The Crew of Jonny Knüppel.
More action and fewer words: This has always been the Berlin-way! More than any other city mother Berlin had to deal with the circumstances thrown at her. Wars, tyranny, division, misery, she has seen it all. Possibly, it is for that reason Berlin is this unique place where people get together and decide to do something, no matter what! Especially in a lawless, post-wall vacuum, there was freedom to just take space and create. A pioneer spirit that made the millennial Berlin thrive and the global place-to-be.
In over 20 years since the German reunification, Berlin has put on an ever-changing coat. The Wedding might still be “im kommen”, yet, Prenzlberg has become yuppie town, and Neukölln five years ago is far from what you will encounter nowadays. Still, in all these transitions, Berlin won’t put down its DIY spirit. A place where funky ideas become lived reality. Where a group of friends opens a community garden in the middle of the hippest neighborhood, or a bunch of party kids build their own club at the Spree. We collected a few of our favorite sucess stories.
Read on…
by Andy | People
At a time when financial profit is all that cities are driven by, the Prinzessinnengärten seem to be a green oasis that gives us hope that, as long as there are active people creating such projects, the future might not be so bleak. Nomadisch Grün (Nomadic Green) launched Prinzessinnengärten (Princess gardens) as a pilot project in the summer of 2009 at Moritzplatz in Berlin Kreuzberg, a site which had been a wasteland for over half a century. Along with friends, activists and neighbors, the group cleared away rubbish, built transportable organic vegetable plots and reaped the first fruits of their labour.
The ultimate idea behind this project is for all unused spaces in cities to be turned to green urban farming spaces where locals produce their own healthy food. In this way, the microclimate would be better, there would be less CO2, and the biological diversity would increase. This project promotes community and aspires to be a place where a new style of urban living can emerge, where people can work together, relax, communicate and enjoy locally produced vegetables. Since more and more people are living in cities than rural areas, it becomes important that there is change towards a more sustainable way of living, eating and moving.
Read on…
by Stella | Cafés, Kreuzberg
photo: Klunkerkranich
Spring has sprung! And you know what this means: Outdoor locations are becoming a thing again!
No more standing under heating lamps, clutching to your scarves. The last fluffs of your scarfs are scaling off your necks and many heads turn to other people again. With every raising degree, the core areas of the capital shift from inside to outside.
Berlin awakens in Spring. And along with it the people, the cafés, restaurants, urban parks and festivals are returning from their winter hideout. How we’ve missed the many opportunities to enjoy life under the clear sky. With Spring, all these possibilities are back!
And even better, we compiled a list of activities and locations that are back from winter hiatus and open again for you to enjoy. See them right after the jump. Read on…
by Yasmin | Bars, Cafés, Galleries
Berlin rarely comes short when it comes to original and unique ideas to make ordinary things more interesting. Take restaurants, for instance: Why eat in a normal place if you could also eat inside an old bus, in a greenhouse or in a gondola that came all the way from the snow covered Alps. For some dining experiences you just need a very special location for that extra amount of oohs and ahhs. We compiled a list of the 13 most unusual restaurants and cafes in Berlin that won’t disappoint you with their unique locations.
Read on…
by Frank | Charlottenburg, Kreuzberg, Neukölln, Prenzlauer Berg, Restaurants
Following the spirit of our Exploring Berlin series we want to look at another district today and show you our favorite places there. This time we chose the one that we are surrounded by the most as our office at Blogfabrik is located right in the middle of it. I’m talking about Kreuzberg of course, probably one of the most popular districts of Berlin at the moment.
People who come to Berlin just love it here. It’s buzzing and it’s relaxed at the same time. It offers everything from delicious food, compelling art, pulsating nightlife and cultural entertainment. But apart from all of that Kreuzberg is particularly good for one thing: Just hanging out and having a good time. So we drove around in the past days dropping by the most beloved hang-out spots of the Berliners and snapping some photos for you. By the way all of the photos in this feature have been taken with the new Sony Xperia Z5 smartphone (versus the Z1 or my SLR that I normally use) which is being presented at the IFA these days. But now let’s dive into our favorite places in Kreuzberg.
Read on…
by Frank | Bars, Cafés, Clubs, Galleries, Kreuzberg, Restaurants
illustration: Antoine Corbineau
An Urban Utopia is not about crazy skyscrapers and cities below the sea anymore. Nowadays it has become a utopian challenge to create more livable, healthy and sustainable cities. But how can we make this utopia come true? To find out what makes cities better places for us, Barcelona-based publishing house LECOOL released a travel guide for a better city: A smart Guide to Utopia. The book, inspired by automotive company smart, the expert in urban mobility, presents 111 projects from across Europe that have made a positive, sustainable change to life in our cities. The projects range from urban farming to pop-up restaurants to sustainable design. We contributed two pages to this guide would like to give out 3 of these incredible books to our readers. How to win them and more information about the books after the jump.
Read on…
by Claudio | Art, City Guide
photos: ichbineinbaum.de
The Prinzessinengärten at Berlin Moritzplatz are an amazing place with a genious and innovative idea behind it. Using mobile vegetable patches, they transformed a 6,000 m² wasteland in the centre of Berlin into an organic urban farm. They also has several beehives and a cafe serving food made from the produce grown in the garden. Alongside its ecological aims, the project intends to offer local residents a new kind of urban space, where they can meet, work and relax together having several events there like concerts, dinners or even a fleamarket. We always liked the project and are now happy to support it. They already won the smart future mind award last year here in Berlin and are now in the run for the smart future minds community award which will support the project in the next year. Vote for them here and support our local heroes. After the jump more pictures of our trip to the Kreuzbörg Flowmarkt taking place at the Prinzessinengärten some weeks ago.
Read on…
by Claudio | Kreuzberg, Places
