The Intershop 2000 in Friedrichshain (Danneckerstrasse 8) is both a small museum and a shop featuring everyday times from the days of East Germany. It might be the best place in Berlin for you to indulge your Ostalgie (nostalgia for Ost/East-German culture).
The shop was started by Elke Matz, a designer from West Berlin, who was curious about the stories behind East German items. She became a collector and eventually opened her collection to the public and also acquired items for sale.
What made the experience of coming to the Intershop 2000 so charming was chatting with the two people working there that day. A big thanks to Ingin Reiher and Herr Vetter! They had so many stories to tell about certain items, personal memories, films that have rented from the shop, other people who have bought items and German history and on and on… I could have stayed there all day and I highly recommend you stop by.
But don’t wait too long. Since everything you can buy in the store is not being produced anymore, one day everything will be sold and the shop might close. Of course, you could always go to the DDR Museum, but there you can’t touch everything, buy yourself a Flughafenhotel mug and a “750 years Berlin – Capitol of the GDR” (like I did) or have these lovely conversations.
The other aspect that made this visit extra special was that I went with my oldest friend on the planet, Cord’l, who was visiting from Barcelona. We met when we were 3 in a painting group – neither of us turned out to be great painters, but we became the best of friends. Going on a trip down memory lane, even if it involved the items of “the other Germany” was super fitting.
The song in the video is called “End Game” by Jason Matherne. Download his music for free via Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/goonygoogoo-productions
You can look at more photos from this video shoot on my blog: Photos from Intershop 2000 (Ostalgie)
