Berlin Kreuzberg: modern 2-room apartment in the beautiful Graefekiez
Decay and nevertheless old: reorganized and modern furnished existing old apartment in the heart of Kreuzberg, the Graefekiez.
Choose for yourself - a modern guest room or go for an apartment for your private use.
Apartment - Location
The apartment is in an old house in beautiful Kreuzberg, in the "Graefekiez" on the Landwehr Canal.
The public transport facilities are superb; 3 underground lines can be reached quickly, the nearest is Schönleinstrasse (2 min on foot), but also the approach from the urban motorway (A100) to Tempelhofer Damm, Mehringdamm and Gneisenau Strasse is very easy.
During the day it is quite easy to find a parking-place, but in the evening you may have to search a bit longer. But a space can always be founds.
The best way to explore Berlin is to leave the car at home and use the city's well-developed public transport system. Alongside the U8 (underground) already mentioned, which goes from Schönleinstrasse to the heart of old East Berlin - Alexanderplatz, in only 5 stops - there are two other lines which are easy to reach.
To get to the Kottbusser Gate and the U1 underground, you simply need to cross the bridge at the Landwehr Canal and then walk one block. From here you can travel straight through to the old West Berlin in only 12 minutes (Nollendorfplatz and Wittenbergplatz). This is the quickest way to get to KaDeWe (department store), Tauentzienstrasse and the "Ku'damm" (Kurfürstendamm) for shopping or, in the evenings, to experience the lively gay scene in Schöneberg.
The neighbourhood
Very interesting for Berlin
tourists (and not only for them!): close by at the Kottbusser Brücke is the
landing stage of the Riedel boating company. This is the starting point for various
Landwehrkanal-Spree boat trips which last for 3 or more hours. During the
trips all of Berlin’s sights and a lot of the city’s history are presented
in detail. The special view of the landmarks from the water is very special and
cannot be compared to a sightseeing tour by bus.
The
host manages a boat-restaurant there himself - so he knows what he's talking about.
Close by too, there are many pleasant restaurants and cafés (Paul-Lincke-Ufer, and also directly in front of the house in Graefestrasse).
You're also only a stone's throw from the heart of Kreuzberg, the old "SO36". Here you can spend hours browsing in dozens of small shops (Oranienstrasse) and see multi-ethnic culture at its best. This is also true of the evenings, when many of the small bars open. The well known "Turkish Market" (Tuesdays and Fridays) at Maybach-Ufer is only a few minutes' walk away.
It is only 5 blocks to the old Berlin Wall strip, which runs straight through the maze of streets and through the former Elisabethstädtischen Canal.
(See right for more info about the area.*)
prices
of the apartment
March - October (summer) |
||
| normal
price | from
4th night | |
| 1-2
guests | 65
euro | 60
euro |
| each
further guest (up to 5) |
+ 10 euro | |
November-February (winter)* |
||
normal price |
from
4th night |
|
1-2
guests |
55
euro |
50
euro |
each
further guest (up to 5) |
+ 10 euro |
|
*Winter price from November-February (except 23.12. - 05.01.).
minimumstay:
2 nights, Easter 4 nights
final cleaning 20 euro
The 7th night is free of charge.
kitchen
Distances
It is possible
to reach the underground station Schönleinstrasse (U8) in 2 minutes on foot.
From here you can travel to all four corners of the city.
| Fairground
Berlin, ICC: in approx. 30 minutes; from Schönleinstrasse by underground
(line U8) to Hermannplatz, change to city train (S-Bahn) |
| Station Zoologischer Garten: in approx. 25 minutes; from station Kottbusser Tor by underground (line U15 - direction Uhlandstrasse), then by underground (line U2 - direction Ruhleben) to station Zoologischer Garten |
| Berlin Mitte Alexanderplatz: in approx. 15 minutes, from the underground station Kottbusser Tor directly by underground (U8 - direction Wittenau) |
| Ostbahnhof: as quickly as possible go by bus (line 140) from Kottbusser Tor - approx. 16 minutes, or by different underground lines and city trains in approx. 20 minutes |
| Central station of Berlin - Berlin Hauptbahnhof: in approx. 28 minutes, direct by tram M41 from Graefenstraße to central station |
| Potsdamer Platz: in approx. 21 minutes, from the underground station Schönleinstrasse by underground (line U8) to Kottbusser Tor, then by underground (line U15) to Gleisdreieck, and then by underground (line U2) to Potsdamer Platz |
The apartment
The room on the ground floor/side wing is in an old house (70 m²) with sanded, wooden floors and laminate flooring in the other rooms.
The areas are functional and modern with fancy design, but nevertheless comfortably furnished. The bedroom is equipped with double bed (160 cm broad) and sofa, in the living room is beside the small Couches still another Futonsofa, which can be used also as double bed (140 cm broad). The apartment can be occupied then with up to 4 persons; for 5th guest can be placed still another reserve mattress.
TV and telephone are present in the bedroom and living room. CD-Hifi-PA and Internet (DSL) are available in the living room/office.
The bath was modernized like the entire apartment only recently and is equipped with a bathtub. In the kitchen also an extra large refrigerator with freezing subject is beside an installation line with rinse, stove and washing machine.
And of course, towels, bed linen etc. are provided.
Breakfast is available on payment of a supplement; otherwise you are free to use the self-catering kitchen which is well-equipped (from espresso machine and egg boiler to microwave oven).
Coffee, tea, water as well as sparkling wine, champagne and food will be invoiced separately.
The Host
usually lives in the apartment himself, so this is no standard furnished apartment, but a private accommodation, which you have for your own during your stay.
He doesn't mind a bit of smoke in the kitchen
or living room but he would prefer if the bedrooms remained smoke-free.
Guests always feel at home here and have often mentioned the cosiness and the '60s/'70s charm of the interior decoration. The host himself is a restaurant manager, so he knows how to make guests as comfortable as possible.
Since the host is a golden retriever lover, pets aren't a problem - even if there are no animals in the accommodation at present (which means no problems for those suffering from allergies).
The apartment
is located on Graefestraße in 10967 Berlin Kreuzberg, Germany. Klick on
the map or link to get to a citymap - service www.stadtplandienst.de
or use the route-planer of web.de
Low Emissions Zone (LEZ) – LEZ stickers
The city zone (A) within the S-Bahn-Ring (city train circle) is part of the LEZ. If you do not have a sticker for the LEZ of Berlin city centre, you can find information here, on how to get LEZ stickers for tourists.
*Further information about the area:
The Graefe-Kiez itself is a residential area and traffic is limited to walking pace (be careful: walking pace is compulsory – traffic checks are often carried out as the city of Berlin needs money). Cobblestones, trees and small green areas characterize the area. Kreuzberg also has the largest proportion of original stucco facades; in the richer western part of the city the facades damaged in the war were usually "modernized". Luckily there wasn't enough money or the wish to invest in Kreuzberg, which after all was partly surrounded by the Berlin Wall on 3 sides!
You can "admire" the former death strip – some matters of the land ownership are still being contended today - which is just a few blocks away. The border once zigzagged between Mitte and Kreuzberg. To get there you go past the Urban harbour (wide area on the banks of the Landwehrkanal, not really recognizable as a harbour today, even though there are still some wonderful old boats moored there, which are now used as theatre and restaurant barges). There is also a large sunbathing lawn, which is very popular. In the summer the close by open-air pool "Prinzenbad" is also very inviting. Until the 1920s there was a canal which linked the Urban harbour and the River Spree. This was then filled in to create a park. Today this is an enchanting idyll in the heart of the city, which leads straight to the former Berlin Wall: the northern part of the old Luisenstädtischer canal was also used to divide the city and still seems to be in a long, deep sleep waiting to be brought back to life as a park. Voilà!: a rose garden right in front of the Engelbecken.
