Till Von Sein was kind enough to take Magnetic on a virtual tour of his Berlin. Please note that the following is not meant to be a cool test in any way shape or form. Think of this as a hometown primer. A way to give you, the reader, an intimate look at a city through the eyes of an artist…and perhaps establish a bit of a personal connection outside of their creative realm. The platform is open to love and hate. Welcome to Berlin—Till Von Sein’s personal vector on the world map…
Till von Sein #LTD
“When in Berlin you must never pretend like you know better. You absolutely have to just chill.”
Favorite Hangout:
“This is my hood, Kreuzberg 61. I’ve got everything I need here—great mixture of people, shops, parks, water and great food.”
“My best friend’s girl and her family run Dudu (Torstr. 134, 10119 Berlin). The place, the food and service is amazing and it’s so cheap.”
“Austria (Bergmann Strasse 30 10 961 Berlin) is the spot if you dig schnitzel and classy Austrian Swiss food. If you manage to eat those schnitzels you can only get carried out there and hit your sofa. Good thing it’s only one minute from my flat.”
“Most Americans I know tell me that The Bird (Am Falkplatz 5 Prenzlauerberg 10437 Berlin) serves the best burgers they ever had. Nuff said.”
“Tibet Haus (Zossener Str. 19, 10961 Berlin) is my second favorite place in my hood, a lovely little joint with amazing banana curry.”
“People are tolerant and chill. That’s the biggest advantage in comparison to other cities; there are enough open spaces like parks that you don’t feel limited.”
“The winter. You can definitely feel that Moscow is close. Too close.”
“My first gig at Golden Gate. This place is pure anarchy and all of a sudden I had ten completely naked gay dudes in front of me. I was shocked but it was good fun in the end.”
“Just walk around the Landwehrkanal. It’s beautiful and at some spots you fell like you are in Paris.”
Friedrichstrasse
“I love this spot. On the one end you can find some public housings. When you start from that point you pass checkpoint Charlie with tons of tourist and get to the posh part with all those Louie Vuitton and Gucci Shops. It’s an interesting walk and you experience who divers the city is.”
“Kleine Reise (Spreewaldplatz 8, 10999 Berlin) is like a club and a bar run by some crazy Irish dudes.”
“A lot of my close friends DJ at Farbfernseher and it gets crazy every single night.”
“Saint George’s In Prenzlauerberg is the joint. You can loose it in there.”
“Civilist is a great little shop run by two guys who are part of the infamous Lowdown magazine staff. Sometimes they do exhibitions and little parties inside and it’s always wild.”
“Soto is a quite new shop with a great selection—from Nike kicks to dope Italian belts and interesting magazines.”
“Firmament is the one where I can get my Supreme shirts and Stussy Deluxe stuff and they have lots of interesting brands.”
“Hands down, Cuccuma is the spot. First thing in the morning and last thing in the evening. I love the owners, I love their coffee and they always surprise me with dope new cake creations.”
“Bootsverleih Treptower Park is where you can rent water bikes and paddle on the spree and see the city from a total different view but don’t do it after your weekly Berghain visit because you might get lost on the river.”
“The Kurfürstendamm: Locals call this Ku’damm. You can’t get more West Berlin than this. This is like a world on its own as most people come to Berlin to party, this is a nice little surprise that Berlin can also be like this …fancy shops and expensive cars, Niketown and bums.”
“Funny thing is that even my friends who are not into techno music at all have heard about Berghain and ask how we can get in there and if I have the chance for guest list spots. I’m waiting for the moment that it will get his own postcard.”
“The Russian Monument at Treptower Park is such a surreal place in this wonderful park and never crowded. Another example of Russian architecture in East Berlin. Breathtaking!”
“Rolf Eden had a famous nightclub called Big Eden and is a true old-fashioned Playboy driving around town with his white Rolls Royce… a Legend.”
“I’m a huge fan of Cookies on Tuesday or Thursday. A great sound system, decent light, always great guest DJs and they have a second room where most of the time the DJ spins rap and dance classics so it’s a little time ride back into the teen years.”
“Admiralspalast is an old theatre with a great atmosphere. I saw R. Kelly there in 2011 and it was pure magic!”
“Marzahn is a section in East Berlin where you can see how bad the architecture of the post war Berlin is. You can ride around in a car forever and only see the same buildings, depressing.”
“Michelberger got a little hype lately due to some artists staying there for longer than a night and they do some dope BBQs and events in their backyard.”
“Adlon is located next to Brandenburger Tor. This is an historical spot in Germany and famous for the shot where Michael Jackson showed his kid, blanket, to the public from the balcony.”
“Dixon is my favorite house DJ. He is definitely the one who got the Flow and knows how to get people on the floor while creating an amazing warm vibe.”
“The summer in Berlin is the best; the winters are the worst. You can have amazing sunny autumns where you realize how beautiful all those parks are and during spring you will find days where you just fall in love with the city again after the long and cold winter.”
“I never ever experienced any bad things with the Berlin police—they are calm and friendly. But when you go to that infamous May 1st demonstrations, throw stones or Molotov cocktails at them I heard they are the nastiest people you will ever meet.”
“People in Berlin are chill and liberal, they are used to a lot. World War II, the Great Wall of Berlin, etc. At first they are rude but they have a big heart.”
“Sunday is the Berlin day; if you’re a hard-working man you spend the time in one of the numerous parks. If you’re tourist you visit Brandenburger tor or do a boat trip and the party people go to Berghain or an open air and party until Tuesday.”
“In general, Monday is a bad day, nobody will reply to your calls or emails.”
“Viktoria Park is close to my apartment; you can walk up to the monument and get an amazing view over the city.”
“It’s all about the bikes in Berlin, you can get everywhere in less then 30 minutes and it’s safe.”
“I’m really happy that I have Marheineke just down my road with lots of fresh veggie stands. There is this little shop inside which sells the best cakes in town—oulala!”
“I will never forget when I visited Berlin for first time with my parents in 1988, the wall was still there and we visited the east and the west part of the city. Coming here for the first time on my own in 1992 just walking around Ku’ Damm the whole day and being totally blown away by the ‘big’ city atmosphere.”
Pingback: Till Von Sein – MAGNETIC’S INTERVIEW