What the Heart Desires: Queer Shopping in Berlin
The metropolis of Berlin is home to many unique shops. Here you'll find great products, expert advice, and a shopping experience you'll rave about when you get home. But sometimes it's not so easy to find them. This is because Berlin doesn't have just one city centre, but many, each with a different feel. Place2be.Berlin author, Sascha Suden, recommends unusual shops all over Berlin that are popular with lesbians, gays and the entire queer community in the city.
Geistesblüten: Venue and bookshop in Charlottenburg
Geistesblüten in Berlin-Charlottenburg is not just a bookshop, but a venue that always attracts attention with its queer programme. The French author, Didier Eribon, presented his ‘Reflections on the Gay Question’ in a two-hour talk, and the photographer, Kristian Schuller, presented the photo book ‘Loving’ with photographs of gay couples from the 1850s to the 1950s. You can meet many other authors at readings here - or simply while shopping. There are also previews, exhibitions, and concerts. Twice a year, Geistesblüten publishes an almost 300-page cultural magazine and is Germany's first owner-run bookshop with its own app, which provides access to podcasts and videos produced by the shop itself.
Geistesblüten
Walter-Benjamin-Platz 2, 10629 Berlin-Charlottenburg
S Savignyplatz and U Adenauerplatz
Geistesblüten's Website
Auerbach: High-quality Ties and Bow Ties from Mitte
About ten years ago, Jan-Henrik M. Scheper-Stuke took over the Berlin tie manufacturer, ‘Edsor Kronen’, which had become somewhat outdated. Renamed "Auerbach", it now produces handmade, high-quality silk ties and exquisite bow ties, in a studio in the Hackesche Höfe in Berlin-Mitte. In addition, there are stylish braces, sleeping masks in rainbow designs, and even swimming trunks. Scheper-Stuke is one of the most colourful figures in Berlin's high society. The successful entrepreneur is a passionate advocate of good style in Berlin, which is often a bit of a fashionable wasteland. This is truly his vocation!
Auerbach
Several shops in Berlin, including in the Hackesche Höfe.
Rosenthaler Straße 40-41, 10178 Berlin-Mitte
S Hackescher Markt
Auerbach's Website
Florale Welten: Flowers and Design in Schöneberg
Florale Welten in Berlin-Schöneberg is much more than just a flower shop. It is a concept store with a select range of beautiful flowers, unusual vases, great lamps, and interesting furniture. Owner, Mathias Barten, buys the unusual selection of flowers himself at the wholesale flower market every morning. Floralen Welten’s Advent exhibitions are famous and are sometimes so over the top that they make every kitsch heart beat faster. So, the shop is ideal for anyone who either needs a lovely hostess gift or wants to enjoy some great souvenirs after their Berlin holiday.
Florale Welten
Nürnberger Straße 50-55, 10789 Berlin-Schöneberg
U Wittenbergplatz
Florale Welten's Website
mbrilliant: Creative Clubwear in Friedrichshain
Matthias Maus is one of Berlin's most creative minds. The boss and designer of mbrilliant creates fashion that was ‘queer’, even before the term existed. He creates fashion for the red carpet, for shows, and for everyone who lives glamour. The list of celebrities who wear his gowns or with whom he works is correspondingly long - from Wolfang Joop to Paris Hilton. The men and boys he dresses become the centre of every party with his fashion: he puts them in high heels, designs a hip necklace for the man's best piece and not only thereby makes him an object of lust for all sexes, devoid of shame. The best way to be overwhelmed by the opulence of his creations is to visit his showroom in Berlin-Friedrichshain. However, it is recommended that you make an appointment in advance.
mbrilliant Glamourous Clubwear
Danneckerstrasse 16, 10245 Berlin-Friedrichshain
S+U Warschauer Strasse
mbrilliant glamourius clubwear's Website
Scott Culley: Quilts with queer motifs
The artist, Scott Culley, is a real insider tip - the only question is, for how long? Because he is also to be found in various exhibitions, for example in the Tête Gallery and in The Ballery at a fetish exhibition. Culley makes huge quilts with queer designs - he is currently working on a RuPaul motif, for example. Pillows and small murals are also up for sale. His artwork is available through his website, or in person by appointment. Scott then also recounts the stories behind his art.
Scott Culley
Scott Culley's Website
Die Kraft: Designs from Drag Queen to Punk in Kreuzberg
The trashy, unorthodox, and wildly exciting Berlin of the 1980s and 1990s comes alive at Die Kraft in Kreuzberg! Lucy, called Lu, has created a shop that makes secret wishes come true. Whether you want to be resurrected as a drag queen or a punk, here you'll find the fashion for it, authentic and colourful. Lu describes her selection as ‘Celebrating Drag, Club Kid, Punktrash, Diy Culture’. Designers from London, New York and Berlin offer selected one-off pieces at Die Kraft. The result: even those who enter her shop with no energy will leave it fully charged, because Lucy inspires and captivates everyone with her warm and effervescent manner when she presents her collection. Nowhere else can you feel the spirit of Kreuzberg as much as here.
Die Kraft
Solmsstraße 30, 10961 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Die Kraft's Instagram Channel
Further information
And this is how you get there: The Queer City Pass gives you a ticket for public transport - and on top of that a great discount with lots of partner companies!
Subscribe to Place2be.Berlin's Instagram channel for the latest info and impressions from Berlin!
The Place2be.Berlin city map shows you interesting queer locations all over Berlin.
You can find a complete overview of all events for every single da on the event pages of SIEGESSÄULE, Berlin's famous queer city magazine.
