Berlin – The Street Art Capital of Europe
Berlin is an intriguing place to explore if you love street art, history, urbex and creative quirkiness. The vibe of the city is a mixture of bleak, Soviet-echoing brutalism and raw artistic rebellion.
Off to Germany
While Tony and I were on different continents, counting the days until my arrival in the UK, we would talk about places to visit. Besides the UK, he wanted to take me to Europe during my northern hemisphere stay.
To be honest, I’d never really thought much about visiting Europe, so I didn’t have any particular places in mind apart from Pripyat. But that was no longer an option due to the war that had recently began in Ukraine.
We’d had a few ideas and I’d taken an interest in Berlin due to the history of the city and its reputation as the street art capital of Europe. At that time, I was also listening to a podcast called ‘Wind of Change’ which discussed how the Scorpions song of the same name, became associated with the end of the Cold War (I highly recommended it, it’s a great story).
So, it was decided, and Berlin became my very first European city holiday destination!
Obviously, you have the historical museums, architecture and landmarks such as Checkpoint Charlie and the Brandenburg Gate to see. But today I will share some of the more curious attractions that we loved!
Teufelsberg
Top of the list goes to Teufelsberg. I was so amped up to go here after I discovered it while searching for soviet era urbex sites!
An abandoned US cold war listening station (used to spy on the soviets) that is now covered in art. Located in the Grunewald forest to the west of Berlin, the journey to get there is no small feat if you are travelling by foot! If you can get a ride, do it. The walk from the closest train station (Heerstraße) is about 30 minutes and you have to trek up some hilly terrain. However, it was so worth it!
While not a true urbex, it is excellent for urbexer’s who prefer legal explores. The entry is manned and there is a fee of 10 euros. You can spend all day wandering around until the gates close at 6pm. I think they have a bar and food trucks up there during the summer months, but we were there in winter when the place was almost deserted.
Make sure you allow enough time to get there because there is so much to see! We only had time to explore for a few hours before it started getting too dark and we had to walk back in the cold drizzly rain. Although it was much more atmospheric in the wintertime, it was freezing! I’m glad I was wearing gloves, but even they didn’t keep the cold out!
The base has various levels to explore, indoors and out. The artworks are an eye opener, especially the colossal masterpieces that cover three stories of wall space. I was equally thrilled by the decaying, yet enduring buildings standing the test of time.
Overall, Teufelsberg was a highlight of the trip for us, and we would go back there in a heartbeat!
Designpanoptikum – The ‘surreal museum for industrial objects’
This was another attraction I was really looking forward to seeing on the trip. It’s part museum, part gallery, owned by an eccentric Russian photographer, who creates ingenious assemblages from industrial objects.
As you can probably tell, I have an interest in oddities. Constructing weird artworks out of random objects has been on my to do list for a while (It all began when I saw this half man, half bulldozer hybrid in a window display in Melbourne years ago!).
Anyway, we went into the museum and the enthusiastic owner gave us a welcome speech. He showed us a funny looking metallic object and told us to try and guess what on earth it was. He would reveal the answer at the end (I won’t spoil the surprise). We were then free to look around and discuss the creations, which were made from medical machinery, film equipment, gas masks, commercial hair dryers and other miscellaneous utilitarian items. It was fun identifying the objects involved, especially since most are obscure vintage relics. And I loved the eccentric artworks themselves!
A very cool place that really fits the harsh and imposing aesthetic of Berlin. It’s a must do if you like the weird and wonderful!
The Designpanoptikum can be found at Poststraße 7, 10178 Berlin, not too far from Rotes Rathaus station. Check it is open before you go.
RAW – Gelände
The RAW site is a mixed-use cultural district, established amongst the repurposed industrial buildings of the former Reich Railway Repair Shop.
The area includes nightclubs, galleries, cafes and hosts events at various times. But just walking around the area you will find street art, slaps (stickers) and even a disco booth.
On the day we were there, the area was almost deserted, and it felt as though we had stepped into a Fallout settlement. Bikes were being used as barriers on top of fences, oil paintings adorned the outside of buildings, bonfires smoked in the cold…even the McDonalds golden arches had been knicked from somewhere and was hanging off a roof.
If you are visiting the East Side Gallery (part of the Berlin Wall) and disembark the train at Warschauer Straße Station, turn right and head over the bridge to find RAW – Gelände at Revaler Straße 99, 10245.
Find out more at raw-gelaende.de
Monsterkabinett
This was another quirky find that I was looking forward to while in Berlin. In the basement of an alleyway covered in street art, you will find Monsterkabinett – an animatronic monster show.
The alleyway itself is worth a look, but around the same location you will also find the Anne Frank centre, cafes, cinema, shopping mall, art studios and a darkly lit bar where we were invited to sit while waiting for the show to start.
We were escorted by the friendly host down into a basement and he gave us an energetic and eccentric tour, where his mechanized creatures came to life!
I won’t spoil it but can say that we really enjoyed the out of the ordinary experience, once again fitting the gritty, industrial aesthetic of Berlin.
The performance runs for about 20 minutes and contains loud music and noises. Look for the monster sign down the alley at 39 Rosenthaler Straße.
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
Our accommodation was directly across the road from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Natural History Museum). It wasn’t somewhere I had planned to go to particularly, but we had some spare time on a rainy last day in Berlin.
It had everything you would expect at a natural history museum: dinosaur bones, taxidermized animals and rock samples. But what really stood out for me was a room with ceiling high shelves stacked with hundreds of jars of marine specimens.
The Museum für Naturkund can be found at Invalidenstraße 43, 10115. It’s open most days and costs about 11 euros per person to enter.
Urban Nation
Take a train to Nollendorfplatz and just a short walk away you will find Urban Nation, a gallery for urban contemporary art.
This gallery is an initiative that was formed to allow creativity between Berliners and international artists. Their ONE WALL program aims to keep the tradition of wall painting and muralism alive, and you can see it all throughout the city. In the museum you will find changing exhibitions of smaller works such as photography, collages and sculptures.
Most of these works have an underlying theme related to social issues and the role art plays in an urban environment, including topics such as gentrification. It hosts works by big names such as Banksy, Blek le Rat and the notorious Berlin ‘spray can desperados’ 1UP Crew (the largest graffiti gang in the world).
An interesting place to take a wander through if you have some spare time and it is free to enter. The creative concepts will give you an alternative perspective on life and its challenges in an evolving world. They also have a wall of ‘slaps’ which now includes a Pigby Urbex sticker!
Find Urban Nation at Bülowstraße 7, 10783.
The Wall
The Berlin Wall is possibly the most famous street art site on the planet and no trip to Berlin for me would have been complete without seeing its murals, which date back to 1984. Most of the art can be found on the main surviving piece of wall, or ‘East Side Gallery’ as it is called today. However, it’s not just the paintings that captivated me, but the history of the concrete barriers they cover. It was amazing to see them up close.
Much of the art style on the murals is dated, a time capsule from the 80s and early 90s with messages of peace and the hope of unification. It felt strangely nostalgic seeing art from that era. They reminded me of the murals that had been around my hometown and school back in those days.
The East Side Gallery is found alongside the Spree River in Friedrichshain. The closest stations are Schlesisches Tor, Warschauer Straße and Ostbahnhof, depending on which way you come from.
Another length of wall we found was on Niederkirchnerstraße, near the Topography of Terror (Nazi war crime museum on the site of the old Gestapo headquarters) and not too far from Checkpoint Charlie. This piece of the wall has remnants of original graffiti and its interesting to see how the concrete has had a good hammering. Whether the chunks hacked out of it were done in rebellion or taken as souvenirs after the fall, I’m not sure. However it is eerie to see it, and imagine how this wall once divided the city.
Honourable Mentions
Berlin is a city rich with history and filled with so many experiences to suit a variety of tastes. It was impossible to even get close to doing everything we wanted to do in 5 days and even now I am seeing places on the map that would have been awesome to visit.
Below is a list of other things we recommend while visiting:
Christmas night markets – If you are visiting in December, don’t miss these! There are a handful spread over the city to choose from, and they were unlike any markets I had ever experienced. The stalls look like gingerbread cabins and sell the most amazing handmade products.
Street art – It’s everywhere, and there are maps online to help you find it. Some other locations we saw that were cool, included the Graffiti wall of fame at Kino Intimes (Boxhagener Str. 107) and the painted community houses just around the corner on Kreutziger Straße. The part of town they are in looks worth exploring more, as there are alternative clothing and record stores and a Rob Halford themed rock bar that Tony would have loved.
Urbex – don’t even get me started on the places I would have loved to explore if we had more time and a car!
Flakturm Humboldthain – One place we did get to for a look, was this Nazi Fortress with views of North Berlin from the top. One of three Flaktürme built in Berlin, the Flakturm Humboldthain was built between 1941 and 1942 and served as an anti-aircraft defence tower plus civilian bunker. At the end of the World War II the French Military tried to blow it up but failed, so here it stands today (ready for unfit explorers like me, to brave the never ending steps to the top!)
While up that way, check out Mauerpark flea markets and the rock/metal bars in Prenzlauer Berg.
Classic Remise – A vehicle collection featuring prestige and vintage cars and bikes. Tony reminisced about the cars he had owned and drooled over the ones he could never afford!
Berlin Ice Bar – Wrap up in a warm coat and gloves and venture into a bar filled with ice sculptures, where you will be served an option of beer or spirits in glasses made of ice!
Currywurst – A Berlin specialty of sausages & potatoes in a special sauce! You will find street markets selling it and it is delicious!
Bear statues – Everywhere you go, keep an eye out for the bear statues!
Things to note while visiting
The transport system in Berlin is extremely efficient for getting around and we found each station to be an attraction of its own. Look for the green ‘S’ symbol for trains and the blue ‘U’ for underground. There are also trams and buses, but most of the time we used the underground as it was the easiest.
If you’re not used to freezing winter weather (including snow) then be warned that it does get cold. I actually ended up developing Raynaud’s disease in the Northern hemisphere winter, something I had never experienced back home in our warmer temperatures. And it was Berlin where it first began for me.
The ambulance sirens are ridiculously loud compared to most! We were staying on a main road which must have been on route to a hospital, because they were blaring all hours of the night. Be sure to check reviews for your hotel, if you want peace and quiet!
Don’t forget to have fun, embrace the culture and don’t be a dickhead!
