It was heaven. Alas, you age, you tire of sleeping in parked cars, you get a day job. Still, I was apprehensive about returning now that Die Wende II was here. The city's vitality is easy to spot in Mitte, which stretches roughly from the Brandenburg Gate over to Alexanderplatz. Some 30 galleries have set up shop in abandoned apartments, defunct supermarkets, even a former marmalade factory.
Techno music blasts from hotels that have been converted into nightclubs.
And all this in an area that can best be described as grimy. This stylish clothing store is set in an 1863 upholstery factory that at first glance looks like just another dirty Berlin building. It's pure theater, with a bronzed Jugendstil spiral staircase, a crystal candelabrum, and a gold-leaf porcelain oven. Horst, who resembles a cross between game-show fixture Bert Convy and Liberace, is one of Mitte's most vocal cheerleaders. People with fresh ideas rebuilding the old city center.