By Marriette Rough
When you travel it can be hard to get enough fruit and veg so we thought we would list some of our favourite inner city farmers markets. Even if you are not in self catering, these markets are great to walk around, grab a light lunch or even just stock up on a few healthy (or not so healthy) snacks.
Berlin, like most capital cities, has been hit by the organic, free-range, bio-dynamic, locally sourced, environmentally friendly-bug. So if you want chemical free, local produce these markets are the place to come.
Make sure to bring cash with you. As well as some tote bags to carry your produce home. Often the markets will attract local buskers so you can look forward to some music filling the air, whilst you fill your belly.
Boxhagener Platz
Every Saturday 9am-4pm (S and U-Bahn Warschauer Strasse/ S and U-Bahn Frankfurter Tor)
This market is in the heart of Friedrichshain. Not only do they have a seasonally changing selection of fruit and veg but they also have interchanging food stalls. Last time I was there I saw Artichokes, Raspberries and Pumpkins. Oh my. Then we have the good stuff; the fish stand, the smoked meat and sausage stand, the dangerously delicious cheese stand. Not to mention specialities from Spreewald and Thuringia. If you want to feel really German grab yourself a Spreewald Gherkin and a beer to walk around with.
If you liked the market and loved the area, come back on Sundays for the Boxi- Fleamarket!
Kollwitzplatz
Every Saturday 9am-4pm (U-Bahn Eberswalderstr)
This market is located in the epicentre of Prenzlauer Berg. This district is infamous for its high population of young families. You may notice kindergarden after kindergarden, parks galore, and shops specialising in all things miniature. The market itself has some tasty offerings including Crepes, Chorizo and Cucumbers. As well as local handmade wares such as; scarves, jewellery and wooden children’s toys.
Grab yourself a little picnic and walk up to the Wasserturm (Knaack Str.22). This is the oldest Water Tower in Berlin, dating back to 1877. In use actually until 1952, it piped water to supply the rapidly growing population of workers in the district. Now its less water tower, more exquisite apartments. Sit there, imagine you live in a water tower and enjoy the view of the city.
Maybachufer/Turkish Markets
Every Tuesday and Friday 11am-6.30pm (S and U-Bahn Kottbusser Tor)
For want of a better description this is our realest market. The other two are wonderful by products of their districts’ gentrification. This is a bit more rough around the edges and thus far more charming. This market is in the heart of our Turkish district. Turkish people form the largest ethnic minority in the country. Many were invited over to West Germany in the sixties and seventies as Guest Workers, to work in factories and the service industry. Originally this was thought, by both the ‘Bundesrepublik’ and the Turkish Republic, to be a temporary arrangement. Clearly it didn’t work out quite like that. Neukölln is our most multicultural part of the city and is extremely popular with tourists today.
Maybachufer is the name of the street which runs parallel to the Landwehr Kanal (Canal), making this an incredibly beautiful setting for the hustle and bustle of the market. Half the city make it down to markets on one of the two days, to fill up their fridges with cheap fruit and veg. The predominately Turkish stall holders have their art down to a tee. The sound of their offers fills the street ‘BUY TWO WATERMELONS, GET ONE FREE’. It is hard not to get caught up in the moment. You may find yourself buying more boxes of blueberries than you could ever feasibly eat.
Here we also have lots of Turkish food stands, so you can grab yourself a hot Gozleme (A traditional Turkish treat, a flat bread usually entwined with Spinach and Feta). There are endless stalls here of fabric, kitchen equipment and general bits and bobs. So if you need batteries for something, or a new padlock for your travels, this is your place.
I would recommend grabbing a coffee, some nibbles and sit yourself by the canal and watch the world go by.
