Category: Berlin

I read quite a lot about Reinhard Heydrich during my time in Berlin, not least because later on in my trip I went to the House of the Wannsee Conference. He’s obviously come up many times before in my trips to museums and concentration camps (yeah, keep it upbeat….) but this museum has a particularly big display about him. More on that later, but this T-Shirt caught my eye. It has the title of “Czechoslovaks Got Him” and his assassination is seen as something of a national achievement and items are still sold today mocking his death. What a legacy for him to have….. But, Heydrich was one of the most evil of all the Nazis, and there were a fair few dotted around to set that bar very high.

Heydrich was the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, but he was effectively in charge of delivering the Holocaust. His execution was demanded and two very brave men, Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, were parachuted into Czechoslovakia in December 1941 to plan his assassination. On the morning of 27 May 1942, Heydrich was being driven to Prague Castle in an open-top car when Gabčík and Kubiš attacked him with a Sten submachine gun and a grenade. The grenade exploded,injuring Heydrich, who died from his wounds a week later. The Nazi response was obscene, but more on that later. The order to kill Heydrich came from the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, led by President Edvard Beneš, with the support and training provided by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). Every year on the anniversary of his death there’s a large group who gather at the site of where he died, as a memorial to the bravery of Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš.

I’ve never seen this photo before, but it’s of a brave man who decided that he wouldn’t do the Nazi salute despite everyone around him doing so. The crowd were workers at the Blohm & Voss shipyards during the singing of the national anthem which followed the Fuhrer’s address on 13 June 1936 in Hamburg. There was for some time a dispute about who this person was, but the museum seems pretty certain that it was August Landmesser. Landmesser’s defiance stemmed from his relationship with Irma Eckler, a Jewish woman, who he married in 1935 in spite of the Nazi regime’s strict laws against these relationships.

The situation is more interesting though, as Landmesser had joined the Nazi party in 1931, alarmed by the economic situation in the country and perhaps, like many, wanting to enhance his own employment prospects. His relationship with a Jewish woman started in 1933 and he was promptly expelled from the party, with this being at a time when from 1934 it was possible to charge people who failed to perform the Nazi salute. August and Irma tried to flee Germany to reach Denmark in 1937, but they were arrested before they crossed the border and returned back, with the legal case against their marriage being dropped in 1938 due to a lack of evidence. It was effectively a warning to the couple that they should end this relationship, but they weren’t going to do that.

Since the couple stayed together, the lack of evidence didn’t prove a problem though and August was arrested later in 1938 and sentenced to two and a half years in the Börgermoor concentration camp. Irma had two children with August, which led to her being sent to Bernburg Euthanasia Centre, where she died in 1942. August was released from imprisonment in January 1941 and worked as a foreman for a haulage company for a while, before being enlisted. He was killed in action on 17 October 1944 in Croatia and he was buried in a mass grave near Hodilje, located near Dubrovnik. In 1951, their marriage was declared legal following the restoration of some sort of normality in Germany and although they had both died, it must have been some sort of comfort to their two children who had already been put into the care of a guardian. One of the children, Irene, wrote a book about her parents with the title “A Family Torn Apart by Rassenschande: A Document of the Persecution of the Landmesser Family”.

It’s rare that you can really guess at what someone was thinking just by looking at an historic photo, but I imagine that August had just heard a load of anti-Semitic piffle (or at least some hate directed at some group) and was hardly in a mood to cheer on the Nazi leadership. It must have been very difficult to stand alone at this time and Nazi officials often watched over a crowd to look for any dissension. Above is a photo of the same event but with Hitler in the photo.

I have a radical view, although it’s not really radical, but if you have a crowd chanting at the end of a speech (and particularly one which has been directed at some target group) then there might well be a problem ahead….

I rarely get cold, but after standing at the Berlin War Memorial in the snow, rain and wind for an hour, I must admit that even I decided that two thin layers wasn’t really enough. My friend Łukasz had kindly acquired me a Titanic Brewery cap as a birthday present which kept my head dry which was handy. Since the Berlin trip, I have now switched to what I refer to my ‘big coat’ but which a friend commented was just a hoodie and not really a big coat. But, I don’t want to be doing that overheating lark, it’s bad for my skin. Anyway, I’ve digressed here because I thought I’d better pop to a cafe to dry out. It was busy when I got there, although it transpired to be one big group getting a takeaway so all was well with finding a seat and a place to drip onto the floor.

I love a bagel and am still just a little annoyed that JD Wetherspoon ditched the pastrami bagel, but I suppose I should get over that since they scrapped it about six years ago. But, back to the matter at hand. There was a warming coffee and the chicken filled bagel was delicious, lots of flavour and with just the right amount of crispiness to the bagel. There was a slight muddle as the staff member thought I was part of the big group, which is why I’ve been served it in a takeaway container and I heard her trying to say in German to the group that someone had definitely ordered a chicken bagel. Matter resolved I was dry after around thirty minutes, so this was a handy lunch stop. I had intended to walk around Berlin, but I ditched that plan and bought a 24 hour public transport pass instead.

Anyway, it’s a cosy little place with high tables and more traditional seating, with the service being prompt and efficient especially as there was only one person taking the orders and making the food. The prices were moderate and there was an inviting and relaxed atmosphere. There’s a toilet in the cafe which is handy, as not all Berlin locations seem to have some decadent facilities, and it was warm which was quite important when trying to dry off. I think they also serve waffles, although I never tend to eat those, but they had some cakes to choose from as well.

Frittenwerk is a small, but growing, German chain of venues which effectively sells loaded fries. They have a few outlets in Berlin, with this one being located at Brunnenstraße 1. As can be seen, the ordering process is made nice and easy with these self-service kiosks available, although customers can still order at the counter if they want. Every order is given a name rather than a number, which seems quite a sensible decision in a country where numerous languages are spoken.

The counter area with the menu options visible, it all feels on-trend and organised. They’re having something of a push on poutine themed dishes, which has caused some people to be grumpy that they’re not authentic, but I’m not sure that they ever claimed to be.

I went for the Currywurst loaded fries as that seemed the most appropriate option for Berlin. They apologised that they needed to put new sausages on to cook and it would be a 15 minute wait, but the best things in life are always worth waiting for. Like when I have to wait for Greggs to cook a new batch of hot chicken bakes which I promptly then burn my mouth on. The food was served as a generous portion and the whole combination of Currywurst and fries worked very well for me, with the food being well presented. The sauce had a depth of flavour, with the fries being crispy on the exterior and fluffy on the interior.

The whole venue felt modern and comfortable, with everything being clean and looked after. It’s perhaps a little formulaic, but it’s a national chain with a focus on fries, so that is slightly inevitable. Anyway, I liked it and would happily go again.

I’m slowly working around all of the Mikkeller bars in the world (everyone has to have a hobby….), although I’m going to have to go to Copenhagen again and to Japan to tick a fair few off in one go.

The beer board and the list is also on Untappd. The service was prompt and immediate with a laid-back and comfortable atmosphere in the bar. It’s a relatively small venue, so I can imagine that it regularly gets full on weekend evenings. There are 24 keg lines here with most beer styles covered, as well as a wide spread of different ABVs.

The Burst from Mikkeller, it had an orange edge to the taste, all smooth and reassuring.

The Nutty by Nature, also brewed by Mikkeller. I thought that this was one of the better brown ales that I’ve had, very nutty but also smooth and creamy with something of a Twix taste to it.

And this was the most exciting of them all, the White-Out from 3 Sons Brewing Co of Dania Beach in Florida, although it’s a collab with Mikkeller. This is a proper Christmas beer, coconut, nutmeg, chocolate with a sweetness to it, and very smooth bearing in mind that it was 13.8%. I think it’s fair to say that this delicious beer with its delightful aroma would fall foul of the purity laws.

The venue is very well reviewed and I can see why, this is some of the best beer that I think anyone is likely to get in Berlin. The prices aren’t cheap, but they’re also not unreasonable given how many of these beers have to be imported.