Savoring History and Nightlife in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin

No doubt Berlin has come of age and become en vogue...promoted by the local tourist authority as party capital of Europe, thousands of visitors young and old descend onto the city in search of recent history in the making and long wild nights out partying until dawn. Berlin caters to both, but most visitors will stick to the "highlights" around the Brandenburg Gate, Under den Linden or Checkpoint Charlie along with what is left of the Berlin Wall (1961-1989). Few if any will venture beyond those main attractions, and rarely do visitors embark on explorations of "local Berlin", which is unfortunate, as the German capital has existed as a "big city" - a large incorporated Berlin Metropolitan Area - only since 1920 - and the numerous communities and villages that are part of Berlin today, all have their own history, color, dialect and trajectory.

One of the most avantgarde, talked about and interesting districts of Berlin is the neighborhood of PRENZLAUER BERG in the former East of the city. No other area of Berlin has undergone such fundamental change over the past decades. From a miserable blue-collar working class neighborhood a century ago, it escaped WWII mostly unscathed, only to become a neglected area of East-Berlin, while communist leaders happily erected prefabricated apartment blocks elsewhere. Following the collapse of communism in 1989, most houses in Prenzlauer Berg were semi-dilapidated with coal ovens and shared communal bathrooms and kitchens. Nowadays, by contrast, most houses are refurbished, real estate is in high demand here and prices are accordingly elevated in what is otherwise a very affordable city. And nightlife abounds with 700 bars cafés and restaurants vying for visitors in virtually every corner of the district.

So, unlike many of Berlin's notorious pub crawls, it is possible to savor local history and nightlife together in one of the most fascinating and special neighborhoods Berlin has to offer. Our Treasure off the Beaten Track adventure thus starts right at SENEFELDER PLATZ subway station, an ideal departure point for a walk around the highlights of Prenzlauer Berg. We initially stroll north on SCHÖNHAUSER ALLEE and come across the Old Jewish Cemetery attesting to the fact that this area was once the center of Jewish life in Pre-war Berlin. The cemetery was used mostly between 1827 and 1880 and is home to many prominent Jews including painter Max Liebermann, composer Giacomo Meyerbeer and scholar Leopold Zunc.

About two blocks down, we turn right at Wörther Strasse and walk as far as Kollwitzstrasse and Kollwitz Square named after famous German artist KÄTHE KOLLWITZ (1867-1945), who became famous for her drawings, etchings and lithography works, while advancing as one of Germany's first outspoken pacifists, after her son Peter was fatally injured in WWI and passed away in her own arms, a famous scene always associated with her legacy. The street and square were named after her following WWII, since she moved to the area in 1891 after coming to Berlin from her hometown of Kaliningrad, Easter Prussia in what is nowadays a Russian enclave. A bust commemorates the reknowned pacifist and artist, and at the same square we find the GUGELHOF Restaurant, which made headlines in the 1990s when Bill Clinton was a regular guest here.

Heading away from the square down KNAACKSTRASSE, we can appreciate the overall uniform architecture of the Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood. Hardly destroyed by WWII, most buildings date back to the period 1880-1900, with five storeys and numerous inner courtyards often creating housing blocks up to half a mile in diameter. During its peak time as a blue collor neighborhood over a century ago, living conditions were dire to say the least, with often many family members sharing a single room, communal toilets in the hallways and old coal ovens that needed to be stocked daily with coal brought up from the basement. These living conditions were most aptly captured by BERLIN local painter and photographer HEINRICH ZILLE (1858-1929), a true Berlin legend, whose work is often associated with the Berlin working underclass, social outcasts and marginalized minority groups. On the dismal living conditions in these communal rental blocks, he was once quoted as saying:"You can kill a person with an apartment just as easily as with an axe". Working-class families were often so financially strapped, they even rented out their own beds to night shift workers to sleep in during daytime.

We then reach Prenzlauer Berg's "landmark monument", the WATERTOWER, also dubbed "FAT HERMAN". Dating back to 1875, it was built at a time when the community grew rapidly and additional water supplies were needed. During the Nazi era, however, it served as a prison and miniature labor camp for many political dissidents and Jews - a plaque still commemorating the venue's tragic history. Nowadays it houses spacious loft-style apartments and blends in nicely with the overall gentrified air of the neighborhood. Across the tower on the other side, at almost the corner of KNAACKSTRASSE and RYKESTRASSE, we find Berlin's largest and most intact SYNAGOGUE, originally built in 1904 and recently refurbished and reopened in 2007. During the infamous KRISTALLNACHT on November 9th, 1938, the synagogue was plundered and desecrated but NOT burnt down, as the Nazis feared damage to surrounding buildings inhabited by arians. Nowadays the synagogue may seat up to 1200 people and has once again become the center of Jewish life in Berlin.

Turning left on WÖRTHERSTRASSE we return to the other end of KOLLWITZPLATZ and head north on KNAACKSTRASSE to finish our local exploration stroll at one of Berlin's most dynamic nightlife venues and most popular breweries, the KULTURBRAUEREI: Covering an area of 25000 sqm, it is regarded as one of the best preserved monuments of Berlin industrial architecture of the 19th century and has been under monument protection since 1974. Once the home of Berlin's local SCHULTHEISS brew, it nowadays houses theaters, cinemas, cafes, restaurants and dance clubs. It is therefore the ideal venue to end the neighborhood stroll off the beaten track, with easy access to trams, subways and buses on nearby SCHÖNHAUSER ALLEE. Joining crowds of local pub goers, we can rest assured to have savored and experienced a much more local part of Berlin than any standard city bus tour could have ever done for us.