This city guide covers East Berlin and helps you plan the perfect trip with restaurants, bars and shops across the Eastern part of the German capital. We discovered the best places to meet locals, have a beer, shop, enjoy brunch and try new food! East Berlin is a blend of hidden gems, breakfast buffet pubs, Asian burger bars, brunch paradises, perfect coffee spots, beer gardens and has enough restaurants to eat for years.
So first of all, we do recommend seeing the monuments and architectural treasures that Berlin offers you: don’t skip the famous East Side Gallery, Reichstag, the Holocaust Monument, Museum Insel (island), Checkpoint Charlie and Topography of Terror. Since this was not our first time to Berlin, we did a basic highlights walk to reflect on the history and to refresh our memories. If you would like to know more about the districts of East Berlin and the streets you should definitely not miss, please read our article “The Streets of East Berlin“.
Holocaustmonument
Bars & Restaurants
Betty’n Caty
A lovely cafe for breakfast, lunch, coffee and küchen (cakes). The dishes on the menu were creative with a nice twist on the regular brunch dishes. Like everywhere else in East Berlin, the prices were very reasonable at Betty ‘n Caty! We tried the spicy poached egg and the acai breakfast bowl: both absolutely delicious! And very important: friendly staff & great flat whites!
Address: Knaackstrasse 8, 10405 Berlin, Germany (Mitte)
Antipodes
The perfect place for a delicious breakfast or lunch with great coffee! We took Antipodes signature bread, which is called “laugenecke”. We loved it! Antipodes is a small cafe in the Nothern part of Mitte with lovely staff. There is a small terrace where we enjoyed a morning sun and the view of the huge church on the other side of the road. We loved our food, it helped us survive the day after just a few to many beers and cocktails 🙂
Address: Fehrbelliner Str. 5, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Bao Bun
In East Berlin we came across the phenomenon of Asian burgers. Not a trend everywhere yet, so we were very curious and it seemed like a good option after the regular burgers with pommes. Menu looked great with enough to choose from for fish, food and veggie lovers. We were so happy with our burgers on the steamed buns, french fries, kimchi with mayonnaise and nutritious fresh salad; we would recommend Bao Bun to everyone who is into burgers and Asian food! The design of this restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg is modern and stylish with basically grey walls, gray floor and grey furniture. The Asian style makers are the screens in various colours and signs.
Address: Kollwitzstraße 84, 10435 Berlin, Germany
Markthalle Neun
Beautiful old market hall in Kreuzberg where people sell their local and organic products with passion and love for honest food and products. This where you buy your daily veggies, meat, (smoked) fish, cheese, coffee – basically everything you need 🙂 – at small stands with very helpful and friendly staff who are happy to tell you everything about their products. Markhalle Neun is more than just a market though: On Thursday there is Streetfood Thursday (17:00 – 22:00)! For more information, please check the website.
Address: Eisenbahnstraße 42-43, 10997 Berlin, Germany
Hackesche Höfe
During the Roaring Twenties the Hackesche Höfe were the beating heart of Berlin’s city with restaurants and banquets. After the fall of the Wall, the buildings in Jugendstill style were completely renovated. The Hackesche Höfe in the district of Mitte consist of eight courtyards with unique shops, cinemas and restaurants. Definitely include a visit to the Hackesche Höfe on your city walk!
Address: Rosenthaler Str. 40 -41, 10178 Berlin, Germany
Hackesche Höfe
Kochhaus
- Schönhauser Allee 46, 10437 Berlin, Germany (Prenzlauer Berg)
- Akazienstrasse 1, 10823 Berlin, Germany (Schöneberg)
- Bergmannstrasse 94, 10961 Berlin, Germany (Kreuzberg)
Kochhaus
Luzia
After a day of discovering Kreuzberg and having a drink and snack at Markthalle Neun, it was the perfect moment for Friday afternoon drinks! We ended up at Bar Luzia in Oranienstrasse in Kreuzberg. This is typical Eastern German style cafe with brown and golden walls, pipes and murals with an interesting blend of visitors: a young family, a group of French tourists, locals and hipsters. In the afternoon this bar is all quiet and a good place to have a drink and conversation but between 20:00 and 22:00 the place gets busier and finally will be packed with the Berlin clubbers dancing until the early morning!
Address: Oranienstrasse 34, 10999 Berlin, Germany (Kreuzberg)
Freischwimmer
At the Schlesische Strasse, just before and after the bridge, there are a few bars located on the river Spree. A very popular cafe is Club der Visionäire which opens when summer starts. We ended up at Freischwimmer which is the perfect place to stretch your legs, drink a beer, enjoy lunch and get a tan – of course if the sun is shining 🙂 – and enjoy your Spree river view!
Address: Vor dem Schlesischen Tor 2, 10997 Berlin, Germany
Freischwimmer
Prater Biergarten
One can not go to Germany without drinking beer, so that’s what we did! Berlin is known for its beer gardens and Prater Biergarten is one of the oldest restaurants in the area. Originally the beer hall served hearty German food. Nowadays the beer hall is part of the Volksbühne comlex which is a theatre, hence the small stage. We were at Prater Biertgarten at a Wednesday afternoon in April, but we can imagine that this is where is will be busy and cosy with beer lovers during summertime! Enjoy your weizen and pils, try a curry wurst or another snack and go for a sobering walk back home!
Address: Prater, Kastanienallee 7-9, 10435 Berlin, Germany (Prenzlauer Berg)
Prater Biergarten
Shops
Heimat Berlin
An original shop with great brands in Prenzlauer Berg! Heimat Berlin is THE place to go if you are looking for hats: for the past 6 year they offer a large selection of modern hats, caps and beanies for men and women. But that’snot all! Heimat also has clothing, shoes, accessories and beautiful interior design. The owners of Heimat Berlin also have the fabulous store “Luxus International” at Kastanienalle 84, also in Prenzlauer Berg, where you will find selected designer items by local Berlin artists.
Addresses:
- Kastanienallee 13/14, 10435 Berlin, Germany (Prenzlauer Berg)
- Bergmannstrasse 19, 10961, Berlin, Germany (Kreuzberg)
Heimat store
Present & paper
Present & Paper
A very cute small concept store in the Schliemannstrasse in Prenzlauer Berg. Present & Paper sells contemporary stationery, notebooks, postcards and fantastic presents. All products have the most lovely designs, colors, materials and patters.
Address: Schliemannstrasse 25a, Berlin, Germany
Zartbitter
Established in 2004 in Friedrichshain, with a second store opened in 2007 in Prenzlauer Berg, Zartbitter is one of our favorites for men and women clothing. In a cozy atmosphere and great interior design you can find yourself the perfect outfit for a fair price! The collection changes every day, which is the perfect reason for coming back 🙂 This is the store for sporty streetwear, dresses for any occasion, jeans and shoes from trendy fashion labels from Germany, Italy, France and Scandinavia, including some certified eco labels as well. We took the featured image in this article in the Zartbitter store in Friedrichshain.
Addresses:
- Wühlischstrasse 27, 10245 Berlin, Germany (Friedrichshain)
- Kastanienallee 1, 10435 Berlin, Germany (Prenzlauer Berg)
Zartbitter
Big Brobot
A great store for men and women! Many robots, cool posters, sneakers and clothing from original brands!
Address: Kopernikusstrasse 19, 10245 Berlin, Germany
Brobot
Our next East Berlin visit…
Although we tend not to plan most of our city trips, we of course do a bit of research! For our next visit to East Berlin, we won’t skip:
- Basic Leben und Wohnen
- Cafe Roamers for lunch
- Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen (previous Stasi prison)
- Glow in the Dark 3D mini golf
- Oststrand
- Mauerpark on Sunday (flea market)
- Michelberger Hotel
- Swimming in Badeschiff on the Spree river
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