Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
roster of hot tapas like chicken in lime sauce. Fabulous aioli and robust Spanish wines to
boot. Candelight and cosy inside, with a few sidewalk tables in summer.
A CASE STUDY OF GENTRIFICATION
Badly pummelled but not destroyed during WWII, Prenzlauer Berg languished for dec-
ades, its grand but crumbling 19th-century townhouses becoming the domain of
artists, creatives, intellectuals, gays and political dissidents. It was this community
that stood up when the East German government came within a whisker of tearing
down the old buildings in the late '80s. And it was they who fanned the flames of op-
position that led to the Peaceful Revolution of 1989.
After the Wall collapsed, the district became party central, but was also among the
first to show up in the crosshairs of developers. They snapped up the decrepit build-
ings for virtual pennies and scrubbed away decades of grime to reveal gorgeous
facades and stucco-ornamented interiors. Nowadays, the sleekly renovated lofts are
the haunts of worldly boho-bourgeois professionals, including many expats from
France, Italy, the US and Britain.
These relatively recent arrivals have displaced nearly 80% of preunification resid-
ents, who could simply no longer afford the ever-rising rents or felt no cultural affinity
for fancy coffee drinks. The demographic changes also account for the death of many
long-standing party venues that had to cede to developers or noise-sensitive neigh-
bours and have decamped to friendlier pastures, usually in Kreuzberg or Friedrich-
shain.
Kollwitzplatz & the South Kiez
INTERNATIONAL
MUSE
€4.50-8.50; noon-4pm & 6-10pm Mon-Fri, 7.30pm-late Sat; M2)
What began as a supper club in the home of owners Caroline and Tobias has grown into a
rustic-chic neighbourhood bistro serving a small weekday menu of gourmet sandwiches,
tasty casseroles and richly flavoured soups. On Saturdays, either they or guest chefs host
multicourse meals in the supper-club tradition.
MEXICAN
MARIA BONITA
