Courtyards

Berlin is densely populated. Every inch (with many small and large parks in between) is covered with housing or a business. In between there are courtyards that link from one street to another and inside there are restaurants, playgrounds, shops, and back entrances to many apartment buildings. East Berlin is the hip area now with many young people and as you might imagine has gentrified. There are also some surprises.

One entrance to the best known courtyard complex, known as Hackesche Hoffe that goes on for quite a ways. Height is high enough for a horse to fit through (with a rider) since that's how long these have been around.

Smokestack is a remnant from a previous era, when small factories were functional in the area.

Another entrance to the largest of the courtyard "mazes" and this one restored to its original Secession style of tile work (think Gustav Klimt)

Not in a courtyard but couldn't resist taking the picture. An entrance to the handyman's guild hall.

This is how many of the courtyards in the East looked when unification came though with a lot less graffiti. The residents and owners of the businesses wanted to leave it unrestored so we can understand how it was.

Artist district courtyard, ungentrified as you can see.

Just a few of the amazing wall paintings in these next two images.

Just outside the backdoor of our apartment, we were fortunate enough to access one of the sweetest courtyards. That's the dome of the synagogue I already showed you in an earlier post.