Our annually updated list of some of the city’s best English-language bookstores…
Another Country
Named as one of the top ten bookshops in the world by Lonely Planet, Kreuzberg’s Another Country is one of Berlin’s longest-running literary/intellectual salons for the English-speaking crowd. A good chunk of its 20,000-odd books are for loan, not sale (bring a book back and the purchase price is refunded, minus €1), while about ten percent of stock functions as a reference library, available only to read in-shop. The owners also run a second shop for events… Read more….
Bildband
In January 2015, Bildband opened its doors at Immanuelkirchstrasse 33 in Prenzlauer Berg. The shop’s main emphasis is on photography with the front of the shop devoted entirely to photo books; a mix of classics, re-issued and new or contemporary titles as well as rare, out of print and sample books. Established favourites such as Vivian Maier and Robert Polidori are well represented as are works by emerging or less well-known talents.
A second room contains books on art, architecture and design. Bookseller Thomas Gust explains that new stock is arriving constantly and many of the books are discounted by 50-70%. The shop holds regular events such as book launches and monthly exhibitions, and presentations by the Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie also take place here.
Curious Fox
Down the street from the above-ground U1/U3 Görlitzer Bahnhof U-bahn station and across from a children’s playground, Curious Fox has found its new home. Although not as spacious as their first place, their new location in a souterrain has an intimate feel where you can get lost browsing the shelves. Maintaining their collections of both new and used English-language books, it’s hard not to leave Curious Fox with a new book in hand. They also offers a 3-for-1 trade, in which you may trade in three used books for one used book. This also means that their collection of used books is constantly shifting and you never know what you might find next time. With a pair of chairs and some children’s books in the back of the store, there’s something for everyone in this cozy new addition to Kreuzberg. Read more about Curious Fox in this interview with owners Orla Baumgarten and David Gordon or check their website for more info.
Do You Read Me!?
Founded by graphic designer Mark Kiessling and professional bookseller Jessica Reitz in 2009, the L-shaped space Do You Read Me!? stocks an international array of magazines as well as art books, coffee table tomes, lesser known periodicals, obscure zines and regular books, covering everything from art, culture and fashion to photography, design, architecture and politics. If you want to take a seat and glance through one of the journals in comfort you’re welcome to use one of the several white Eames chairs placed in the corners of the shop. Read More…
Ebert und Weber Buchhandlung
Ebert und Weber is a lovely little store that stocks mostly books from small and independent publishers that have experienced such a boom here in the past decade, but are nearly completely unrepresented in shops. Best of all, the shelves are organized by publisher, which will help you make sense of their various programs and understand the titles in their context. These young publishers’ striking, innovative approach to cover design means that a trip to Ebert and Weber is also always a visual treat. A back room offers a small but intelligent English-language selection. Read more…
English Books
Originally called Buchexpress, English Books is found right next door to the English Institute of the Free University. Containing mostly new books, with around a third of the space devoted to second-hand, the intimate, characterful shop specialises educational books such as learning (and teaching) English, literary and linguistic theory and history, but also stocks a decent selection of general fiction and non-fiction and also children’s books. Owner Peter Michael Schuer was one of the store’s co-founders in 1977 and still works here, helping visitors out with advice and the store also offers English language courses.
InterKontinental
InterKontinental became the first bookstore in all of Germany to specialize in African and Afrodisaporic literature after opening its doors in 2018. Featuring texts in German, English, and French, InterKontinental plays an important part in filling a gap amongst Berlin’s bookstore selections. From a busy street of restaurants, dip into a room where the shelves are filled almost to the ceiling and encounter authors that have yet to become a regular fixture at the popular chains. The bookstore features magazines and journals mixed into its shelves, which makes it a particularly exciting bookstore to browse and discover gems in. And every corner of the store eagerly showcases its authors, making it easy to get lost as your circle the shelves. InterKontinental also organizes the African Book Festival in addition to featuring regular readings throughout the year.
Marga Schoeller Bücherstube
Opened in 1929 by the eponymous Frau Schoeller, this West Berlin shop was once a focal point for West Berlin’s burgeoning literary scene, attracting esteemed international writers like Beckett, Hesse, Mann, Eliot, Auden and the members of Hans Werner Richter’s famed Gruppe 47. Though Schoeller passed away in ’78, her son and colleagues have continued her good work. The shop still sells mostly German-language books, but still maintains one of the best English book selections in Berlin, located in an alcove on the left as you enter. Read more…
Mundo Azul
Mundo Azul is a delightful Prenzlauer Berg store specialising in international children’s literature, mostly from small publishing houses from all over the world: German, Spanish, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, but also a small selection from countries like Korea, Iran, Poland, Russia, China, and Turkey. The shop also serves as a centre for activities related to intercultural awareness. Due to its unique selection of picture books from all over the world, Mundo Azul co-works with German and international schools, libraries, universities, festivals, book fairs and other cultural institutions.
ODRADEK
When imagining the quintessential neighbourhood bookstore in Berlin, it’s hard not to envision ODRADEK. This two-room bookstore in Schöneberg’s Rote Insel contains everything you need. Founded in 2018 and named after a short story by Kafka, ODRADEK features a collection of best-selling literary works, non-fiction, and children’s books. The store features English books on one side and German books on the other so you can meander back and forth or stick to your linguistic preference. And if the Berlin weather allows for a sunny day, the warm glow through the windows makes it hard not to linger. Taking a look back to the shelves, you may also notice that in some sections there’s no differentiation between fiction and non-fiction, adding some pleasant serendipity to the browsing experience.
Pequod Books
Pequod stocks used books in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Swedish, Turkish, Polish, Norwegian and Danish, along with a handful of books in other languages. The bright, orderly shop now has two rooms with over 12,000 books. The selection leans strongly toward traditional classics, in part because owner Álvaro Sendra González does not speak all of the languages he offers, but also because, an artist by trade, he is still learning about the book business, and is building his stock up from a solid foundation. In the spirit of our low-cost city, no book in the shop costs more than €6. Pequod will also buy used books, and you might even get to share the shop’s sofa with Pecorino, Alvaro’s book-loving cat. Read more…
Ocelot
This large and relatively new (2012) bookshop, with its oak-panelled interior, is the dream-child of local designer Martina Zeyen. The books are a mix of the old and the new, and there’s also comics, graphic novels and tomes on design and art. There’s an English selection too, but it’s not quite as well-curated as the German stuff. There are also talks and concerts, readings and films – and you can order online on the store’s homepage. Best of all is to visit though, especially as there’s a cosy in-store café where you can enjoy a coffee and baked goods.
Otherland and Hammett
Genre fans can draw up a seat and enjoy a glass of wine under the gaze of the inflatable dragons gracing the shelves in the backroom of Otherland, named for Tad Williams’s cyberpunk fantasy series. These two shops, just around the corner from each other, collaborate on events: crime and mystery authors, a mainstay of Hammett’s, sometimes read at the larger space at the sci-fi/fantasy-focused Otherland. Both keep a good stock of English books (around a third of the selection) and regularly host readings in English as well as role playing games. Recent readers include Cory Doctorow, Cixin Liu and S.A. Corey (Daniel Abrahams and Ty Franck) from the Expanse.
PRO qm
Just off the Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, this bright and spacious store has an overt design aesthetic, with its minimal interior, floods of natural light and artfully arranged clusters of books and magazines. The store aims to present a sophisticated mix of international books alongside magazines and periodicals on architecture, urbanism and art, design and cultural theory. Half of the stock is in English, and regular book launches and discussions are held.
Saint George’s
With around 30,000 books—80% of which are used—Saint George’s is one of the longest-serving and comprehensive English language bookshops in the city. Located in the near-Parisian Kollwitzkiez, the shop especially prides itself on its range of titles, and holds an impressive number of translations from German into English of the likes of Tucholsky, Sebald, Fallada and Thomas Mann. The philosophy collection is top notch, and new and used books can also be ordered as well as bought back. Read More…
Shakespeare and Sons
Shakespeare & Sons’ roomy new premises on Warcshauer Strasse offers entire vast walls of books, from Eastern European literature in English (including lots of titles from noteworthy Prague-based Twisted Spoon Press), a sizeable French-language selection, a respectable graphic novel/comic book section, and a substantial philosophy collection. It’s also home to Fine Bagels, and plenty of seating where you can thumb through your new purchase a with a delicious cup of coffee, cake or bagel. Events, concerts and readings take place each month too.
She Said
She Said opened in December 2020 and has been a welcome addition to the Berlin bookstore scene ever since. Located in Kreuzberg on Kottbusser Damm just a few blocks down from the Schönleinstraße U-bahn station, She Said hosts a vast collection of new texts featuring queer and women authors in both English and German. You can browse for hours, take a coffee break at their cafe, and still spot something new on your eventual way out. Their assorted collection of zines, fiction, non-fiction, magazines, poetry, graphic novels, and children’s books include classics by queer and women authors as well as newly published works by up-and-coming theorists and novelists. And the shelves aren’t the only places you can find books; many of the surfaces feature little subsections of books for a varied browsing experience. If you’re unable to make it to their physical bookstore, you can just as easily lose track of time browsing their online shop.
Walther König
Located right on the Museum Insel, this large, handsome store is one of the best of the locations set up by Cologne-based art publisher Walter König (most of the others are in museums). Fronted by generous windows the interior consists of several rooms offering shelf upon shelf of art history, architecture, photography, design and philosophy. There are also exhibition catalogues, coffee table books and some rarer publications too.
Zabriskie
Zabriskie opened in November 2013 and was originally located on Manteuffelstraße for seven years before moving to its current location at Reichenberger Straße 150 on April 2020. Although its collection is contained in a single room, Zabriskie hosts an eclectic selection of books and magazines that may not be typically featured in traditional bookstores that can leave you circling the store for hours and still finding something new. And one of the best parts is that books are arranged by their subject matter rather than simply the standard fiction/nonfiction or alphabetical divide, ranging from things like mushrooms and the occult to ecology and sustainability. The store contains all new books and features a selection in both German and English, with many titles simultaneously represented in both languages.