On a 72 hours tour of Berlin rediscovering old and new places
This was my fifth visit to Berlin, and the city still exercises it’s magic over me. Each time I wander around town on the S-bahn, I feel at home. I probably have the same feeling, in other towns, but not as strongly. I often wonder how it would feel living in Berlin. I have a friend who lives there, and they just bought a beautiful 8-bedroom flat with high ceilings and chevron wooden floors. She has been living in Berlin for a few years now and told me that people are not as open as in London. It is more difficult to make friends, and racism is still a thing. As a French national, she was set aside as an immigrant at her children’s school.
I understand the dream of living somewhere, and the reality often collides, but I can’t brush off that homely feeling each time I set foot in Berlin. My lastest visit was two weeks ago, my first time during summertime. In this post I’m sharing my latest impression of Berlin with you. Each time I visit the city I discover new places and people to photograph, I think Berlin is one of the most photogenic city out there and I can’t stop photographing it.
I had two photo shoots booked and took the opportunity of my stay to explore new places like Wedding and Prenzlauer Berg. The best way to uncover the city is to take the S-Bahn, an overground train that will take you around Berlin with a scenic view. Public transports are very convenient and will take you from A to B in no time. Berlin is a huge city, walk as often as you can and use public transport if you want to cram in many places to visit.
My First Trips to Berlin
In 1994, I visited Berlin for the first time. The moment I set foot in Berlin, the 80s nostalgia came kicking in. It felt like travelling through time. The first thing I did was to head east. I went to Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, and the old Tempelhof Airport. I loved this 1930s art deco building, but it also reminded me of darker times.
My aim was to find the wall and was disappointed to find that a lot of effort had been made to hide i. I now understand why. This is not what people wanted to remember about Berlin. Potsdamer Platz, the old no-man’s-land, was still a construction site but you could sense big changes coming over.
Berlin presented a fascinating blend of contrasting narratives. Cold War reminders were everywhere, set against the rise of a new megacity.
I recalled that West Berlin had its downsides too. The reputation of the lost kids of the 80s and the movie “Christiane F.” showed a darker side of capitalism. The film features West Berlin in the 80s, filled with drug use and prostitution. One couldn’t help but question the reasons behind West Berlin’s tarnished reputation. Was it Russian propaganda?
When I returned in 2019, I found a city that had changed completely. It let go of its past divisions and embraced a new, united identity. With lots of modern buildings and a Potsdamer Platz, I could not recollect from my first time when it was still a building site.
My latest visit to Berlin – trip number 5
I boarded the train in Strasbourg around 1.pm, the train was supposed to leave at 1.09pm but they announced a delay of more than 30 minutes due to some issues on the track before the border. My journey from Strasbourg to Berlin Spandau was supposed to last 6 hours, probably more like 8 hours now. I was glad not to be on the road a few hours earlier. I had only left my dad’s house around 11.30am that. For the last 10 days I stayed with my 89 years old dad while my mum was away for a month and greatly enjoyed our time together. I walked the dogs every day and we had breakfast together every morning. It was lovely to have dad for myself and have more time together than we usually have when all the family is around. I dreaded to leave my dad’s house that day but very happy to travel to Berlin at the same time.
The journey took nearly 8 hours I greatly enjoyed the landscape after Frankfurt. I discovered an area surrounded by lakes and forests which I didn’t expect. I finally made it to Spandau around 9pm and took the S-bahn to Friedrich str. where I would join my husband and friends for dinner. I was glad that I didn’t have a photoshoot the next day as I was completely knackered.
Day one – East Berlin
East-side gallery
The next day I decided to take the same route I had taken previously. Most of my photos and videos footage from my last visit where taken during night time and I wanted a different perspective of the place during day time. I have yet to work on that video though hopefully soon.
I took the S-bahn to Ost Bahnhof to reach the East-Side Gallery this is where you will have a good grasp of what the wall entailed for people living in Berlin. The remnant of the wall are a now a gallery of painted wall panels with messages about peaces and freedom.
On a small area you will discover a second wall where you can imagine the middle ground between the two panels as the no man’s land. The most famous painting on that wall is the fraternal kiss between Hornecker and Breznev.
From the East-Side gallery I walked to Warshawer train station. The station has a great view point over the train track and a panoramic view over town. I found a few spots around there that were worth their pot of gold in camera. I’m usually not an urban photographer but Berlin transformed my way of seeing, and even modern building blocks had their attraction in black and white.
A great way to get a flavour of East Bearlin under the Soviet block it to take the tram number 10 at Warshawer Str. towards Prenzlauer Berg for 21 minutes or walk for an hour. The tram will take you along Peterburger and Dantziger str. aligned with 1050s blocks of flat and grandiose building site on Berzarin platz. Spot the photoautomat on that square. I went off the tram at the Prenzlauer Allée Dantziger strasse crossroad stop.
Prenzlauer Berg
This is certainly one of my favourite area in Berlin and the one I selected for an possible move here although it has become quite trendy with the rent matching the hype.
Prenzlauer Berg feels like a residential area with lots of cafés and restaurants with outside dinning. Sourdough bakeries and lots of independent accessories and clothing shops. I haven’t seen that many groceries though, which makes me wonder where people shop for food.
Take a walk along Ryke strasse a gorgeous alley way lined with trees and elegant blocks of flat that I imagined with high ceilings and wooden floors. At the end of Ryke strasse you will find the Wasser tower inside park.
From Prenzlauer Berg I would recommend walking back to town via Alexander Platz. Walk along Prenzlauer Allée and Karl Liebknecht strasse towards Alexander platz, again you will walk along large alley ways made for army tanks parade before you reach the Fernsehen Turm.
Alexander Platz
Was the heart of East Berlin is one of my favourite square to photograph, I love the movement of trams and people walking around the station. The station neon sign and the line of the TV tower in the back ground make create great scenes to photograph.
The place was mostly destroyed during world war two and took its current shape in the 1960s, during this time the Centrun department store was built, along with Alex-Passagen, the Weltzeituhr (world clock), the Brunnen der Völkerfreundschaft (Fountain of International Friendship) and the Fernsehturm the famous television tower. After 1971 the square served as venue for large events such as the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the GDR.
Berlin Day two
In the morning I had two photoshoot arounds Museum Island. The architecture of the town gave me the opportunity to create portraits with a modern edge in a style I had never done before. I loved the clean line of the James Oliver Gallery and the Humbold foundation.
In the afternoon I went back to my hotel to have a rest and browse the Dussmann book store opposite the hotel.
I’m also sharing some landmarks you don’t want to miss that I had posted about during my winter visit.
I wanted to go back to Checkpoint Charlie. Somehow, the number of tourists visiting Berlin surprised me. I was not alone wandering the streets of the German capital. I had a crazy moment walking by the Bundestag on Leipziger Str. wondering why it was not in Bonn??? That is what I call a weird moment! Nearby was an outdoor photo exhibition about the GDR 1953 uprising, which I had never heard about. It was quite moving to read about it.
I walked to the Reichstag and the Holocaust memorial. I took the stairs to walk up the Reichstag Dome for a view over Berlin. For a great view of Berlin, also check out the Fernsehturm and the Siegessäule, also known as the Victory Column. There is no lift there and you will have to walk up 285 steps, but the view is worth it.
From Tiergarten walk back towards the Reichstag and head towards the Branderburger Tor the most symbolic monument of Berlin. I couldn’t remember which way the horse’s carriage was facing when the wall was up. Walking underneath the gate, I arrived at Pariser Platz and Unter den Linden. The part of Berlin that was in the East indeed had a full view of the front of the Chariot.
Berlin Day Three
On day three I wanted to explore Wedding an area off the tourist tracks. Not sure why I set my mind on Wedding may be because the french army was stationned in that area at the time of the occupation of Berlin in four different zones.
I took the S-bahn at Friedrich strasse towards Wedding station.
The tube station was full orange with the name Wedding written on top I quite liked that design. I tought that tube station would be a great location for a photo shoot.
When I walked out of the station I was in middle of 1970s blocks of flats and didnt have a clue where to start my journey. I walked towards. the Silent Green Kultur Quartier, a place built for the first crematorium in Berlin (1909-1910) unfortunately used for the wrong purpose during Nazi era. The area is now a space for public events with a garden and bar. From there I searched for a walk along the Panke canal, which took me to an area where I could escape the grudge of the main streets to a more scluded area with walls graffitis and roses gardens.
From the Kanal I decided to take a walk towards Prentzlauer berg. Wedding area was definetely off the tourist track with too much concrete for my taste. I managed to find some details like a door or garden, that would lift up the lifesless architecture of the area a bit.
If are looking to explore parts of Berlin that are off the beaten tracks I would definetely recommend Wedding to you. I had mixed feelings about it. While I greatly enjoyed the Panke kanal some streets made me feel very miserable.I kept walking towards Gesundbrunnen train station where I took the “circle line towards Prenzlauer allée”.
Back in Ryjestrasse I felt more at home than Wedding. I stopped at a café to have an iced matcha latte. I was trying to protect myself from the rain standing under the shop outside curtain, sipping my drink and hoping for the rain to stop.
I made my way back to Friedriche strasse where I would take the S-bahn to drop my films at the Aperture lab near Savigny Platz. Savigny platz seems to be a nice area to dine out, I was quite intrigued by the Jules Verne french restaurant. The restaurant offers a blend of French and German cuisines with a rating of 4.4 on google this is certainly a place I will try next time.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed my latest tour of Berlin I still have more area to explore like the Kreuzberg Area. Like London Berlin is a city I will never get bored off and discover news places each time I have a chance to vist.
Places I want to check out next time:
- Simon-Dach-Straße – the Greenwich Village of Berlin, with an air of boho.
- Boxhagener Platz – a flea market hunting ground.
Do you have any recommendations of places that you like in Berlin please share them in the comments
To get more familiar with Berlin before you go, I recommend these books and films to watch, they will set you in the heart of the city.
Films taking place in Berlin:
- Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders
- The Life of Others by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
- Run Lola Run by Tom Tykwer
- Christiane F. by Uli Edel
- Goodbye Lenin by Wolfgang Becker
- Atomic Blonde by David Leitch
- The Bournce supremacy by Paul Greengrass
Books set in Berlin
- Alone in Berlin – Hans Fallada
- Every man dies alone – Hans Fallada
- Berlin – Jason Lutes
- The innocent- Ian Mc Ewan
- Grand Hotel – Vicky Baum
- Berlin Alexanderplatz – Alfred Doblin
Berlin Address Book:
Book shop : Dussman Book Store open till late and has a coffe shop inside most of the books are German but they have an English and beautiful stationary section.
Where to eat:
Jaeger und lustig a traditional german food restaurant with a lovely outdoor settings Grünberger Str. 1
10243 Berlin-Friedrichshain
Breakfast:
Flamingo A fresh food bar with omelette, salads and more for a light lunch of breakfast . Neustädtische Kirchstraße 8
10117 | Berlin | DE (closed on the weekends)
Where to have a drink:
Windhorst Bar Dorotheenstraße 65, 10117 Berlin, Germany they also have a selection of alcohol free mocktails
For a whole list of monuments to visit, here is a list from the Berlin visitor centre.
