Old Breweries of Xberg. Evening Walking Tour

Kreuzberg's Brewery District – Beer, Industry & the Bergmannkiez

Theme: Walking Tour + Beer History + Industrial Heritage + Social

Meet Time: 18:00

Meet Place: Mehringdamm Ubahn. Outside Curry 36

Suggested contribution: €5

Join me for an evening walk through Kreuzberg and Neukölln's historic brewery district, following the story of how beer helped transform the southern edge of Berlin from fields and summer retreats into one of the city's great industrial neighbourhoods.

The plan: We'll grab a Wegbier and walk through the Bergmannkiez, discovering the breweries, maltings, beer gardens, workers' neighbourhoods and industrial buildings that once made this one of Berlin's great brewing districts.

We'll follow the story southwards, passing the former Bockbrauerei, the famous brewery at Südstern, the former Bergschloß-Brauerei, and the Kurt Mühlenhaupt Museum, before finishing at the spectacular former Berliner Kindl brewery on Rollberg.

Berlin's brewing industry was transformed during the nineteenth century by new technology, new types of beer and a rapidly expanding population. Breweries needed enormous amounts of land, water, ice and fuel—and the southern edge of Berlin provided plenty of space for them to grow.

But this is also a story about what happened after the beer stopped flowing. Some breweries disappeared completely, others became housing or cultural spaces, and some survive in remarkable fragments hidden among the streets of Kreuzberg and Neukölln.

I am an accredited tour guide in Berlin, specialising in telling stories about the city's industrial heritage. I charge a small fee of €5 to organise the tour and share my knowledge.

Highlights
🍺 Discover why Kreuzberg and Neukölln became two of Berlin's great brewing districts
🏭 Explore the former Bockbrauerei, founded in 1838 and now transformed into the Neue Bockbrauerei, a modern residential and working quarter. The new development incorporates elements of the historic site, including surviving brewery cellars and the historic Schwank-Haus.
🏘️ Discover how breweries helped create the dense workers' neighbourhoods around the Bergmannkiez
🍻 Pass the famous Südstern brewery and hear about the area's long brewing tradition. The present-day Brauhaus Südstern occupies the former brewery site at Hasenheide 69.
🌾 Discover how beer production depended on ice, malt, water and huge underground storage cellars
🎨 Visit the Kurt Mühlenhaupt Museum and discover the surprising connection between Kreuzberg's brewing and artistic history. The museum occupies a former factory yard that originally belonged to the Habbel Malzbierbrauerei.
🏭 See the former Bergschloß-Brauerei in Neukölln, one of the area's major historic brewery complexes, dating back to the nineteenth century.
🏡 Pass the former Braumeisterhaus, now home to Kindervilla Kivi der Naturfreundejugend, Kita. The building is part of the surviving Bergschloß-Brauerei complex and has been used by the Kindervilla since 1995.
🚚 Learn how horses, wagons, railways and Berlin's waterways helped get beer from the breweries to thousands of pubs
🏙️ Discover how industrialisation transformed the landscape between Kreuzberg and Rixdorf
🍺 Follow the story of Berliner Kindl, founded in Rixdorf in 1872 and eventually becoming one of Berlin's most famous breweries.
🏭 Explore the spectacular former Kindl brewery on Rollberg, with its monumental brewhouse and enormous boiler house
🎨 Discover how the former brewery has been transformed into KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art, while retaining many of its original industrial features.
📸 Fantastic photography opportunities among some of Kreuzberg and Neukölln's finest industrial architecture
🍺 Finish with a relaxed drink together at the former Kindl brewery complex

I estimate the walk will take around 2½–3 hours, depending on how much time we spend stopping for beers and discussing the history.
It should make for a very Berlin evening: beer, factories, workers' neighbourhoods, artists, industrial ruins and the transformation of Kreuzberg and Neukölln — finishing at one of Berlin's great surviving breweries.
Hope to see you there!
Simon