Berlin: Organic Kreuzberg

Nowhere in Germany it is easier to adhere to an organic lifestyle than in its capital – provided you aim for appropriately inhabited neighbourhoods all you have to do is to keep your eyes open. Many of those neighbourhoods can be found in the administrative unit of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, and this blog will cover only the tip of the iceberg, i.e. the places I found during a two-days visit. The places covered in the first two sections are all located in Kreuzberg 61, the neighbourhood considered the bourgeouis part of Kreuzberg.

Near Deutsches Technikmuseum

The German Museum of Technology near tube-station Möckernbrücke clearly is a place to spend hours in – but what if you start to feel hungry or the urge for a coffee? For the occasional tourist this wonderful museum seems to be located in the middle of nowhere, but don't dispair! Head East and follow Tempelhofer Ufer back to the tube station, and turn to the right after the second traffic-light. A few steps into Großbeerenstraße you will find an organic gem with roots back in former West-Berlin's green-alternative past. Today it's a friendly though a little worn-out grocery cum eatery dubbed Ökotussi ("eco-Sheila") run by a bunch of practical women. Stop by for a hearty vegetarian (usually vegan) lunch (the vegan lasagna we had was delicious and sufficient for two), a salad or snack or an Italian-style coffee drink.

Around Marheinekeplatz

Follow Zossener Straße from tube-stop Gneisenaustraße in Southern direction, and you'll end up in a neighbourhood that most eco-conscious people will consider the ultimate paradise: three organic (or predominantly organic) whole-sale supermarkets, four organic bakeries, four at minimum partially organic restaurants and eateries, and a number of other shops offering selected organic products, everything within a five minutes walk, all with liberal opening hours compared to the rest of Germany. The eateries of this neighbourhood dubbed Bergmannkiez try to outdo one another in advertising their vegan options – it seems a luxury to point out that vegan even here usually does not imply organic.

Restaurants and eateries

Promenading Bergmannstraße (which makes for the Southern border of Marheinekeplatz) to the West you will find Fratelli La Bionda, a decent Italian pizzeria using organic flour and tomatoes for their pizze. No place for lunch since the restaurant does not open before evening. If you take your seat around the tables on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, opposing a park with a children's playground you will kindly be asked to move inside around half past 9 pm. Since the eateries covered below all close between 8 and 9 pm (or even earlier during the weekend) this place is the only option for your evening out covered in this post.

This nicely restored mall is a Mekka for foodies. Opposite Friesenstraße you will find Piechas Bio-Buffet, a slow-food whole-organic grill. Although vegan and vegetarian dishes are offered, too, their focus is clearly on organic meat, from nose to tail. Arguably Berlin's best beef burgers are served here, and unlike other places they won't cook your meat to death when you forget to order rare. If you want to try Berliner Currywurst (curried sausage) and other German meat dishes at all – so here. Heavily frequented during lunch hours service can be a bit bumpy, and more frequent cleaning of the bar tables would often be nice. You can choose from an impressive range of organic softdrinks, or have beer or very decent cider made from apples organically grown in the wild of Berlin's surroundings. Mayonaise and ketchup for your fries have to be ordered separately.

If you walk around the booth you will find the counter of the organic butcher's shop where you can buy sausages, offal and all the cuts from free-range cattle and pigs kept well at small-scale organic farms in the vicinity and slaughtered respectfully.

Bakeries

Lunch and coffee drinks are also being served by organic bakery Beumer & Lutum, a few steps north on Zossener Straße. If you want your coffee on the go make sure to bring your own mug which entitles you to a small discount. While the two organic bakery boothes within the Marheineke mall – Mehlwurm in the centre of the market hall, and Biobackhaus in the North-Eastern part – are closed on Sundays and open at 8 am, Beumer & Lutum is catering for the early bird Monday through Saturday from 7 am. It also used to keep open on Sundays, but that's past: Due to staff shortness in 2022 the shop is open only on weekday mornings. It offers a small selection of organic food items to complete your breakfast table. The bakery boothes in the mall still have longer opening hours, but do not serve coffee or lunch. Mehlwurm is the first bakery I know of offering an open source bread (with beetroot and walnuts).

For the sweet tooth

Italian-style organic coffee drinks can also be had from the Tanne b ice-cream parlour on the crossing of Zossener and Bergmannstraße. They use organic milk for their all-natural ice-creams served in vegan cones, and offer vegan options, too. Children are served slightly smaller scoops for the price of 80 cents (instead of 1.20 euros for regular servings). In 2019 the ice-cream season has been announced to start 7th March.

Around the corner from Fratelli La Bionda you'll find cosy Cafe Conni Island where you can treat yourself with lovely home-made, partially organic cakes and a coffee drink made with organic milk. The place is run by an artist whom you can hire to paint your walls with art, and since she usually serves herself the opening hours are restricted to afternoons and the second half of the week.

Supermarkets

With a branch of the vegan supermarket chain Veganz on the first floor of Marheineke-Markthalle facing Marheinekeplatz, a branch of Berlin-based organic wholesale chain Bio-Company on Bergmannstraße/Friesenstraße crossing and an Alnatura branch on the East-side of the park, all with liberal opening hours compared to German standards it's hard to find an excuse for not buying organic. The Bio-Company bakery booth even opens for the early bird at 7:30 am.

While both, Alnatura an Bio-Company sell exclusively organically certified items you have to be careful at Veganz: The grocery products and most of the German and Austrian brands on display are organic (and can be found in almost any other organic supermarket), but they also offer a lot of imported vegan products, and a great deal of them are not organic. Unfortunately these are not clearly marked on the shelves, so you should be familiar with organic branding outside the continent. On the plus side this Veganz supermarket introduced self-service dispensers offering more than 80 different dry products waiting to be filled in the containers you brought with you.

Shopping

If you're on a shopping spree or in search for a gift, and the body care sections of the organic supermarkets seem too boring, there's an organic beauty shop dubbed Belladonna in Bergmannstraße. Light and inviting, with a great selection of all kinds of natural creams, body lotions, perfumes, hair care, make-up and much more, both for men and women, this is a must-go for everyone, not just beauty addicts.

Also need new clothes? One of the three Berlin-based shops of the Dresden-based organic fashion and interior design label Tranquillo is located right in the vicinity.

Around Schlesisches Tor

The Japanese go mad about Trippen shoes, and if you go for fairly and eco-consciously produced leather shoes of unusual design (some of the soles alone can be considered art) the Trippen factory outlet near tube stop Schlesisches Tor is definitely worth a visit. Unlike in their stylish flagship store within Hackesche Höfe you have to browse shoe boxes for your size, and all the pairs are remaining stock or have small defects like miscolourings. In return prices are well below usual market price. You will find children's, women's and men's shoes (even the ones better described as sculptures are astonishingly comfy), and the staff is very helpful.

Kreuzberg 36

One of the many organic groceries turned partially organic eateries and delis is Der Milchladen ("The milk shop") near tube stop Moritzplatz. In the heart of what is dubbed the wild and autonomous migrant Kreuzberg you can have a hearty lunch, sandwiches, coffee and (cheese) cake as well as breakfast, vegan, vegetarian and omnivore.

The place is situated a few steps from the flagship store of one of the oldest eco-conscious Berlin fashion labels, Luzifer in Oranienstraße. All their clothes are made of linen and hemp, and unlike other labels they don't have short-lived collections: If you wore out your favourite dress, shirt or pair of trousers, you will usually be able to buy a replacement. When my favourite dress (of which I had two copies) after ten years continous use had too many holes they happily made a new one of the good parts for a very competitive price. They offer both, a men's and a women's collection, and you will often be served a tisane or a cookie in their light and friendly showroom.

• Ökotussi, Großbeerenstr. 11, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7(9)–18(14)
• Fratelli La Bionda, Bergmannstr. 31, daily 18–01
• Piechas Bio-Buffet, Marheinekepl. 15, Stand 13, Mon–Fri(Sat) 11–20(18)
• Beumer & Lutum, Zossener Str. 34, Mon–Sat 7–13
• Biobackhaus, Marheinekepl. 15, Stand 69, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–20(18)
• Mehlwurm, Marheinekepl. 15, Stand 10, Mon–Fri 8–20(18)
• Tanne B., Marheinekepl. 15, Stand 29, daily 11–22
• Cafe Conni Island, Heimstr. 24, Fri–Sun 12–18:30
• Veganz, Marheinekepl. 15, 1st floor, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–20(18)
• Bio Company, Friesenstr. 1, Mon–Sat 8–21
• Alnatura, Schleiermacherstr. 25, Mon–Sat 8–21
• Singles & Samples by Trippen, Köpenicker Str. 187–188, Mon–Sat 10–18
• Tranquillo, Bergmannstr. 101, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–20(19)
• Belladonna Naturkosmetik, Bergmannstr. 107, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–19(18)
• Der Milchladen, Dresdener Str. 20, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8(11)–19(16)
• Luzifer, Oranienstr. 169, Mon–Sat 10–18

Shut down

The following places are closed for good:

• Doçura Chocolate, Zossener Str. 20 (partially organic confectioner's store)
• Glück to go, Friesenstr. 26 (cafe)
• Goodies, Marheinekepl. 15, 1st floor (vegan cafe)
• The Bowl, Marheinekepl. 15, 1st floor (eatery)
• Schulz&Korn, Köpenicker Str. 190 (organic groery store cum eatery)

Organic Bruneck/Brunico

On a long-distance bike tour like the one from Munich to Venice the challenge is not to know when you will arrive where. So upfront research on the net isn't an option unless you really have lots of time to spend on preparing the tour. So when we arrived in Bruneck at lunch time my backlist contained only one item, a small organic supermarket which not only was closed for the traditional Italian lunch break, but had closed for good a few monthes ago, in June 2022.

Luckily we found a branch of the South-Tyrolean delicatessen Pur Südtirol selling regional produce, a majority of certified organic quality. Everything is presented in style, there's an organic bakery till and one for cheese and (not organic) cold cuts. A few gravity bins allow customers to refill dry food (not organic as far as I could see); the fresh fruits and greens were all organic.

There's a nice self-serviced cafe corner offering a daily changing seasonal vegetarian main course. Since we wanted to have our bikes within eye-sight outdoor seating was the only option. Unfortunately all these tables were taken, so we decided to proceed our tour through the Puster valley and take with us rolls, which the friendly service staff filled with cheese and some greens while I was waiting.

Across the main street, Graben, a health-food shop, the Reformhaus Egger can help to complete supplies.

• Pur Südtirol, Herzog-Sigmund-Str./Via Duca Sigismondo 4/a, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7:30–19:15(14)
• Reformhaus Egger, Am Graben/Via Bastioni 26, Mon–Sat 8:45–12:30,Mon–Fri(Sat) 15–19(18)

More to try

• EMbio, Althingstr./Via Althing 41/a, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9–12:30(12),Mon–Fri 15–18

Closed

• Bio-Logisch, St. Lorenzner Str. 6/b

Verona: Zero Waste

So far I haven't found dedicated organic zero-waste shops which sell most of the food items from self-service dispensers in the Veneto yet. Italians are very fond of nice packaging, and even in dedicated organic supermarkets the cashier will helpfully offer you a (bio-degradable) bag. But the times are changing, and declining it will no longer be met with unbelief.

In fact all NaturaSi supermarkets I visited in 2022 and 2021 (namely the ones in Selvazzano Dentro, Abano Terme and the one in Verona's neighbourhood of San Zeno a little North-West of the Porta Nuova train station) not only offer most fruits and vegetables without packing, but also a small selection of dry food from gravity bins which you weigh into your own (pre-weighted) boxes and jars. In addition the San Zeno shop offers loose-weight household detergents to be bought by the gram.

As of NaturaSi's information the same should also apply to the branches in the neighbourhood of Veronetta and in the suburb of San Massimo (which also sports an organic day cafe).

• NaturaSi San Zeno, Via Carlo Pisacane 2/a, Mon-Sat 9-14,16-20, closed Nov 1st and Dec 12th, 2022
• NaturaSi Veronetta, Via Francesco Torbido 11/b, Mon-Sat 9-20
• NaturaSi San Massimo, Corso Milano 110, Mon-Sat 8-20

Organic Hof (Saale)

With the word Hof meaning "farm" in German it is a tough job to search the web for organic places in this nice medieval town in Franconia. To many the name of the city may be known as the first West-German train station on a train ride crossing the border between the two former German states, the GDR and the FRG, but in fact the city dates back to around 1230. Extra state fonds for being a frontier town are a thing of the past, but the town still has a philharmonic orchestra, a theatre and a noteworthy film festival. It's frequently reachable by regional trains (e.g. two hours from Nuremberg or 2.5 hours from Leipzig or Dresden) and has a beautiful station building. The city is also a nice stop when you take the Saale-Radweg bicycle route, if only to get a glimpse of an archetypal West-German city of the 1990ies.

Daily necessities

Located between the main train station and the centre of the old town you will find Voll gut, a traditional owner-run organic supermarket. Pick a tomato or other small vegetable, choose some cheese and a roll, and the friendly shop keeper will prepare a sandwich for you, to take away or to eat at the sole coffee table with an organic coffee drink or tea. There's no dedicated zero waste corner with gravity bins, but you will find a decent selection of dry food in deposit glasses as well as dairy products, plant-based milk alternatives and beverages in returnable glasses and bottles. Some cottage cheeses and preserved meat spread come in glasses which you can return without a deposit.

Hof isn't far from Töpen, the homebase of one of Germany's major organic wholesale traders, Dennree, and hence the city's branch of the affiliated Biomarkt supermarkets, the Biomarkt Speisekammer in the neighbourhood of Alsenberg (south of the main train station) may count as a local organic supplier. The shop emerged from a smaller traditional organic shop in Ludwigstraße.

Of course, there's also a traditional health-food shop in the pedestrian area of the inner city, the Reformhaus "Gesund&fit". As in any other Reformhaus you'll find organic dry food and sweets, dairy products and vegetarian alternatives, bakery products, herbs and spices, tea and beverages, canned food and preserves, natural bodycare and sustainable cleaning agents, but only about half of it is organically certified, so check labels if unsure.

Sweets, chocolates, tea and more

If you like tea for real you should better pay a visit to one of the city's tea specialist shops. Tea 4 You near Lorenzkirche offers a decent selection of organic green, black and herbal teas. Bring your own tea boxes or jars to avoid waste.

More organic tea as well as organic seeds can be found at the Alraune tea shop in the Westend neighbourhood. The shop moved recently, so do not be surprised if you find it listed under its old address on the opposite side of traffic-heavy Marienstraße, in number 52.

If you have a sweet tooth pay a visit to the Feinzeugs confectioner's store in the old town. It's not dedicated organic, but there's a decent selection of organic sweets, cookies, olives, oil and other delicatessen. They also sell the city's official organic and fair-trade certified chocolate, the "Hofschokolade" which comes in about 4-6 different flavours.

This chocolate is produced by the city's oldest confectioners', the Viennese style coffee house Café Vetter in the Münsterviertel, a nice neighbourhood dating from the Wilhelminian period. With its red plush chairs the cafe to the right of the attached bakery shop invites to have an organic tea or coffee drink. Unfortunately the chocolate is the only organic product made by this artisanal bakery cum confectionery. When I asked the friendly service staff whether organic ingredients would be used in their breads, cakes and rolls she regretfully denied. The place looks a bit forlorn facing the big void of a deserted gap site, but it keeps open all days, including Sundays and public holidays. The cafe (just like the Voll gut supermarket) accepts the local "currency", the Hof Geld, a voucher scheme supporting the local economy.

There's a second Café Vetter branch by the city's hospital. I don't expect more organic items in these surroundings, but hopefully not less, coffee, tea and chocolate.

Coffee and lunch

For partially organic, vegetarian or vegan lunch and/or an organic coffee drink with or without a piece of home-made cake head to cafe Jasmin, indoors lovingly decorated with small figures and other nick-nack. It's the place where you, in other cities, would expect to mingle with students, artists, young parents with prams and/or health-conscious office workers during their lunch break. However, just as in any other shop I managed to visit during my lunch break and on my way to the train station in the early afternoon, it was far from crowded, despite the outdoor seating and the beautiful summer weather.

For a 100 percent organic snack, either sweet or savory, head for Kreperia Kampschulte, a pretty much hole-in-the-wall creperie in the main pedestrian area opposite the church St. Marien. The owner is happy to have a chat, in a non-intrusive way. Hadn't I been in a rush to catch my train, I'd definitely loved to have a French-style buckwheat pancake.

Artisanal toys and gifts

Wooden toys and games, doll houses, pottery, candles, stationary, oils, honey, liqueurs and other high-quality products made by people with handicaps can be found at Invito next to Lorenzpark. Unfortunately my time only allowed for a brief glimpse at the shop.

• Voll gut, Bismarckstr. 39, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–19(14)
• Speisekammer, Wunsiedler Str. 7, Mon–Wed(Thu–Fri) 8–19(20), Sat 8–18
• Reformhaus "Gesund & fit", Karolinenstr. 48, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9:30–18(14)
• Tea 4 You, Lorenzstr. 18, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9(10)–18(16)
• Alraune, Marienstr. 45, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9–18(13)
• Feinzeugs, Altstadt 24, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9–18(14)
• Café Vetter, Biengässchen 2, daily 7–17
• Jasmin, Karolinenstr. 34, Wed–Sat(Sun) 10–18(14)
• Kreperia Kampschulte, Lorenzstr. 3, Mon–Sat 11–17
• Invito, Mühlberg 19, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–18(14)

More to try

Given the name Kampschulte I'd expect the public canteen cum restaurant of the city's theatre, Kampschultes Kultur-Kantine to use at least some organic ingredients and serve a minimum of organic beverages. However, information on the web was sparse and time limited, so you're on your own to explore.

Without doubt a hundred percent organic or (when it comes to body care and household chemistry) of natural origin are the products of Violey, a leading and reliable organic webshop in Germany. They ran a nice chemist's shop in the old town, opposite the townhall (Rathaus), but when I came there in summer 2022 I came a little too late: A few weeks ago the shop closed for good, in favour of an outlet store on the premises of their warehouse which I did not have time to visit.

• Kampschultes Kultur-Kantine, Fröbelstr., Mon–Fri 9–14:30, 17:30–22 and before and after each theatre
• Café Vetter am Klinikum, Eppenreuther Str. 28 , Mon–Thu(Fri) 7:15–18(15), Sun 12–17
• Violey, Wilhelm-Maybach-Str. 4, Tue–Fri(Sat) 10:30(9:30)–18(13)

Closed

• Violey, Ludwigstr. 27 (natural bodycare and household chemicals, now online only)
• Eine-Welt-Laden, Marienstr. 5 (fair trade shop)
• Speisekammer, Ludwigstr. 9 moved here
• Kafe Kampschulte, Karolinenstr. 34 (replaced by Cafe Jasmin)

Lilienthal: Zero-waste

Although located in the state of Lower Saxony the municipality of Lilienthal is not only the terminal stop of Bremen's tram no.4, it's also easily reachable by bicycle from Bremen, e.g. via the car-free Jan-Reiners-Wanderweg. This beautiful bicycle route through the Hollerland (a cultural landscape created by drainage by Dutch settlers around the year 1000) was opened as early as 1970 and partially runs in lieu of the former Jan Reiners train tracks, a steam train line from Bremen to Lilienthal through the moors which was operated between 1900 and 1956.

In Lilienthal make sure to stop by the wonderful farmshop of the organic farm dairy Dehlwes with its milk vending machine. The milk is guaranteed to travel no longer that 10 kilometres on average and is processed here exclusively. Although the shop isn't decidedly zero waste (in fact all other dairy products and the meat in the fridge and freezer are pre-packaged in plastics) the friendly shop assistant will happily fill your bags with bread, rolls and pastries and your boxes and jars with cheese and meat products from the sales counter. All cattle, milk and bakery products as well as mindblowingly fresh veges, fruits and (in summer) berries come from the close region (there's a separate shelf for imported fruit and veges), and – following the nose-to-tail approach – you will also find ready-made meat and offal preparations in glass jars. Just across the street you can pay a visit to the farm's own cows and hens. There used to be a small cafe on the street, the Melkhus, which has been closed since the covid-19 pandemics started in 2020.

One supplying farm to the Dehlwes dairy is the one run by the Kaemena family which has their own 24x7 open milk vending machine.

New in 2021 Lilienthal also sports a spacious, light and clean package-free self-service supermarket, the Kerngeschäft (a pun with the German translation of "core business") on the premises of the former bookstore a few steps off the town's main shopping street, Klosterstraße. During the summer the only fresh veges available were potatoes, but it is not unlikely that There's everything you need of household chemicals (including dish washer tabs by the piece), products for personal hygiene, dry food and fresh dairy products (by the Kaemena farm). Some like locally produced caramels and ketchup aren't organic, clearly visible by the missing word "bio". When I was there in the summer of 2021 the friendly shop owner told me that after the summer holidays opening hours would be increased to 8-18 Mon through Saturday, and there were plans to keep open until 8 pm at least one day per week, possibly on Thursdays.

• Hofladen Dehlwes, Trupe 18, Lilienthal, Mon–Sat 8:30–18:30
• Kerngeschäft, Stadskanaal 1,, Lilienthal, Mon–Sat(Mon,Thu) 8:30–13(18), during summer school holidays Mon,Thu(Tue,Fri,Sat) 9-18(13), summer-closed July 25 through August 10, 2022.