‘Family’ Archives
39 things you might learn if you visit the Stasi Museum with a 10½ week old baby…
Adam Butler pays a visit to the Stasi Museum with his new baby, and learns a few things along the way... 1. That the word barrierefrei when used in reference to e.g. U-Bahn stations, rather than meaning that there are no barriers and you therefore don’t have to buy a ticket, actually means that this is theoretically a place that you can traverse with a pram, wheelchair, broken-hipped aunt, etc. without having to worry about stairs; and that although the nearest station to the Stasi Museum [...]
Mauerpark Flea Market
One of Berlin’s best-loved fleamarkets offers plenty of browsing, decent eats and a fantastic atmosphere... If there’s a flea market most beloved by Berliners and tourists alike, it has to be the one that takes place every Sunday next to the Mauerpark. You'll find it on Bernauer Strasse - just follow the trails of people walking in either direction, past the rows of bikes, ethnic eateries (Tandoori, Jammi Jammi) and mobile sausage vendors to the large set of gates that lead into a [...]
Onkel Albert
Fun for all the family... Berlin’s international reputation tends, deservedly, to revolve around its fascinating history, its role as one of Europe’s most creative hubs and its legendary party possibilities. But what often surprises visitors is how family friendly it is. The generous wealth of green spaces like Tiergarten, Volkspark Friedrichschain and Viktoria Park are a big draw in the summer, but when the cold starts creeping in the city’s kindercafes comes in particularly [...]
Pinke Panke
A wonderful kids farm and educational playground right next to one of Pankow’s loveliest parks… The evocatively titled Pinke Panke is a fantastic place to take your restless kids for a morning or afternoon - whatever their age. Inaugurated as an educational playground project for local school children back in 1991, the Kinderbauenhof enjoys an atmospheric location right on the river Panke, adjacent to the lovely Bürgerpark. Run by a mix of qualified social workers and volunteers, [...]
Liquidrom
William Thirteen gets pampered at one of Berlin's most unique spas... Anyone who spends much time here soon realises that Berlin is the three-toed sloth in the zoo of European capitals. While the denizens of London and Paris race about their cities, pressing past each other like anxious antelope on a headlong rush to high-rent, fashionably-appointed dooms, Berliners are hard pressed to tear themselves away from that second Milchkaffee before happy hour - and then only to wander off to [...]
Winterfeldtplatz Market
Schöneberg’s charming Winterfeldtplatz is home to one of Berlin’s best farmers markets... On most days of the week Schöneberg’s Winterfeldtplatz, named after the Prussian General Hans Karl von Winterfeldt, is a pleasant, leafy square, inhabited mostly by roller-skaters, strolling locals and the occasional knot of tourists. The majority of the square was destroyed in the war but it still possesses a curious architectural mix, from the 60s-style social housing that runs along one [...]
Notes From The Underground
Paul Sullivan heads underground to explore an immaculately preserved WWII bunker... Most passengers passing through Gesundbrunnen S Bahn station don’t think twice about the door at the bottom of the stairs. Why should they? It's a plain old door, indistinguishable from a normal private entrance or storage area. But if you opened the door you'd be face-to-face with bonafide Nazi history, in the shape of one of Berlin’s best-preserved war bunkers. The door is locked of course, but not [...]
Volkspark Friedrichshain
Everyone loves a good park. Volkspark Friedrichshain is one of Berlin’s finest… Even by Berlin’s high standards, the Volkspark Friedrichshain stands out as one of the city’s special green spaces. Established a century and a half ago to commemorate the centennial of Frederick the Great's accession to the throne, it gives good history, swathes of Liegewiese (sunbathing areas), an abundance of leisure opportunities and more than its fair share of interesting landmarks. Casually [...]
The Badeschiff
Looking to beat the summer heat? Try Berlin's Badeschiff - a swimming pool in the Spree... Badeschiff - literally "bathing ship" - opened in 2004 as an art project organized by Berlin's Stadtkunstprojekte (City Art ProjectSociety), the AMP Architectos (Teneriffa), architect Gil Wilk and local artist Susanne Lorenz.The initial aim was to enliven city life along what was then a long-neglected stretch of the Spree, between the former Osthafen (East harbour) and Flutgraben, a small [...]
Paul & Paula
A friendly and colourful kindercafe near the Volkspark Friedrichshain... Located on a quiet leafy back street between the extensive Volkspark Friedrichshain and the grandiloquent Karl-Marx-Allee, Paul & Paula is one of the longer serving veterans of Berlin’s kindercafe scene. Named after the East German movie classic Die Legende von Paul und Paula, which was filmed partly in Friedrichshain in 1973, i t’s been providing delightful refuge for mums and dads and their kids for [...]
