08.02.2011 / World Bulletin
OUT & AROUND: FRIEDRICHSHAIN
Diversity is just the right word to describe Friedrichshain, in Berlin’s former East, an area that has recently become one of the city’s younger and liveliest neighborhoods. There’s diversity in the origins and background of its inhabitants – who nevertheless sit side-by-side at cafés – in the restaurants’ menus, in the points of interest and in the ways to have fun. Here’s how to discover them all.
Young families, students, squatters, rich young professionals, alernatives of all sorts and even actors. There seems to be room for everyone, in Friedrichshain. Old and new landscapes are not mutually exclusive: you will find the decaying buildings of the East, squatted right after the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as older blocks of flats and freslhy refurbished lofts. Everything coexists with no ostensibile fiction, in slow and graceful transformation.
From the river Spree to green Volkspark, from the Soviet appearance of Frankfurter Allee to the small shops cafés on Bokhangener Strasse, strolling around the neighborhood is a experience and a lot of fun, too. Check out our small selection of venues and things to do.
RESTAURANTS & CAFES
Simon-Dach Strasse is the best place for eating out; there are tons of restaurants of every kind and natonality. But if you’re looking for a more authentic and less crode place, have a try at Sonntag Strasse, where some cozy and affordable places still survive.
Our tips:
Café Datscha
Blinz, Vareniki and much more. An authetic Russian restaurant looking like the country home of a rich Babuschka.
Gabriel-Max-Straße, 1
Spreebar
A sunny river café, just perfect for lunch.
Stralauer Alee, 2
Transit
One of the city’s most famous fusion restaurants, serving tapas-like portions of thai and indonesian food.
Sonntagstrasse, 28
Qadmous
True lebanese food in a pleasantsetting.
Am Friedrichshein, 1
Kinocafé Intimes
Nextdoor to old Intimes cinema, this café offers a great brunch to be consumed at the outside tables in the summer.
Boxhagener Str. 107
SHOPPING
East of Eden
Small independent and international bookshop.
Schreinerstrasse 10
Nevergreen
Record shop selling vinyls and rarities.
Proskauer Str. 5
Mondo Arts
A GDR memorabilia paradise. Small and dusty, but full of interesting stuff.
Schreinerstrasse 57
Flohmarkt am Boxhangener Platz
An authentic Sunday flea market, where antiques and second-hand stuff still prevail on the stalls of the up-and-coming local designers. Sells organic food as well.
NIGHTLIFE
Cassiopeia
A former train depot turned into a place of major importance for cultural life in the heart of the neighborhood. The whole area is designed by famous mural artist Lake and hosts a couple of clubs, a biergarten and a cultural center.
Revaler Strasse 99
Theater Kapelle
A small theatre inside and old graveyard chapel, also hosting concerts, parties, dj sets and neighborhood dinners.
Boxhagener Straβe 99
Radialsystem
An ex-pumping station with red bricks and glass turned into an open space for creative ideas, hosting new media exhibitions, dance performances, concerts, theatre plays, conferences, receptions and more.
Holzmarktstr. 33
