illustrations: Sophia Halamoda.
As a native Istanbulite, summers always meant eluding the city as soon as possible with everlasting fear of crowds, the heatwaves and the tourists during the entire three months. Leaving the city in summer is almost a global tradition for every metropolitan, except for Berliners. We prefer to foray into foreign lands in winters, but every true Berliner knows in their heart that our city is exceptionally beautiful and sexy in the summer, and we don’t want to skip a bit of it.
Inspired by some of the chapters in our book Like A Berliner, we narrowed down our favorite activities that make Berlin so special in summer. If you enjoy it, you should get the limited summer package including our 2 books Like A Berliner, Learn Deutsch with iHeartBerlin and the “Summer in Berlin” poster in our webshop!
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by Burak | Stories
Our team is made up of full time Berlin lovers that are dedicated to the cause – over the years, we have sacrificed both our sleep and social life to keep tirelessly exploring our urban jungle and provide you with tips on the most diverse aspects of the city’s lifestyle. Following our desire to get fully immersed in the Berlin state of mind, we’ve bravely entered some strange territories, like Berghain or even Zehlendorf, therefore compiling a pretty comprehensive guide for the city insiders. But if you’re not ready to commit just yet and only have a limited number of days to spend here – we’ve created this ultimate, one of a kind guide to a 7 day adventure featuring all the essential spots to make your Berlin fling into a lasting memory.
Click here for our 7 Days in Berlin Guide!
by Michalina | City Guide
Berlin’s green spaces are probably one of its most cherished assets – and rightly so. They are as diversified as the city itself and will easily transform according to your daily agenda, no matter if you need a sunny picnic spot, a peaceful field for your yoga session, or a chilled location to drink up your recent Späti purchases.
Indeed, 59% of Berlin’s whole surface has some vegetation going, and although this does not place our capital anywhere close to the top ten of Germany’s greenest cities (and 12% shy of Hamburg’s score), I like to think we’re doing our best. Just take a look at all the random plants people put on their balconies (or sometimes windowsills) in no particular order, giving a whole new meaning to the term ‘’urban jungle’’.
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by Michalina | Stories
photo: Axel Kuhlmann / CC
Berlin is the capital city of flea markets and visiting these iconic institutions is a great way of spending a couple of hours of your weekend (singles watch out: there is a strong possibility of starting a flirt with a handsome stranger at the innumerous stalls) but as I walk along the Spree towards my first destination, the Arena Indoor Flea Market, feelings of smallness start to unsettle. In fact, I could not have chosen a worse day to venture out into flea markets – it is freezing cold, bloody foggy and there is mud everywhere due to the melting snow and I cannot stop thinking to myself that only a strike of luck will prevent me from slipping and falling into the river. It would not be the first time…
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by Guest Author | Charlottenburg, Friedrichshain, Market, Prenzlauer Berg
photo: sfreimark / CC
It’s hard to think of anything more quintessentially Berlin than Mauerpark. It contains so much of what this city is about. Is there any phrase more encapsulating of Berlin than “wall park”? It speaks to the city’s storied past, and to our contemporary lifestyle of leisure and charm. Situated on Prenzlauer Berg’s western border with Gesundbrunnen, it’s perhaps the perfect spot to spend a pleasant day, while momentarily reflecting on the city’s history.
Every visitor to Berlin wants to see the wall. To this end, we have options. There’s the East Side Gallery in Friedrichshain with its famous paintings, there’s Checkpoint Charlie, the most touristy and mainstream spot, there’s the stately, dignified Berlin Wall Memorial (Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer), and there’s Mauerpark. Mauerpark is cool because it really is a great destination on its own, and is surrounded by the most vibrant neighborhood out of these options.
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by Keith | Photos, Prenzlauer Berg, Stories
photos: AnaHell
Can a city have imaginary secret friends? Maybe not every city, but Berlin is different in my opinion. Our dear Berlin gets run over by so many kooky inhabitants – why shouldn’t it have some nice imaginary friends to cope with all the mess going on? At least that was the idea of multimedia artist and photographer AnaHell when she came to our beloved city. In her childhood she invented weird but lovely friends to spend her time with and play. Imaginary creatures with little secret stories to live all kind of adventures with. Fortunately for us, AnaHell did not forget about her childhood fantasy and recreated it with the photo series Secret Friends, a playful narration of this story. Documenting a parallel reality of bent-over humans, which form a new creature that share our world but cannot be seen by us ordinary humans. With the Berlin series of Secret Friends she wants to show different aspects of life in a our city, from the clichés to real people in their homes doing what they normally do.
I am totally in love with the concept and the realization of this playful idea. I guess we should all search once in a while after our imaginary secret friends from our childhood. Maybe they are just sitting next to you in the U-Bahn or waiting in line with you at Berghain. What I want to say is that we should be open for the wonder and for the surprise that can come by reactivating our childhood fantasy. Berlin especially is a place that rewards this kind of openness with a charming magic, you won’t find anywhere else. More Secret Friends by AnaHell after the jump. Read on…
by Claudio | Art, Photos
Once its own borough, the district of Prenzlauer Berg now belongs to Pankow and is located right next to Mitte and Friendrichshain. Characterized by the five-story ‘Althaus’ with a closed courtyard in the back the typical Prenzlauer Berg block is very large. The district is dominated by broad tree-lined streets with colorful boutiques, restaurants and cosy cafes attracting a mix of stay-home moms and dads, freelancers and university students alike. Prenzlauer Berg can’t deny its creative and alternatively individual vibe with parks being taken over by children’s birthday parties clearly marked by burlaps and balloons under the tree, a broad range of organic food shops, hip new juice shops and a yoga studio on almost every corner. Learn more about this charming neighborhood’s highlights with our best-of guide to Prenzlauer Berg after the jump. Read on…
by Yoori | Prenzlauer Berg
One of the most iconic happenings in Berlin is definately the Bearpit Karaoke that is run by Joe Hatchiban on Sundays in the public arena in the center of the Mauerpark. It’s the one thing that everyone will alway recommend you to go to when visiting Berlin. Hundreds of people will gather around the circle stage and applaud everyone courageous enough to sing in front of so many people. And you don’t have to be afraid to fail, because no matter how your performance turns out to be, people will applaud for you like you are some kind of rockstar. And it’s that magical moment when suddenly one inconspicuous looking performer starts to sing so amazingly impressive that the whole crowd goes mute in awe that makes this Karaoke session so special and unforgottable. Of course the applause for those kind of performers will be explosive.
On the third of October you will get the chance to experience the Bearpit Karaoke on an even bigger stage. Joe got invited to join the Coke Festival of Happiness at Brandenburger Tor on the anniversary day of the reunification of Germany. This one is going to be his biggest Karaoke show ever and the performers will sing in front of thousands of people. That’s going to be one hell of a thrill! After the jump we have a little documentary for you about Joe Hatchiban and his Karaoke show. Meet you at the Brandenburger Tor stage on Thursday!
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by Frank | Music, People
