Where is Prenzlauer? I know, do you?

Today I went on a walking tour of the former east Berlin area called Prenzlauer Berg. Yet again another amazing area full of history and authentic cobbled streets filled with an amazing mix of new and old architecture and hints of GDR times too! This are is now known now as a family friendly, central and affordable location close to Berlin! I'd like to buy here Tim! (€150,000 with rent coming in - might have miss read the sign in German!)

We started out from the Goethe Institute with our tour guide, Matthias Rau, an expert in Berlin culture, heritage and owner of authentic primary source evidence from the last 100 years! Leaving Alter Straße we made our way to Tor Straße and walked uphill (not at all steep maybe 1m above sea level as Berlin is surprisingly flat) along schönhauser alle until we arrived at Senefelderplatz and also known as Pfefferberg and was known for beer and is still a famous beer garden! 

Next we went along to Belforte Straße where there was a huge red brick wasserturm (water tower) built in 1875 where a pre industrial windmill once stood. This site is also the site of ww2 atrocities. Amazing histories surrounded us as we kept walking we were standing in front of the synagogue with four politzi officers in front, built in 1904-5 it survived the kristallnacht and is an operational Jewish school and current day synagogue.

We made our way to Rykestrasse where I saw the restaurant called 1900 and stumbled into a park filled with kids playing. There we saw a statue of Käthe Kollwitz, a political activist and pacifist who loved nearby from 1891-1943 (dates might be wrong as I heard them in German and wrote notes as I was walking) and has a museum (there are over 180 in Berlin) dedicated to her! 

W saw the Friedhof spot - the place where 183 Berliners were killed by the soldiers of king Frederick Wilhelm IV during the revolution in March 1848 and then 33 in the November revolution of 1918. 

A quick left to Worther Straße and a right to Husemann Straße saw us discover so much more than just houses, we saw the development of new facades and renovated signage, lights and beautiful streets! So want to live here! Now to find a job! 

This led us to the end of the tour. We were at the Kulturbrauerei, a funny place where old meets new, kino and cobbled stones make for a unique quadrangle where there is live music in summer and many bars and clubs. I found myself deciding upon a currywurst for lunch at the oldest sausage kiosk called Konnopke's but decided upon my new favourite sandwich bar - they serve then with this amazing salad and mayonnaise - something I have never tasted - sweet, cruncy, yummy and it has to be bad for you! And on that note, it is Green Living week and Berlin Fashion Festival, Germans love a party, the people here are surprisingly health conscious and trim, fit and active! Not what I had assumed! So this is what I learnt today...hope this inspired you to learn more too!