In Germany, according to the international cliché, people yodel and sway until their lederhosen rip. When tourists who are completely uninformed about German culture travel to Berlin, they are probably looking for this rusticity that is actually native to Bavaria. If these tourists walk around Alexanderplatz long enough, they will find consolation: behind its north-eastern flank, at Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 30, between elegantly sheeted new buildings and endless construction sites, stands the Hofbräu Wirtshaus Berlin. Here, in the building of a former GDR canteen, no southern German cliché is left out.
“Fresswürfel” (food cube) is what the white cuboid building in which the brewery is now located was called during the GDR era. Opposite the Berliner Verlag high-rise building there was originally a company canteen. This was later converted; in 2011 the Hofbräu Wirtshaus Berlin moved in. Today blue and white flags with the Hofbräu logo hang in front of the two-story GDR building.
The building itself doesn’t look Bavarian at all from the outside; the socialist architecture has nothing to do with white sausages and leather trousers. Rather than a place for hops and malt, you’d suspect it’s a car dealership: the two-storey, more than simple building impresses with its large front windows, which flood the dining room with light and drive out any coziness with bright sunlight.
The 6500 square meter temple of rocking music offers around 1600 seats on two large floors for hard-drinking tourists and all Berliners who long for Bavarian hospitality. If you’re thirsty, you’ll have to dig a little deeper into your pockets: a half liter of beer costs 5.90 euros; a full one costs 11.50 euros.
Bavarian party in a socialist building: the Hofbräu Berlin
The beer garden in front of the pub, right on the busy Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse, is somewhat protected from traffic noise and confused cyclists’ glances by bushes in wooden barrels, a handful of maple trees and giant bright blue umbrellas. If you sit on the paved terrace in good weather, you won’t hear much German. Instead, you’ll hear Brits, Australians and Spaniards ordering currywurst. Or maybe even a “brizza”! The circular baked good is constructed like its Italian brother. It is advertised as a “trendy mix of pretzel and pizza”: the crust is made of pretzel dough and it is topped with white sausage, lots of cheese, onions and mustard. Question: If God really loves us humans, why does he allow culinary aberrations like the brizza?
But the Bavarian party really gets going inside the socialist building. Wooden tables with white and blue checkered napkins, waiters in lederhosen, stages for the polka bands, and lots of decorations: chandeliers, plastic ivy, scythes and cart wheels. Wall stickers with Bavarian sayings of wisdom can also be found in the Hofbräu Wirtshaus, profound insights such as: “Da Mensch is wiar a oide Hosn, auf de Knia wead a’easchd hie” (translation: Man is like old trousers, the knees go first).
Speaking of wardrobe: After a visit to the pub, or better yet before, you can get dressed in the in-house boutique; for example, to celebrate the Munich Oktoberfest (tapping of the keg on September 21st) in Berlin. A polyester costume costs 199 euros. Lederhosen are also available, of course.
The only thing that tastes good at the Hofbräu Berlin is the beer, which actually comes from the Bavarian Hofbräu brewery in Munich-Riem. The Hofbräu Wirtshaus in Berlin has little to do with the original Hofbräuhaus in the center of Munich. The restaurant is not allowed to use the name for legal reasons; the owner has a similar establishment in Hamburg. A visit there will also feel like an Aldi “Bavaria” theme week, where strange products with strange names are offered in blue and white packaging. Cheers to coziness!
