Berlin style guide

I always find it interesting to receive a book for review about a place I have never been. Yes, I have been to Germany, but that was a long time ago, and the Berlin Wall was still firmly in place.

Now, of course, it and many other preconceptions have fallen, and friends I know who have been recently have returned rhapsodising about the city.

This book is written by two residents of Berlin, who love living there and know it intimately. Through their eyes, readers can adventure into the areas where only Berliners go. Each chapter takes you on a tour of specific area of the city – there are eight of them in the book – avoiding the tourist traps or cliches that often spoil an unknown city.

Berlin is constantly changing, so advice like this from on-the-ground locals is invaluable. They have included quirky cafes and stylish galleries, and shops such as Dollyrocker, a store for children, or Pomeranza, a design store for homemakers. There's Hay Berlin selling Hay goods, the avant garde Danish products, or Bikini Berlin which has nothing to do with swimwear (it's mostly popup shops) and is close to the zoo if you need to relax with the kids afterwards, and Markthalle Neun full of reinvented farmers' market stalls.

Too many to itemise, but more than enough to have you putting this interesting city back on your travel to-do list. Printed on tactile old-style paperstock with edgy photography and plenty of sketch maps, you won't be able to stop yourself exploring Berlin, if only in these pages.

Berlin Style Guide, by Ellen Teschendorf & Petra Albert, published by Murdoch Books, 2016, hardcover, rrp A$39.99.

- reviewed by Sally Hammond

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