INVITE: Markthalle Neun Berlin: We are open! For everything.

Adapted in its organisation to Berlin’s re-tightened Covid-19 regulations, Markthalle Neun invites to an Open Sunday this coming Sunday 20th December from 1 to 7 pm.

Markthalle Neun is one of the few remaining original 19th-century market halls in the German capital having reopened in 2011 after many years of local campaigning and negotiating its future in the Borough of Kreuzberg. Katrin and André are pleased to have witnessed the Markthalle’s reemergence since our first in-depth visit with University of Brighton Masters’ students in 2012 that taught us how to make beer (with Johannes Heidenpeter who had just started with a few barrels in the basement) and crispy cale and manage an enterprise (with Nikolaus Driessen).

Markthalle Neun as a food point in Kreuzberg has set itself the goal of showing how “eating differently” and “shopping differently” can be possible in the city: in respectful treatment of people, animals and the environment, regionally and seasonally focused, combined with local added value, transparent and trustworthy. The gradual re-establishment of small-scale grocery trade and handicrafts in the area previously dominated by discounters also means the re-appropriation of the hall as a lively place in the neighborhood. The basic stalls on 3 weekdays and the market on Fridays and Saturdays with products for daily needs but also specialities from all over the world are the basis of Markthalle Neun. Many of its vendors are producers from the region who accompany their food from origin to marketing whilst others are traders who know the story behind their products.

In cooking classes, children and young people can try out how to handle food and acquire knowledge and skills. A street food market shows Berlin as a creative metropolis when it comes to food, as a city of immigration with a great variety of authentic food cultures.

In addition to the production and sale of food, the market hall offers space for initiatives from local residents and is a platform for projects that critically address the issues of food, the city, agriculture, biodiversity and the environment.

The invitation in German / Die Einladung auf deutsch:
Um die weihnachtlichen Einkäufe so sicher und entspannt wie möglich zu gestalten, haben wir zusätzlich zu unseren normalen Markttagen am Sonntag, den 20. Dezember von 13-19 Uhr geöffnet. Statt eines Weihnachtsmarktes dieses Jahr also ein weihnachtlicher Wochenmarkt mit den schönsten, nachhaltigen Geschenken und guten Lebensmitteln: handwerkliche Produkte aus kleinen Manufakturen, vom Käsefondue aus Rohmilchkäse bis zur Brandenburger Gans für den Weihnachtsschmaus, vom handgemachten Panettone zu handgemachter Keramik, von Naturkosmetik zum Naturwein. Dinge, die das zur Zeit vielleicht etwas düstere Leben schöner und köstlicher machen.

For more information on Markhalle Neun see its own website.

Image: One of Markthalle Neun’s entrances (on Eisenbahnstraße 42/43) during Covid-19 (source: Markthalle Neun www 2020)