Hacks to explore the Whore of Babylon. Or rather Berlin…
The time is nearly upon us and we are about to welcome many people who are coming from far away lands to hack away in the OG blockchain capital that is Berlin.
Berlin has a plethora of things it has a rep for though. The main one being it’s deep and complex history. After WW1 Berlin was a modern-day Babylon, a city of vice and sin. Then it went through decades of oppression. Since the wall came down it has been reborn back to being the city of decadence. Whilst the locals try not to constantly remind themselves of the turmoil they encountered in the last century, Berlin is the place to eat wurst, the birth town of the doner kebab, the land of techno and hipster af so you have plenty of things to entertain you while you are here. Disclaimer: VIEWS MY OWN.
For all those who are not so familiar with the city here’s a little guide to keep you all busy if we even let you out the building of course. Just kidding. Maybe. Yeah forgot to tell you it’s an escape room type situation. So if and when you aren’t hacking, or for those taking advantage of hanging out in the city some extra days here’s my list. There’s some good places to eat and drink around both venues, as well as some cafes in case you become immune to the caffeine in the Factory.
In general there’s some websites with info about where to eat and what to do. Berlin Food Stories is a good place to go to if you want to deep dive on the food options Berlin has to offer or look for any cuisine I may not have included here too! I’ve only covered Mitte and Kberg/Neukolln so if you are venturing out of these areas or aren’t staying there might be worth checking out that site, or even their insta page.
Due to the wall, in the 80s and 90s in Berlin, a lot of places in Berlin were abandoned and turned into clubs. In 2018, even with the high influx of the first startup bros (whose apps went broke, possibly) now turned ICObros (who 10/10 have wonderful ideas of integrating blockchain and PriceWaterhouseCoopers or someone like that), have turned the city a tad gentrified, but still, proceed to explore under the assumption that EVERYTHING IS A CLUB. An empty warehouse? Club. A garbage can? Club. An old train car sitting on the tracks rotting? A Club. A petrol station that hasn’t had a car in it for 5 mins? Yay a club! Spätis? CLUBS 100%. An old beer factory? A startup incubator. But hey, we are still cool.
Also Resident Advisor is the oracle for clubbing so check out the listings to get more info about who is playing, ticket info and times the parties kick off.
Touristy things:
- Eastside Gallery
- Checkpoint Charlie/Topography of terrors/Reichstag/Jewish Memorial/Brandenburg gate/Tiergarten/and the Victory Monument/Museum Island/Gendarmenmarkt
- Russian Memorial and Spreepark/Planterwald (abandoned theme park) at Treptower Park (also a really sick park to go to and chill or rent a rowing boat)
- Teufelsberg (old spy station) and Grunewald
- Loads of really cool abandoned places that are either in or just outside the city so super easy to get to. The Iraqi Embassy is close to Factory Mitte and pretty cool to explore, and I also recommend the abandoned Ballhaus and radio station in Grunau. (to check out all of them go here: https://www.abandonedberlin.com/)
- If you have a day or two extra and want to go further afield (like 20 mins on the sbahn) Potsdam and the tons of lakes around Berlin is a good place to go! We also have some outdoor pools around the city: Haubentacher, Badeschiff and Prinzenstrasse public pool.
- Mauerpark on a Sunday is where you will find a mish mash of music being blasted out of different speaker systems as well as live instruments being played. The highlights are the open air karaoke, street food trucks and the flee market is pretty dope for clothes or vintage furniture.
Museums:
Koenig Gallery/Bauhaus Archive/Pergamon /DDR Museum/Bunkers Gesundbrunnen/Topography of Terrors/The Wall at Bernauer Strasse/Feuerle Collection/Boros Collection (you need to book)/ C/O/ Helmut Newton Museum/ Blain|Southern and Esther Schipper
Clubs:
Too many to list but here’s a few, you all have google so check RA for details but here’s a few of my suggestions… Plus I should also mention that clubs here don’t like big groups. Large groups of men, basically the blockchain, will get rejeted. Best to split up in groups of 3. Also some ask who you are there to see so give RA a quick check to tell the bouncers in case they do.
And, well, Berghain. I know everyone is going to ask about this SO first thing’s first. If you can’t take rejection, don’t go. Ha. If you are curious and you want to try it then they generally like outlandishness and people dressed in black/leather/fetish/nothing at all so that’s the advice on the dress code that gets you a step closer. Also you are more likely to get in alone, and if you look like you have been partying all weekend long, so if you’ve been up all weekend hacking with the Mate twitches you might have a chance on Sunday night! And people generally get rejected and then try again and get lucky the second time. There is literally nothing that can guarantee you entry except for the bouncers mood at that moment. But good luck warriors. I believe in you.
Open Air: Sisyphos/KaterBlau/Else/Ipse/CDV
Indoor: Golden Gate/Renate/Berghain/Arena/Tresor/Watergate/Kit Kat
Factory Mitte
FOOD
German: Prater Garden/Clarchen’s Ballhaus
Asian: Yumcha Heroes/Unami/District MOT/Monsieur Vuong
Italian: Standard Pizza/Simela/Mami Camilla
Burgers: Shiso Burger/The bird/Tommi’s/Bun Bao
Ribs and Meat: Chicago Williams/The bird
Middle Eastern: Habba Habba/Osmans Töchter/Babel
Chicken: Risa Chicken
BARS
Prater Garten/Haus am see/Wohnzimmer/Neu Odessa
COFFEE
The Barn/Distrikt/Daluma/Zeit fur brot
Factory Gorlitzer
FOOD
Markthalle Neun has been around since 1891 and survived WW2 bombing. It has a collection of some of the best fresh food market stalls in the city. Check their calendar to see what is on but every Thursday is a big Street Food market with loads of stuff to chose from.
Also we have the Turkish open market, every Tuesday and Friday, along Maybachufer, from Kottbusser Damm, where there are endless stands of fresh fruit and veg and other bits like material and hand made Berlin souvenirs. Additionally there are food trucks with food from Africa, Middle East, Italy and Greece.
German: Curry 36 (all wursttttt and fries)/Max und Moritz (traditional sit down german cuisine)/Jolesch (schnitzel joint)
Asian: Cocolo Ramen (Ramen)/Long March Canteen (dumplings and amazing Chinese food, like REALLY recommend)/Kimchi Princess (Korean BBQ)/Hamy Cafe (Great value Vietnamese that is really good)/Chutnify (Indian)
Pizza: Il Casolare/Massianello/Villa de Wow (good for slices)/ Trattoria Venezia/Zola (popular amongst the start-up community)
Mexican: Santa Cantina or Santa Maria (best margheritas in town!)
Middle Eastern: Mustafas/Maroush/Nachtigall/Hazir
Burgers: BBI/Lilly Burger/Burgermeister (super popular burger place here)/Hamburger Heaven
Chicken: HuhnerHaus/Golden Hahn/Henne (more of a sit-down chicken place)/Angry Chicken (tasty korean chicken wings!)
BARS
Lucia and Oranienstrasse/anywhere on Weserstrasse and around there)/Paloma/Multilayerladen (bit small so not the best for big groups)/Klunkerkranich/Mano Bar/Bohnengold/Farbfernseher (little mini club)
COFFEE
Kapitan/Five Elephant/John Lee Hooker Blues Cafe/West Berlin
That should be enough to entertain you all. Plus you probably won’t ever want to leave the Factory ever anyway. But if there is anything I haven’t covered in this that you want info on or if you have any questions please feel free to ask me or any of the awesome team! We want to make sure your visit to Berlin is as sinful as possible. But please don’t dance with death, we aren’t covered for that.
