No Berlin Wall - But Berlin is still a city of two halves

It has been 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell, but the Berlin East-West divide is still very much in evidence. It sifts the cool grungy feel of East Berlin from the gentrified elegance of the Western side of the city.

By TTM on 09 November 2009 in Travel Articles

The 9 November 1989 was an incredible moment in history. It was the day when the Berlin Wall was demolished instantly uniting East and West Berlin. Yet Berlin, Europe's unlikely party hot spot, is still a city of two distinct sides.

The architecture in the east may be a little grungy, but a warehouse doubles beautifully as a bar and a disused factory is perfect as a disco.

In the west, it's more about elegance. Trendy youth live and work in the east, but migrate to the west once they reach 30(ish) to bring up their kids.

Each side has its own shopping, restaurant and bar districts. In fact Berlin has two of everything – even two cultures and this is what makes Berlin an outstanding cultural city break.

East Berlin at night is for partying and house rythms play on to the wee hours. The latest hotspot is the PrenzlauerBerg, a neighbourhood so charmingly scruffy you may have to ruffle your hair to fit in. Around here people are clad in trendy understated garb, tease their hair into modern ‘just got out of bed’ styles and drink German beer in transient bars which have a habit of popping up and disasappearing again before you can say Ich Bin Ein Berliner.

You have to either be guided by someone in the know or make like a detective and hope you stumble upon them in hidden courtyards or around the next corner. You may even find yourself dancing with a thousand others in an ugly, concrete disused power house, where at 6am the atmosphere is still electric!

West Berlin on the other hand, is home to the most stylish shopping  especially around Ku’damm. Seek out KaDeWe for Berlin’s answer to Harrods. Life and architecture is more gentrified – there are no transient bars in this part of town. But this is where Germany’s squirm-worthy past is acknowledged and memorialised with ingenious creativity and a huge dollop of sensitivity.

The open-air Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe near the Reichstag is unmissable – literally. Designed by Peter Eisenman, it comprises 2,711 grey concrete blocks of different heights placed in a grid of nearly 19,000m2 of undulating ground cleverly designed to create the illusion of motion.

And perpetual motion should be on your agenda in this delightfully schizophrenic city so a bus tour is highly recommended. It may sound cheesy, but the hop-on-hop-off bus tour is excellent and ideal if you don’t have much time. Headphones explain the sights in the language you choose and fifteen stops means you have a fantastic choice of what to see. It takes the bus two hours to get all the way through the tour and you can stay on as long as you like. The bus operates between 10am and 6pm and you won’t have to wait longer than 15 minutes to hop back on. Cost 20 euros.

If your visit is a short one try to fit in the Brandenburger Tor and Check-point Charlie. The Brandenburger Tor also known as the Brandenburg Gate - at Pariser Platz, is considered an iconic symbol of Berlin. It was once one of several through which you could enter Berlin and is now the only one remaining gete. Based on the Acropolis in Athens it comprises twelve Greek Doric columns and is topped with Quadriga, goddess of peace, triumphantly driving a four-horse chariot.

Checkpoint Charlie is a permanent open-air exhibit at the former American controlled check-point between the East West divide. You can buy a ‘visa’ as you pass through or have your picture taken with a GI before you pop into the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and gasp at the ingenuity used by to escape ‘city arrest’ in East Berlin. As for the wall, it seems there is no spare wall left for souvenirs yet the tourist shops still sell parts of it for around 15 euros each.

Going out to eat on Sunday morning is so popular that entire areas are dedicated to serving breakfast. In the West, head for the Savignyplatz region. In the East, go to Boxhagenerstrasse. This neighbourhood also hosts a flea market so you can indulge in some after breakfast shopping. The first tuck of the day is usually fresh baked rolls, boiled egg, marmalade, Nutella (Germans love it), pork sausage, cheese and lashings of coffee. Or head for the Television Tower (00 49 30 242 33 33) at 1a Panoramastrasse. The lift swiftly climbs the 207m to the Telecafe, where you can order muesli or champagne with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon and look out onto the whole of Berlin and wonder at its amazing revival.

Where to Eat, Drink and Dance

Trendy Dining and Drinking
Dinner is really chilled at Splinder and Klatt out east on the River Spree. It’s a converted riverside restaurant seating several hundred with a DJ spinning some tunes - it's a lot more relaxing than it might sound because you get lay on a comfy mattress. You can loll about on a bed pretending you're Emperor Nero as your food is prepared. And at about £12 a main course you won't pay through the nose for the privilege.

Some say the nosh served by chef Tim Raue at the Swissotel Berlin's 44 restaurant (00 49 30 22 010 2288) is the best in town. The braised veal neck is divine. The four-course menu is a ridiculously will not make a hole in your pocket at just ?56 (?38).

Need a pick-me-up? The chocolate indulgence at Fassbender & Rausch Chocolatiers, at Gendarmenmarkt might be just what you need. The cafe is in the most beautiful square in Berlin and is well known for a range of chocolates (including a fine replicas of the Reichstag), and its hot chocolate drinks.

Dance the night away
First stop is Badeschiff, eichenstr. 4, an der arena, treptow a bar located on Berlin’s riverside beach. Make like a beachcomber and shake your body on sand or nip next door to Hoppetosse, to party on a boat.

Then onto At Kiki Blofeld, kapenickerstr. 48/49 kreuzberg supposedly named after the daughter of the James Bond baddie Blofeld. This is an open air club speckled with pool tables, gardens and where seating comprises logs or grass mounds.

End the evening at Panorama, am wrietzener bahnhof friedrichshain a former electricity factory turned 24-hour night club. It may look like a block of ugly concrete but inside 1,000 people dance their hearts out, even at 6am.

Roof Top Elegance
Meanwhile on the West side of the city are the elegant roof top bars and discos that have become all the rage in recent times. Settings such as the roof-top 40 seconds (called so because it takes 40 seconds for the lift to reach the top) at Potsdamer Straße 58, 10785 Berlin - Tiergarten. A marble floor and a cocktail bar in doork wood and three roof top terraces set the party scene.

Puro, located on the Europa-Center and a fabulous360° view on Berlin's most beautiful sunsets through the glass walls. im Tower des Europa-Center, Tauentzienst 11, 10789 Berlin - Charlottenburg

Solar is located the 16th floor from where you get an almost unobscured cityscape view from Alexanderplatz to the Hauptbahnhof to Potsdamer Platz. Stresemannstraße 76 10963 Berlin - Kreuzberg

Currywurst Anyone?
A night out dancing brings on the hunger pangs. Small, temporary stalls cover all the late-night spots in Mitte. They can sell hotdogs, doners and even burritos but you should try Berlin’s own currywurst.

Where to stay

Movenpick Hotel
This four star hotel is just a few minutes walk from the Brandenburg gate. They have a really funky Morrocan style bar where you can enjoy a cocktail or two after a hard day’s sight-seeing and a pre-amble to a hard night’s partying. Doubles with b&B from 119 euros.

Find more hotels in Berlin at up to 70% off

For a guide to Berlin's nightlife, contact Henrik Tidefjard Tel +49 (0)30 43720 701 www.berlinagenten.com

More information: www.berlin-tourist-information.de

Cheap flights to Berlin

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