Itinerantdaughter's Blog

Those of you who own The Itinerant Daughter Encyclopedia will know that there are few things I like more than living quarters in structures that were constructed as non-residential spaces.  You’ll see it on the Index of Greatness, right between Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion and freshly peeled garlic cloves (so delightfully smooth!)  All this to say that if you would like to buy me a condominium in the refurbished Danvers State Hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts, in honor of my upcoming nuptials, I’ll definitely promote you to Best Friend Status.

So––I’ve just been traipsing around Europe, hence my criminal absence, and I discovered that Berlin is a veritable treasure trove of such structures.  Allow me to share a few of my favorites:

1. The Water Tower in Prenzlauer Berg

This round building on the edge of a park in bougie Prenzlauer Berg is basically my dream.  From a blog called Berlin — Around Town:

“The unofficial symbol of the district is the giant, 30-m (98-ft) high Water Tower in Knaackstraße, built in 1877 as a water reservoir, but shut down in 1914. The engine house in the tower was used as an unofficial prison by the SA in 1933–45 – a period recalled by a commemorative plaque. The tower stands on Windmühlenberg (windmill hill), where some of the windmills that had made Prenzlauer Berg famous in the 19th century once stood. Today the round brick building has been converted into trendy apartments.”

Also an acceptable gift.

2. This apartment complex in an old hospital in Kreuzberg

Or framed medical records

3. Augustrasse 25

It’s probably no one’s fantasy to live above a dance hall, but Clarchens Ballhaus is no ordinary dance hall.  It’s hosted bloody duels, dances for war widows, and many a Stasi agent looking for an enemy of the people. I feel like you could get used to lying alone in bed at night, listening to crackly old tango records emanating from downstairs.  To be fair, I’m not actually sure that the building HAS apartments in it, but I’m currently trying to track down official CB historian Marion Kiesow to ask.

And a beer garden to boot!

And if you are bored, you can just pop downstairs for a concert!

This entry was posted on October 17, 2014 at 11:50 am and is filed under Buy Me This!, Image Craving, Things I Love That I Go to Inappropriate Lengths to Track Down. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.