Berlin 23: A rainy Sunday in Mauerpark

Following our trip to the top of the TV Tower, we decided it’d be good to spend the afternoon visiting one of the many flea markets in Berlin. Having looked at the different markets running on Sunday, we thought the ones in Mauerpark looked interesting, especially the location and opportunity to see some remnants of the Berlin Wall.

The flea market in Mauerpark is popular with both locals and tourists and has stalls selling new and second-hand items as well as various food and drink options. In addition to the flea market, Mauerpark is famous for the Bearpit Karaoke, which runs on Sundays between spring to autumn, from 3pm if the weather’s good.

We arrived in the afternoon rain and went for a wander round the stalls. Despite the rain, it was pretty busy on the market. It was enjoyable browsing the various stalls, though I didn’t buy anything myself, probably thinking I’m not sure how I’d get anything home.

After we’d looked round the stalls, we found a table under the shelter to enjoy some food and drink. I can’t remember now what we were drinking, probably beer. But I do remember getting some lovely Berliner doughnuts.

Enjoying a Berliner or Krapfen, or as we call them back home, a jam doughnut

After stuffing ourselves, we carried on wandering round the park, making our way over to the Bearpit, the circular stage and amphitheatre. Unfortunately, due to the inclement weather, there was no karaoke that day. Though there was some alternative entertainment we stumbled across.

As we arrived at the Bearpit, there was a sword swallower (don’t know his name unfortunately) just starting his show. This was entertaining, so we hung around as he did his slightly gruesome act, which despite the rain, proved to be relatively popular.

After the sword swallower finished, we continued up what used to be a railway embankment to an old section of the Berlin Wall. Mauerpark, which translates as “Wall Park” was once the location of a section of the Berlin Wall and death strip, separating the districts of Prenzlauer Berg in the east and Gesundbrunnen district in the west.

Many layers of paint on the old section of Berlin Wall that remains in the park

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the former death strip was converted into the public green space that’s there today, with an 800m section of the wall kept. Like with the East Side Gallery, this has now become a canvas for street art. You can see how much it’s been used by the number of layers of paint peeling off.

Exhibition at the remains of the GDR border fortifications

After walking along the wall, we wandered over to what remains of the GDR border fortifications, near to Bernauer Straße. Here, there’s a small exhibition telling the story of the Berlin Wall, with a number of photos of this location from when the city was divided.

After we finished in the park, we headed for a short wander along Bernauer Straße, stopping off at more market stalls. We then jumped on a tram back to our Airbnb apartment, changing at Nordbahnhof.

The tram stopped on Torstraße, not far from our Airbnb apartment on Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße. Wandering to our apartment, we pass a cycle street on Linienstraße, the location of the Berlin Wall and the Volksbühne Theatre.