Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
for somewhere to swim or sweat, is the glorious 1914 swimming bath and sauna
complex Stadtbad Neukölln (see p.129).
Friedrichshain
East of the Spree from Kreuzberg, the former East Berlin borough of Friedrichshain is
overwhelmingly residential. Comprehensively destroyed during the war, it lost more
than two thirds of its buildings - as much as any Berlin district - and today is virtually
all of GDR vintage, offering very little real sightseeing. However, the neighbourhood is
a real nightlife hotspot, with dozens of bars clustered on Simon-Dach-Strasse and
various clubs inhabiting old industrial buildings on its fringes.
he district gathers around two major arterial roads: Warschauer Strasse, which forms
the link to Kreuzberg and East Side Gallery, Berlin's longest surviving stretch of Wall;
and the grand Karl-Marx-Allee , connecting to Alexanderplatz and Mitte. Forming
Friedrichshain's northwestern boundary is Volkspark Friedrichshain , one of the eastern
city's oldest and nicest parks; it's best accessed from Prenzlauer Berg (see p.133).
7
East Side Gallery
Trailing the banks of the River Spree on the southern edge of Friedrichshain, a 1.3km
surviving stretch of Berlin Wall is known as the East Side Gallery for its collection of
political and satirical murals. Originally painted just after the Wall fell they resonate
with the attitude and aesthetics of the time: some are imaginative, some trite and some
impenetrable, but one of the most telling shows Brezhnev and Honecker locked in a
passionate kiss, with the inscription, “God, help me survive this deadly love”. Given
their outdoor and exposed nature, all the paintings are steadily decaying; original artists
have been invited back to repaint their works a couple of times, most recently to mark
the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall in 2009. In 2012 the removal and
auctioning-off of portions of the Wall - to enable the building of a luxury block of
flats - sparked outrage and protests, and for now the survival of the remaining sections
seems assured. Behind the gallery, look out for the landmark Oberbaumbrücke , a
neo-Gothic double-decker bridge that dates back to 1896 and leads over to Kreuzberg.
Warschauer Strasse and around
At the southeastern end of the East Side Gallery, Warschauer Strasse climbs up to cross
railway tracks and become Friedrichshain's main cross street. It's fairly dull, so tram #M10
is a welcome way to speed your journey - better still to peel off at the first opportunity
down Revaler Strasse where gra ti paves the way to Cassiopeia , a medley of skate park,
climbing wall, cinema, beer garden and club that started as a squat. Opposite lies the
Simon-Dach-Strasse , at first glance an ordinary tree-lined residential street, but also the
hub of the local nightlife scene with good cafés, restaurants and bars, many with outdoor
seating. At its northern end Simon-Dach-Strasse joins Boxhagener Strasse: a block to the
right lies the leafy Boxhagener Platz , which bustles with a fleamarket on Sundays.
Karl-Marx-Allee
A vast boulevard lined with 1.5km of model 1950s and 1960s communist housing
developments, Karl - Marx-Allee (or Stalinallee, as it was known in the 1950s) is a mixed
bag. On the one hand its inhuman scale makes it hard to explore on foot and, while
tra c thunders up and down the road it is devoid of buses and trams, so businesses
struggle, which gives the place a bit of an eerie and empty feel. Nevertheless the
monumentalist Zuckerbäckerstil (wedding-cake style) buildings are architecturally
impressive, and their apartments among the Eastern Bloc's finest. he best way to
explore is to walk (or bike) the 1km from U-Bahn Frankfurter Tor to Strausberger
Platz, taking a break at Café Sybille at Karl-Marx-Allee 72 (see p.200), which has a
good little exhibition on the history of the Stalinallee.
 
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