Friedrichshain

Known for its bustling nightlife, in Friedrichshain, you will also find peaceful green spaces and cosy cafes in this neighbourhood.

TravelCurious Tip

Nerds: head to the Computer Games Museum, a fascinating tour through 60 years of interactive machinery (yes you can play with them)

Clubfoot

Before the fall of the Berlin wall, Friedrichshain was part of East Berlin. Its name is a tribute to Frederick the Great, a Prussian king from the 18th century. During the Second World War it was renamed Horst-Wessel-Staft after Horst Wessel, the Nazi activist and writer of the Nazi hymn. When Wessel was shot by communists in 1930 he died slowly and painfully in Friedrichshain hospital — an event with Joseph Goebbels turned into propaganda, hence the name change of the district.


Yin and Yang

Towards the end of the war, the district was severely damaged by allied bombing and intense house-to-house fighting during the Battle of Berlin. Right up to the nineties you could still see walls riddled with bullet holes. After the war, the boundary between the US and Soviet occupation sectors cut between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. Ever since the wall fell, they have been two of Berlin’s trendiest districts.


These days Friedrichshain is a curious mix of gentrification and loyalty to its squatter roots. The whole place is an art exhibition, with most every surface covered in bursts of graffiti, but expensive boutiques have also popped up here and there. Boisterous pubs with cheap brews sit next to cocktail bars; bleary-eyed students spill out of backroom cinemas onto luminous riverside green spaces. There’s a bit of everything, but none of it jars: the atmosphere is young, liberal and lively. You can’t help but enjoy it.

Nearby Attractions

See all attractions in Berlin
Boxhagener Strasse
Known by Berliners as 'Boxi', this part of East Berlin is filled with trendy flea markets, farmer's markets, and locals.
Urban Spree
Urban Spree is an artistic area with art, dance clubs and food stands
RAW-Gelände
RAW-Gelände in Friedrichshain , Berlin is a former train station with an amazing nightlife
Shinitzel
Traditional german dish
Vietnamese Food Berlin
Vietnamese Food in Berlin
Vegan Donuts
Vegan Donuts Berlin

Related Tours

Flavours of Berlin: Private Food Tour including German Beer!
Savour the sights, sounds and classic tastes of Berlin on this delicious cultural, foodie private tour of the city, including several tastings of popular cuisine and street food, and of course traditional German beer. 

On your private food tour, you will:

  • Enjoy the personal attention of your private local guide;
  • Wander around Berlin’s Friedrichshain, and immerse yourself in its punky, alternative vibe and taste a variety of local cuisines;
  • Indulge in delicious street food – the ever-popular Doner Kebab, with its origins in Turkey;
  • Try the Berlin staple: Currywurst – the question is, skin on or skin off?;
  • Get a real understanding of the foodie culture of Berlin and eat like a local;
  • Taste the famed Flammekueche - German Pizza!;
  • Enjoy learning about the long history of beer brewing in Germany whilst enjoying a beer at a local brewery.

Discover the delicious foodie scene of Berlin on this walking and tasting tour around the highlights of the city. Stop at a variety of bars, cafes, street food stalls and markets to taste some delicious hearty German foods and some of the popular foreign influences from Turkey and Asia!

Learn about Berlin during the Second World War and the construction of the Berlin Wall and its collapse – whilst also hearing about the famous Currywurst, which is now a source of national pride. It even has a museum dedicated to it! 

Consisting of sausage, covered in tomato sauce with curry powder, and the secret ingredient Worcestershire sauce, the combination dates to 1949 when a lady called Herta Heuwer poured the ingredients she’d been given by British soldiers over a grilled sausage. You’ll find Currywurst on almost every street corner of Berlin! 

Berlin is famous for its diverse influence of flavours from Asia, Italy and Turkey. Try flammkuchen, a delicious German-style pizza, and indulge your sweet tooth with a special treat!

Germany is also famous for its love of beer and was once considered the beer capital of Europe with over 300 breweries, and a history of brewing beer dating back to 800 BC! Berlin has a major craft beer and micro-brewery scene with many beer gardens throughout the city. 

The most popular brew in Berlin is the famous Berliner Weisse, which you may sample along the way! Prost!
Berlin's Street Art Live Virtual Tour
Discover the Best Graffiti Districts in Berlin on this Private Live Virtual Tour where you will be introduced to the personality, political motifs and culture of the most rebellious artistic circles. Berlin’s street-art scene has exploded in recent years, and we will take you to the suburbs of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain, two of the best graffiti districts in Berlin. You will discover:
 
  •  Kreuzberg, whose street art scene reflects an alternative vibe, and is home to the punk movement and other alternative subcultures. 
  • Street art pieces with strong political messages and learn about the most influential pieces in the area. 
  •  Friedrichshain, a street art wonderland in a neighbourhood in former East Berlin. 
  • An art scene that is still very much alive and it's the area in Berlin where you can find the most graffiti and art on water pipes, walls and doors. 
 Berlin's street art is not the product of unruly gangs but instead, an important component of the underground art and culture scene and a form of expression that contributes to the uniqueness and creativity that defines the German capital.
LGBTIQ Berlin Live Virtual Tour
Take a  virtual stroll around Berlin's Gay village, in the borough of Schöneberg where you will learn about Queer resistance and culture in one of the most interesting cities in the world. Your tour guide, who has been exploring Berlin’s hidden Queer history and giving tours since 2008 will tell you stories about:

  • How the world's first urban Queer village consolidated itself in the early 20th century
  • Magnus Hirschfeld and the Sexual Science Institute
  •  Europe's first trans emancipation movement
  • The world (in)famous nightlife of 1920s Berlin
  • How performers and writers such as Marlene DietrichChristopher Isherwood and Claire Waldoff made Schöneberg their home
  • What befell the residents of this largely Queer and Jewish neighbourhood during the Third Reich
  • How the gay scene in Schöneberg rebuilt itself during the Cold War, despite the notorious anti-sodomy law Paragraph 175
  • How it is to live in Berlin's rainbow village today
Schönebergbeside is next to Berlin's zoo. In the 1920s and still today it has earned itself a well-deserved reputation for some of Berlin's best nightlife, restaurants, cafés and shops frequented by the LGBTI* community.
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