Where should I go in Berlin?

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Harry
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Where should I go in Berlin?

#1 Post by Harry »

I’m going to Berlin for a few days tomorrow.

Any suggestions for PSB-related places I should go to? I seem to remember they said where the best sausages are!
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petshopgrrl
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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#2 Post by petshopgrrl »

I think we can identify a few... ahem... hotspots!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotspot_(album)
Hotspot was the third in a trilogy of albums produced by Stuart Price, following Electric (2013) and Super (2016). The album was primarily recorded at Hansa Studios in Berlin where the duo had written "most of [their] music over the last ten years". During a ten-day session in November 2018, they used the studio's analogue equipment to give Hotspot a different quality from the digital sound of the previous two albums.

Several songs on Hotspot make reference to Berlin. Neil Tennant described the opening track, "Will-o-the-Wisp", as a queer song that imagines the author Christopher Isherwood encountering an ex-boyfriend from his 1939 autobiographical novel Goodbye to Berlin years later on a U-Bahn train. The bells of St. Matthias church on Winterfeldtplatz are heard on the songs "Happy People" and "Wedding in Berlin". "You Are the One" describes a summer afternoon in Berlin spent by Schlachtensee lake in Zehlendorf and in the borough of Mitte. The backdrop of the lyric video for "Dreamland" is modelled after a U-Bahn station in Mitte.
I think the Dreamland station is Alexanderplatz, which is a nice nod to Olly.

from Will-o-the-wisp:
The U1 is such a party train
from Uhland(straße) to Warschauerstraße
emerging from below past Nollendorfplatz
in search of love and laughter
Hansa Studios: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansa_Tonstudio

Someone else will have to come up with the sausage vendor. :mrgreen:

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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#3 Post by jasonjohn »

Image

You could track down this sign at that particular station. A true fan would feel warmth; a cynic would probably walk briskly past!

Then catch a "party train" from Uhlandstraße to Warschauerstraße (EDIT: as petshopgrrl suggested!)

Though, it might require some connecting train lines, not just the U1 as advertised.

And, as they are Bowie fans, you should only consume milk and cocaine for the entirety of your visit.

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Sandy Shaw
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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#4 Post by Sandy Shaw »

Thinking of Liza in Cabaret, you could go on the Isherwood trail... https://lonesomereader.com/blog/2018/10 ... ing-berlin
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daveid
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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#5 Post by daveid »

Potsdam. Absolutely magnificent palace and it's not that far from Berlin. I think there's a tram out there these days. The Pergamon museum is definitely worth a visit too. I haven't been there since 2000 so it's probably all changed vastly. Don't forget to take the party train in search of love and laughter.

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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#6 Post by young.offender »

What about Hansa Studios where they recorded Hotspot

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Harry
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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#7 Post by Harry »

Thanks all!
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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#8 Post by 425-17 »

As mentioned in "You Are the One", the Boys enjoy taking walks around Schlachtensee.

Around the time Hotspot was released, Neil reportedly mentioned that the incident involving "laughing at some mistranslation" occurred at a restaurant in the Schlachtensee area. An educated guess would be that it was here.

They also appear to be regulars at the Italian restaurant "Manicini," as noted in this article. This is quite possible, as their apartment seems to be in that area.

Additionally, German author Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre recently mentioned in a podcast that he ran into Neil in the same area. They reportedly chatted about shopping at the local Rewe supermarket—quite mundane, but the only Rewe in that vicinity is this one.

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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#9 Post by jasonjohn »

Image

They sometimes get a drink here, too 😅

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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#10 Post by stormynight »

A good music shop is the Dussmann Kulturkaufhaus in Friedrichstrasse. There was also the book signing for Catalogue
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DopeFiend
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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#11 Post by DopeFiend »

Go to this event tonight:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DKk71aVSRB4/
Tickets available now. I don't really understand what a gay film programme is, but it's featuring PSB and seems like the kind of thing they'll attend.

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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#12 Post by petshopgrrl »

DopeFiend wrote: Wed 25 Jun 2025, 4:37 pm Go to this event tonight:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DKk71aVSRB4/
Tickets available now. I don't really understand what a gay film programme is, but it's featuring PSB and seems like the kind of thing they'll attend.
Slava Mogutin directed the ATYD video, right? Maybe he's including that?

Damn, this thread's got me going down a Google Earth cyberstalk of Berlin and now I want to visit too! Seems like London but... somehow nicer? (At least in the parts that PSB inhabit.)

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Harry
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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#13 Post by Harry »

I had a great time in Berlin.

I saw the Tiergarten, loads of historical sites, went on the U-bahn, and even saw Berghain from the outside.

It's a lovely city, with a nicer vibe than London. I can absolutely see why they like spending time there. I would live there if I could.
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Re: Where should I go in Berlin?

#14 Post by psbfannyc »

Harry wrote: Mon 30 Jun 2025, 2:47 pm I had a great time in Berlin.

I saw the Tiergarten, loads of historical sites, went on the U-bahn, and even saw Berghain from the outside.

It's a lovely city, with a nicer vibe than London. I can absolutely see why they like spending time there. I would live there if I could.
Happy you had a nice time in my city. It's a great place to live.

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