‘Family’ Archives
Natur-Park Schöneberger Südgelände
The snappily-titled Natur-Park Schöneberger Südgelände is a not-so-well-known 18-hectare urban park at the southern end of Schöneberg. The park has blossomed from the ruins of an old railway hub that was built in the 1890s, and which for 70 years operated as one of the city's busiest (including during WWII). The area was closed and abandoned following the division of the city and nature slowly began to work its magic, reclaiming the old crumbling administrative buildings and rotting [...]
Berlin’s Best Christmas Markets
Ruth Michaelson profiles the best Christmas Markets in Berlin for 2011... The temperature has gone sub-zero and anything you plan on consuming had better taste of cinnamon or come mit Schuss. With Berlin playing host to over sixty Christmas markets annually, there’s no shortage of places for you to get your fix of Lebkuchen and gifts in the frosty open air… Best Of The Big Hitters Gendarmenmarkt The sparkliest of them all, lit with all the double-Dom grandeur you’d expect [...]
Berlin’s community gardens
Berlin's super-sized community gardens (and why they should be exported to the U.S.)... When I’m in a city, I am drawn to the places in-between. Spaces, I mean, that somehow avoided being paved over, or built upon, or that once held buildings that have now collapsed, the rubble mostly hauled away, leaving only the structure’s ghost all filled up with spindly weeds. Sometimes these spaces are just surprising: When vacant lots are selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars just a [...]
Marco Clausen: Berlin’s Urban Gardener
Madeline Maher chats to Marco Clausen, co-founder of Nomadisch Grün and the Prinzessinnengarten... Nomadisch Grün (Nomadic Green) launched Prinzessinnengärten (Princess gardens) as a pilot project in the summer of 2009 at Moritzplatz in Berlin Kreuzberg, a site which had been a wasteland for over half a century. Along with friends, fans, activists and neighbours, the group cleared away rubbish, built transportable organic vegetable plots and reaped the first fruits of their [...]
Mundraub
Sanna Akehurst profiles Mundraub.org, a company committed to mapping the nation’s publically available fruit… Starting life as a small blog with the support of around 100 faithful supporters, Mundraub.org has been busy building up an ever increasing database of trees and plants in public places around Germany that we, the general public, can apparently help ourselves to. According to Daniel Nielsen, one of Mundraub.org’s founders, the concept of helping yourself to Germany’s [...]
Boxhagener Platz Food Market
Peggy Schatz finds fine foods and good vibes at Boxhagener Platz's Saturday Food Market... There are almost as many food markets in Berlin as there are districts - each one embedded in its Kiez like a pearl. There are big, shiny ones like the ones on Kollwitzplatz in Prenzlauer Berg and Winterfeldtplatz in Schoeneberg, plus smaller ones that are barely noticed and some wonderfully unique ones in between. One of the best known - and most-loved - markets in Friedrichshain takes place [...]
Gardening in Berlin
Spring inspiring you to get green fingered? Sanna Akehurst shows us how to get our garden on... Ahh the sun is shining and it's time for me to plan my garden for this year. I scrounge seeds from anyone, and even keep seeds from fruit and herbs that I grew the year before. I've been saving loo roll centers all winter: cut them in half, stand them next to each other in a cat litter tray; fill them with potting compost and sow seeds according to desired effect. Set them on the [...]
Cafe Schönhausen
Pankow's first kindercafe is a colourful and welcoming place... There are many reasons to visit Pankow, one of Berlin's several under-represented boroughs. There’s the pretty Bürgerpark, with its lovely rose pavilions and great cafe ( Rosenstein); the elliptical Majakowskiring, a string of glamorous residences formerly occupied by senior members of the GDR government; the elegant Schloss Schönhausen… Pankow is a good place for families too, visiting or local. Aside from the park [...]
Slow-style Xmas Gifts…
Berlin Reified's Sylee Gore shares some of her Slow-style gift ideas for those both near & far... December now, and the scramble of Christmas begins in earnest. What you want isn't stress but pleasure. Choose the right shops, and shopping for presents is a gift in itself. You, like me, might divide your list between those near and far. For parcels abroad, I favor linens, knits and teas. Everyone who loves bread will get a Manufactum bread bag in herringbone linen to keep their [...]
Berlin’s Christmas Markets
Be My Guest's Sarah Braimah gives us her top tips for this year's Christmas markets in Berlin... The Siberian wind caresses the nose hairs while human blocks of ice with thermally clad legs shuffle slowly around town. The wafting aromas of glühwein (mulled wine) and sweet roasting chestnuts invigorate the senses. It can only mean one thing: it’s Christmas market season in Berlin! WeihnachtsZauber at the beautiful Gendarmenmarkt is one of the most popular Christmas markets in [...]
