Berlin ???

just pete

Im heading to Berlin for the 22 & 23 Nov.
Any of you peeps know of anything good on over there, Im looking but not finding anything at the moment.

Also whats good to see or do?

Thanks
Pete

francois

just pete wrote: »

Im heading to Berlin for the 22 & 23 Nov.
Any of you peeps know of anything good on over there, Im looking but not finding anything at the moment.

Also whats good to see or do?

Thanks
Pete

Berghain club is a minimal/techno club, if that floats your boat, http://www.berghain.de/ there are small booklets in loads of bars telling you what's on, keep an eye out for them

loads of museums worth seeing, though the remains of checkpoint charlie/the wall are disappointing

MikeHoncho

Was there for the first time about 2 weeks ago and already planning my next trip. It really is that good. Best thing to do is keep an eye on www.residentadvisor.net for whats on when your gonna be there that might be of ineterst. I was in Watergate (amazing) and Icon (pretty good) but didnt make it to Berghain (next time).

Id also recommend a place called White Trash on Schonhauser Alle for a bite to eat and a few beers before heading out. They have a dingy nightclub downstairs playing Rockabilly stuff which I though was a really cool way to start our Saturday night.

Dont bother heading to your first club til around 2 A.M though. They are at their best in the small hours of the morning and depending how busy it is somehwhere like Berghain could go until 9 P.M the next night.

electrofilth

the holocaust memorial beside the brandenberg gate is class.it is a few hundred 3metre by 1 metre stone columns that vary in height and from the outside the whole thing looks small but when you walk through it, it gets bigger and bigger, think its metaphorical for the unseen depths of the tragedy the holocaust was.

you a get a real wierd feeling just from being there.

definitely check it out

and rent bikes from under the tv tower in alexanderplatz to cycle around the city.bikes are cheap and its an ideal way to get around and go for a cycle through the big parks.

dunno bout clubs, we couldnt get in cause we were all too fecked from taking stupidly strong german pills. there was even acid in these pills we were too baloobas to get in anywhere:(

skippy26

check out www.techno.de
tresor,maria um ufer and watergate are pretty good clubs especially tresor
few mates went to berghain and said it was mental the sat night goes on well into sun afternoon.......

conZ

Tresor is good on Wednesday nights (Up and Coming night - never had a bad Wednesday in there.. Definately worth it), as well as Fridays and Saturday.
Only a fiver in Wednesdays too, up to €15 at the weekend. No worries getting in, bouncers in there are cool. Always a good lineup.

Berghain is a bastard to get in to. A bastard! You'd want to be going up there at 10.30 or 11 and queueing for an hour to get in. If you left it till 12.30 or 1, you'd be queueing for up to 3 hours.

Weekend is in the 'SHARP' building at Alexanderplatz. Good on Wednesdays also, as well as the weekends. But, beware, "Sunday night is gay night at Weekend" (In a gay german tone) - my mate found that out the hard way the first night he went in there. Took him about 30 minutes to realise it.

Where else...
Watergate is good, drugs available at the entrance to the mens jacks - there should be a dude sitting on a couch. Should be a few bits on there...

Bar 25 is (god I can't remember my Ubahn stations these days) Jannowitzbrucke UBahn station i'd say, or else Heinrich-Heine strasse, on the U8 line anyway. Wicked club! Located right on the Spree, bonfires, loads of weird **** happening. Considered an 'after club' bar from time to time, gets busy from 8am onwards, though at weekends it'd be busy all night...

Tacheles (Tack-el-ees) is always great craic early on in the night, and you'll always find people going clubbing there. It's on Oranienburg Strasse (U5 - purple line) in Mitte, just off Freidrichstrasse. It's amazing, old jewish department store, covered in graffiti after it was taken over by squatters, artists, musicians. Definately go there, it's up there with some of the top spots in Berlin (year round). There's 2 bars Zapata and Studio, High End 54 on the first floor (door is out the back, in between the outside bar and Studio 54)- club full of Arabs generally, though I did have a few good nights in there. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors are galleries, there's a cinema in there somewhere, and the highlight, TACHELES, the club. It's at the very top, small enough room, loads of couches, and the best of all, there's a wall missing, so you can look out over West Berlin while sitting on a couch, drinking a beer among other things. Music ranges depending on who's working, but it's Chillout -> Techno.

The Oscar Wilde is good craic, Irish bar around the corner from Tacheles (U bahn stop - Oranienburg Tor - it's just at the top of the steps then). Good beer, always good for the cure in the morning. Friday evenings they generally have a band or something, even kareoke. Always a good crowd and a good laugh. A Guy Called Gerald frequents this place, has a studio in Tacheles too.

Clubs in Berlin generally don't close till Wednesday, so don't worry about that.

Some cool places to go,...

Go on the Sandemans New Berlin tour is free and generally informative. About 3.5 hours, not too much walking, and you tip the tour guide a few pound at the end (they pay €3 to the Sandemans company for the priviledge of taking you on their tour - overheads - so keep that in mind - give him €8 if you were planning on giving him €5. People do give up to €20 pp, but obviously it depends on the size of their pockets... ). Paulo and Matt are two very good tour guides. You'll find out how the Berlin Wall really fell...

There's a bar on Oranienburger Strasse, on the left hand side, coming from Freidrichstrasse. You've to walk down steps into it, and there's bits of blackboard hammered to the bricks outside. It's quite close to the Silberfisch, another good one... There's always wicked rock on in there, good beer and great craic. There's a crazy old Armenian or something that owns that. He just sits in all evening getting stoned and drinking, dancing about the place. He just puts on some of his favourite albums, like the Doors, Zep, Stevens, Morrisson etc,. Some of the best nights I had was in there.

The Monster Bar (Kaffee-Am-Kache) at Hackerschermarkt is good. Quite busy at weekends, look for the PAN-ASIA (clothing brand) sign on the street and you've to go through the alley, past the Anne Franke Museum.

Where else to go... Wracking my brains here....

conZ

When you arrive, buy TIP (in German). The listings on that are always good, and pretty easy to understand.

Another one would be EXBERLINER in English. Only about 2 bucks.

Ask any of the lads in the Oscar Wilde for places to go, where clubs are, etc. There's a club above the Oscar, SCALA, open Fridays,. Very NuRave/Indie, loads of tot there though, but there's always a few good DJ sets on..

White Trash has very well done Kareoke - with a full rock band. Don't know exactly when it's on though. Don't really like the place to be honest.

It'll probably be very cold while you're there... Drink lots of Jagermeister.

I'm trying to think of interesting places to go...

Google Sandemans New Berlin for info on the tours, definately go on the free one - some of the pay tours are good too, but cost money.
Sachsenhausen Concentration camp is about an hour away.
The 'Germania' exhibition (Google it: Germania - Hitlers vision for Germany) opened during the summer, right beside the Holocaust Memorial, beside the row of shops.
There's an abandoned Theme Park out in Treptower Park if you want to go off taking acid.
There's a Communist Memorial out there too, which is jawdropping...
Olympiastadion. 1936 Olympics.

That's it from me for the time being,... I'm off, but i'll leave you a few links.

www.toytowngermany.com - might be a few bits of info on the news or the forum
http://www.thirdreichruins.com/berlin.htm

The Christmas Markets will also probably be open, definately worth a visit.

Also, if the weather isin't too harsh, go to the Strand Bar (on the banks of the Spree) at the Bode Museum. It's in a park called Montbijou Park beside Hackerschermarkt. Deck chairs, sand, good music, looking at the Bode Museum with the reflection from the River. It's the most chilled out place.

Remember, in Berlin, you can walk down the road at 9am with two open beers in your hand, smoking a joint, wearing no pants and noone would even look at you, so don't let the side down. Beer is available everywhere, 24 hours. You'll probably spot businessmen on the train in the morning with 3 or 4 bottles of beer with them.

Any more info needed, just reply and i'll get back to you.

just pete

Thanks for the replys guys esp. Conz, I need to print all that. Thanks for your time

MikeHoncho

conZ that is an amazing post. Wish I had that before I went over. Il know for next time.

jonny68

Berlin is most definitely on my list of places to visit, ive heard nothing but great reports about this place, and so liberal minded as well compared to this backward country.

conZ

Lived there for a while.
Wicked place.
Can't wait to go back.

There's so much more I could put in there. The Monster Bar (as we used call it) is very cool, wicked place for a chilled out few beers in the day.

My favourite place in Berlin is Montbijou Park and the Strand Bar by the Bode. Used go there with a bag of bottles every evening during the Summer and sit out on the grass. Used remind me of home in fact. There's a wicked festival on in there too from July to September, Montbijou Festspiele, so you'd generally get the free concert from the grass. They build a wooden amphitheatre every year for it, holds up to about 150 people, but it's unbelievable.

Berlin is very liberal, loads of illegal bars, unlicensed clubs etc. The police turn a blind eye to it all (including prostitution - but i've been told that is legal by some, and illegal by others). Scala, as mentioned above, is an illegal club, yet there's crowds of people outside every Friday night/Saturday morning.
I've seen lots of things in Berlin that would have been and automatic death sentence by the Gardai in Ireland.

From Oranienburger Tor (U Bahn) down towards Hackerschermarkt area and over to Freidrichstrasse/Unter Der Linten (makes a triangle on the map) is generally pretty vibrant and happening. Oranienburger Strasse is v.funky, though greasy at night time (as well as Hackerschermarkt) with those €800 latex strewn prostitutes.

I cant believe I forgot this :

The kebab was invented in Berlin, in Kreuzberg (SE) by the Turks,. There are some very good kebab shops, there's one at Hackerschermarkt opposite Kaffee Am Kache that's renound around Berlin by the Turks. €3.
I taste-tested many a kebab though, but the best one by far, is "The chinese dude on Oranienburger Strasse". It's beside Tacheles, and the only kebab shop on Oranienburger strasse, but for €2.50, it is the best. Just get everything on it. Brought many people to this dude and they all agree. There'd be some nights in Tacheles you'd go out and get 3 kebabs, and the one going home.

I lived on Chausseestrasse, about 100m from Tacheles in Mitte. If ye're looking for anything of an illegal nature, there's always a few shady ****ing Turks in Tacheles, though it is subject to a turf war. If you get talking to anyone in the Oscar Wilde, you may be pointed in the general direction.
For stuff of a green nature, there's a burger bar on Torstrasse , one street north of Oranienburger Strasse, and there's a kebab shop opposite it... Walk up Freidrichstrasse on to Chausseestrasse and take the right down Torstrasse. There should be a kebab shop on the LHS and a burger bar on the RHS. English may be a problem on the RHS, but you should be pointed to a good source of greenery if you go into either. Adnan is a dude that looks like Manuel from Fawlty Towers, generally sits outside the kebab shop all day drinking beer. Loves the Irish. Had an Irish penpal for a few years about 25 years ago. Funny guy.

I've got more info in me, it just needs to be coaxed out. Any questions etc. welcome!

brock92

Heading to Berlin on Sunday, thanks for all above info on Berlin.

Phibsd7

Unreal thread lads, great stuff.
was over last week, unbelievable spot. can't wait to go back. Gonna save all this info for next time!!

jtsuited

i should be headed over there on some music-business-y stuff in the next few months. can't wait.

i have family over there too. berlin has always been a hotbed for music, both classical and electronic, and you only have to look at the addresses of the big minimal/techno labels to see just how dominant a place it is.

conZ

Just remembered this in the shower...

Club VCF - Dirkenstrasse/Rochenstrasse. Underneath the train line (S bahn)West from Alexanderplatz to Hackerschermarkt.

Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays - very hard techno, wicked place. Cheap, underground, very cool. First night I was there, there were 9 DJs and a VJ (it's a small club, about the same floor space as your average Centra) and there were some old skool German techno legends playing there, though I can't remember for the life of me who they were. Got in for free too. Only payed about a fiver after that.

Nobody knows about this club, not even the SS.

gebbel

I was there last weekend. Absolutely mental. We stayed in a very good hostel...St. Christophers on Rosa-Luxemburg Strasse. Very good bar downstairs. Went to Tresor on Friday night. The place wasn't even open when we got there so we had to go for a few beers around the corner. Don't go there before 2am!! It filled up rapidly after that. The club is class. An old power plant they told us! The downstairs area is called the Batterieraum. This is where they play the mental Techno...really bangin' top class tunes all night! There was a shortage of yokes there early on, but we scored them at 5am. In the meantime we got mad out of it on base speed. We asked a lot of the locals...nobody minded us asking either...they are a friendly bunch there. Highly recommended.
The next night we tried Berghain....no chance. We had been drinking all day and were at bit messy to be honest. We even split up into smaller groups (we were 6 blokes) but they just waved us away. Queues there were very long.
Enjoy!

studiorat

I thought Tresor had closed down? Maria was in it's place no?

+1 for Tachelese thought!

Scubadevils

If you are into techno and buying vinyl, definitely drop into Hard Wax... worth dropping in even if you don't buy vinyl. Strange place in that you go up about 3-4 flights of stairs in what is like a flat complex and wonder if you are in the right place, as you get nearer to the right floor though you hear the *thump, thump, thump*

http://hardwax.com/

Hugely important and historic shop in terms of techno for many years now.

conZ

studiorat wrote: »

I thought Tresor had closed down? Maria was in it's place no?

+1 for Tachelese thought!

Tresor did close down, but they moved it. And it's always a bastard getting stuff in Tresor. Best go round Tacheles first and then hit Tresor. Wednesday nights in Tresor is local up-and-coming DJ's, always unreal!. Saw Jeff Mills there a while back. It's easy to sneak in to Tresor these days too, if you get thrown out or refused. Throw yourself under the gate to the left of the entrance, brings you straight into the smoking area. Just let a few people go up to the door first to distract them.
The Batterieraum is unreal, very dark, only a strobe and a few random LEDs around the place, savage effect though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhFauJhSg4s


St. Christophers isin't the best hostel in Berlin to be honest. The Wombat around the corner from it at Rosa Luxembourg Platz is 20 times better than any hostel in Berlin. You heard it here.

studiorat

conZ wrote: »

St. Christophers isin't the best hostel in Berlin to be honest. The Wombat around the corner from it at Rosa Luxembourg Platz is 20 times better than any hostel in Berlin. You heard it here.

My faveourite hostel is die Fabric close to afterrnoon stuff about €20 back from anywhere really. Nice mid range hostel...

just pete

Deadly guys.

Not into drugs so lack of or where to get them dosnt affect me, just looking for some savage clubs to hit while Im there.
Cant wait to go now