By Sabine Klier
Where Bertolt Brecht had his regular place: The cult pub Alt-Berlin in Mitte celebrates its 130th birthday on Saturday – and is still a second living room for artists, celebrities and regulars from the neighborhood.
Blissful cosiness with 35 seats on 68 square meters: The dark brown wood paneling and the bar counter with its yellow lantern lights or the stained glass window in the rear dining room are original.
Alt-Berlin opened in 2016 in the former beverage warehouse of Ballhaus Berlin on Chausseestr. 102 Photo: Christian Lohse
The neighborhood pub was opened in 1893 at Münzstrasse 23, making it one of the oldest surviving pubs in Berlin. At that time located in the middle of the red light district, it was a meeting place for easygoing girls and their pimps in the 1920s.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the vernacular frivolously called them “To the three cracks“because the restaurant was run by three women.
In GDR times, Heinz and Inge Herrmann took over the restaurant, who conveniently lived in the same house. Her old neon sign is still hanging in the shop window: “The most beautiful thing of all – a sip from Heinz and Inge”.
“Bertolt Brecht is said to have had his own chair in Old Berlin,” says Christof Blaesius (62), the current owner of the pub. After reunification, the bar became a hotspot for young creative people – actors, fashion people, advertisers.
After the reunification, the popular meeting place in the Münzstraße had to close. The investor had other plans for the listed building Photo: Sebastian Höhn
The list of celebrity guests is impressive: Hollywood stars Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt and Bill Murray and pop legend David Bowie have sipped beer here.
“It was my second living room. I lived around the corner at the time,” says Christof Blaesius. In 2014, the pub had to give way due to the renovation of the building, despite a petition with 20,000 signatures.
At that time a meeting place in the Münzstraße, today there is a clothes shop in the same place Photo: Sebastian Höhn
The facility was dismantled by the regular guests and stored in the container. Christof Blaesius, now the owner of the Ballhaus Berlin at Chausseestraße 102, acquired it in 2016 in order to rebuild it in the Ballhaus’s former beverage warehouse – a good three kilometers as the crow flies from the original location on Münzstraße.
Celebrities still like to come: Max Raabe, Ben Becker, Boss Hoss, George Forman and David Hasselhoff have sat here at the bar. The restaurant is also a popular location for filming: Scenes from the remake of “Berlin Alexanderplatz” and “Babylon Berlin” were shot here.
Charming barmaids: Yavanna (24) and Marie (23) tap four types of beer fresh from the barrel Photo: Christian Lohse
Christof Blaesius: “This place is magical. He’s keeping a very special secret. Such traditional values must be protected and preserved.”
The celebration will begin at 5 p.m. on Saturday. There is a terrace in front of the pub. The football cup final will be broadcast on the screen.