With its cultural attractions and Jewish heritage, the Kreuzberg neighbourhood of Berlin has been crying out for a boutique hotel — and where better than the recently renovated Orania.Berlin with its own Jewish history?
In this regenerating hotspot, the hotel’s handsome exterior is one of the city’s Art Nouveau glories. And if this proudly working-class area is known more for its Turkish inhabitants, the protests which greeted the hotel opening were anti-gentrification rather than antisemitic.
Inside, the entertainment venues on the ground floor pay homage to Leopold Jacobi, the Jewish merchant and city councillor who commissioned the building in 1913 and put it on the map with a cabaret.
In spite of outstanding performances, the glory days of Cafe Oranienpalast lasted barely a decade, closing in 1924, a few years after Jacobi’s death. His widow leased the ground floor to C&A, who eventually bought the whole building from the Jacobi children in 1934 before they fled Germany.
The clothing store survived the Second World War before being transformed variously into a food and furniture emporium, billiard hall and club; the building was declared a national monument in 1995.
After basic renovations it was offered free for cultural events and in 2017 opened as a 41-room hotel with a new permanent performance venue.
High above the music from jazz and classical concerts, guests sleep serenely on handmade mattresses with bedheads upholstered in cheery elephant-patterned red chenille.
Rooms boasting high ceilings and panoramic windows are designed for lounging as well as sleeping, the mid-century vibe courtesy of B&B Italia.
Waffle bathrobes provide a pop of bright colour in pristine white bathrooms, and there are flat screen TV’s and Nespresso machines for all.
The hotel is just a few blocks from the Wall, marking the 30th anniversary of its fall this year. Here, the curious built makeshift staircases, to climb and peer over at their imprisoned neighbours.
At the Asisi Panorama by Checkpoint Charlie, artist Yadegar Asisi brings this vividly to life; the recreation of his own bleak corner of a free but impoverished Kreuzberg overlooking the even bleaker East packs a real emotional punch.
And not far away is the unmissable Jewish Museum.
The upper floors telling the story of one thousand years of German Jewish life are currently closed for reconstruction.
Those exhibits stand in stark contrast to the lower floor halls devoted to Nazi persecution, where Daniel Libeskind has harnessed the building’s very fabric to convey terror and isolation in the Holocaust Tower.
In a city whose vibrancy seems haunted by its tragic history, Orania.Berlin makes a comforting base to return to, especially on concert nights when warmth, music and good cheer do their best to dispel the ghosts.
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