After the wall came down, the former brewery of Pfefferberg developed into a unique socio-cultural center with art galleries, studios, clubs, a beer garden and a restaurant.
Directly opposite the hostel, the artist Olafur Eliasson designs and produces his latest creations. To our left, in building 5, Kunst- und Atelierhaus MEINBLAU (Art and Studio House Meinblau) provides studios for 16 Berlin artists as well as exhibition space. Both Gallery Mikael Anderson in building 4 and the Akira Ikeda Gallery in buildings 7 and 9 show international modern art, while Architekturforum Aedes (Architecture Forum Aedes) in number 10 is dedicated to temporary exhibitions of building styles and architecture. The Kulturlabor ICI (Institute for Cultural Inquiry) in building 8 explores the possibility of productive inter-cultural confrontation.
In the Bassy Cowboy Club weekend cowboys and -girls rock to Sixties, Surf and Beat. Haus 13 (Building 13) plays host to concerts of all kinds, experimental events and fabulous parties. In the beer garden garden right outside the hostel you'll find more than just beer: there are various outdoor events, football championships on the big screen, and (unpack your dancing shoes!) the yearly tango festival. And last but not least the Pfefferberg-Restaurant on our right offers extravagant dinners in the evening and inexpensive, tasty lunches during the week.
The bear in our logo isn't really Knut, the famous polar bear. Instead, he's the heraldic symbol of Berlin and is more seven hundred years old.
Pfeffer (the German word for pepper) here has nothing to do with spice and everything to do with Joseph Pfeffer. He was the Master Brewer who founded the brewery in 1842 and gave his name to the Pfefferberg site. You'll find our hostel in the former fermenting cellar, where the beer barrels were once stored.
And the Berlin Bear is lying in the beer barrel because we're typical Berliners. We're good at getting creative with the wastelands and unused industrial spaces the city's so famous for (and there have been a lot of them since the wall came down.) Our hostel has brought new life to one of these spaces.
Our team is real Berlin, too. We live in Berlin. We're from Berlin or its surroundings, or other German cities, or Europe, South America, Africa or Asia. In other words, typical Berliners!
More about the Pfefferbett company...
