I never knew this neighbourhood existed and went to visit a friend and was instantly transported out of Berlin into some sort of 50's utopia.
"The Hansaviertel is a prime example of modern architecture and urban planning in the fifties in Berlin.
36 individual buildings or ensembles still form the model of modern architecture and urban planning of the 1950s. The southern part of the war-damaged Hansaviertel, which lies between the S-Bahn line and Tiergarten, was chosen as the central demonstration area of the International Building Exhibition in order to present the "city of tomorrow" - in deliberate contrast to the East Berlin Stalinallee and the restored tenement barracks." - berlin.de
Also visit The Akademie der Künste, if not for the art then the architecture alone.
The Tempelhof Airport is now closed and they have transformed the landing field into a public park area. As soon as you go there you notice that usually you don't get to see that much sky in the city so entering this area for the first time is quite overwhelming. I especially love the old softball fields that have been built during the American occupation.
What looks like a plant nursery from the outside, is both, a plant nursery housing two rescued Amazonian parrots and a hidden cafe serving up some of the loveliest cakes and cuppas in all of Berlin. Brace yourself fir occasional screeching parrots flying around though that only adds to the charm of Blumen cafe.
If you want something a little different from your beer, try Lager Lager.
"We are an independent bottle shop and taproom in Neukölln with a passion for all things beer. Choose from our 8 rotating taps and 250+ bottles, with new stock arriving each week. Drink in or takeaway a Growler bottle of your favourite beer using our counter-pressure bottle filler, which guarantees freshness."
Flughafen Tempelhof was once the symbol of nazi-pride when Hitler notoriously comissioned construction of the smallest duty free shop in the world (and a beautiful example of fascist architecture). After the war, Tempelhof became one of the frontiers of the cold war with the U.S. battling the communists (who undoubtedly wanted to get rid of the small duty free shop altogether) via the Berlin Airlift. It turned out to be a huge succes, and enabled the allied forces to remain their presence in Berlin and save the small duty free shop. The real free-market victory will come in about two years though, when project developers will take over and start building houses, blocking my view onto the airfield.