Visit the first brick building in Berlin

Somewhere in the 13th century the city was surrounded by the Berlin City Wall (The Berlin Stadtmauer). The wall surrounded the medieval city (which was more or less the Alexanderplatz area and the Nikolai quarter) and the neighboring city - its sister Cölln. The brick wall was moved every time the city expanded into more neighborhoods until it became the metropolis we know today.

Over the years the wall was forgotten until its remains (500 meters) were discovered in 1948 and declared as a city landmark..And as someone who loves history and seeing the places where it all started, I had to visit the place.

Right next to the wall you will discover a large and impressive brick building, although it is ruined and broken. This building is the first building in Berlin built entirely of bricks as a monastery church. Following the Reformation, Berlin/Cölln became Protestant in 1539 the building was used as Berlin's first printing house and then to the "Zum Grauen Kloster" grammar school of the city.

In 1945, the building sustained many injuries during the war and parts of it were removed in favor of the development of the city and the subway. In the 1980s, on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of Berlin, the remaining walls were renovated and the place was opened as a memorial to the war and as a changing exhibition space for works of art.

I invite you just before shopping to take a few steps to the place and try to imagine what Little Berlin looked like back then.


Address : Klosterstraße 73a 10179