RAW Gelände- Berlin (Part 2)

Berlin is steeped in history and natural beauty, but it is also a city that is ever evolving and keeping abreast of popular culture and setting trends.

It is a city that harnesses a unique creativity for re-appropriating disused buildings and transforming once ugly and abandoned properties into culturally significant sites of artistry and community.

Following in the footsteps of many such transformative projects, most famous of which is probably the neighbouring Berghain (the world renowned and infamous nightclub which found its home in a disused power station), RAW Gelände just off of Revaler Straße and Warschauer Straße is a former train repair yard ('Reichsbahn-Ausbesserungs-Werk', aka RAW) dating from 1867 to 1994.

Since 1999, the jumble of derelict buildings has been plastered with graffiti and converted into artist work-spaces, clubs, bars, cafés and beer gardens hosting street food and flea markets creating one of the last subcultural compounds in central Berlin.

The site even boasts an indoor skate park, outdoor cinema screenings, a swimming pool club and a bunker-turned-climbing-wall.

I visited on a sunny Sunday afternoon so was lucky enough to catch the flea market and browse the stalls of vintage clothing, eclectic jewellery, books and art prints.

The whole site has the friendly and laid back vibe of an artists’ commune, a hub of bohemia and creativity. You could spend all day exploring and admiring the wide array of artistry that adorns practically every inch of brickwork.

The main beer garden lies just outside a funky art store which also serves as a gallery with a small exhibition of installations and paintings.

The beer garden is the perfect spot to while away the long summer afternoons, with a great selection of German beers on tap and, on the afternoon I happened to visit, an al fresco trio of musicians providing a perfect accompaniment of trippy improvised beats.

For all its artsiness and Instagram worthiness however, RAW Gelände escapes being merely a hipster hang out. Its greatest strength is its lack of pretention and it’s all inclusiveness. There is no clear demographic in this environment, it is simply a creative haven away from the status quo for any who wish to escape into it.

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I'll be sharing a few more of mine soon so keep an eye out for more Berlin posts from me in the future