Having lived in Schöneberg for the past eight years, I consider myself an expert on my Kiez. I always claim that it’s the best place to live in Berlin, not just because of the omnipresent Gasometer or the best döner ever (Ruyäm Gemüse Kebab, but that’s a story for another time) but also because we have awesome open-air markets. Everyone is always raging about Mauerpark or the flea market at Boxi on Sundays but let me tell you a little secret, Schöneberg has the best markets in all of Berlin. The Schöneberg markets might be a little less trendy than their East Berlin neighbors but they also boast some of the best prices in the city–sounds kinda similar to the housing market, right? And with Corona being an airborne disease, open-air markets are a better option for your weekly groceries than supermarkets. Here are my three favorites:
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by Adri | Market, Schöneberg
One of the many facets of Berlin that people really love and cherish is the rough, urban and industrial style of the city. It’s something that Berlin has in common with places like Brooklyn or South East London. But combined with Berlin’s history, the division, the Soviet influence of the East, it developed a quite particular style that sets it apart from the other cities. Raw brick walls and concrete, factory lamps and Edison light bulbs, this is pretty much an aesthetic you will see all over the world. But Berlin adds old GDR relics, remains of the Soviet military, and remnants of old industries that were specific to Germany. The outcome is a unique mix of history, design, and patina that feels specific to Berlin.
In our newest guide, we want to introduce you to 3 shops that have specialized in industrial vintage design, all of which combine common aesthetics with more particular ones. We love all three of these shops as they capture so much an essential part of the style of Berlin. Enjoy!
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by Frank | Design, Mitte, Schöneberg, Shops
The combination of wood and metal makes your heart race, you wish that steam punk had actually been a time period and “vintage” truly is your second forename? Let us hook you up with the Mekka of industrial furniture at the one and only “Urban Industrial”, the holy hall for everything antique, unique and extremely stylish.
The brand was born out of founder Jakob Wagner’s strong passion and unmistakable talent for collecting vintage furniture from shut down factories, skillfully refurbishing them and putting them up in his store for you to fall in love with. What used to be a ballroom opposite Volkspark Hasenheide at Hermannplatz now spectacularly serves as their showroom. Upon entering it impresses you with its large space, remarkably high ceilings and grungy looking walls. With the atmosphere truly mirroring the industrial style, making a visit resembles an experience rather than just a shopping trip.
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by Franziska | Neukölln, Shops
AURA, photo: Dress Me Guide Me
The vintage and 2nd hand scene in Berlin is a very diverse world covering some rare vintage from golden times, contemporary high end brands as well as thrift stores where you can buy per kilo. The criteria which makes the difference between all those types is the selection of garments itself. While vintage is the label for clothes that were distinctive to a specific era that’s at least 10-15 years in the past, 2nd hand generally just describes clothes that have been worn by someone before. This could be anything ranging from 2000er high street pieces or last season’s designer stuff. Especially vintage stores pride themselves with the originality of their selection of pieces, that are mostly stand-outs, clean and in good condition. Just like well-curated 2nd hand shops they are usually done with a lot of love and passion, therefore vintage is usually more expensive than your average 2nd hand or thrift store.
Regardless of your personal preference, whether you buy 2nd hand or vintage as a political statement, to get trendy or luxurious brands for cheap or because you are searching for the pearl in a pile of random stuff to get that triumphant feeling of a precious discovery – Berlin’s got you covered!
Our guest contributor Emilie from Dress Me Guide Me selected some of the most awesome shops for you!
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by Guest Author | Charlottenburg, Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Mitte, Neukölln, Prenzlauer Berg, Shops
You know how it is: Every time you need to dress for a special occasion, or maybe just for the next work day and you stand in front your completely overfilled closet yet still you feel like you have nothing to wear. Well, you have A LOT to wear, only you don’t feel like wearing anything you own and then you end up putting on that neutral black shirt and pair of pants because it’s the only outfit that does not completely bother you.
So we have two issues here: a) you need new clothes because obviously you kind of over most of the stuff you own and b) you need to get rid of a lot of clothes to make more space in your closet. Only one tiny problem: Hell will freeze over before you get up at 7 a.m. in the morning on a holy Sunday to set up a booth at Mauerpark. And you kind of don’t want to bother with taking pictures of every single item and putting it up online, let alone packing it up and sending it out to its new owner.
We might have a solution here: The Concierge Service by eBay in cooperation with Mädchenflohmarkt and the eBay Fashion Shop & Sell Boutique. As if by magic they will take care of all the complicated stuff in the process of getting rid of your old wardrobe so it can finally find its happy new wearer. I have been waiting forever for a service like this because I too have an overfilled closet and no time to sell the stuff myself so I better get going with this before my pieces are completely out of fashion.
To introduce the whole concept eBay and Mädchenflohmarkt are hosting a pop-up shop from June 11-16 here in Berlin. Find out more about it after the jump.
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by Frank | Fashion, Mitte, Shops
photos: Christoph Sagel
The Karl-Marx-Allee in Mitte and Friedrichshain used to be the prestigeous shopping promenade of the GDR. But after the wall came down – probably even before that – it kind of lost its appeal and now only hosts a couple of shops that are kind of insignificant (except maybe BoConcept). But now the street has a new pearl that we can’t wait to tell you about: Coroto is a brand new high quality vintage furniture and interior store that opened recently at Frankfurter Tor in Friedrichshain. The spot is a little bit unusual, but I am sure with a concept as beautiful and sharp they will find their audience and vice versa.
They describe their store concept as “Tropical Living” – we describe it simply as “gorgeous”. They offer a mix of high quality vintage furniture and interior objects with European origins from the 50s to 80s. All of them are in impeccable condition and beautifully refurbished. To bring the tropical element in they combine it with ethnical handcrafts, ceramics and home textiles from India and South America which works wonderfully. It was certainly a great inspiration to completely redecorate my entire house. Especially the ceramic lamps are to die for. Enjoy some fabulous impressions and the details after the jump.
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by Frank | Friedrichshain, Shops
Christmas time in Berlin is really special because everybody is gone. It feels a little bit like in one of these apocalyptic movies where the people slowly disappear. Most of the restaurants close. Even some Spätshops that you thought would be open around the clock shut down for Christmas. But we would like to remind you that it wasn’t always like that. There was a time where people actually stayed here to celebrate.
As usual for special occasions everybody is taking pictures on Christmas. Even my 83 old grandmother takes a selfie in front of the Christmas decorations. Since the uprise of photography in the every day life, people took pictures on Christmas. We went for a little time travel and collected the most interesting historical pictures of the last century for you. From shopping window displays in the 20s to Nazi-Santas and snowmans of the border between East and West, we tried to represent the adventurous and sometimes troubled history our city went trough. As you see Christmas ist not only a good time for helping others but also to spread your specific propaganda. A very interesting history lesson we should get out of these images. We hope you enjoy it.
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by Claudio | Photos
Some Berliners like to climb the Brooklyn bridge and replace the American flags with white ones when they are in New York. When we went to the Big Apple recently, we were maybe not quite as progressive.
I have to admit that I avoided going to the states after my last visit 12 years ago. But despite my general disinterest in this country I always knew that I had to give New York City another try, especially since my last visit is almost 20 years in the past. And boy am I glad that I finally did it. I was amazed by this city, much more than I expected to be. Everything seems to be bigger, better, faster, stronger – and I’m not even exaggerating. It almost felt a bit odd when I returned to Berlin afterwards and everything almost seemed small and ordinary to me.
New York is an extreme city, but much like Berlin it’s totally up to you what you make of it. And thanks to our local guide and good friend Archer we managed to make something really great out of it and had a phantastic time there. To share some of our excitement with you we compiled a list of 10 amazing things to do in New York that will hopefully inspire your next trip.
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by Frank | Travel
When it comes to vintage fashion the options in Berlin are countless. There are many sources, big markets, kilogram shops and small boutiques. We have quite a few really good little stores with a nice, almost personal selection of clothes. But when it comes to the reflection of contemporary style and youth culture the options are getting fewer.
Calypt might very well be one of the rare vintage shops that closes this gap. The little store in Boddinstraße just opened a few months ago but has already managed to gather a little fan base of the young and fashionable in Neukölln. When you browse through the racks you can tell that the store owners select their pieces meticulously with love and care. For them every garment is unique and special that they hang into their shop.
Right on the wavelength of current trends in fashion they have a focus on the 90s, both for boys and girls. They cover various styles, but what stood out the most two me where two things: One is their selection of sports and active wear. With all the mesh tops, sports jerseys, shorts and neopren jackets you could totally style an editorial for any renowned style magazine and no-one would know it’s all vintage. And the second section that I think is interesting is the “club rack” which is a fun selection of some more crazy and daring pieces you could wear for your next night out in the techno nightclubs of Berlin.
Head over the jump to get your first impressions and the details of the store, but even better schedule a visit on your next trip to Neukölln.
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by Frank | Fashion, Neukölln, Shops
Hellooooo my darrrlings, I am back all fruitilicious and colorful as always. Did you miss me? Of course!!! For everybody who doesn’t know me yet: I am Tati the Fruit Salad and I am the fashion editor-in-chief of iHeartBerlin. Watch my adventures at Fashion Week in the episodes of my very own TV show of last year.
I have amazing news for all of you. The Fashion Week is finally moving to my favourite district in all of Berlin: Wedding. There is no place where more crazy fashion and inspiration is going on than here. Every street, every shop and every corner has some fashionable shit going on and sometimes I get so many ideas for my next outfits that I am clueless what to do.
Since all kinds of people from all around the world are coming to Berlin for Fashion Week and they obviously don’t know Wedding so well like I do, I put some really nice places together where to shop, have a nice snack in between the fashion shows and an introduction to the fashion week location itself. Enjoy my delicious guide full of juicy recommendations after the jump.
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by Tati | City Guide, Wedding
