KAFFEEMITTE

CONVERSION, CAFÉ, BERLIN, 2008
BY NILS WENK AND JAN WIESE
Once asked to indicate the city they liked least, most Germans said: Berlin. When asking Berliners which part they like least, the answer might well be: Mitte. So someone must have a lot of confidence in themselves and their idea to name their café ‘Kaffeemitte’. But apparently the idea worked. After the first ‘Kaffeemitte’, the second ‘Kaffeemitte’ is now opening its doors – in a house that symbolises Berlin’s disasters rather than its strokes of luck. But perhaps it is exactly these sorts of challenges that lead to excellent results – a sort of redefinition of the coffee house culture, which has never been that big in Berlin. What defines both cafés: neglecting the unnecessary, reducing the space to what it wants to be – that is a café in Mitte.
Project team
Nils Wenk
Jan Wiese
Photography: Udo Meinel





NEUKÖLLN PUMPING STATION