Germany Guide
Berlin
Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain
Directly south of Mitte, the district of Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain loosely divides into the more middle-class and white West Kreuzberg, unkempt and bohemian East Kreuzberg, and Friedrichshain, a part of former East Berlin, whose low rents and central location have given it Berlin's most happening bar and nightlife scene.
Western Kreuzberg is mostly of interest for its museums, which include the impressive Jewish Museum, while eastern Kreuzberg is more a place for wandering between café-bars, art galleries and clothes shops along its main drag Oranienstrasse, which cater to its countercultural inhabitants (a mix of punks, old hippies and students). It's also famed for its large immigrant community, and the area around U-Bahn Kottbusser Tor is typical: a scruffy, earthy shambles of Turkish street vendors and cafés, the air filled with the aromas of southeast European cooking. However, signs of gentrification have begun to appear, and much of its vibrant café and nightlife scene has migrated over the Spree to Friedrichshain. Overwhelmingly residential, Friedrichshain was comprehensively destroyed during the war, losing over two thirds of its buildings – as much as any Berlin district – making almost everything on view today GDR-vintage. Thankfully this includes remnants of arguably the best GDR architecture in the city along Karl-Marx-Allee.
Finally, the area is also a great stepping-stone to intriguing nearby attractions, particularly the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park, the final resting place of thousands of Russians who died in the Battle of Berlin, and Berlin's most important Jewish graveyard at Weissensee.