Sub-districts: 13
Prenzlauer Berg
Weißensee
Blankenburg
Heinersdorf
Karow
Stadtrundsiedlung
Malchow
Pankow
Blankenfelde
Buch
Französisch
Buchholz
Niederschönhausen
Rosenthal
Wilhelmsruh
Keep on past Cafe Sin and take a right into the Weißensee park. Definitely greener than it is white, what Weißer See (White Lake) lacks in cleanliness it more than makes up for in convenience. The park also hosts a seasonal and inexpensive open-air cinema.
Other Sites of Interest
Weißensee
and its Bertolt Brecht-crumbs
This Pankow neighbourhood is pleasant but
quiet. For a bit of mild rubbernecking why not chase one of Germany's greats.
From 1949-1953 the highly influential,
often controversial, socialist poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht lived in the
northeast of the city. Allegedly his house on Berliner Allee 185 is now a school and also a Marxist sleeper cell –
something he would approve of – and yet, in August 2014, it merely appears to
be a slowly flaking residential house split into flats. Opposite is an
Evangelical Church awash with trimmed flowerbeds and cherry blossom trees.
Three doors down the road sits the delightfully seedy-looking, abandoned and
dilapidated, Cafe Sin. Above this former bar is a colourful mural dedicated to
the playwright, a painted interpretation of Brecht's short poem 'The Cherry
Thief'.
Keep on past Cafe Sin and take a right into the Weißensee park. Definitely greener than it is white, what Weißer See (White Lake) lacks in cleanliness it more than makes up for in convenience. The park also hosts a seasonal and inexpensive open-air cinema.
The Brecht thread can then be resumed by hopping
onto the #12 Tram towards Mitte/Am Kupfergraben. Its route snakes
through the scenester and family-friendly Prenzlauer
Berg and on into the Bezirk of Mitte.
Get off at Oranienburger Tor and head north towards Chausseestraße 125, where Brecht lived with his wife – the German
actress Helene Weigel – from 1953 to his death on the 14th August 1956. Their
flat can be visited and a large collection of Brecht's manuscripts can also be
viewed in what is now a small museum focused on the writer. South from the
tramstop is the stage the writer founded, Das Berliner Ensemble, still
considered today a forerunner in German-language productions. Finally, grab a
beer on the terrace at Brecht's rather
pricey restaurant just behind the
theatre, look out onto the River Spree, and raise a glass to both yours and his
efforts.
Weißensee / Weißer See, 13086 Pankow
Tram: M4, M13 Berliner Allee/Indira-Gandhi-Straße
visitberlin.de/en/feature/weissensee
Brechts
Haus 1949-1953
Berliner Allee 185, 13088 Pankow
Tram: 12 Falkenberger Str./Berliner Allee
Brechts Haus 1953-1956
Chausseestraße 125, 10115 Mitte
Tram: 12 Oranienburger Tor
adk.de/de/archiv/gedenkstaetten/gedenkstaetten-brecht-weigel.htm
Das Berliner
Ensemble/Das Theater am Schiffbauerdamm
Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1, 10117 Mitte
Tram: 12 Oranienburger Tor
berliner-ensemble.de/index
Brechts Restaurant
Schiffbauerdamm 6-7, 10117 Mitte
Tram: 12 Oranienburger Tor
Open: Daily, 11.30-00.30
brechts.de/en/
Prenzlauer
Berg is both a favourite of the scenester and the
colloquially known 'macchiato mothers' – or 'soccer mums' as they're known in
the States. This Berg is also home to my favourite Mexican Imbiss, Maria
Bonita Mexican Bistro
Danziger Straße 33, 10435 Pankow
Tram: M10 Husemann Strasse
Open: Daily, 12.00-23.00 (Sundays 'til
22.00)
mariabonitaberlin.wordpress.com
and also my favourite bar in the whole of
the city. A wonderfully frenetic and ceaseless juggernaut known as Dr
Pong
Eberwalder Straße 21, 10437 Pankow
Tram: M10 Eberswalder Straße
Open: Daily, 20.00-Late (Sundays from
19.00)
drpong.net
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