This city is just full of surprises: To a newcomer here, a lot of Berlin’s ways might even come as a bit of a shock, until one gets used to it. Among these shocking things, is seeing spaces with a very particular context, such as churches, not serving solely their religious purpose as gathering points of worship, but instead being used for other cultural activities: exhibition spaces, concert stages, theatre stages. For most other parts of the world that’d be unthought of: but Berlin is just like no other city, haven’t we established that already? In terms of, well, everything; and churches confirm it.
Spaces so holy, designed to create awe and devoutness, connected with faith or death, both parts of life that are hard for us to conceive, find other, secular uses, and thus step off their high place somewhere closer to us. That’s got a lot to do with the city’s tendency of giving a new life to things old and abandoned: from the secondhand scene being so strong here, people reuse every chance they get, to abandoned places that often become art spaces, to churches and crematoria being reused, having a new life, and gain new meaning. A collection of such spaces, that caught our eye somehow, either with their design, or with the whole new use, we are about to present to you 🙂
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by Stella | Art, Stories
photo: Miguel Silva Rodrigues / CC
Weißensee – ever heard of it? If you haven’t, don’t blame yourself. There are some districts in Berlin that kind of fall under the radar concerning public attention. Lichtenberg is one of them, or Reinickendorf, Marzahn. And so is Weißensee, it seems to be also one of the hidden gems. Even though there is quite a lot going on, the clocks are ticking a little slower here. This might not be the version of the Berlin you know. But maybe you should.
Weißensee is a part of Pankow and used to be like many other districts a little village, back in the 13th century. Named after the big lake, the then-village Weißensee has more to offer than meets the eye. With the help of the new aber hallo, Weißensee map we selected some of the most interesting places that will make your visit worth while.
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by Yasmin | Cafés, Galleries, Shops, Weißensee
Berlin is really good at re-purposing old places. Factories turn into clubs, old bunkers turn into art galleries, and in Wedding, a crematorium has been converted into a very nice restaurant and art gallery space. It’s called Mars (formerly Moos), and it sits in the middle of an old cemetery.
The food is wonderful, as is the architecture. It feels very refined and classy, but not in a stuffy, expensive way. It’s chic and sophisticated, but approachable.
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by Keith | Restaurants, Wedding
I always liked cemeteries. Don’t get me wrong. I have never been into Gothic, and I always hated Patchouli. But I just like cemeteries for the romantic, beautiful and quite atmosphere. Every time I go to Paris I visit the Père Lachaise. Not only to pay my respect to Jim, but also to see all the other beautiful graves. However, you don’t have to go to Paris to see romantic mausoleums or melancholic angels. Berlin has some remarkable cemeteries as well. More ofter the jump.
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by Jens | Areas, City Guide, Kreuzberg, Misc., Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg
