IrishBerlin.com

Almost 20 years after reunification, Berlin’s bohemian lifestyle is attracting overseas buyers. Just don’t expect a quick profit

Berlin is a new city; the newest I have ever seen,” Mark Twain remarked in 1891. He might well say the same today. Nearly two decades after reunification, the German capital’s landscape continues to be redrawn. The division between east and west that once defined the city is now barely noticeable - just a few desultory chunks of the Wall remain - and the city is thriving as a hotbed of modern, experimental architecture. With a unique combination of cold-war history and a reputation for hedonism, Berlin is bang on the zeitgeist: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie and Sam Riley are among those who have been seduced into buying homes in and around the city.
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As of March 2007 the following are the direct flights from Ireland to Berlin:

Aer Lingus : Cork (ORK) - Berlin (SXF)
Aer Lingus : Dublin (DUB) - Berlin (SXF)
Lufthansa : Dublin (DUB) - Berlin (TXL)
Ryanair : Dublin (DUB) - Berlin (SXF)
Ryanair : Shannon (SNN) - Berlin (SXF)

This is what a toilet door looks like in Berlin. I love it! This particular door is in the once squat now tourist trap, the Tacheles.

If you visit one pub in Berlin make it the Tattersall des Westens in Charlottenburg. This pub has a 1950s air to it. It’s basic, simple and full of photos and I mean full of photos. The tattersall also serves basic German food. It’s just under the bridge at the trendy Savignyplatz. The pub was established by non other than the post-war boxing champion Franz Diener.

Tattersall Diener,
Grolmanstraße 47, 10623 Berlin.

Old enough but interesting from an Irish perspective.

Escaping mass unemployment at home in the Seventies and Eighties the Irish came to pull pints and serve the punters of West Berlin’s bars and nightclubs. In the Nineties they flocked to the building sites to help reconstruct a reunified city after the Wall came down.

Now in the 21st century they have come back. This time they are taking over Berlin. At the far western end of the Kurfurstendamm - Berlin’s well-heeled shopping district - lies the headquarters of the new Irish property invasion.

In the last eight months alone, a group of Co Mayo investors has bought more than €40m worth of flats and apartments. At present they are negotiating a deal for a vast complex of apartments estimated to be worth €35m.

Spearheading the big Irish buy-up of Berlin is Mike Morris from the Mayo-based Premier Estates Maloney.

‘We started looking at Germany, and in particular Berlin, because it is a stable, conservative and trustworthy society,’ he says. ‘The company had thought about expanding our property portfolio into eastern Europe, but those countries are potentially unstable, which Germany is not,’ he adds, as he surveys three apartment blocks that the company owns close to one of the main motorways looping around western Berlin.

‘The €35m deal we are trying to secure now would land us with 900 apartments, 30 per cent of which need renovation. What we are offering in all our properties is a net return per annum of 7 per cent from rental incomes,’ he says.

Taking a brief stroll later across the Kurfurstendamm with Morris into the affluent Halensee district reveals the depth of the Irish investment invasion.

As he passes by a row of businesses below ornate 19th-century Wilhelmine apartments along the Westfaelische Strasse, with shops ranging from health food centres to lingerie stores, Morris points and says: ‘That’s Irish-owned, that’s Irish-owned and that’s Irish-owned. In fact most of the buildings on this side of the street have Irish landowners.’

Premier Estates Maloney and the other Irish companies following in their wake have not kept their investments solely to western Berlin. Their portfolio includes apartment blocks in the eastern and increasingly fashionable Prenzlauer Berg district. These include six retail units and 15 offices, with a branch of McDonald’s as the main tenant.

The expansion eastwards of the Irish investor follows a trend across Europe with entrepreneurs who made fortunes from the growth of the Celtic tiger economy buying up airports and shopping malls in England; thousands of apartments on the Spanish Costas and Florida; and hotels and ski chalets in the Balkans.

The Irish are estimated to be in the top three foreign investor nations in Berlin. However, in a city of 3.4 million, where only half of its citizens are working, German observers of the Berlin property market are extremely cautious.

Ralf Schoenball, a property expert for the Berlin-based daily Der Tagesspiegel, warns that Berlin may not be the best place for Irish investors to buy flats and apartments. ‘Don’t get me wrong here. I have been here since 1983 and I love Berlin. But the economy of this city has shrunk every year since 1996 with one exception: [growth of] 1 per cent in 2000.

‘Because of the shrinking economy there are fewer Berliners working and the incomes of the households are decreasing if you take into account the cost of living. For the housing market this means that, as people have less money, an increase in rents makes it harder for them to pay. There are also 100,000 empty flats in Berlin, so tenants can move around and find the cheapest places to rent.’

Morris brushes aside the cautious noises of German observers and says: ‘The prospects for Berlin look good in the long run. Many of the Germans in business here are too conservative.

‘There are good deals to be had here in Berlin and the long-term returns will be worth it. We might take a look at Dresden too.’

By Guardian Unlimited © Copyright Guardian Newspapers 2006
Published: 9/2/2006

This weekend it’s time for another edition of the annual Holy Shit Shopping event at Cafe Moskau.

This saturday from 12 to 10pm and on sunday from 12 to 8pm Cafe Moskau, located at Karl-Marx-Allee 34 is the home base of many Berlin based fashion designers and producers of nice design pieces from Berlin. 100 selected artists will present their artwork and sell their goods.

If you wanna shop for some cool Berlin Mitte Style or if you’re looking for some unusual christmas presents - Cafe Moskau is definately the must-be place this weekend. Well known Berlin Djs will provide you with the right soundtrack which adds to some very cool shopping atmosphere in one of the cool Berlin locations.

Believe it or not Knut is now one year old!

This is what he looks like now

Going Knuts

— In April sweets company Haribo released rasberry flavoured Knut sweets

— German toymaker Steiff have a special collection of Knut stuffed toys

— The first 2,400 Knut stuffed toys produced by the zoo sold out in 4 days

— In April he shared the cover of Vanity Fair magazine with Leonardo DiCaprio

— He has made more than £7 million for the zoo.

This is a huge Irish Pub. Possibly the largest in Berlin. Located in the Europa-Center - a shopping complex in the center of the city.
U/S-Bahn Zoologischer Garten
www.irish-pub-berlin.de

Der berühmteste Irish Pub Berlins. Besuchen Sie ein IRISH VILLAGE, spazieren Sie entlang einer typischen irischen Straßenszene und lassen Sie sich mit Guinness vom Faß, Irish Coffee und vielen anderen Spezialitäten verwöhnen.

Der Irish Pub im Untergeschoß des Europa-Center ist nicht nur der größte Pub mit der längsten Theke (36 m), sondern auch der berühmteste Irish Pub Berlins. Jeden Abend mit Live Musik und Öffnungszeiten bis 3.00 Uhr , Freitag und Samstag bis 4.00 Uhr, morgens.

Irische Handelsstelle
Irish Trade Board
Regus Business Centre
Kurfurstendamm 11
10719 Berlin
Germany

“Cold Beer - Warm Hearts” is the motto of the Kilkenny Irish Pub, tucked away beneath Hackescher Markt S-Bahn station. It’s actually three pubs in one, with every room telling a little bit of Irish history. There’s a garden out front where you can sit and watch the trams go by.

No Irish pub would be complete without live sports TV, and with both Sky Sports and Premiere available, a wide selection of matches from the Bundesliga, the Premier League and the Champions League is always on. Thursdays from 9pm there’s a pub quiz.

Despite the name, Guinness is available, as well as Strongbow cider. Germany’s brewers are represented by Berliner Kindl and Schöfferhofer. Irish-style food (Irish stew, sandwiches, steak) is on the menu.

The Kilkenny Irish Pub is associated with the Irish Harp Pub in Charlottenburg.
Founded in 1992, the Kilkenny Irish Pub is one of the largest and liveliest of Berlins many Irish pubs. Conveniently located right in the train station Hackescher Markt, the pub offers more than enough space for an international crowd. Each of its three rooms is decorated in a different style, representing different eras of the Irish history and culture.

The Brewery-style front bar with its impressive copper brewing vessel dome underneath the vaulted ceiling, hardwood counter, tables made from old barrels, and brewing memorabilia is the perfect place for a long night of drinking and talking or cheering your favourite football team on two big plasma TVs.

The middle room, tastefully decorated in Victorian style with bevelled mirrors, stained glass and decorative tile and brass work offers cozy corners and a second bar right next to the stage, where live bands play on no fewer than 4 nights a week. You won’t get closer to real live music.

The third room, decked out in Gaelic style with murals depicting Celtic motifs, wrought-iron fixtures, and sturdy wooden chairs and tables is perfect for large parties or as the scene for the famously tough ”Quiky”, the weekly quiz in the Kilkenny, where natives and tourists pit their wits against each other. It also offers two large screens for televised sports, just to make sure that every fan gets a good view and enough space to enjoy their game.

Especially on warm Berlin summer afternoons and nights there is no better place than the large green terrace, where cool drinks are served until the wee hours.

The Kilkenny Irish Pub has three times been voted “Guinness Irish Pub of the Year“, not least for the quality of the food and beverages and the friendly service of the international staff. Do come in and we will make your visit an unforgettable one.

Der 1992 eröffnete Kilkenny Irish Pub ist einer der größten und lebhaftesten von Berlins vielen Irish Pubs. Direkt im S-Bahnhof Hackescher Markt gelegen, bietet er mehr als genug Platz für das große internationale Publikum jeden Alters. Die 3 Räume sind in verschiedenen Stilen eingerichtet, von denen jeder einen Abschnitt der irischen Geschichte und Kultur repräsentiert.

Die vordere Bar im Brauerei-Stil bietet mit ihrer beeindruckenden kupfernen Braukessel-Kuppel unter der gewölbten Decke, dem großen halbrunden Tresen und Tischen, die aus alten Fässern gemacht sind, den perfekten Platz für lange Nächte voller Drinks und Gespräche, oder auch für das emotionsgeladene Fußballspiel auf einem der zwei großen Plasmafernseher.

In dem geschmackvoll im viktorianischen Stil eingerichteteten mittleren Raum mit seinen geschliffenen Spiegeln, Buntglasscheiben, dekorativen Fliesen und glänzenden Messingbeschlägen findet man gemütliche Sitzecken zum Plaudern, eine zweite Bar und eine Bühne, auf der an nicht weniger als 4 Abenden in der Woche Live-Bands für Stimmung sorgen. Hier kann man die Musik wirklich hautnah erleben.

Der dritte Raum ist im gälischen Stil eingerichtet, mit keltischen Wandmalereien, schmiedeeisenen Beschlägen und stabilen Holztischen und -stühlen, perfekt für größere Feiern oder aber für das weithin für seine kniffligen Fragen bekannte “Quiky“, das wöchentliche Quiz im Kilkenny, bei dem Einheimische und Touristen ihr Wissen und ihre Kreativität messen. Sportfans kommen vor 2 Großleinwänden voll auf ihre Kosten, wenn nationale und internationale Sportereignisse live übertragen werden.

Besonders beliebt an warmen Berliner Sommertagen und -abenden ist die riesige grüne Terrasse, auf der bis in die frühen Morgenstunden kühle Getränke serviert werden.

Der Kilkenny Irish Pub wurde bereits dreimal als “Guinness Irish Pub of the Year“ ausgezeichnet, nicht zuletzt für die beständig hohe Qualität des Angebots aus Bar und Küche und die freundliche Bedienung durch das internationale Personal. Ein Besuch im Kilkenny Irish Pub wird so zu einem unvergesslichen Erlebnis.

Kilkenny Irish Pub

Am Zwirngraben 17-20
Berlin
Germany
Tel.: (030) 283 20 84
Fax: (030) 283 20 85
Link: http://www.kilkenny-pub.de/