroll. Much like the “Friendship Between Peoples Fountain” in fact, Alex looks terrible but means well.

Its real beauty engages on a more personal level thanks to the excitement of people milling around, the tourists and punks, the trams trundling through, and the tempting (even for vegetarians!) smell of roast Bratwurst which emanates thanks to the sausage sellers scattered around. Effectively the centre of a decentralised city, Alexanderplatz changes to suit the seasons and the whims of the people at any given time.

In November 1989, the largest demonstration before the fall of the Berlin Wall took place here and was pivotal to the fall of the East German regime. Its biggest gatherings these days occur at the various fairs and markets which call it home throughout the year. Glühwein-swilling at Christmas, chocolate-swilling at Easter, and beer-swilling any other time, there’s always something for swillers to swill!

Overlooked by the Fernsehturn, Alexanderplatz is also home to the funky World Time Clock, erected in 1969 and a popular meeting place for Berliners since. I presume this is so they know exactly how many minutes late you are. Germans don’t like to be left waiting as I’ve found out on numerous occasions, but thankfully for latecomers, Alex has plenty of distractions.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Alexanderplatz | Art & culture, Relaxing, Shopping | Free
Alexanderplatz | Mitte
24 hours daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

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!

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

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

Underground out of sight, in a place open until at least 6am – exactly where you want to do your drinking. Silberfisch has long been one of those bars which gives you the feeling Berlin wants you to become a vampire, sleeping all day, out all night. It’s an easy transformation. There’s something comforting in walking down the steps from Oranienburger Straße into this den to be greeted by the friendly bar staff like a long-lost Chilean miner.

DJs with remarkably good taste churn out the sounds seven days a week. Regulars sit at the bar exchanging ill-formed commentaries with whoever listens, consoling indignations with choices from the extensive drinks menu. Visitors are delighted to listen to commentary from knowledgeable locals, toasting their own diplomacy with choices from the extensive drinks menu.

It can be smoky, it can be loud, but there’s an extensive drinks menu. Specialties include Absinthe Sour (€8), Pina Colada (€7.50) and my favourite, Long Island Iced Tea (€9.50), all interspersed with Jägermeisters of course. Beer starts at €3. Exclusive to the Silberfisch however is its infamous Weltfrieden (World Peace) which is served in what can only be described a massive goblet for €15.

“After three double vodkas, bitter lemon and tonic, everyone is for world peace,” explained the barman. There are safer drinks of course, for those who want to make use of the dance floor.

The Silberfisch is best enjoyed after midnight when all the other vampires also come out to play.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Silberfisch | Bars, Music, Relaxing | Beer from € 3.00
Oranienburger Str. 37 | Mitte | +493028387388
Sun – Thu 20:00 – 06:00, Fri – Sat 20:00 – 08:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

Buried deep under Berlin’s famous Alexanderplatz (check the Alexanderplatz article) are the remains of a 4.5 billion year old UFO hushed up by the authorities and covered up from view. Apparently the East German regime was well aware of the implications of such a startling secret on the socialist state and so it built the Fernseheturm (check the Fernsehturm article) on the very site between 1965 and 1969 to hide it from public consciousness.

In 1995 however, an artefact from the space station was discovered, leading to the formation of a team of techies and hackers trying to reconstruct the puzzle of its existence. This is the ‘c-base’ project. Those involved meet in their own “space station” at the very back of an unobtrusive Hinterhof, working round the clock to try and uncover the terrible truth hidden for years by the powers that be.

Of course there are other activities too – the c-base does not restrict itself to looking just into the existence of aliens or UFOs – but as you can understand they’re a pretty secretive bunch, loath to any publicity or attention. So keep this under your hat.

Thankfully their activities also involve the serving of beer (just €2 a bottle for “aliens”) and some wild parties which are flagged in advance on their website. You’ll have to ring the bell at the door to be let in and if you ask nicely and are “compatible” they may even give you a tour! But remember, it’s all hush hush.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
C-Base Spacestation | Bars, Relaxing | Beer for “aliens” € 2
Rungestraße 20 | Kreuzberg | +493028599300
Top secret

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin