Miracle Mile: Potsdamer Strasse

The term Geheimtip, meaning insider tip, has become somewhat obsolete in the digital age as news tend to travel a lot faster than they used to. Potsdamer Strasse was such a Geheimtip, but the emphasis is on was for hipsters, fashionistas ans trendsetters around the globe have since cottoned on to the fact that some of Berlin's most exciting shops, hang-out's, and galleries are to be found right there, on that stretch between Kurfürstenstrasse and Lützowufer.

Because even that stretch may look a little bleak to the casual visitor unless - unless - one cares to look more closely or venture off the beaten track (read: backyards, etc.), I have dubbed this section of Potsdamer Strasse, Miracle Mile. Though it is not as glitzy as its famous Los Angeles namesake´, it bears at least as many highlights. If you care to find them, that is!

Traditionally, Potsdamer Strasse was - and to some extent still is - one of the hubs of Berlin's Turkish community, as evident in the (remaining) Halal grocery stores and fruit stalls.

Ever since the early 1990s, Potsdamer Strasse is also the home of the reopened Cabaret Wintergarten which in the 1920s, was located on Friedrichstrasse.

The Wintergarten neon as seen from one of the backyards.

Speaking of backyards, this one is particularly spectacular ,featuring, as it does, fountains, sculptures, plus a newly restored warehouse, now converted into lofts and artists' studios.

A store, run by Moroccan immigrants, next to it, you'll find ...

... Miss Fiona Bennett's fabulous hattery. Miss Bennett originates from Brighton, but has been living in Berlin since the early 1990s.

As I said, much of Potsdamer Strasse's flair derives from its many backyards, this one here belonging to a luxury company for temporary living.

The Gustav Norbert Building , which is one of my favorites because of the amphoras on top.

For obvious reasons, this building here reminds me of Florence ...

... though clearly built at the turn of the last century, it has typical features of Florentine Renaissance buildings. It is located just off Potsdamer Strasse, on Lützowstrasse where, by the way, Berlin's Museum for Gay History is also based.

The latest addition to Potsdamer Strasse is Andreas Murkudis' swanky furniture store, although the term furniture store is somewhat of an understatement given the store's sheer luxury ...

... the store is for furniture what haute couture is to clothing: nothing is off the rack, almost everything is handmade or artisan, though on a very luxurious level ...

... a lot of the items sold at Murkudis have been made by artists and are, in fact, nothing less than works of art.

Right across the street from Murkudis is the home of the Syrian Orthodox Church, the oldest Christian congregation worldwide. Its Berlin branch is the biggest and oldest in Germany.

More backyards ... this one being the home of the ...

... Circle Culture Gallery.

Before Potsdamer Strasse turned into a fashionista hot-spot, it was the gallery owners who made the street their own. Today, there are probably more galleries located on Potsdamer than on any other Berlin street.

And practically at the end of Potsdamer Strasse there is the newly completed Gleisdreieck Park, a fabulous something-for-everybody - a cut above every other park - featuring dog-runs, swings, playgrounds, ...

... places to just hang-out (doing so is my pal Lucas in the image above) ...

... beach volley ball grounds, and so on ...

... the park is lined by Berlin's ubiquitous - you guessed it! - luxury apartment buildings ... lots of them! In fact, once completed, a whole new neighborhood will have been created.

This is little more than a glimpse of what Potsdamer Strasse has to offer. Missing are some of its many eateries and hang-out's, most notably the Joseph Roth Diele.

The whole street is currently in a process of change, and there is reason to believe that in a few years' time, the street will have altered its appearance once again. With the arrival of all that money, I reckon that the galleries will soon flock to another location, another Geheimtip.