Glorious Gewerbehof

Last night I went to the party to celebrate the grand opening of Etsy Labs here in Berlin. They set up in a gorgeous Ritterstrasse Gewerbehof in Kreuzberg 36. For those of you who don't know what a Gewerbehof is, it is sort of like a Hinterhof (literally translated, the back courtyard) only whereas a Hinterhof has the back apartments of a building (the ones that are quieter and darker and often also a little bit cheaper) a Gewerbehof is only for business. They are usually beautiful brick lofts which would make great apartments only you aren't technically allowed to live in them, though of course artists sometimes do since, of course, they can get away with also calling it their "work space."


Anyway, this post isn't specifically about Etsy or the party (though I will say they have set things up nicely) but rather about Gewerbehöfe. Being there last night reminded me of how much I love them. They have such a peaceful feel to them and almost a factory-like anonymity with not a soul in sight and only a handful of cars. The perfect place for a stroll with my camera, something I did earlier this afternoon at a Gewerbehof in nearby Blücherstrasse. Gewerbehöfe, thank you for being the high-windowed, lofty-bricked paradise that you are.