Jim is not only one of the owners of the Circus, but he is also our resident expert on the hidden corners of the city. It is Jim’s firmly held belief that some of the most interesting places in Berlin are “off the beaten track”, not least in his home neighbourhood of Pankow.
Pankow Town Centre
The centre of Pankow is the area around the lovely red brick town hall, which was built about a hundred years ago at the start of the 1900s. Also of interest is the small, idyllic church that somehow seems out of place, surrounded by the main road and the normal city buildings, which includes the delightful Rathaus Shopping Centre. The roar overhead are the planes coming in to land at Tegel airport, so close that you can see the colour of the pilot’s eyes.
Bürgerpark
This 103 year old oasis has brought happiness to generations of Pankowians. It is very green, as you would expect, with nice water fountains and statues dotted here and there. In the summer the park is always packed with people, and there is nothing better than joining the summertime drinkers at the Rosenstein beer garden and knocking back a cold one.
Majaokowski Ring
Until the 1960s, when paranoia drove them to a fortified compound north of the city, this is where the highest levels of the East German political class lived. As you can imagine, these were and are some of the nicest houses in the city.
Some famous former residents include Wilhem Pieck (No. 29), the first President of the German Democratic Republic, and Erich Honecker – who led East Germany from 1971 until 1989. He wasn’t the last leader…that honour fell to Egon Krenz, who managed a month and a half in the job before the office ceased to exist.
Schloss Niederschönhausen
This Schloss – which translates from German to “Big Posh House” – was bought by Frederick III in 1692 for 16,000 Thalers. Now, I have no idea what a Thaler is, but it does not stop me from wanting loads of them. It was used as a royal palace on and off until 1760 when it was destroyed by the Russians. Rebuilt, it was visited again by Russian soldiers in 1945 when they turned it into an Officers Club for the Red Army.
After 1949 they handed it over to the East German government, who used it first as the Presidential seat, and then as an official government guesthouse. Some of the famous guests included Fidel Castro and Mikhail Gorbachov. It is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm, and the entry costs €6.
Soviet War Memorial Schönholzer Heide
The Battle of Berlin in April and May 1945 cost the lives of approximately 80,000 Red Army soldiers, and some 13,000 were buried here, which is the third largest Soviet memorial in Berlin after the Treptower Park and the Tiergarten. On the exterior wall there are about 100 bronze tablets with the names of the dead soldiers, and in the middle a huge obelisk which is a 33m high statue of Mother Russia.
Pankow – How to Get There
You can get from The Circus to the area covered by the map in two ways. From outside the Circus Hostel (across the street from the hotel), take the Tram M1 up the hill to U- and S-Bahnhof Pankow. Or else walk down the Torstrasse to Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz and catch the U-Bahn Line 2 north, which takes you to the same place.
Next Wednesday we are running the first of our new tours from the Circus, this time heading south from Mitte to the neighbourhood of Kreuzberg. The guide for this tour is Jim Hudson, co-owner of 
The tour will explore Kreuzberg’s history, how the fall of the Berlin Wall changed the “SO36” postcode from squatter sub-culture to hipster hangout, and along the way Jim will show you the hidden courtyards, the popular rioting spots, weird architecture and the great bars that all add up to make the neighbourhood what it is.
At the end of the Second World War, which brought countless bombing raids to the city and the destruction that accompanied the Red Army’s final assault, it is estimated that there were 12 million cubic metres of rubble in Berlin. Some of this rubble was used to create the Teufelsberg (”Devil’s Mountain”) which is to the west of the city centre and is actually higher than any of the “natural” points in the city.
Once communications were intercepted from the top of the Devil’s Mountain, they were sent down the hill to secret underground bunkers at Tempelhof Airport for analysis. The evesdropping continued up until the fall of the Berlin Wall (and who knows what kind of things they heard) but with the end of Communism the equipment was moved out and the building abandoned.
Up on Landsberger Allee is a little of Russia still life and kicking in the form of a Russian supermarket. Here you buy all the products that your average Russian misses from the homeland. Outside the supermarket is an on going BBQ selling the most delicious Schaschlik you will find this side of the River Don. For those of you not acquainted with Schashlik, it is pork on a stick with a vinegar dressing. And for those of you that think that out door grilling is only for the summer think again, it is all year and there is a little tent to keep the elements away.
One Year of the Circus Blog
15. Dezember 2010 in Art, Bars, Beer, Berlin, Circus Hostel, Circus Hotel, Circus News, Commentary, Design, Fabisch, Football, Goldman's Bar, Hidden Places, Nepal Project by Paul
On the 15th December 2009 we launched the Circus Blog, and the last twelve months have certainly been exciting at the Circus. In the finest traditions of those end of year “best of” lists that are currently filling magazines and television programmes, here are some of our favourite moments at the Circus over the past year and on the Circus blog.
In January we closed down the Circus Hostel for the best part of three months as we made a complete renovation of the building in time for the re-opening at Easter. Alongside the new design features, infrastructure improvements, and the funky new facade, we also put together some new services for Circus guests to help them explore Berlin, such as Jimbo’s Cheap Man’s Bus Tour, the Cwiki guide to Berlin complied by the Circus team, and the Urban Wanderer DIY Walking Tours.
It was also a busy year over at the Circus Hotel. We built a new library for Fabisch, launched the Circus Hotel Magazine, hosted a press conference for the Sparkasse Tourism Barometer, and installed some funky works of light art in the hallways, and in the courtyard. Talking of art, the Temporäre Kunstbox hosted its first exhibitions and happenings, whilst Sandra kept the blog supplied with “Stuff we like” around Berlin and beyond.
What else? Andreas left us for three months to travel through Southern Africa, sending back his impressions and reports from the 2010 World Cup before travelling on from South Africa to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. Jared kept us refreshed with his guide to best places to sip a cocktail in Berlin and beers on the road, whilst Jim headed to the hidden corners of Berlin, giving us all inspiration for exploration off the beaten track.
Along the way we went to a football game in Pankow, the boot record was broken in Goldman’s Bar, we held a fundraiser for children’s homes in Nepal, Konny got married, Tommy was born, we learned to juggle in the finest Circus traditions, an old friend won an important prize, and the Circus football team did us proud.
What a year, with a lot of fun and hard work along the way. Thanks to everyone in the Circus team for a fantastic 2010, and to everyone who has been following the Circus blog either here or on our facebook page.
Here’s to another great twelve months!
Paul