A neighbourhood of two halves

Although I'm a Prenzlauer Berger by tradition and temperament (albeit a non-pushchair-owning one), I love to explore the city's other neighbourhoods as each has its own individual character, often shaped by the people who live there.  Kreuzberg, once nestled against the Wall and home to  proponents of West German counter-culture, is one that wears two distinct faces: the 'edgy' east, bordered by the Spree ,and the more 'genteel' western half of the neighbourhood, cradled by Tempelhof airfield and the Viktoriapark.  

For me, the change of identity is most noticeable in a walk down Graefestrasse, which forms the central spine of a longer trek  from U-Bahnhof Moritzplatz (Line 8) to the airfield.  The distance is about 6km and would take around an hour and a half but, as ever, it’s possible to select a particular section and/or make stops along the way.

From the station, Oranienstrasse extends in both directions, but the most interesting stretch is the one to the east which cuts through Oranienplatz where hardly anything remains now of the refugee camp that occupied the platz until a few months ago.  I’d not been down Oranienstrasse for a while until, one Sunday in the summer we met friends for the flea market at Neukölln and our subsequent meanderings took us there.  The street has changed quite a bit in the ten years since I first walked down it. In those days it was already beginning to lose its ‘cool’ reputation and it has certainly acquired a few more designer shops and tourist buses since then.  It’s still a lively and often tatty street though with some good places to stop for food or drinks and, I’m happy to say, a lot of my old favourites are still around (it's also just a short walk to the appetite-inducing Markthalle Neun).

 

Looking across Heinrichplatz from an outside table at Bateau Ivre

 

From the junction at Görlitzer Bahnhof, walk down Manteuffelstrasse to the canal.  If it’s a Tuesday or Friday afternoon, the Turkish Market will be in full swing along the opposite bank.  I’ve already mentioned the market in a previous post so I won’t do so here.

Crossing Kottbusser Damm, Graefestrasse is a street that seems to change its identity at every junction.  At the top end, the Turkish flavour continues in the bars and cafes.  Further down, around the junctions with Böckhstrasse and Dieffensbachstrasse, things get a little gentrified.  The tree-lined streets around here are as prettily bourgeois-bohemian as anything around Kollwitzplatz.  Café Avril, on the corner of Böckhstrasse is an agreeable place to sit and people-watch for an hour or two.

Continuing southwards, there is a rather bland stretch between the junction with Urbanstrasse, down to Hasenheide.  Here, the Volkspark Hasenheide is an attractive diversion if the weather is suitable. It incorporates a small animal park, as well as plenty of paths and green spaces and, in summer, a freiluft kino.

 

Trümmerfrau memorial in Volkspark Hasenheide.

‘Trümmerfrau’ literally translates as ‘rubble woman’ and refers to the women who, after WWII helped clear the streets of the mountains of debris caused by allied bombing

 

On Hasenheide itself, between Graefestrasse and Südstern is the Brauhaus Südstern which offers beer, food and both indoor and outdoor seating. 

 

Beer-making apparatus in the Brauhaus Südstern

From Südstern the walk proceeds along Bergmannstrasse.  On the left hand side is a cemetery which I visited for the first time when I did a creative writing workshop in the summer.  It’s worth wandering into for its ornate crypts and memorial statuary (and the odd red squirrel).

Continuing along Bergmannstrasse, Marheinekeplatz has the Passionskirche at one end and the Marheineke Markthalle at the other.  On Saturday there is a lovely flea market in the square.  The Markthalle has a number of food stalls and is a good place to stop for something to eat, or to sit outside in the sunshine with a drink.  From Marheinekeplatz, Bergmannstrasse is lined with shops, cafes and bars.  A small detour can also be taken to Another Country bookshop in Riemannstrasse.

 

The Saturday flea market at Marheinekeplatz

Chamissoplatz is a pretty square just behind Bergmannstrasse where a small farmers’ market sets up on a Saturday.

From here, Mehringdamm can be reached via Fidicinstrasse or by continuing along Bergmannstrasse.   In the corner of a hof towards the Mehringdamm end of the street is Colours – one of my favourite vintage shops in the city.  It’s large inside so time is needed to properly explore.

Once on Mehringdamm it’s just a few hundred metres to the now closed Tempelhof airport.

In front of the airport buildings on Platz der Luftbrücke is the monument to the Berlin Airlift that took place between 1948 and 1949.

The airfield, which can be accessed via Columbiadamm, is vast.  In a referendum held earlier this year Berliners wholeheartedly rejected development plans for the site.  The runways are now used by joggers, walkers, skaters, cyclists and kite-flyers.  There are also dog runs, barbecue areas and toilet blocks.