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.

Best record store in Berlin. A great selection of Rock, Folk, Indie, Wave, Industrial and especially the huge floor dedicated to House and Techno Records. Staff are typical Berlin-Style - not very friendly but very knowledgeable.

A very close friend of mine owns this bar. It looks tiny from the outside, but it has two rooms you have to pass until you get to last one which is a discofloor. I play music there from time to time and I am always surrounded by nice people und friends.

New type of museum. It's a private collection from contemporary art pieces such as by Anish Kapoor or Nobuyoshi Araki to Chinese imperial furnitures or ancient Asian sculptures. The collection is wonderful and the light design is perfect. There is no description or title of the artworks - it invites you to purely see/feel the artworks themselves without influencing by the names. Must to go.

The central ‘Mitte’ area of Berlin is packed tight with galleries and museums, which means you can cram a lot into a short amount of time, if that’s what you want. The best of the lot is the Me Collectors Room, which shows off large chunks of the Thomas Olbricht collection alongside other contemporary private artworks. The permanent ‘Wunderkammer’ display offers over 200 pieces from the Renaissance and the Baroque periods, with a solid focus on the strange and macabre. There’s even a Mark Ryden original that fits in nicely.