Market and Mutter

Saturday is a great time to do a Berlin market. The largest ‘Wochenmarkt’ (‘weekly market’) is the Winterfeldtmarkt in Schöneberg, the district where Christopher Isherwood of ‘Cabaret’ fame used to live and still the soul of the Berlin gay and lesbian scene. It’s an area of the city with lots of great cafés and interesting shops – and plenty of edge and style. This market takes place twice weekly, on Wednesdays (8am to 2pm) and Saturdays (8am to 4pm), on Winterfeldtplatz – a large square, only a short walk from Nollendorfplatz U-Bahn Station (Lines 1 and 2). It’s a very colourful affair, with scores of stalls to wander around.

Locals come to buy fresh supplies and stop to talk to favourite stallholders and friends. Visitors to Berlin just love the buzzing market experience; the sights and smells are an assault on the senses. You can stop for a portion of exotic street food or settle for a traditional German sausage. If you only want a taste, most of the produce stalls offer samples before you buy.

The craft stalls are wonderful. None of the goods seem banal or commercialised; even the soaps shaped like the Brandenburg Gate are scented with real lemon grass. We tasted the honey made from the pollen of nearby linden and chestnut trees and bought a couple of jars of Rolf’s golden nectar. The cardboard models of retro German cars were also a great hit as gifts for vintage friends.

Hand-made jewellery and clothes made of natural materials such as wool, felt, fur and cotton, are another temptation. The stallholders are passionate about their products and are happy to explain more about them – in English, if necessary. German markets specialise in leather goods, pottery and traditional kitchen utensils made of wood and metal. They all have ecological pedigree and hippy Berliners of all ages would much rather buy the real thing than a mass-produced item. You can sometimes haggle about the price, but a Wochenmarkt is not the same as a ‘Flohmarkt’ where bric a brac and antiques never really have a fixed price.

Winterfeldtplatz is surrounded by streets packed with cafés and bars. Berlin Unwrapped has several recommendations listed under Schöneberg in the ‘Café Society’ chapter and you can explore the streets of this neighbourhood in greater detail in ‘Small Worlds’. But here’s a new discovery for a perfect lunch stop. Leave the market at the top end of the square, by the church, then turn right, walk about 100 metres and ‘Mutter’ is at 4, Hohenstaufenstraβe. Although the word ‘Mutter’ usually translates as ‘mother’, here it refers to a ‘nut’ – as in ‘nut and bolt’ – as is obvious from the large logo over the front door.

Mutter’s website explains the Indo-European derivation of the restaurant’s name, but leaves us to guess why they chose it. A clue may be in its warm embrace and the heavenly Thai dishes at reasonable prices. The restaurant lighting is from dimmed chandeliers above wooden tables and an illuminated bar with considerable style. There is another bar area for drinks only and in summer, tables spill out onto the street. Mutter is open seven days a week, from 11am until late. ‘Blue Hour’ is from 8pm until 10pm and ‘all night long’ on Sundays, when cocktails cost just €6.50.