Oranienburger Straße – Bonbonmacherei!

We had no plans yesterday, so we lazily browsed our Lonely Planet Berlin book. Around Oranienburger Straße interesting things seemed to pile up – many of them free, like the candy factory Bonbonmacherei and The Ramones museum. It turned out that the Ramones museum now charges 3,50€ entrance, so we didn't go in the end. But we had a fabulous day, spent almost four hours just walking that one stretch of street. We left our bicycles at the Hackescher Höfe, a collection of joined courtyards, had a walk around and found a really cute, old fashioned toy shop. We continued our walk and headed for what was my goal the whole time: the sweet shop! Bonbonmacherei is in Heckmann Höfe, a smaller cluster of courtyards, filled with art galleries. They sell an impressive selection of hand made sweets and if your timing is right, you get to watch the candy being made in front of you.

The other highlight of the excursion was Kunsthaus Tacheles, a cooperative art project with workspaces for artists. The whole building looks like it should be demolished, it smells a little of pee, but it's super cool with its many floors completely covered in graffiti, old posters and clearly, attitude. When you snoop around the building you find make-shift galleries, shops and art studios hidden around, and there's a beer-garden and a bar downstairs. Only in Berlin... The Museum für Naturkunde will have to wait 'til next time, even if I really wanted to go see the dinosaurs.