By Oliver Ohmann
Is time travel possible? With a new book, the answer is yes.
A “time travel guide” takes you to old Berlin in 1860. The author and Berlin researcher Joachim Brunold (71) browsed through historical city guides. This provides a fascinating look back into an exciting era in our city.
Brunold: “At that time, Berlin was a cultural, economic and social center of the Prussian state.” A booming city that had grown from 170,000 to half a million inhabitants since 1800.
How did these Berliners live? What did the city look like? How much did a beer cost? BZ takes you on a sightseeing tour in ancient times!
The Gendarmenmarkt around 1845. A sight even back then Photo: picture-alliance / akg-images
From Kreuzberg you have the best overview; over the fields and hills you can see the towers of the Nikolai, Marien, Petri and Werder churches.
A wall with 19 city gates borders Berlin. Anyone who wants to get in has to pay tax on goods to the official with the green coat. If you stay longer, exchange your passport with the police for a residence card.
Scene in a typical Berlin beer bar, they were also called distilleries. The finer Berliners drank wine from France Photo: picture-alliance / akg-images
The richest residents live and frequent Unter den Linden. There are fine restaurants and cafés there, including the Kranzler on the corner of Friedrichstrasse.
You can travel through the city by cab or horse-drawn bus. The rental cab ride costs five silver groschen for 20 minutes, around 15 euros in today’s money.
There are over 2000 restaurants and just as many beer halls. A Seidel Berlin beer (0.3 l) costs 1 ½ silver groschen, around 4.50 euros. So beer prices have been stable since 1860!
Joachim Brunold, “The old Berlin. A time travel guide”, 240 pages, Bebra-Verlag, 24 euros Photo: Bebra Verlag
At night there is a warning about certain corners. Not far from Klosterstrasse in Mitte is the red light district, around 12,000 prostitutes are officially registered. In some dance halls, “girls serve in toilets that barely cover their nakedness,” notes a city clerk.
You can also hear Joachim Brunold (l.) in the History podcast Photo: Siegfried Purschke
On the other hand, the fun of ice skating on the Spree in the Tiergarten, gymnastics in the Hasenheide or excursions in the surrounding area are completely safe. Potsdam, Köpenick and Spandau are worthwhile destinations, but the towns of Charlottenburg, Tegel, Pankow, Schöneberg and Tempelhof are also recommended for travelers.