Oderbergerstraße - one of the most important streets in the Berlin district of Prenzlauerberg; it used to belong to East Berlin. Prenzlauer Berg is now in the process of gentrification, which is not to the delight of many old-timers. Residents who are now left from the original population, those who created a new urban culture here, saw how Kastanienalle and the rest of the streets turned from neglected into a fashionable or even "advanced" environment.
The infrastructure after Die Wende, or the reunification of Germany, existed here - with tram lines and metro stations, the urban landscape was also there, but with decaying facades and old trees cut down. Therefore, the first thing they did here was the renovation of buildings. Castanienalle soon became a street full of "cool" shops, including bookstores, and cafes, and at the same time it became known as the "design mile". Then hipsters and other young professionals appeared here, some even with children. Later, art galleries, expensive boutiques and ethnic restaurants began to open here and there - and then investors came and gentrification began in earnest. The old charm is still there, of course, but for the most part people are different. Now it is the upper middle class with fashionably dressed kids, custom bikes and BMW sporty models.
The Oderberger City Basin was built in the area in 1902 by the architect Ludwig Hoffmann. Its building, in the form of the German Renaissance, included a "spa section" as well as booths with bathtubs or showers where families from the Berlin working class came to bathe once a week. There was also a school in the complex.
The swimming pool was the main area of the very compact building. In the 1930s, it was lengthened by 5 meters to meet Olympic standards, and during the war, the building was surprisingly lucky: it survived when much of Berlin was bombed into small fragments. Under the GDR, the pool continued to function until it was damaged by the construction of a concrete chimney; after 1985 it was closed completely, because the actual bowl of the pool cracked too much. In 2011, the neglected building was bought by the German Language School, adding it to its campus.
Going back a little, this international school was founded in 1983, and after the unification of Germany, it moved to the block between Oderbergerstrasse and Kastanienalle, where it gradually began to buy and renovate buildings, including a small hotel called The School. The same scenario was provided for the pool - turning into
Hotel Oderberger; CPM Gesellschaft von Architekten was invited to update it.
After the reconstruction, 80 hotel rooms and apartments, classrooms and meeting rooms - for both guests and students of the school - appeared in the building of the city pool. From the end of summer 2016, the pool will be open to everyone on weekdays. Its ceramic-tiled bottom can now be raised flush with the floor, if necessary, and can be held there on weekends for all kinds of celebrations and events - including dance nights for up to 800 guests.
Most of the hotel rooms are located on the site of former washing booths, around four small courtyards. I got a spacious and quiet room with natural ventilation on the second floor, with the original tiles on the walls and restored metal frames on the windows. These windows overlooked a small alley and a garden in the courtyard between the new and old apartment buildings. The wooden floor and all other new parts are very high quality. The door to the bathroom was a surprise: it is a door sandwiched between two glass panels to the original washing booth, with peeling paint.
There was no bathtub in my bathroom, just a shower, but with the opening of the pool at the end of the summer this will no longer be a problem. Also, guests will have access to its showers, and some of them will be restored cabins of the early 20th century.
It's nice that in the old building for swimming and leisure, a peaceful color scheme has been created that matches the natural color of human skin and hair.
The main public space of the new hotel is a library with old oak furniture and a cozy bar with a large stone fireplace heated with real wood. There is also a restaurant with a terrace overlooking the interior of the block and the school campus park.
