Anyone sings to thousands, for free.
Franz Richter (User:FRZ) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ansgar Koreng — CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Ansgar Koreng — CC BY 3.0 de · Traktorminze — CC BY-SA 4.0
Mauerpark — literally the wall park — sits on what was the death strip: the guarded void between Berlin's two walls where nothing and nobody was permitted. After the wall fell in 1989 the ground lay bare with no clear owner, and residents gradually occupied it, turning it into a park by practice before it was ever formalised. A stretch of the original wall still stands along its western edge, covered in accumulated layers of graffiti that are constantly repainted — one of the few places where painting the wall is legally permitted. Its real fame, though, belongs to Sunday: Berlin's largest flea market fills the park, and in the stone amphitheatre at its centre Mauerpark Karaoke takes place — an open circle where anyone sings in front of a few thousand people seated on the terraces, free and with no advance sign-up. The tradition has run since 2009 and has become one of Berlin's best-known popular sights.
Anyone sings to thousands, for free.
Legal graffiti, constantly repainted.
Gleimstrasse 55, 10437 Berlin
Museum of Everyday Life in the GDRThis museum answers a question the Wall and Stasi museums do not: what was ordin10 minutes walk4.4
Volkspark HumboldthainHumboldthain is a public park in the Wedding district, opened in 1876 to mark th15 minutes walk4.3
Berlin Wall MemorialThis is the best place in Berlin to understand what the Wall was really like. It17 minutes walk4.7
Prenzlauer Berg Water TowerThe Prenzlauer Berg water tower is Berlin's oldest, built in 1877 of red brick o18 minutes walk4.4
Samurai Museum BerlinBerlin's Samurai Museum displays what is described as the largest private collec24 minutes walk4.7Far less so — on weekdays it is an ordinary park of grass, paths and a remnant of wall, pleasant but not a destination. Everything that distinguishes Mauerpark (the market, the karaoke, the crowd, the music) happens on Sunday. If your trip includes one Sunday in Berlin, this is among the best uses of it.