by the Spree, west edge of Tiergarten, and Str. des 17. Juni, 10557;
S Bellevue, U Hansaplatz
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Harry Lehmann Perfumes
CHARLOTTENBURG
Harry Lehmann is surprisingly odourless for a perfume shop. Founded in 1926, it’s one of the oldest perfume manufacturers in Berlin – and it’s clear from the moment you walk in that they still do things a bit differently here: no clouds of sneeze-provoking scents, no thickly made-up ladies thrusting forth bits of perfume-doused paper, just Parfum nach Gewicht (perfume according to weight), as they call their system of charging per gram.
Forced by historical circumstance to move shop no less than six times in its 87 years, the shop finally settled on the grimier western end of Kantstrasse in 1958, where it makes a strange but welcome counterpoint to the brothels and brightly-lit shops selling cheap platform shoes and illuminated by fluorescent lights.
Step through the door and you’re immediately confronted by gleaming shelves displaying handsome, plump bottles. Lift the glass stoppers to sniff classic scents like musky after-shave and unusual concoctions like the fresh, intense Eau de Berlin, the spicy and sophisticated Roter Mohn (Red Poppy) or the sweet Fantasie. Flower scents like warm Linden or the piquant Maiglöckchen (Lily of the Valley) smell astonishingly real, as if extracted directly from the blossoms themselves.
The perfumes are made mainly by the founder’s grandson Lutz Lehmann, who is committed to re-recreating his grandfather’s recipes while crafting new concoctions to keep up with modern trends. If you’re feeling inspired, you can also get creative: just select a couple of bottles and mix up your own signature fragrance.
A smaller room bursts with artificial flowers, an initial side offering intended as a hedge against hard times when the shop first opened. The gawping sunflowers and kitschy rose arrangements are a tad crass next to the state-of-the-art perfumes. Soon, however, most of the fake flowers will be removed in order to make way for more refreshingly real fragrances – a sign that even a local institution, one with a long and restless history to match the city’s own, knows how to keep up with the changing times. GG
Kantstr. 106, 10627; S Charlottenburg, U Wilmersdorfer Strasse; www.parfum-individual.de
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Majakowskiring
PANKOW
A tree-lined street of detached villas amidst well-to-do suburban normality, Majakowskiring was once the security-sealed home to the most powerful figures in East Germany, before their move to an even more isolated complex near Wandlitz in 1960.
Built for wealthy Berliners in the first three decades of the 20th century, the large houses on Majakowskiring were first requisitioned for official use by the Soviets following WWII. The imposing neoclassical villa at number 2 accommodated important guests of state visiting Berlin, then later served as a polling station, where functionaries were often photographed having made their votes.
A further wander round the ellipse-shaped street takes you past the homes of a who’s who of early East German politics. Number 29, with its fairy-tale tower, was home to Wilhelm Pieck, the GDR’s first president (a position later abolished). He also lent his name to the Wilhelm Pieck Kindergarten, at 13-15, where residents’ children were looked after.
Conspicuous by its absence is the house of First Secretary Walter Ulbricht and his wife Lotte at number 28. It was replaced by a ’70s accommodation block after his death, erasing any trace of him from the street, though Lotte later lived at number 12. Number 34 bears a metal plaque testifying that it was home to poet Johannes R. Becher, later Minister for Culture, who wrote the words to the GDR’s national anthem.
An expanse of grey stone forms the entrance to number 46-48, home of the first Soviet town major of Berlin, and later to Prime Minister Otto Grotowohl. Ulbricht’s replacement as First Secretary, Erich Honecker, made his home with his wife Margot at number 58. The prominent circular bay and gabled windows of the ’20s house evoke something from an Expressionist film.
These days, suburban ordinariness has thoroughly reclaimed the street. Honecker’s house is now a children’s play center; the Wilhelm Pieck Kindergarten has become a day nursery. Many other houses are back in private hands, rubbing shoulders with a scattering of embassies and consulates. RC
Majakowskiring, 13156; S, U Pankow
18
Cookies Cream
MITTE
Some might say deliberately concealing your restaurant at the back of a dimly lit delivery yard festooned with garbage bins isn’t the smartest of business moves. But this is Berlin, a city that thrives on conceptual novelties, and the fact that Cookies Cream is hidden behind a hotel – the Westin Grand to be precise – and has to be hunted down via subtle ‘clues’ (an incongruous chandelier; designer lights above the anonymous door), rather than obvious signposts, has only enhanced its reputation.
Set up by Cookie, one of Berlin’s veteran party promoters and lifestyle entrepreneurs, the restaurant is actually positioned right above the most recent incarnation of the eponymous club he first opened back in 1994, which uses a separate (normal) entrance on Friedrichstrasse. In keeping with the club’s smart-trendy aesthetic, the restaurant interior is reminiscent of a New York loft: exposed brick walls dotted with contemporary artworks, low, concrete ceilings and simple, white-clothed tables.
Attractive as all this is – and yes, that includes the young, casually-attired male and female waitstaff – the food is the real star here. Head chef Stephan Hentschel was one of the first in Berlin to transform the somewhat-humdrum image of vegetarian food into something dynamic and adventurous. Time spent working in various high-end restaurants in the city (Noi Quatro, Renger-Patzsch and Facil, where he trained under Michelin-starred chef Michael Kempf) has given Hentschel’s cooking a daring streak that is evident in the menu, which banishes lazy staples like pasta, tofu and rice in favour of parmesan dumplings, beluga lentils and spinach tartlets.
Most ingredients are seasonal and sourced from regional farms and farming collectives (in winter the restaurant uses around half German and half Mediterranean products), and everything is prepared fresh in the open kitchen on the other side of the restaurant. Vegans can request that their dishes be prepared without dairy, and if you dine here on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday, entrance to the club is free. PS
Behrenstr. 55, 10117; U Französische Str.; www.cookiescream.com
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Baumhaus an der Mauer