Little stories of a small world down in Friedrichshain

Simon-Dach-Straße

drickyoghurt — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:48:24 +0000

A blog that tells stories about Friedrichshain without consider the Simon-Dach-Straße? NO WAY!

Simon-Dach-Straße

I’m pretty sure most of you have been there already or at least have heard about it once. It’s not like the most famous street in Friedrichshain or even in Berlin, but still more than just worth going there! During the day and at first glance it just seems to be a nice, quiet street with some restaurants, bars, cafés and shops. But as soon as it gets to the end of a day, especially at the weekend, the street is full of life. More or less it’s a living area but during the 90′s in every ground floor a gastronomic establishment arose and today there is just one next to the other. What I like so much about this street is, of course, the huge offer of different bars and restaurants, but also the atmosphere that this area creates, particularly during the night. I’ve been reading quite a few recommendations in some forums and “where-to-go-pages” and many do favour this street and its possibilities as well. Of course, there is some criticism that it’s too touristy meanwhile and not that alternative any longer. But to be realistic, there are so many places in Berlin you really like and many others as well, so after some time it’s just natural to have tourists there as well and also to have more traffic in general. But it’s good for the bars and cafés there and also for the area itself.

What I actually wanted to say is, that many people also sense this area as “Berlin”, the old paving road, the old buildings, the ambience in the bars. And of course the many young people around there. It’s just some kind of “stylish” there, not the best word to describe it, but that’s how I feel about it, no point of being ashamed of those places when thinking of Berlin and Friedrichshain.

100Wasser

Well, to give you at least some idea what kind of bars and restaurants are around there, have a look at this two examples, I don’t want to give you more, because you have to discover this street yourself:

The 100Wasser, situated in Krossenerstraße 14, right at a corner to Simon-Dach,to be honest, the bigger outside sitting area is put into Simon-Dach. It looks not that extraordinary but it’s a lovely spot for having breakfast, of course, not the cheapest opportunity, but therefore one of the best! They have an all-day menu as well and yummy cocktails. I love their cheesy tortilla chips with three different sorts of dip.

Künstliche Beatmung

Another fancy place is the bar Künstliche Beatmung which you can find in Simon-Dach-Straße 20. It’s a great location with nice bar staff and a pleasant atmosphere. The furnishing is just class there. Sometimes they also have a DJ there, but at the weekend you shouldn’t come too late, hard to find a place to sit then, as it also sometimes the case in other bars there.

So all in all, once again, give it a try!

Collaboration in Friedrichshain II

drickyoghurt — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:45:11 +0000

As I promised in one of my earlier posts before, I had a look at some shops of the Ladenhüterinnen. I did expect that the shops are going to be nice and interesting, but I never thought they’d be so lovely. I just wanted have a short look at them to judge whether they were worth it to write about them, but in the end, I spent quite a long time there, because I was just so impressed by the thoughtfulness the women put to all the details in their establishments.

The bookstore Lesen und lesen lassen (Read and let read) is just like the Schokoladenparadies Olivia situated in Wühlischstraße 30.

Lesen und lesen lassen

Lesen und lesen lassen is quite hard to notice at first glance, because it’s just a one-room store and has a plain appearance from the outside. But as soon as you step inside this impression changes immediately. Although it’s a really small bookstore it has a comfortable, inviting atmosphere, with bookshelves at the walls and an armchair with a nice carpet right in the middle of it. The furniture is kept in darker colours but still it’s very bright inside which I personally really like. The choice of the books is limited, because of the size of the store, nevertheless it’s still an excellent range of books available. Not only the typical bestseller stuff you can buy anywhere but also books with deeper intentions, more artistic touch. Furthermore they have nice calendars, beautiful postcards and some other little things it’s hard to keep away from.

Directly next to Lesen und lesen lassen is the Chocolate Paradise Olivia, it’s a little catchier than the bookstore, because of the white furniture, kept in a romantic-French style, in front of the shop, the colourful awning and of course of the people sitting there.

Schokoladenparadies Olivia

It’s not only a shop, where you can buy some sweets, but also a café where you can drink different kinds of coffee and eat a lot more than just chocolate, cakes and tartes for example. In contrast to the store I mentioned before, this one is held in white colours with some black accessory.

Inside the Chocolate Paradise

The offer contains chocolate in different flavours from several producers from France and Belgium. Because I can’t get away from sweet things, I couldn’t help myself to buy a bar of chocolate which was wrapped up like tobacco is normally packed. Beyond funny packages they also provide candies, tee, hot chocolate/cacao powder, fresh made cakes, nougat confection and much more! The most loveliest thing about my experience there was when I entered the shop two French guys were ordering something to drink and eat and the lady behind the counter just responded easily back in French. I love the language and it was just so matching to the ambience of this stylish café. May you’re lucky too, and you have some French speaking customers inside when you visit this fantastic place someday to perfect the romantic-French getaway.

The last shop I’ve been to is called Perlerei Berlin which is placed in Lenbachstraße 7. Again the owner of the shop put so much love into the decoration of her establishment which just creates an unique atmosphere inside it. The name of the shop pretty much takes away the reason for its existence, for the ones who don’t speak German: it’s a jewellery and bead shop.

Perlerei

You have a huge range of millions of different sorts of pearls and other trinkets and pieces you can use to create your own jewellery. The intention of the owner is not only to provide these different kinds of beads, but also to sit with her and create your jewellery right there, in the workshop where every kind of tool is available to tinker necklaces, wristbands or earrings. On request the staff there will also fabricate some pieces you wish to have, but can’t make them yourself.

Exemplar of Jewellery

When I was there the lady working at this time was really nice and already working on something in a second room where the workshop is placed and also some examples are shown how your self-made jewellery could look like.

After all, I really recommend to having look at these shops when you’re around in Friedrichshain, I was surprised of the different types and impressed by the effort the owners put into their shops, and I’m sure, you’ll be as well, so give a try!

From Xhain to Lostkreuz

drickyoghurt — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:57:42 +0000

Today I’d like to introduce you some pages and blogs about Friedrichshain.
This blog is just from my personal point of view and delivers just a really small insight into the huge range Friedrichshain actually does offer you. So, why not broaden your horizon a little?

First of all Die Friedrichshainer, which is some kind of a mixture of a homepage and a blog. They constantly inform you about events and news in and about our district, they have different authors with different emphases, at the moment especially about the Fete de la Musique, which is happening all over Berlin this Sunday (today).

Then there is the XHain a platform for Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg which is full of information for every category in life you could think of. It contains books about the area or good book stores, hotels, and banks, cultural happenings like theatre, music and nightlife. Furthermore listings of sport clubs, political parties and their voting in the elections and religious groups in the district. So you see, there is nothing you can’t get information about!

Another one is Friedrichshain-Magazin which is generally about urban regeneration. It publishes every 3 months news about changes in Friedrichshain which is a good thing, because there is a lot of discussion going about the Autobahn A100 issue, you surely have heard about in the past. A lot of criticism is passed on in this magazine, thus you feel like thinking about the issues going on in your area and not just watch them happening. The issuer of this magazine is the ASUM – Angewandte Sozialforschung und urbanes Management (Social Research and urban management) on behalf of the district exchange of Friedrichshain/Kreuzberg. A printed version of the magazine is distributed in different places all over the area.

Something you always connect with Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg are the different movements of the Antifa. It is quite important to at least have heard of them, when you live in Berlin (at least in my opinion). You can pull so many information from this page, what’s going on in the moment and when there will be something happening next. Also about the history, what they already did against fascism and racism in Friedrichshain. So, have a look!

Lostkreuz-An Example

As a last point I like to demand your attention to a nice photo blog Lostkreuz, it’s about the train station Ostkreuz and how it changed by time. Since the end of 2004 the photographer started to put his work online within a blog and had a lot of positive feedback and more photographers joining his idea. There are lovely pictures have been taken, so take some time, have a look at them and relax with some outstanding Friedrichshain-atmosphere.

The Milkabilly

drickyoghurt — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:41:35 +0000

The Milkabilly - Original Fifties Milk bar

THE MILKABILLY,
a wonderful new milk bar in Mainzer Straße 5, right in the middle of Friedrichshain! It just opened 4 weeks ago and looks like a place that just jumped from the fifties right into our current decade. It’s designed like an American Diner from the past and also the waitresses appear like real Rock’n'Roll Girls.

In general the milk bar has a huge offer of ice cream, milk shakes, coffee and snacks. I’m totally into the milk shakes there, because they’re all fresh and self made. You choose your flavour (which is also made with real fruits and not with syrup) and if you want to, you can pick another one as well and the nice lady behind the counter mixes it up within a few moments. I’m totally addicted to an apple cinnamon shake with brittle. It’s just so, oh my god, soooo yummy!! I’ve never ever had such a terrific milk shake before.

Due to the fifties-rockabilly style the bar also presents different exhibitions from time to time of photographs showing people who just live that kind of style or other fitting images. Furthermore there are different other events happening regularly, like a special exhibitions this Sunday, where also a DJ is involved in the session. Even if you’re just hanging around in Friedrichshain during the evening and feel like having a drink somewhere, the Milkabilly is a great opportunity! It offers several beers, shots and other drinks. Or if you feel a little hangover in the morning, you can get a nice breakfast there as well and get yourself started again.

So, anyway, you definitely have to go there!! No excuses, it’s worth it!

Boxhagener Platz Market

drickyoghurt — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:32:28 +0000

Every Saturday and Sunday there is a nice, small market taking place at Boxhagener Platz. It’s not like a typical jumble sale, but more like getting every kind of fresh food. It’s an unhurried, unobtrusive market that surrounds a children’s playground. The people are easy going there and it’s a lovely atmosphere. Of course, there are also some booths were you can buy cheap clothes or some hand-made goods, like felt shoes and some second hand records and books are available.
It’s not the case that you definitely have to go there, but it’s just so nice to have a small market just five minutes down the road every weekend. In the middle of the district, where also some band members of our beloved Beatsteaks go for buying fresh vegetables

Kissenschlacht – Pillow Fight

drickyoghurt — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:54:26 +0000

Get started

Sure some of you have had a nice weekend walking around or laying in the sun. I did that as well, in one of the biggest and well-visited parks in Berlin, the Volkspark Friedrichshain. A friend told me that on Sunday there was going to be a Kissenschlacht – a pillow fight – so no doubt of missing this little event. We went there a little earlier to relax and enjoy the good weather, but most of the participants of the pillow fight were also already there.
I guess the average age of this huge group was 24 to 26, but it seemed that one of them was celebrating his or her birthday. With some nice food and drinks, some children games. It was hilarious to watch them.

Pillows Everywhere

Grown-up’s running around in the park, playing “tag” or catching an apple with the mouth inside a water bowl. Just like a real nice children’s birthday. I was kind of dashed back into my own childhood and remembered all the nice birthday parties I had in the past. I actually even kind of miss it right now, but some friends and I plan a real good children’s birthday party for a friend who’s turning 22 soon. Will be good fun, I guess!

Now let me tell you about the actual matter, the pillow fight. Around 5pm all those party-people and some others centred on a huge hayfield and sat down.

Flying Feathers

With the signal of an alarm horn everybody jumped up and started to throw his pillow into the face of his neighbour.

It was so much fun to watch it (yes, I didn’t participate because I had to take pictures), how the pillows went to bust and some feathers were flying around. It was overall a peaceful atmosphere and nobody had any injuries or anything, maybe just lost his pillow in the fight.

After the Fight

The whole scenario was lasting for about 5 minutes and after that another 5 minutes. The good thing was that all these people cleaned up the pillow-mess they’ve created together. Not even the park was afflicted by the pillow fight.

My Späti is your Späti

drickyoghurt — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:23:08 +0000

Do all of you know, what a Späti is?
I guess not, so let me explain: A Späti is a shop that sells its goods not only during the day, but also late at night, some are even not closing at all. And especially in my neighbourhood there are a lot of them. There are at least ten that I can reach within 7 minutes or less. But I have some kind of a personal Späti. It’s not in my house, but it’s in the ground floor of the house next to mine. It’s lovely to have a shop that offers everything you need to survive (food, toilet paper, drinks, booze, cigarettes…) right beside you. It’s not a 24/7 shop, but it’s approximately open until 11pm to 12 am during the week and a little longer during the weekend.

Jungstraße - Späti

This Späti is not only my personal Späti, because it’s so close to my flat, but also because of the people who work there, they recognize me and kind of know me. I don’t know the names of the employees or the owners, they don’t know mine either. But it’s like greeting your friends, a little chat, a smile here, and a joke there. It’s a really familial atmosphere. Once I didn’t had enough money to buy something and the guy from the shop just said, “no problem, pay it later”.
Those things make it my private, personal, very own Späti.

Friedrichshain Special

drickyoghurt — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:54:58 +0000

As in my last post, I’m going to write about the Zitty Berlin issue including the Friedrichshain Special. They did not only write about Die Ladenhüterinnen but also presented some nice places to go in this district.

One the one hand there are some theatres, as the Zebrano Theater, or Cinemas, Bars and Clubs. My favourite one out of the Zitty’s list is Rosi’s. I haven’t been there that often, but I like the location a lot. It’s in Revalerstraße 29, just a short walk away from my flat. When you enter the outdoor area of this club, it’s already really lovely. Some benches and chairs are placed outside in the sand to have a little chat outside, for instance. It all looks really old and even a little shabby, but still with some kind of charm. Once you stepped into the building itself the image of the old, dirty building appears again. The walls are full with graffiti, a phone box in the middle of the room, between the bar and the dance floor and another room with nice sofas. The whole atmosphere in this club just screams “Friedrichshain”. It reflects the “Berlin-arm aber sexy” slogan quite good.

Definitely worth going there, especially on a Thursday, cheap entrance and good Indie music!

Read here the complete Zitty article about places to go.

Collaboration in Friedrichshain

drickyoghurt — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:26:36 +0000

The last issue of Zitty Berlin had a nice special about Friedrichshain. They reported about female shopkeepers who formed an alliance, die Ladenhüterinnen, five years ago to create a strong company amongst the independent shops. Inspired by African market-women they wanted to give support to each other, financially and emotionally, as well as receive loans easier and faster, just like advertise for the other members. But unfortunately the idea didn’t worked as the ladies imagined. The German tax office makes it quite hard to get a loan as a group without stating every single step you used the money for and especially who of the members used it. Furthermore everybody had a lot of work to do in her shop, the community was really time-consuming and to come up with an agreement on issues turned up to be much more difficult than expected. But still the women are having meetings every two months to share their experiences and to support each other, at least emotionally. New projects are planned for the future, for example a new version of their Ladenhüterinnen-bags, they created in the past.

It makes me proud to see that there is not exclusively competition in today’s market, but also a sense for community and mutual encouragement. Especially because all these eight shops are small and independent ones, where it is even harder to survive or to be successful. It’s a pity that financial support is hard to organize in these days and that their original plan did not worked out probably, but they still holding to their little alliance and try best to support each other. I think it is really important to keep some human traits in our society, in particular in the working environment. So many people are ruthless while climbing up the greasy pole and would never ever care about anybody else’s well being.

I will at least have a look at the one or the other store, like the book store Lesen und lesen lassen or Schokoladenparadies Olivia, Wühlischstraße 30, and report about the atmosphere and products there.
Until now, everything sounds nice, so why not support an individual shop in my neighbourhood?

Read further at Geschäfte unter Schwestern and Ladenhüterinnen

Look what I just found..

drickyoghurt — Sun, 03 May 2009 16:12:53 +0000

..The Vegetable Battle 2008

Friedrichshain vs. Kreuzberg

The 27th of July, 2008. A historical day for our posterity.
Somehow.

In 2001 the originally separated districts, Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg were merged together as a result of an administrative reform. Since 1998 the residents of both areas meet each year at the Oberbaumbrücke to fight the “battle of vegetables” and the “water fight”. They try to conquer the other district and claim it to be a part of their own. The idea of the battle is based in the days of the amalgamation when a few political conflicts were discussed because Friedrichshain was once part of East Germany and Kreuzberg of West Germany. But it was always seen as a peaceful parody of the reform. The battle is officially announced as a demonstration but actually appears as a mediaeval-fight-event. The people participating in this battle use old vegetables and fruits, eggs and flour & water bombs. Nobody really wants to hurt anybody from the other side but show their strength and superiority over the other. There are a few “combat units” like the Wasser-Armee-Friedrichshain and the Kreuzberger Patriotische Demokraten. The second unit is not up to date, but was quite active until 2005. In 2006/07 the Battle of Vegetables didn’t took place because of some court cases. Until now, every fight was won by the citizens of Friedrichshain, I’m not really proud of it, because I didn’t contribute anything for these victories, but still I had to grin that my district seems to be the more successful one.

It looks like a lot of fun, although I personally never took part in one of those fights, I surely will at least watch it this year. When I first saw the you tube video I felt a little strange. I know it is just for fun and no serious fights do happen in this battle. But somehow it still was striking to see it. I’m not a pacifist but any kind of aggressive behaviour makes me think whether it is really necessary to handle things in such a manner. The camera perspectives and images you get in the Battle of Vegetables video give an even realistic vision of a real fight in a real war. The dusty air with the flour bombs, the flying tomatoes looking like grenades, the dirty people holding buckler to protect themselves, all this is awing me in some way. May it’s because war is one of my deepest anxieties. The pure idea of armours rolling down the road, an army marching into my city, the loss of my home, my family, my friends. All this is connected with war and being left alone within it. An absolute nightmare. I believe that everybody in the world fears war but still there are so many places people are fighting everyday and sometimes even don’t know what they are fighting for.
The just-for-fun-fight between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain is still something good in my opinion. It is war in a jokey way, nevertheless it gives you an idea what war could be like. You may like to throw eggs at your combatants and get hit by a tomato once or twice but you wouldn’t like do it everyday. To get up, fight, loose your money and energy in those and just sleep to recover and be fit for the next day, the next fight.
And now imagine it to be a real war.
With real weapons.
Real pain.
Real loss.
Frightening, isn’t it?

Sources:
Die Gemüseschlacht von Friedrichshain und Kreuzberg, at morgenpost.de
[access 03/05/09]
Gemüseschlacht, at wikipedia.org
[access 03/05/09]