Dresden: Organic coffeehouses

If you are familiar with Johann Sebastian Bach's Coffee Cantata from around 1735 you've heard about the Saxonian citoyens' love for coffee and a good piece of cake (if heading for a local speciality, try the Eierschecke cheese-cake). With a pinch of irony people will talk about the famous Saxonian "Bliemschenkaffee" ("(little) flower coffee") referring to the thin coffee or caffeine-free coffee substitute during World War II or in the households of the poor. The term refers to the fact that you could see the flowery ornaments on the ground of the (well, not in all cases) Dresden china coffee cup.

The Saxonian's love for coffee hasn't faded since, they still proudly refer to themselves as "Kaffeesachsen" (coffee Saxonians), and most organic supermarkets will serve you a latte or Italian style coffee, both to have on the spot, and to go (in this case don't forget your refillable cup). There are however more pleasant places for a chat with friends, some reading or working time with a delicious cup of coffee.

Neustadt

My favourite day cafe for about seven years, with friendly service and a huge display of gorgeous cakes and pastries, Die Kuchenglocke in Wilheminian Neustadt unfortunately closed in summer 2022. Run by the son of Dresden's first (and to my knowledge only) organic bakers and one of the first organic ice-cream makers in Germany it revived the tradition of Viennese style coffeehouses in the city. In 2022 he took over the Heller bakery, and the cafe had to close. In March, 2023 it re-opened as Café Glocke, and apart from the interior decoration, not much has changed: You can still/again have (and buy to take out) cakes and coffee, and have gorgeous fully organic breakfast(all day long) and lunch. When the weather is nice take the chance to sit outside at the beautiful, comparatively quiet square around Martin Luther church.

The price for a (vegetarian) breakfast, sweet with pancakes or a croissant, savoury e.g. with hummus, roasted veges, bulgur and other spreads, is around 20 EUR but since the servings (especially of the savoury types) are quite generous, you may decide to share as long as you're not on your own. On weekends it is advisable to order a table in advance as the place usually is quite crowded at that time.

The bad news: Effective February 2024 the place stopped accepting cash. Since the Oswaldz cafes have never been accepting payments without data tracking, the number of non-discriminatory organic breakfast and lunch places with a sense for data privacy are alarmingly diminishing in town.

Not far away, on Bautzner Straße, you will find Phoenix Kaffeerösterei, a small-scale coffee roaster cum coffee bar furnished in coffee-coloured wood – ideal for the recreational sip of Italian style coffee. Their coffee is fairly traded, yet not organically certified, although they had organic coffee when they started up in 2006. The milk for a latte or New Zealand style Flat White however is organic. Mind you that their opening hours are quite restricted, usually to Fridays and Saturdays, but they often keep closed on Saturdays, too.

A ten minutes walk west, just before you reach Albert-Platz you can taste the Phoenix coffee all week long at the Oswaldz, a crowded coffee house cum gallery run by an ambitious young team. Before you sit down fetch a service number and put your order at the bar where you can choose from an impressive list of coffee drinks, among others a galao (coffee and milk frozzed together) or a gibraltar (double espresso macchiato). The milk they use is locally sourced and organic. You can also have a sandwich or cake partially made from organic ingredients – eggs and cottage cheese are organic, flour and fruit are not, and since the friendly staff happily answered my questions I'm sure they will equally friendly answer yours. During the warm season they open a pleasant backyard for their guests.

In 2023 Oswaldz rented a second shop next door and turned it into serviced Oswaldz Breakfast Place. All food for both, the cafe and the breakfast restaurant are prepared in its open kitchen while the coffee drinks are made by the baristas at the cafe. The menu is the same for both places as is the privacy-unfriendly decision to refuse payments in cash.

During the warm season there's a third Oswaldz place, the Os2 – Café am Fluss.

Unfortunately there's no organic coffee place inside the Bahnhof Neustadt railway station, but if you have sufficient time you may leave the station building at the rear (Northern) entrance and head for the friendly self-service cafe cum bistro of the VG supermarket Friedensstraße for both, breakfast, lunch (try the hearty Soljanka soup if available), a snack, coffee or travel provisions.

Old town

Facing Kreuzkirche on Altmarkt with its white-washed interior one of the few places where the wounds of the Anglo-American bombing by the end of World War II still are visible you will find one of Dresden's first organically certified eating places, cafe cum restaurant Aha. Some years ago they quite controversely decided not to prolong their certification in support of uncertified local farmers following organic or near-organic principles. More than 75 percent of the ingredients they use are still organically certified but they stopped (probably enforced by law) to make this transparent, so you have to enquire on specific ingredients if you care.

The cafe itself is equally popular among students, families and NGO groups. Its walls frequently serve as a gallery for local artists, and the daily menu often reflects and extends the exhibitions. The list of coffee drinks is long, ranging from oriental and Indian inspired spiced coffee to the ubiquitous espresso. If you prefer a cold drink it's alleviating to know that sodas are served with paper instead of plastic drinking straws. The cakes are delivered by the Heller family, but you can also enjoy hearty home-made meals throughout the day (til late), or simply help yourself at the salad bar located under the stairs. Breakfast is being served from 9 am. In the basement there's a well assorted fair-trade shop which cannot follow the restaurant's liberal opening hours and is closed in the evenings and on Sundays.

If you have to spent time in the vicinity of Dresden's central train station, Hauptbahnhof, pay a visit to another fair-trade shop, the Contigo at the Southern end of Prager Straße. Inside the shop there's an organic coffee bar, perfectly suited for the quick espresso in between, or while you're shopping for gifts, fairly traded artisanal work like bags and jewellery, tea, chocolates or coffee. They do not serve food, so you shouldn't come hungry. If you prefer an unconventional coffee drink opt a coffee based lemonade dubbed "Selosoda".

When the Contigo store is closed ignore the Starbucks branch at Wiener Platz and turn instead to the Haferkater porridge cafe facing it. The Berlin-based franchise concept can be found in several German main train stations by now, and the one in Dresden is open on weekends and generally until 8pm. While all prepackaged Haferkater products are organic no promise is made when it comes to the fresh food and drinks, so you'd better ask. Also, ask for returnable cups and bowls if you don't bring your own.

Dresden-Mitte

Not far from Bahnhof Mitte train station and the College of Music the organic co-operative VG runs a self-service Bistro & Backladen – the bistro to the left, the cafe to the right of the entrance. While the lunch is prepared in the open kitchen of the bistro right at the spot, the bakery shop simply sells the cakes (and bread) from local organic bakeries both, to take away and to eat right here in the pleasantly decorated shop room prided with pictures of local artists. Unfortunately the coffee comes from a smale-scale automatic machine – no real enjoyment, but drinkable due to the good ingredients. While the bistro closes at 7pm on weekdays the cafe operates until 8 pm, but choice will be limited the later you'll come.

Near the Blaues Wunder bridge

A visit to the finest bridge in town, the Blaues Wunder ("blue wonder") steel construction can easily be combined with a visit to the arguably finest Viennese-style coffee house in town, the Café Toscana. Observing the bridge and the river you can sit in the winter garden having an organic coffee drink or tea. Your organic latte will be poured together at your table. While a selection of soft drinks and wines, the milk and breakfast eggs are all organic none of the gorgeously looking cakes and confectionery to be ordered from the sales desk are, at least not fully (enquire about what's tempting you). The history of the coffee house named after a Saxon princess customer dates back to the end of the 19th century. Since its re-privatisation after Germany's re-unification it has been run by the Eisold family, a local baker's family now in its third generation.

Crossing the blue wonder bridge you'll reach Körnerplatz, and if you fancy a stroll along the river shore, turn left into historical Körnerweg which leads you towards the city centre along the embankment. A 15 minutes walk on the way you'll find Os2 – Café am Fluss, a summer cafe run by the Oswaldz owners serving coffee drinks with organic milk, organic soft drinks and cakes to passers-by on weekends during the nice season. Most seats are located outside providing a beautiful view over the river and the city's silhouette. As at Oswaldz order at the bar inside, find yourself a seat, wait to be served and pay before you leave. The bar room also serves as an art gallery.

Leubnitz

If you ever happen to strand somewhere between the tower blocks of Prohlis and the Technical University, take the time to visit the city's only organic bakery and confectionery, the Bio-Bäckerei und -Konditorei Heller mentioned afore – if only to have a wonderful ice-cream on the go. When the weather is nice they also have a small outdoor terrace for you to have a coffee and cake or snack. Although the bakery is open on Sunday mornings it's closed on public holidays.

• Cafe Glocke, Pulsnitzer Str. 1 corner Martin-Luther-Pl., Mon–Fri(Sat–Sun) 9(8:30)–18
• Phoenix Coffee Roasters, Bautzner Str. 75, Fri–Sat 10–18
• Oswaldz, Bautzner Str. 9, daily 9–18
• Oswaldz Breakfast Place, Bautzner Str. 9, Thu–Sun 9–14
• Café & Restaurant Aha, Kreuzstr. 7, Mon–Sat(Sun) 9–22(20)
• Contigo, Prager Str. 2, Mon–Sat 10–20
• Haferkater, Hauptbahnhof, Western aisle near entrance Wiener Pl., Mon–Fri(Sat–Sun) 6(7)–20
• VG Bistro und Backladen, Jahnstr. 5, lunch: Mon–Fri 10–16, coffee, cake and snacks from the bakery till Mon–Fri(Sat) 9–19(14)
• Café Toscana, Schillerpl. 7, daily 9–18
• Os2 – Café am Fluss, Körnerweg 24a, Sat–Sun 13–18:30 (April through October)
• Heller, Wilhelm-Franke-Str. 36, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7–18(12)

Closed or no longer offering organic options

The following places ceased to exist, although you still may find references to them on the web:

• Café Dreikönig, Haus der Kirche, Hauptstr. 23
• Hellers Kuchenglocke, Pulsnitzer Str. 1 corner Martin-Luther-Pl., replaced by Cafe Glocke
• Weltcafe, Schillingstr. 7 (Löbtau)
• Café Continental, Görlitzer Str. 1 (no more organic breakfast options)

Dresden: Sustainable shopping

Dresden's Wilhelminian neighbourhood of Neustadt is dominated by independent shops and venues, many of them run by female entrepreneurs as documented by an art project of local photographer Christine Starke. So it comes as little surprise that it is here where you have the best chance to discover a lot of gems, driven in accordance with the personal principles of the shop keeper which often include social and environmental aspects. Keep your eyes open, and you will discover a lot more than I have to suggest here.

• Herbalists and beauty
• Bicycles
• Jewellery
• Fair trade
• Fashion
• Babies and toddlers
• Closed shops

Herbalists and beauty

The old town does not have much to offer in terms of independent and surprising shops, and the Altmarkt-Galerie mall is as boring as these shopping centres usually are. A notable exception is the Sonnentor shop directly located at the mall's entrance at Postplatz, next to the tram-stop at Wallstraße. Franchises of this Austrian producer of organic and fairly traded herbs, teas, condiments, bodycare products and spices are usually located in malls or main shopping areas, neatly designed heavens offering products that are good for both, you, and the farmers and producers involved when you're in the mood for shopping.

If you're on the outlook for herbs, remedies, bodycare and food items based on ingredients described by medieval healer nun Hildegard of Bingen pay a visit to the Marone herbalist shop on Bautzner Landstraße directly located at the east-bound tram stop Pulsnitzer Straße. Not all of the products on sale (which among others include chestnut products and a small selection of biodynamic wine) in this small specialist shop are certified organic though.

Leaving the tram tracks and entering the more pedestrian-friendly quartier natural and organic bodycare products can be found at the Touch of Nature beauty parlour cum shop in Böhmische Straße east of Rothenburger Straße. Note that this shop is closed on weekends.

Bicycles

A few steps from Touch of Nature there's a second hand bicycle shop cum workshop, Zwout! (formerly Elbcycles), where you can buy a used or recycled bike if you're staying longer, or get your own one fixed.

Jewellery

If you follow Böhmische Straße until it ends at Alaunstraße. A luminous blue wall indicates the location of the Geldschneider & Co. steam-punk workshop. Among others you will find beautiful jewellery made from recycled parts of abandoned analog wrist watches. The place has somewhat erratic opening hours, so step by when nearby (if you need to plan ahead: Saturdays seem a safe bet). If closed during regular German shop opening hours you may call the phone number given on the entrance door.

Fair trade

As in many other German cities the first address for colourful gifts as well as organic sweets, spices and condiments are fair-trade shops founded as grassroots activities by Christian parish members in accordance with the conciliar process of mutual commitment (covenant) to justice, peace and the integrity of creation (JPIC). As the host for pioneering regional ecumenical plenums in 1989 and 1990 the city of Dresden has been playing an important role in this process. The spirit of this movement lives on in local fair trade initiatives like Quilombo which for almost 25 years had run a fair-trade shop in the entrance area of Dreikönigskirche in Hauptstraße which played host to the first democratically elected local parliament in Saxony after East Germany's peaceful implosion in 1989. Today the initiative still has a shop in the neighbourhood of Löbtau while their former place in the "Haus der Kirche" ("house of the church") has been converted into fair-trade Cafe Dreikönig.

Sharing their roots with the Quilombo NGO the team of Cafe Aha opposite Kreuzkirche runs a fair-trade shop in the heart of the city. It is located in the basement of the cafe and offers an impressive selection of fairly-traded gifts, body care and dry goods. This initiative also runs a fair-trade ...

Fashion

... boutique, Aha Naturtextilien, on Hauptstraße, offering a great selection of fairly traded fashion made from natural materials. Here you will also find a good selection of stationary, jewellery, eatable fair-trade goods and more. By the way: the name "Aha" is an abbreviation for "trade/act differently" ("anders handeln" in German), and implies a huge effort in not only selling fairly traded goods but offering fair conditions to their own employees.

Another centrally located fair-trade shop specializing in fashion and household accessories as well as coffee and chocolates is Contigo near the central train station.

For more ethically produced and sustainable cocooning items visit Tranquillo, a likewise colourful fashion-and-things boutique cum fashion label in the Neustadt neighbourhood, at the crossroad Louisenstraße/Rothenburger Straße. They produce their own women fashion entirely made from organic textiles focussing on basic colours – if you like Aha Naturtextilien don't miss this one. There's also a sustainable furniture outlet cum cafe on the other side of the train tracks to Neustadt trainstation.

Dresden's first fashion boutique exclusively selling fairly produced clothing from fairly traded, organically grown materials is dubbed Populi and can be found at the Western end of Louisenstraße, just before you reach the tram tracks of Königsbrücker Landstraße. Both, streetware, denim and designer labels can be found here, for men and women. The interior of the shop is to a great deal made from upcycled furniture.

Students and nerds find fairly traded organic cotton t-shirts and sweaters with unique scientific prints at Unipolar, and everyone else organic streetware for both, men and women. This small, Dresden-based fashion label is the brain-child of a former physics student. The original store between the Bahnhof Mitte train station and the "Carl Maria von Weber" College of Music does no longer exist. (But if you already are here: the VG warehouse next to this old location has a well-assorted organic fashion section upstairs.)

As of 2024 Unipolar consists of two shops on both sides of Rothenburger Straße in the Neustadt neighbourhood, one selling clothing, and the other shoes and sustainable household gear. Finding the shops is easy: Simply spot the bath tub opposite the tram stop.

More colourful organic streetware, less nerdy prints, and open late on Fridays and Saturdays – that's El Dorado Street Fair in Alaunstraße.

Before the arrival of noisy and cheap looking street food shops this street, the entrance to the Neustadt neighbourhood, was populated by numerous owner-run, carefully curated fashion boutiques and second-hand shops catering for a diverse crowd. Some of them have been surviving, and I'm more than happy that this shop venue, after the closing of El Dorado's predecessor, Invito, remained an organic fashion boutique.

Babies and toddlers

If you are on the look-out for beautiful, not overly sweet organic fashion for toddlers and smaller children or simply for beautiful organic garments step by Elvida in Louisenstraße approximately opposite Planwirtschaft pub and cafe. There you'll find the small flagship store of a Dresden-based sustainable kids fashion label – and a source for organic sewing things.

• Die Marone, Bautzner Str. 46, Mon,Tue,Thu,Fri(Sat) 10–18(13)
• Touch of Nature, Böhmische Str. 9, Mon(Fri) 10(12)–17(19), Sat 11–16
• Sonnentor, Altmarkt-Galerie ground floor, Webergasse 1 (entrance from Postplatz), Mon–Sat 10–20
• Zwout!, formerly Elbcycles , Böhmische Str. 3, Mon–Fri 14–18
• Geldschneider & Co., Alaunstr. 29, usually Mon–Sat later during the day

• Quilombo, Schillingstr. 7, Mon–Sat 9–19
• Laden Aha, Kreuzstr. 7, Mon–Sat 10–18 8
• Aha Naturtextilien, Obergraben 2 (corner Hauptstr.), Mon–Sat 10–18
• Tranquillo, Rothenburger Str. 43, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–19(18)
• Tranquillo Furniture Warehouse, Marta-Fraenkel-Str. 1, Mon–Sat 10–18
• Populi, Louisenstr. 3, Mon–Fri(Sat) 11(10)–19(16)
• Unipolar Clothing, Rothenburger Str. 33, Mon–Fri(Sat) 11–19(18)
• Unipolar Shoes & Lifestyle, Rothenburger Str. 38, Mon–Fri(Sat) 11–19(18)
• El Dorado Street Fair, Alaunstr. 20, Mon–Thu(Fri–Sat) 12–20(22)
• Elvida, Louisenstr. 29, Mon(Fri) 10–18(15),Tue–Wed(Thu) 16(12)–18, Sat 11–14

Ceased to exist

The following places shut down, so don't be mislead when you find references to them on the web:

• Quilombo, Haus der Kirche, Hauptstr. 23 (fair-trade)
• Baum&Wolle, Alaunstr. 13c (fashion)
• Ex Animo, Martin-Luther-Str. 17 (fashion and things)
• Hüpenthal Boutique, Bautzner Str. 63 (bespoke tailor, I miss your beautiful collars, r.i.p., Herr Hüpenthal!)
• Invito, Alaunstr. 20 (fashion, suceeded by El Dorado Street Fair)
• Lipfeins Lieblinge, Rothenburger Str. 1 (organic lipcare, factory outlet – their products can of course be obtained online or (e.g.) from one of the VG supermarkets)
• LouisdoOr, Louisenstr. 4 (sustainable toys and baby clothing)
• Tranquillo Outlet, Louisenstr. 45 (organic fashion, visit them here)
• Unipolar Mitte, Jahnstr. 1 (streetware, visit them here)
• Un-Kraut, Martin-Luther-Pl. 12 (herbs and spices)
• Vivobarefoot, Hauptstr. 14 (sustainable barefoot shoes)

Dresden: Zero Waste

If you are looking for pioneers in the German zero waste movement you'll find one of them in Dresden's Neustadt neighbourhood: Bring a selection of glasses, containers and bags and stop by Lose ("loose-weight"), a cosy zero-waste corner store in Böhmische Straße. Unlike other package-free supermarkets this one does not only sell dry food, natural body care and household chemicals but also offers veges and has a cheese counter. Although most of the products are organic some are not, so you might want to check the labels on the suspenders for the bio keyword or ask.

The interior of the shop was refurbished and is now much lighter and seems spacier than before. The reason for this is that the coffee corner which had been there before the corona pandemic has decreased and the serviced counter for bakery products, cheeses, antipasti and coffee moved from the entrance area to the backpart of the shop. Mind you: like other package-free shops Lose does not have an illuminated window front, so be brave to try the door handle – the place may look quite dark even when open.

Supermarkets with zero-waste stations

Moreover all shops of the co-operatively organised local wholesale chain VG Biomarkt offer a good selection of loose-weight organic dry goods (in addition to an abundance of often locally produced fruit and veges and dairy products and drinks of all kinds in returnable glass bottles).

Their main shop is located near Bahnhof Mitte train station, an entire organic warehouse on the premises of a former newspaper printing plant. Standing back from the main street the first floor is occupied by an organic convenience store supporting your zero-waste efforts. On the second floor there's a well assorted organic fashion store mainly for babies, children and women, with a section offering organic body care, household chemicals, sustainably produced toys, stationary and more. For members prices are lower, but the shop is open to everyone.

On weekdays the self-service bistro directly facing the street offers delicious lunch (only snacks on Saturdays), and there's a cafe cum bakery shop featuring young local artists.

VG Biomarkt also has branches in the neighbourhoods of Neustadt (Hechtviertel), Striesen, Johannstadt, Strehlen, and Loschwitz, Mind you that the one in Striesen, at Polandplatz isn't easy to find: Opposite the triangular park there's a driveway which one can easily miss as no sign at the entrance points to the shop. Be brave an move past, you'll find the shoü at the right hand site.

If you want to return empties, find the appropriate crate in the entrance area, pin down its code, tell the cashier and put the glass or bottle at the appropriate place.

The Loschwitz branch dubbed VG Balsamico is conveniently located opposite the downhill station of the cable-run suspension railway ("Schwebebahn") next to Körnerplatz at the northern end of Blaues Wunder ("blue wonder") bridge.

Opening hours and assortment (of loose-weight products as of products in returnable glasses) vary depending on the size of the market and the neighbourhood. However, all VG markets offer free drinking water refill stations and you can book cargo bikes to transport your purchase home free of charge.

While many organic groceries were closing, the Verbrauchergemeinschaft opened a new large supermarket with attached self-service restaurant cum cafe in 2023: The VG Friedensstraße offers and abundance of loose weight and unpackaged products. Want to shop products grown or made in the vicinity? Watch out for the green "RP" ("regional partner") logo.

While these local groceries were early adopters a number of nation-wide operating organic supermarket chains have been following. In Dresden the two remaining branches of the Berlin-based supermarket chain Bio Company introduced dry food suspenders for use with your own jars.

In 2021 the Denns Biomarkt was the first branch of this chain where I found a dedicated shelf with fairly traded dry food in retour glasses and a few gravity bins with nuts, seeds, rice and noodles. A start at least, although I have my doubts that this small selection will be sufficient to nudge people towards the extra effort it takes to bring along glasses and jars.

Without offering gravity bins the Vorwerk Podemus farm supermarkets supports package-free efforts, too: Hand over your own clean boxes and bags when buying meat and meat products, cheese, bread, rolls or cake from the services counter, and prefer returnable glass bottles and glasses when choosing jogurt, honey and jams.

Farmshops and factory outlets

When you take the Elberadweg bicycle route on the southern shore in direction Niederwartha you'll pass a nice old farmyard, the organic Bauernhof Franz in Niedergohlis. It runs a subscription scheme – phone in or e-mail your order until Wednesday and collect it from the farmshop on Fridays and Saturdays, but if you happen to step by on one of these days and there's someone around you may be able to buy vegetable oil and perhaps also potatoes or other produce from the farm. But of course, shopping their farm products from one of the VG supermarkets might be easier.

In 2022 Vegannett, a Weißer Hirsch-based producer of vegan spreads, started filling products in standardized returnable deposit glasses which you can buy directly from the manufacturer on Wednesdays.

• Lose, Böhmische Str. 14, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–13:30(16), Mon–Fri 14:30–19
• VG Biomarkt Dresden Mitte, Jahnstr. 5, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9–20(14)
• VG Biomarkt Striesen, Schandauer Str. 34, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9–20(14)
• VG Neustadt, Fritz-Reuter-Str. 32, Tue–Fri(Mon) 9(11)–20, Sat 9–18
• VG Johannstadt, Elisenstr. 42, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10(9)–19(14)
• VG Strehlen, Reicker Str. 38 d, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9–20(16)
• VG Balsamico, Pillnitzer Landstr. 8, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9–19(14)
• VG Friedensstraße, Friedensstr. , Mon–Fri(Sat) 9–20(14)
• Bauernhof Franz, Dorfstr. 11, Fri–Sat 9–21 (when staff is around)

More to try

For more vegan alternatives to cheese, meat and sausages head for Die vegane Fleischerei in the Neustadt. January, 2023 a vegan "butcher shop" opened here, and they assured me that all of their products are made from predominantly organic ingredients. They also offer ready-made "meat" salads and soups, and I'm looking forward to visit the shop in person. Don't forget to take boxes and jars with you.

• Die vegane Fleischerei, Bischofsweg 20, Mon–Fri(Sat) 11:30–18(16)

Closed

• Quäntchen, Oschatzer Str. 16–18
• Binnes, Dornblüthstr. 7

Dresden: Organic supermarkets and groceries

Organic wholesale in the capital of Saxony (which is governed by a red-red-green coalition) used to be dominated by the local economy, but since the oldest organic supermarket in town, Biosphäre, became part of the nation-wide Denn's chain in 2018, the picture has been resembling the one in other German metropolises: The market is devided between two local actors, a regional one and two of the nation-wide operating grocery chains, with a hand-full of smaller corner shops filling niches.

The largest density of organic supermarkets can naturally be found in the vibrant Wilhelminian style quarter of Neustadt north of the river Elbe with its – gentrification aside – still predominantly left-wing population of artists, students, activists, tourists, hipsters and bourgeois green-party voters.

Neustadt

It hasn't been always this way, but walking the old streets of Innere Neustadt with open eyes will present you with an abundance of shops and eateries boosting of vegetarian and vegan products. Many of them use organic produce, but won't advertise it – partially because they blend with conventional products, and use of organic ingredients will vary, partially in fear of being prejudged as expensive. Fortunately it is nowadays easier to find an organic supermarket in this neighbourhood than a conventional one, so if you're tired of asking just walk to the next crossroad, and there you are.

The former Biosphäre markets are located here: the older one on Königsbrücker Landstraße opposite Schauburg theatre, and an even larger one in Alaunstraße a few metres from Albertplatz which replaced a conventional supermarket. Both have a self-service area where you can have coffee, cakes, pastry, sandwiches at any time of the day, and soups for lunch. Students are entitled a 10 percent discount on Wednesdays. Recently the shop in Alaunstraße also took a small effort to support package-free shopping.

Berlin-based organic supermarket chain Bio Company has a branch a little south along the tramway tracks on Königsbrücker Landstraße. Just like the Denn's branches it closes at liberal 9 pm. The Bio Company stores recently introduced fill-yourself stations with dry food and sweets. This shop offers more refill options that the one near Blaues Wunder bridge.

If you despair in face of the piles of plastics and paper wrappings you've been collecting while doing your regular shopping, re-use your glasses, containers and bags and refill them at Lose, a cosy zero-waste corner store in Böhmische Straße.

Altstadt

The Denn's Biomarkt chain not only took over the two former Biosphäre markets in the Neustadt but also opened a new supermarket within the Altmarktgalerie shopping mall.

Near Bahnhof Mitte train station you'll find the main branch of VG Biomarkt, an organic co-operative which not only supports your zero-waste efforts but also sports its own organic fashion store.

Striesen, Blasewitz, Loschwitz, Johannstadt

The neighbourhoods along the river shore on the east side of town sport several branches of the zero-waste friendly VG Biomarkt food co-operative.

South of the Blaues Wunder bridge, local butcher's chain Vorwerk Podemus has one of its pleasant wholesale supermarkets. First address for shortly travelled organic meat of animals which had a decent life. They also have branches in the neighbourhoods of Gruna, Neustadt, Alttolkewitz as well as a farmshop. While the Podemus shops do not offer food in gravity bins, they have been increasing their product range with jogurt, honey and jams in 250 ml deposit glasses lately. Make sure to return them in any organic supermarket.

Another option in the neighbourhood of Blasewitz is the second Bio Company branch in town. Just like in the Neustadt branch the bakery disk caters for the early bird from 7:30 am.

The only branch of a nation-wide operating organic grocery chain so far is Alnatura on tram hub Straßburger Platz which many locals still refer to by its old name from GDR times, "Fucikplatz".

Bühlau, Weißer Hirsch

To find fully organic groceries on top of the hillside North of the Blaues Wunder bridge, in the elegant residential area of Weißer Hirsch and adjacent Bühlau interestingly proves to be more difficult. What I found instead was the shop of a small-scale vegan manufacturer, Vegannett (a pun made of the words "vegan" and "nice", while the second part of the name also refers to the name of the owner-founder, Annett). On the premises of a former partially organic butcher's shop she prepares vegetable spreads which you can buy in many of the aforementioned supermarkets. But if you happen to be there on a Wednesday afternoon, pay a visit, taste and shop. In addition to the spreads you can also buy local honey. And the best: Since 2022 the spreads have been coming in deposit glasses!

Klotzsche

If you fancy a stroll in the woods of Dresdner Heide or are on the way from or to the airport make sure to have sufficient time to visit the beautifully restored historical train station Klotzsche with its Vorwerk Podemus supermarket and the organic station restaurant, both catering for the early bird.

• Denn's Biomarkt (former Biosphäre), Königsbrücker Str. 76 (entrance Bischofsweg), Mon-Sat 8-21
• Denn's Biomarkt (former Biosphäre), Alaunstr. 8, Mon-Sat 8-21
• Denn's Biomarkt Altmarkgalerie, Webergasse 1, Mon-Sat 9:30-21
• Vorwerk Podemus am Schillerplatz, Hübler Str. 3, Mon-Fri(Sat) 8-20(16)
• Vorwerk Podemus Bahnhof Klotzsche, Zur Neuen Brücke 4a, Mon-Fri(Sat) 7-19(16)
• Bio Company, Königsbrücker Str. 34, Mon-Sat 8-21 (bakery shop open from 7:30)
• Bio Company Blasewitz, Tolkewitzer Str. 8-10, Mon-Sat 8-20 (bakery shop open from 7:30)
• Alnatura, Straßburger Pl. 1, Mon-Sat 8-20
• Vegannett, Bautzner Landstr. 144, Wed 15-18

Closed down

The following (partially) organic supermarkets do no longer exist although you will still find references to them on the web:

• Vorwerk Podemus Hauptbahnhof, Wiener Pl. 4
• Bio Company Postplatz, Postplatz 2b
• We love vegan, Bautzner Str. 24 (Neustadt)
• Bio-top-fit, Martin-Luther-Str.17 (Neustadt)

Bremen: Organic coffee and tea houses

A hotspot for the coffee and tea trade the Hanseatic city of Bremen has a tradition for exotic beverages, and has always been a place with room for a subtler and more sophisticated approach to these beverages than the conventional mass-market. Organic and ecological projects have been blooming here for much longer than elsewhere, and so you can expect to find long established organic places blossoming alongside recent start-ups. What you will rarely find however are shiny, polished hipster cafes.

Neustadt

If you have to describe this neighbourhood in a sentence you'd probably point to the omnipresence of flee market-purchased furniture and objects in its lovingly and individually decorated independent shops and cafes. The beer tables on the pleasant garden terrace of Cafe Radieschen ("radish") as well as its indoor walls are all painted pink! If you come hungry first have a predominantly organic vegetarian or vegan pasta dish or sandwich before you turn to their impressive choice of home-made, predominantly organic cakes. Most drinks as well as the milk are organic, you can have an organic vegan ice-cream in the summer, and ingredients are sourced locally as far as possible. Lunch is usually offered between 12 am and 3 pm, and instead of the weekend the place is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The cafe plays host to a lot of neighbourhood activities, among them home-cooking events with young refugees from the house across the street. They always take a summer vacation.

Closer to Wilhelm Kaisen bridge and a few steps from the Kaemena ice-cream parlour you'll find a sweet art cafe dubbed Cafe Frida. They serve organic tea, soft drinks and soy milk for your coffee drink alongside home-made cakes, but neither the cakes nor the coffee, milk and oat milk are organic. You may however buy organic fairly traded Slokoffie coffee sailed from Honduras and distributed by bicycle to have at home. Due to covid-19 restrictions you can not have breakfast here for the time being.

Viertel

Whether you visit the Kunsthalle museum of art or just come by on your way into the alternative neighbourhood of the Viertel climb the stairs to the museum's self-service Cafe Sylvette inside the art museum. It's run by the crew of the Canova restaurant behind the museum and offers home-made cakes, organic soft drinks or tea, coffee drinks with organic milk and partially organic savoury snacks at upmarket prices, but in stylish surroundings. When the weather is nice opt for the outdoor seating for the views (and corona safety).

Whether you want to spend some time reading with a delicious coffee drink aside or simply feel for a short espresso in between, the Contigo shop in Ostertorsteinweg is definitely worth a try. The shops of this small chain of fair-trade shops resemble each other, both, when it comes to the interior design as well as in the assortments of goods (predominantly coffee, tea, chocolate, jewellery, bags and colourful accessoiries). The Bremen branch moved lately, and, on its new premises, has quite a large area with chairs and tables so that the shop (other than the ones in Dresden or Göttingen) has more of a coffeehouse atmosphere. Although you have to place your order at the till you will be served. They use sparingly roasted high quality coffee beans which result in a "greener", tangy taste even of the milk-based drinks like a flat white.

Usually it's not crowded, and hence a place to go when you feel for a less noisy spot. Surrounded by a gorgeous fair fashion and another fair-trade shop on one side, a health food store on the other and an organic cosmetics shop (almost) opposite you may however feel tempted to spend more money than initially planned.

Another cosy and serene place for an Italian-style coffee drink is just a few steps away: the Noras reviewed in the restaurant post.

Schnoor

The city's narrowest lanes are to be found in tourist hotspot Schnoor at the other, Northern shore of the river Weser. To enjoy the atmosphere of this oldest part of town dating back to the 15th and 16th century, follow the Wüstestätte ("waste site") alleyway until the end and have a tea in a beautiful yet narrow two-storey tea house and shop dubbed Teestübchen ("little tea parlour"). Nice weather provided you can also sit outdoor and enjoy breakfast or tea time with a home-made cake, or a high tea with a pasta, typical local dishes, or Alsatian "pizza" (Flammkuchen). Many ingredients are organic, but you might want to be picky when choosing the tea since not all of them are.

Mind you: if you approach the Schnoor from the water front you'll approach the place from behind: The outdoor tables you see in the picture above do not belong to Teestübchen, and a surprised waiter from the adjacent restaurant won't be able to meet your requests. Simply move around the house!

City centre

Starting in the summer of 2020 the coffee bicycle of Coffee Bike has been offering Italian-style organic coffee drinks to city dwellers. Looks environment-friendly? Well, the bicycle is only make believe, and they serve their fare in one-way cups. You can easily top this – with a fairly traded organic coffee transported to Bremen without climate emissions by sailship and bicycle, in an earthenware cup, at the Biten food truck on the Domshof market.

On Mondays and Fridays you may also find the Bremer Straßencafé here.

For a filling (vegan) porridge and coffee drink on the go or on the spot the Haferkater cafe in the passage of the main train station is an option on weekday mornings. While all pre-packaged products of the Haferkater brand and the cow milk are organic, it remains unclear whether the freshly rolled oats, and the toppings are so. The coffee is not organically certified, but fairly traded, and the oat drink unfortunately is conventional fare. They also have a decent assortment of bowls, wraps and sweets, and the shop assistant told me that some of the ingredients used here were organic, but was hesitant to specify what. You may come with your own box or cup; if not you may get a returnable bowl or cup as long as you trust (and are willing to install) the Vytal app. Insist on an earthenware cup if you intend to drink your coffee on the spot.

At the university campus

University refectories usually are no gourmet temples, but it is nevertheless a pity that the Mensa refectory on the campus stopped to offer organic side dishes. In 2023 they increased their efforts again, and now make a commitment to use only organic dairy products (they also offer organic home-made pasta at the "Pastawerk" booth Tuesday through Thursday). So you still can have an organic and fairly traded coffee drinks with locally sourced organic milk from the coffee vending machines at Cafe Central. It's not a delight, though – the coffee tastes bitter from too high a temperature inside the machine, but it's cheap and ethical.

Tasty speciality coffee can be had from the mobile street vendor Bremer Straßencafé on Tuesdays and hursdays around lunch. (The other working days it is supposed to be found at the Domshof in the inner city (on Mondays and Fridays), and on Saturday at the Pappelstraße in the Neustadt (supposedly at the neighbourhood market place) – if you can confirm this please let me know.)

The coffee isn't certified organic, but the cow milk used for coffee drinks is. Unfortunately the lovingly decorated coffee car (a former small scale butcher's market car which the owner refurbished and staffed with both, a barista coffee machine and a dish washer) is likely to be retired soon and replaced by a car trailer. On Thursdays the vendor may sometimes still be there after 2pm.

If you want to invest into regular supermarket prices, the new branch of the local Aleco organic supermarket chain on the campus of the economics (Wirtschaftswissenschaften) school of the university has a self-service cafe where you can get organic snacks and coffee drinks. Their coffee machine however is a fully automatic one, so do not expect serious barista fare here neither. Due to covid-19 restrictions the self-service cafe is closed for the time being, but you can get coffee and cake to take away, simply don't forget to bring your own mug and lunch box to avoid waste.

Habenhausen

Obervieland is probably not the part of Bremen you will visit as a tourist, but if you happen to come here and are in the mood to mingle with natives step by the Gartencafé of the protestant St. Paul's parish in the former village of Habenhausen to have a coffee. There's fairly traded organic coffee, organic milk, organic soft drinks and drinking water bottled by a social business of the not-for-profit organisation Viva con Agua. The American cookies are of course home-made, and there are no fixed prices: You pay what you can, but please, be honest. The cafe is closed on Mondays and during the school holidays in summer.

• Radieschen, Buntentorsteinweg 65, Wed–Fri(Sat–Sun) 12(14)–18
• Café Frida, Pappelstr. 73, Thu–Sun 12–18
• Café Sylvette, Am Wall 207 (inside Kunsthalle), Mon,Wed(Tue) 9-18(21), Thu–Sat(Sun) 9–22(20)
• Contigo, Ostertorsteinweg 88, Mon–Thu(Fri–Sat) 10:30(10)–18:30(19)
• Teestübchen im Schnoor, Wüstestätte 1, daily 10–18
• Haferkater, Hauptbahnhof next to the stairs to track 5, Mon–Fri(Sat–Sun) 6(8)–20
• Cafe Central, university campus Boulevard, Mon–Thu(Fri) 8–17(15:30), during semester break (through Oct 6th, 2023) Mon–Fri 8–16
• Bremer Straßencafé, Bibliotheksstr. (in front of the Studentenhaus and the tram stop), Tue,Thu 10–14
• Aleco HB Universität, Max-Von-Laue-Str. 1, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Gartencafé Habenhausen, Habenhauser Dorfstr. 27-31, Sun–Tue 15–18, closed during summer holidays in Bremen

Closed since the covid-19 pandemics

• Melkhus, Trupe 17, Lilienthal (the Dehlwes dairy's summer cafe)

Closed

• Falko‘s Faire Bohne, Kornstr. 30
• Cafehaus Moma, Straßentor 1, Worpswede (partially organic cafe closed since August 22, 2017)
• Contigo Domshofpassage, Katharinenstr. 12–14 (moved to Ostertorsteinweg)