Life in the Wedding district of Berlin

Dear all,

We're looking to spend some time in Berlin as a young british family and have the opportunity to buy a cheap (to us) one bed flat in Wedding - the KonlonieStrasse area. While we know Berlin as visitors, we've never spent time in Wedding nor have we lived in Berlin. We thought that we would stay for 6 months and then re-evaluate, and possibly let the flat out. I thought that this may be an ok place to live as it seems fairly decent. I believe that the area has some artists / galleries which to me are a referece for a reasonable - if maybe not wealthy - area. I'm aware that other areas have the history and edge over Wedding in these terms. I've also read that the area is industrial with high unemployment, and not much of interest! I am trying to figure out Wedding's relationship to Mitte - has it merged? is it considered the same place or separate?

It would be really useful to know of anyone's perspectives on the area as we could really do with some input before we decide to move.

hope you can help!

RKH

Wedding has no relationship to Mitte, it has not merged, that was Tiergarten (next door to Wedding).

I have a studio there and am somewhat familiar with Wedding. It's not my favorite neighborhood to hang out in, but it's close enough to my hang-out areas and so I will be moving there soon, mainly to be near my studio. Wedding is a predominantly Turkish neighborhood and is largely underdeveloped (lots of un-renovated buildings, with scaffolding going up all over the place) The people are reasonably cool and it feels safe, despite the unemployment. There are some artists there, but not as many as in Mitte... but Mitte is much more expensive now and Wedding is a relatively cheap place to live in. It is centrally located, plenty of Ubahn infrastructure, and there are some nice parks nearby (Humboldthain). I think that, if your own values are in line with this scenario, you might be happy there for the time being and who knows, it could be a good place to invest in some property. i haven't been in Berlin for so long but I have the impression that Wedding today is probably something like a pre-gentrification Prenzlauer of maybe 5 years ago.

pm me if there's anything else I can help you with...

Wedding is a district within Mitte and was actually a separate borough until it was fused with Tiergarten and Mitte in 2001.

Wedding is not going to be the next Prenzlberg. Wedding has its own charm - and that´s good.

Yeah, sorry I made a mistake, sunny is right, Wedding is a part of Mitte.

I think you're right, it's not gonna be like prenzlberg. But I'm still trying to put my finger on Wedding to articulate the vibe.. It just seems laid back to me, no glitz or pretense, a lot of young people who help the old. I sometimes observe the old ladies slowly pull up their grocery bags to their third floor window with a rope.

Thanks for your thoughts so far, it's very useful. Please keep them coming! Ruth

Hmm, Koloniestrasse... Soldiner Kiez... one of those areas you often hear mentioned in the same sentence as "Problemviertel" and / or "sozialer Brennpunkt". Berlin doesn't have ghettos per se, but I'd certainly describe it as one of the less salubrious districts of the city. Very convenient if you need illicit substances, apparently. I lived in the general area as a student once, but not sure whether I would recommend it to a family for a first experience of Berlin.

As a matter of interest, by "1 bed" do you mean "1 room", and what sort of price would you be paying?

Well, krostitzer said nearly everything. But it's definitely not like Prenzlauer Berg 5 (or even 10 or 15) years ago, it will always be sort of a poor mens district. more or less and mixed with artists. There are some oases with some nice bars and galleries, but only sporadical and some of the best (Scherer8 for example) have already closed again.
However, some parts of Koloniestraße are not that bad, because it's close to the nice canal "panke" and some green stripes. Have a look, if the app. is close to the U-Bahn oder S-Bahn, because from the middle/north of Koloniestr. it takes some time to get there. Just don't expect trendy bars or in-clubs around. probably the best thing of Koloniestr. is: http://www.koloniewedding.de/ , something like a artist-colony.
And "cheap" is of course relative. i think it shouldn't be much more than 1000 € per m² even if it's in good condition.

Hi again -

we're ok with the fact it's not so shiny. having lived in several areas of manchester that aren't too salubrious & probably have a bit of a reputation, that's ok. however - in my mind - there's a difference between a place being edgy & liveable (i mean you can get illicit drugs delivered to the door all over mcr, allegedly!) and edgy & frightening! Equally, I'm not intending to move back to those bits of mcr in the near future either, especially not with a new baby. So please keep your opinions, personal experience, & advice coming.

the apt is at the osloer strasse end of kolonie, it's 2 rooms and is far enough under 1000E / m sq to make me wonder if an apartment can be too cheap?!

Thanks for the art link, that looks interesting! In the UK I run a small arts / culture magazine so that kind of thing is very interesting to me.

Ruth

Sch8 is not closed. There was a party there Saturday night.

Hah, looking at the map in the plain light of day and it seems I had Koloniestr. and Soldiner switched round in my head. It's been over a decade since I lived there (Drontheimerstr. to be precise). There are definitely some nice spots around there, but also some 'orrible ones; it's certainly not Manchester, but the area does have a certain reputation which has deteriorated since I was there.

And "far enough under 1000E / m sq" does sound very cheap - what kind of building is it (Altbau / Neubau), what are the flat details (storey, state of repair etc)? You are planning to come here and take a very careful look at it and the area before you buy, I presume?

If you want you can PM me the / some details and I can wander past and take a look, I live just over the border in Prenzlauer Berg and really should go and have a look at the area again.

As it's a nice day, I took my mid-morning cycle ride in the other direction than usual to refresh my memory on the area.

The southern section ef the Koloniestraße between Badstraße and Osloer Straße is a busy through-street, with little to recommend it. The section between Osloer Straße and Soldiner Straße on the other hand is verkehrsberuhigt (cobbled surface, lots of sleeping policemen etc.), tree-lined and is actually quite attractive, especially on a sunny autumn morning. A mix of Altbau and Neubau from the (80's by the look of it). The Altbau look in decent shape from the outside, but none look as though they've been done up (saniert) recently, so what they're like inside is going to be a bit of a lucky dip.

On the other hand I saw lots of "for rent" signs without having to look for them, and I also remembered one of the reasons why I didn't want to live there too long is because the area's not-quite-directly under the flightpath of planes landing at Tegel.

that's interesting. at least, officially it's closed or the team's changed, according to the statements of the newsletter earlier this year.

Hi All

thanks for your info. We're coming out this weekend and will be looking at the apartment late sat afternoon. am looking forward to having a wander round the area - there seem to be some interesting bars / art places around there so any more tips would be useful! I've emailed Sch8 to see what's going on with them - they sound like they have put some good nights on there in the past.

re the flat - it's an altbrau with the outside renovated (although not the entrance hall) & the apt is on the 4th (top) floor. seems to be good value from research. need to check out for lift due to pending pram situation. it seems to be in the decent bit you mentioned, koffer - so might well be ok. we will see.

if anyone has any recommends please get in touch either PM or on this thread!

and thanks for all your input, keep it coming

Ruth

"Altbrau" sounds like a kind of beer . And I'd bet a couple of beers on there being precisely zero lifts in that kind of place. (Some Altbau buildings have been retrofitted with lifts, but that's reflected in the pricing).

The m² price of the place you're looking at doesn't work out to about €460 by any chance?

Some minutes southwest, near station "Nauener Platz" is something like a quarter with "in"-places (including Scherer8):
Schraders is a nice Restaurant/Bar: http://schraders-berlin.de/pages/english-version.php
Jatz-Bar is a nice lounge/music bar: http://www.jatz-bar.de/data/jatzjazzbar.html
Kaffee Schmidt is something like an original german "kneipe" with young team and crowd: http://www.holzundfarbe.de/ (disturbing website...)

thanks for the links, T, got any more? I'm moving to Wedding in the next couple of days ... I've been a little, ahem, bored in Pankow for the last 3 months and looking forward to a new scene.

btw I believe Kaffee Schmidt has a bowling alley, too. Just popped in there once for the loo, seems like a cool spot.

You wrote about a 1 bed (bedroom) flat...

Unless you are really financially on the ropes I'd be wary about having too little space. My wife & I started off in a 2-room flat (living room, bedroom & kitchen plus small bathroom) which was fine until child nr 1 came along and had to share our bedroom - hed keep peeping over the top of his cot to see us... Thankfully we moved out & into a house when he was 6 months old and he got his own room... Hes now 18 yrs old. Daughter (3yrs later) also got her own room. Made for much more peaceful life...

Well, I live at Nauener Platz and even if those 3 places might be "in-places" the neighbourhood is still kinda run down.
I moved here a year ago and it was quite a change after having lived in Luxembourg City for 8 years.
It's really trashy and I try to avoid walking some of the streets here at night.
Same goes for Koloniestr. and the surrounding neighbourhood. There might be a few nice spots but in general I wouldn't recommend it, especially for a young family.

Hi, I've been looking for flats for the last weeks.
We have pretty much decided for one in Soldinerstr.
I have also been concerned about security.
I wanted to live in Prenzlauer Berg, but the price difference
is huge. I've seen flats for over 100.000 eur, just 40 sq m.
In Soldinerstr. there are nice renovated flats for 50.000 or
60.000 eur, 65 sq m. Also with south balcony, sunny (ok,
when there is sun :)
And you can go for a beer to Kastanienallee in 5 minutes
with the bicycle.

For what I've read, the area has been problematic in the
past. In 1999 they set up some kind of organization to
improve the situation.

This is the website for that organization:
http://www.deinkiez.de/

They list all kind of activities you can do in the neighbourhood.

The feeling people have about places is very subjective, for both
those living there and those living outside. During my years in
Berlin I've met people who were never on the east because
they thought it was dangerous. Including places like Friedrichshain,
one of the very popular areas. Bad news about a street will stay
for a very long time in the readers brains. I also find it funny to say
that an area will never change. Nothing stays forever! The worst
areas in the center of Palma de Mallorca, that were quite insecure
have been fully renovated and look and feel totally different than
15 years ago. I've heard similar things for some neighborhoods in
NY. Lots of the underground stuff in Berlin is becoming commercial...
I live here since 2001 and I noticed a big change.
So places do change. Hopefully that area too.

I found this english PDF with analysis of the area:
http://www.malcolmread.co.uk/conscise/body/4f.pdf

If you need I can send you the data for two flats, both in the
same building, about 60.000 eur, 65 sq m. One has 3 rooms,
the other has 2 rooms. Renovated.

I will be having a photo exhibition very near there beginning
this friday: http://vierterstock-berlin.com/projects.html

If you need any info or just want to know some neighbors,
contact me =)

Why do you avoid some streets?
Have you read or heard something?
Why not for a young family?

I've been thinking of asking the police department for statistics,
maybe it's possible to get some information...

In deinkiez.de of course they told me is not less secure than other areas.

Police Criminal Statistics for Berlin are available here:

www.berlin.de/polizei/kriminalitaet/pks.html

Germany wide:

Bundeskriminalamt
www.bka.de

Hi,
I grew upin Wedding and it's a pretty rough place, especially the area you're considering (Koloniestr.). It has nothing in common with the atmosphere or feel of Mitte. I left Wedding 15 years ago and although it's still my "hood" I would not move back there.

I live in Wedding near the Gesundbrunnen centre and actually quite like it. I feel at this end its a very family area, there is lots of shops and some supermartkets and a few parks. Its a quick walk to P´berg and the Gesundbrunnen station gets you most places.

I live near by too and I have to say the area is not too bad and has lots of good transport points!

Hey all!

I'm coming from Canada, and I've found a flat I'm thinking of taking in Wedding. It's around AmrumerStr, U-bahn station on FehmarnerStr. I was wondering if anyone could tell me about that neighborhood?

Some people seem to think Wedding is great, others say it's the slums, I've been told that there are some very ethnocentric areas. Its all a little confusing.

But I love the flat!

Anyone know about that area? Or the Seestr./Muellerstr. neighborhood. That's the other spot that has an apartment I like. I just don't want to be the only single white woman on the block.

Thanks!!!

Z

Topics merged by admin

Fehmarner straße is quite nice. I used to go to the Robert-Koch-Institut, which is located there and the area was great for walking around along the canal. It is a rather quiet area (not looking at the big Föhrer/Luxemburger Str. of course), with a hospital and a college nearby. The "real" wedding (which is, btw not heaven nor hell - or both, depending on your subjectiv view) starts in fact around Müllerstraße, but at least for me even that is not a no go area. It's just a place with many poor people, many immigrants and, well, not so much places to go out. On the other hand more and more artists and galleries move there (because it's cheap) and there are some beautiful old houses and nice places to stroll around (even some of here don't want it to believe). You're for sure not the only white woman around, especially not around Amrumer Straße, but it could be that you're the only white woman in the street or in some cheapo shop for some minutes...

Hi Toby!

Thank you for your reply! I really appreciate it. I've read so many different things about Wedding, many not very positive. Some though are rather encouraging. Some people say 'where the altbaus are is a good area' and I've been told that the edgy art scene that was in Prenzl is moving there because edgy artists can't afford how expensive Prenzl has become.

Then I read this-
http://gridskipper.com/365319/berlins-wedd...-cultural-abyss
And thought that it all sounded pretty cool. I don't need a lot of excitement- I can go find it when I would like it.

I just really wanted to avoid the issues of landing in an area where there might be issues. I have no problems with multiculturalism- I used to live in an area in Vancouver Canada with a big Korean population and it was cool. But I became a little nervous when I was doing some research into Wedding and Der Spiegel had these articles about the hard line Turkish Muslim population in Wedding- honor killings, and that sort of thing, and I just didn't want to be in an area where me being a western woman living on my own might not be comfortable.

Hi Zobirdie,

I have lived in Müllerstrasse (opposite Rathaus Wedding) for the past nine years and am very happy here. I have a nice little altbau flat in a hinterhof in a culturally-mixed house and a really cheap rent. It is really very quiet and peaceful.

True, Wedding does have a really crappy reputation and its not very trendy (no nice bars or night-life) but I don't think that it is as bad as some people claim. The rents are cheap here and there are loads of shops and excellent transportation links. I can be in either Tegel, Bahnhof Zoo or Mitte in less than ten minutes. There are a couple of nice parks in Wedding too.

Now you mention it, I think I might be the only single white woman in my block! I haven't ever thought about it like that before. But people are actually quite friendly here (by Berlin's standards). Since I works shifts and irregular hours I often have to go to the bus stop or U-Bahn station in the middle of the night but I have never had any trouble or been bothered by anyone.

Its definitely an area with its own special issues but not necessarily of the 'in your face' type. I feel very comfortable here.

Hope that helps.

I really appreciate that, Apollo!

It's hard- journalists like to blow things out of proportion, and I've heard some real oversimplifications about that area. When I mentioned to a friend that I thought it had a large middle eastern population, they reminded me about the terrible problems in Paris, combined with some of the articles I had read and I was a little worried.

At the same time, I want to do the Altbau thing and Altbaus with Stucco are far cheaper in Wedding. I'm also not a huge nightlife person. I did that when I was younger- lived where the proverbial action was- and it was great, but one does get tired stepping over partiers on their way home from work!

But it's nice to know you don't mind coming home at night alone. That's a big thing for me. I just want to feel safe where I live.

Hi, I live in Birkenstr., not exactly Wedding but it is close,I've been in Wedding late at night quite a few times and have never had any trouble.