Monday 29th November 2010
Bob Thompson

This pub has an interesting history as in 2013 it celebrates its one hundredth birthday. What is more remarkable is that it has stayed in the ownership of the same family from the day it was built in 1913. Possibly even more remarkable was that it stayed in their ownership throughout the era of communist rule in this part of Berlin when many pubs closed.

When I visited it was absolutely packed, a testimony to its popularity. Because of this I apologise for the lack of interior photographs because it really is a lovely pub with a lot of wood panelling. It is divided into several rooms and I think there were more than I saw. It was a case of ordering a beer and drinking it standing against a wall.

There is a food menu that has an East German feel about it, including Soljanka, a mixed soup originating in Ukraine, which is a bit like Minestrone with less tomato and no noodles. It was on every menu in the DDR.

The drinks menu has the same aura about it. The choice was Warsteiner, Berliner Pilsner, Budweiser, Krušovice and a Schwarzbier of unknown provenance. Budweiser could well have been served here during the communist era, when the East Germans regarded Czech beers higher than their own domestic product although Berliner Pilsner wasn't that bad. Beers from the DDR weren't always made according to the 1516 Reinheitsgebot pure beer laws, whereas those from Czechoslovakia and West Germany were.

It's a good local pub with an interesting history and a reasonable selection of beers.

Important Information:

Metzer Eck, Metzer Strasse 33, Berlin-Prenzlauerberg 10405. Tel: 030 442 7656

Open: Monday to Friday 16.00-01.00; Saturday to Sunday 18.00-01.00

The pub is around 300m walk from Senefelderplatz U-Bahn station on line U2 and is the same from the Prenzlauer Allee/Metzer Strasse tram stop which is served by the M2.