Life in Friedrichshain vs. Prenzlauer Berg

I am hopefully moving to Berlin in September. I've been trying to decide where it is that would be best to live. I hear that Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain are supposed to be quite happening neighbourhoods. Which would you recommend? I would like to live in an area that had plenty of good places to head out, bars, clubs etc. I am gay as well and although the idea of living in Schoneberg doesn't appeal hugely to me, I would like to live in an area that was at least gay-friendly and with possibly a couple of gay bars too! Any help?

The are more gay bars in P/Berg than in F/hain, but both neighbourhoods would be gay friendly.

whats the pros and cons for both neighborhoods? Id be interested to hear what people think of both places

i'm at P'berg right now and I am not liking it very much. mind you i just got here recently. this area is too "hip" for my liking, and too clutter-y, too many ads/graffiti, too many people chilling/eating outside restaurant patios. if you dig that kind of scene, you should live here. i think i prefer kreuzberg more, but that's just me. it seems slightly bit cleaner and less pretentious. fyi i am 22 yrs old. how old are you? i think if you are in your 20s/30s you'd probably appreciate P'berg (alas not for me)

lived in prenzlauer berg 4 years ago and now in friedrichshain. both districts are named "in"-areas, but in fact just a quarter of the districts are really like that (i.e. many bars, restaurants, street-life...). prenzlauer berg is a bit more expensive, more yuppies, more successful people; friedrichshain is more punky, trashy, more graffiti, etc. friedrichshain in general is a bit cheaper than prenzlauer berg (eating out, rents...), there are also more run-down areas (but they're vanishing rapidly) and unemployed people. one could live well in both areas, i personally prefer friedrichshain, because it's a bit rougher. not many gay bars in fhain though, but as said above, also gay-friendly.
@vinterdrog: kreuzberg seems cleaner? huh? i'd say it's the other way round: kreuzberg's the old, dirty brother of too clean prenzlauer berg...

Yeah, i thought the same thing there about Kreuzberg, wouldnt ever say it was cleaner than Prenzlauer Berg, or as Blue Cow calls it, Princelovieburg, which i rather liked.
*EDIT* oh sorry forgot to mention, dont like either of them. Ive just left F'hain, its grrrrrrrrreat to go there to drink and eat but some nights you dont want to be woken at 4am by flopwits chucking beer bottles around in the streets.

Friedrichshain: Punks and Ossie racists, but a great area for drinking and eating. Prenzlauerberg: Mums with massive pushchairs and SUV's all over the place (especially around Kollwitz Platz), but a bit cleaner and more middle class. Personally I would like to live in South Kreuzberg near the border of Neukölln, I live in Mitte at the moment and i'm getting bored of all the fashion students and wannabe musos noodling about on their monkey bikes wearing their pseudo eighties/new-rave /old school homeboy bollox outfits desperately trying to out-cool eachother.

Generally there´s too many stereotypes around when people try to label the different neighbourhoods of Berlin.
I like it here in Friedrichshain, but Pberg could definately be great too. And I think Kreuzberg is really, really nice too. Love going out around oranienstrasse.

Thanks for the information. I know it's perhaps not the most meaningful thing to try and characterise an entire district as one thing or another! When I first started looking into different areas, P'berg sounded like it would be perfect, plenty of places to go out and things to do. Then I started to read about people complaining about all the young families with buggies and prams. Surely it can't all be like that? I'm not sure if I want to move somewhere where everyone is out walking their kids. No offence to young parents out there

I think you should consider Kreuzberg 61, esp. around Mehringdamm and Bergmannstrasse, it's lively and interesting but hasn't been ruined by hipsters like other parts of town. I don't mind going out sometimes in PBerg or F'shain but would hate to live there (PBerg especially).

For some reason, I have in my head that if I am moving to Berlin I should live in the former east. It might be more interesting. Am i wrong?

I don't see a big difference tween Xberg 61 and Prenzlauer Berg regarding the hipster scene here and there (the main difference is maybe, that 61 hipster scene is more established and there are not that many young children around).
Prenzlauer Berg with it's young families is centered around Kollwitzplatz, there is plenty of place to avoid them.

The hipper districts (if they're more interesting depends on your point of view) are in fact located in the east of berlin - except kreuzberg and northern neukölln.

No, the east is definitely where it's at, most places west of Mitte are a bit dull and soulless, I had a bit of a moan about the area of Mitte where I live, close to Kastanienallee (otherwise known as Kastingallee), but it is certainly more lively, with a strong creative scene. The cost of rent around here is slightly higher than usual in Berlin, because it is a trendy area.
When you go east of Schönhauserallee in to Prenzlauerberg, the kids and buggies are more prevalent, simply because the apartments are more expensive, and the people are generally better off, hence the higher percentage of young families. So PBerg is a pleasant enough area, but a bit dull.
I used to live in Wrangelkietz in Kreuzberg (a Kietz is a 'quarter' of a district, and loved it, I had Görlitzer Park nearby with the lovely Cafe Morena on Wienerstr., and the best Falafel restaurant in the city next door, but the best thing about Kreuzberg is that for me it feels more like a normal city, (i'm from London which is a lot more cosmopolitan than Berlin) with people from different countries (mainly Turkish) mixing with the native Germans.

Fixed that for you

I normally describe this general part of Berlin as a poor man's Islington without anything useful like a M&S food hall or a Waitrose. The area is crawling with young wannabees, z list actors, and sado academics with peter pan complexes all running around on rollerblades or pushbikes.

It is some sort of strange hot houseish artifical enviroment created by the 'hipsters' for the 'hipsters'. You can quite easily forget that you are in Germany. Lots good, edgy places to go out - so it depends how high that is on your priority list. I prefer not having to step over junkies throwing up over their dog on a string on my way out to work but that is my personal set of priorities.

It also bears very little relation to East Germany in general - so the 'hipsters' who have moved over there 'to keep it real' in east Berlin are sadly deluding themselves. East Berlin is places like Buch, Marzahn and Lichtenberg. Simply poor, unsavory places with significant social problems like you get in most big cities. The sort of places you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.

*goes of to find pipe and put on slippers*

What?! There's a Waitrose somewhere else in Berlin? Don't get me all excited.. Oh well, off to Lidl to get some mouldy vegetables then I guess.
p.s. Kreuzberg is no worse for junkies than any other part of the city, winos maybe, but Junkies?

Sadly no But I did have the priviledge of visiting Kaufland Buch (of all places) on Saturday. Would describe it more as a Morrisons rather than a Waitrose. But am delighted to report that the crispy fresh fruit and veg I bought there have neither produced an army of fruit flies nor have gone spontaneously mouldy the minute i put it them in the fridge.

I doubt I will have the excuse to visit the area again soon though.

Back on topic, if you put a gun to my head and made me chose, I would go for either Bergmannstr. or Wrangelstr. in Kreuzberg. More of mellower vibe - but somwhere where people actually live rather than pretend to be grown ups.

Edit: I meant the whole PLB / FH / KB experience above in post #14 rather than just Wrangelstr.

Ha! I used to live on Wrangelstr. Ironically I didn't actually like the street very much but everywhere else was fine.

I did say if you put a gun to my head and made me choose

Anyway, I moved to Germany because I enjoyed the 1980's so much the first time round that I wanted to re-live them. So PLB / FH / KB don't really meet my needs

Really? That's one of my 3 pet irritations about living in Germany, the 80's fixation, (mullets and pseudo punks) the other 2 would be the shit food, and the TV, the poor customer service, the bureaucracy, the broken glass and dog shit everywhere, the, oh hang on that's more than 2

I thing you forgot the berate people loudly and agressively and only then think about whether you are right or not when dealing with strangers in public situations mentality from your list.

Berlin - the city where common courtesty to strangers forgot to call

Am hearing you on the rest though

Yeah, I know what you mean about that, but to be honest I think that's the kind of thing the older Berliners do, you know the type, former members of the Wehrmacht or Stasi informants

Sadly I live where the 'older berliners' are a visible and more pertinently audible majority

Suppose I should live somewhere 'hipper' and not so whiter than white.

You should consider relocating, personally I couldn't put up with old Nazis shouting at me in the street.

Again, too many generalizations. There certainly are some nice places in Lichtenberg too, even though it´s not the most happening part of Berlin.

Sometimes I find that the Kiez you live in is more important than the bezirk. Because the Kiezes may vary alot, and you can easily find boring once in Fhain, Pberg and Kreuzberg, just as you find nice once in other parts of the town.

Exactly, there are so many varied and interesting parts of Berlin - to the north, south, east and west. These are places where people live, put down roots and become a member of a community - not the PLB / FH / KB triangle with its dippy children playing at being psuedo tossers. Although you can lead a life alongside the 'hipsters' if it is your cup of tea / can be bothered.

People who post to this board with such general questions are more interesting in what is 'happening' rather than living here though. More of an extended holiday destination that a permanentish relocation.

these generalizations...

There great aren't they!

But seriously, everyone should live on my street coz its the best.

i've been living around bersarinplatz in friedrichshain and i can say i'm pretty happy, at least with the fact people haven't been homophobic.
surely it's a bit run down and you find lots of broken bottles on the pavements but generally it's been fine.
i have been more than once by the canal around kreuzberg 61 lately and i got some shit from people for being gay but maybe that was just bad luck..
to be honest though i wouldn't move to prenzlauer berg, a bit too hipster and too many kids for my taste

good luck

For me Friedrichshain is a great place to live just because of the connections. I live close to Bersarinplatz and Franfurtor Tor, so I have the M10 to P-burg, the U1 to K-burg, the U5 to Alex(which can take you almost anywhere) and not too far from the ring. I go out in Prenzlauer Berg and Kruezburg quite often, but if you live in one of those areas it seems it can be a hassle to get somewhere in the other and vice versa.

that's very true, i second vandy

Hm. To me the connections in Friedrichshain are one of the few drawbacks... but maybe I was just too lucky with my previues flats being so closely to the next U/S-Bahn stations.

Nah - the great thing about the old codgers is that there are normally not too quick on their feet and you can normally tell them where to get off without breaking your stride or using up too much energy. Sadly, unlike the twat on rollerblades who nearly knocked me down yesterday whilst speeding down the wrong side of Tucholsky Str. He can either cut his fucking hair so he can see where he is going or not text people whilst on the move. Juvenile tosser.

Good to hear that a notable feature of FH is the transport connections to get the hell out of there

P-burg is ok actually, because there are trans running down most of the man streets toward Alex.

When I lived in Kreuzberg it was a huge pain in the ass and I always felt like it took forever to get anywhere. I like having the trams. But they have those in both P-berg and F-hain so that really doesn't help your decision haha.

to the op - i see tha you're from Ireland, therefor i would say to you that wherever you live in Berlin (ok, bar the really bad areas like Mahrzahn) you're going to be a lot safer than in DUblin so i wouldnt get too caught up on p-berg versus F-Hin versus Kreuzberg. I'll probably be shot down for saying this, but they are all variations of more or less the same thing IMO. Trendy - perhaps, but not in a Dublin kind of way... i.e. you're not going to see tonnes of girls with bleach blonde straightened hair and ugg boots and Daddy's credit card hanging out of rugger-buggers...trendy in Berlin is relative, by that i mean its arty rather than trendy london or trendy dublin where the scene is much more money driven. Trendy in Berlin is more like an NCAD gathering Its all good in my opinion. i like getting away from the money-hungriness of dublin so the arty kids dont bother me.

I agree with people who said that there is waay too much labelling of areas going on... an to the nth degree -down to streets and squares. however, seeing as you may not know the city that well ill summarise it for you in local terms
Mitte - the Ballsbridge/Baggot st/ranelagh of Berlin. nuff said.
P-Berg - the liberties - used to be rough but now is full of young professionals.
F-Hain - bit like thomas st area of christchurch -cool pubs, bit rough but overcompensates by the nightlife
Charlottenburg etc - Rathgar. Boring as hell but really safe. Old money. I stay there when in berlin, simply cuase i can easily get to f-hain for going out etc, but its safe and within walking distance of k-damm.

oh yea and we get fresh veggies in Charlottenburg har har
(sorry couldnt resist that dig in )

I loved all the Dublin reference's its a shame no one will understand them but me. I used to live in Charlottenburg and now I work there but live in mitte. I just love it. My friends call it "chice mitte" but it is not that chic, it still is a bit rough round the edges. I would go with P.Berg over F.Hain any day as it is nearer to the city has better connections and there are less hippies and crusty types in P. berg the brunchistas piss me off of course.

Yes but you can't get fresh vegetables in Rathgar

@kitkat

Thanks for the Dublin-Berlin equivalences, very helpful!

Lol, yeah I guess Mitte are somehow more convenient than Fhain. But it also depends on where you live. Like, I live very close to frankfurter tor/samariterstrasse. So it´s 5 minutes with the U5 to Alex, and 2 minutes with the tram to warschauer strasse and Kreuzberg. So I don´t think it´s that off the map:)