Most of the time on this blog, I’m extolling the wonders of some place or another, adding another line item to your must-see travel list. But since we all have limited time and money, I think it’s equally important to tell you when something isn’t worth your finite resources–and in my humble opinion, the flea markets of Berlin fall into that category.
Let me just say upfront that not everyone would agree with this assessment. Several of my fellow travelers had a grand time on Sunday. So if you’re in Berlin for a long time, go ahead and check it out for yourself. But if you’re just here for a long weekend, I’d pass. And if you’re hoping to find antique or vintage gems, I’d definitely pass.
I was super excited to flea market hop on Sunday; it’s one of my favorite pastimes. I managed to hit three of the many, many markets Berlin hosts. For comprehensive lists, check here or here. But I’ll be the first to admit that I have high standards for flea markets. My grandparents owned an antique shop, and my biological dad spent years buying antiques at auctions and selling them at flea markets, so I know a thing or two about quality merch. I’ve visited markets all over the world, and they’re not created equal. Two of my favorites are in Florence and Buenos Aires; Madrid is mostly junk.
So on Sunday, I visited the most well-known market at Mauerpark, the Antique and Book Market near the Bode Museum, and the monthly Nowkoelln Flowmarkt, since it takes place in my neighborhood.
1. Mauerpark
This is the best-known market in Berlin, featured prominently in the guidebooks–which you could see many attendees clutching. If all you want is to while away an afternoon, eating some street food and enjoying colorful characters, then the market is worth a visit. There’s a large open park next to the stalls where they have outdoor karaoke in the afternoon, the food stalls are plentiful, and there’s amusement to be had everywhere, from observing the hipsters crowding the “Haha You’re Ugly” clothing booth (that’s what it’s really called; I’m not being mean), who are trying on neon windbreakers from the early 90s, to listening…running away from…the man playing a tuba who has no fucking idea how to play a tuba.
But, as previously established, I’m a flea market snob. If I were living in Berlin permanently, I could see myself giving this place a browse–there were a couple nice pieces of furniture here and 
there, several booths that had English language books, and many booths selling vinyl, if you do that. But a lot of the booths felt either generic (the same tote bags, meh jewelry, and prints of photos you could easily take yourself that you see at a lot of these markets) or just really low quality (so much crappy clothing). There were very few booths with genuinely interesting merchandise thoughtfully displayed. Instead, several booths had masses of people digging through bins of junk (see above photo!) or featured stuff that no sane person would want (see right).
A few Roamers happily spent the afternoon here, hanging out and watching the karaoke and such. I did a fairly quick lap and headed to the next stop on my hop.
2. Antique and Book Market
As you can see from the photo, this market was delightfully less crowded than Mauerpark. Of course, it was also much smaller, with just two rows of stands lining a single street. The quality was much higher, but unfortunately I didn’t find what I was looking for. I collect antique teapots, and while there were many teacups, a couple of nice sets, and one very adorable sugar pot, there wasn’t a teapot to be found. (I make it hard on purpose, though–if they were lying around everywhere, my home would be overrun.) And while I HIGHLY recommend this market if you can read German, there weren’t any English language books on offer–understandable, but disappointing nevertheless.
3. Nowkoelln Flowmarkt
To be honest, I could tell just from the market’s name that this was probably going to be a mess, but since it’s in my adopted Neukolln neighborhood and only takes place once a month, I decided to check it out. I don’t even have a photo of this one because it was so ridiculously packed. They have booths set up on either side of a sidewalk, so there’s not room to stop and browse; you just have to shuffle along with the stream. But no matter because I didn’t see anything I wanted to stop for–one “booth,” for instance, consisted of four battered handbags and two old trumpets.
To be fair, though, the giant pans of paella looked amazing–grab a plate of that, sit by the river to enjoy it, and ignore the frenzy around used t-shirts.
So to sum up, you should visit the Berlin flea markets if you:
- Read German.
- Live here and would like to brave the crowds in the hopes of finding a cute end table or augmenting your vinyl collection.
- Want to eat some street food.
- Enjoy bad karaoke.
Aside from that, feel free to do something else with your Berlin Sunday–stay tuned for more tips on that front. (And speaking of tips, have you signed up for my newsletter yet? You can do that in the sidebar for more suggestions, anecdotes, photos, and fun facts about the places I visit.)
