‘Shopping’ Archives
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 [...]
A Time Of Waist
Mairi Beautyman meets Miss Moss, Berlin's very own corset maker... Theatrical wardrobe touches - say a man wearing a hoody with sequined bunny ears recently spotted skipping the line at waterfront club Bar 25 - open doors in Berlin. A tanked economy, an influx of artists and Flapper roots converge to make this city one that scoffs at fashion for the sake of a pricey designer label. Dressing up here is all about individualism - precision-scattering of one-off, hand-made, or vintage pieces. [...]
Melting Point Records
STB's wax professor Dave Tinning pays a visit to Kastanienallee's Melting Point records, a legendary Mecca for house, soul, funk and boogie vinyl... When Melting Point opened on Mitte’s Neue Schönhauser Straße in 1994, it was the only store - of any type, really - in Hackesche Höfe, an area which is now jam-packed with designer boutiques and chain stores. By 2005 the store was feeling the squeeze of increasing rents and decided to move to the (then) more affordable [...]
The Barn
A chic and health-conscious Slow Food hub in the heart of Berlin Mitte… The Barn isn’t a difficult place to find if you’re strolling along pretty Grosse Hamburger Strasse. Just look out for the bales of hay outside - a somewhat incongruous sight in this trendy downtown part of Berlin Mitte. The hay is symbolic as well as ornamental. As befits a place called The Barn located purposefully in the middle of a modern city, this small café – which opened just a few weeks ago - does a [...]
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 [...]
Oye Como Va
Dave Tinning profiles one of Prenzlauer Berg’s premier vinyl outlets…. Oye Records, nestled in a basement just off Prenzlauer Berg’s main drag Kastanienallee, has carved a unique little niche for itself in the capital. Originally catering for collectors of Latin, soul and funk records, Oye has since diversified to cover an impressive range of styles, from afrobeat to blip-hop to UK funky, and on to those Berlin club staples - house and techno. Record stores are not always known [...]
Solid Gold
Where music meets couture... There’s been a well-documented sea change in the way that musicians make their money over the last few years. Antelope-hide briefcases stuffed full of cash and handed over by record companies in return for another collection of generic dross are out (except for the lucky few). Instead, sweaty musicians are climbing off the stage and heading straight to the back of the venue to hawk merchandise to eager fans in order to pay their hotel bills. It’s an [...]
Bauhaus Archive & Museum
Berlin’s Bauhaus museum offers a comprehensive overview of Germany’s most famous design movement... Though short lived, Germany's Bauhaus design school went on to become one of the 20th century’s most influential and pervasive movements. Almost every major European and American city features some example of the Bauhaus style, whether one of the school's linear, flat-topped buildings or one of the many lamps, tables and chairs produced through the years. As Annemarie Jaeggi, [...]
Marga Schoeller Bookshop
A charming Charlottenburg bookshop with a great selection of English titles and a warm, old school vibe... Not many bookstores can say they've been in operation for over eight decades, especially in a city as historically turbulent as Berlin - but Marga Schoeller's can. Opened in 1929 by the eponymous Frau Schoeller, the shop originally specialised in European literature and theatre works. Schoeller managed to stay open during the National Socialist years despite refusing to sell Nazi [...]
Paasburg’s Weinhandlung
An unpretentious and well-priced wine warehouse hidden in Kreuzberg 61... Despite taking up a healthy 350 square meters of an old brewery in the heart of Kreuzberg 61, you’re unlikely to come across Paasburg unless you’re heading specifically for it. A mere thespian-lob from the excellent English Theatre on Fidicinstrasse, this low-key Weinhandlung is tucked away in a trade area behind the street's attractive Altbauten. Inside lie a wealth of wines and spirits from over 600 [...]
