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This cultural department store, located right next to the Friedrichstraße station, has been delighting culture aficionados since 1997. The five-story building offers 7 300 square meters entirely dedicated to culture-related products: books, audiobooks, DVDs, CDs, vinyl records, and more. Open from Monday to Friday until midnight and on Saturdays until 11:30 pm, you’ll have plenty of time to explore this cultural maze and—hopefully—make some great discoveries. Dussmann also hosts regular cultural events and creative workshops where you can try your hand at stamp carving, letterpress printing, journaling, and more.
Location: Friedrichstraße 90, Mitte
Founded in 2003 by twin brothers Daniel and Paul Gurner, this bookshop offers the largest selection of new and used English books in Berlin. With about 80% of its collection consisting of second-hand books, Saint George actively combats book waste, making it the perfect place to find rare and out-of-print collections. Specializing in philosophy, theory, fiction, and German history, the bookshop offers a wide range of English literature as well as many translations of German and foreign works.
Location: Wörther Straße 27, Prenzlauer Berg
Another Country is a second-hand bookshop that functions more like a library. You can choose to buy a book and keep it in your collection, or you can use the “buy-and-return” system to get a partial refund on the "borrowed" books. Former owner Sophia Raphaeline made this bookstore iconic by organizing numerous cultural and social events, contributing to the spread of free speech culture. In 2010, the BBC mentioned Another Country among the top ten bookshops in the world.
Location: Riemannstraße 7, Kreuzberg
Relocated next to Rosa-Luxemburg Platz since 2007, ProQM is the kind of bookshop that will captivate you with both its carefully curated collection and its minimalist, aesthetically pleasing decor designed by architects. Specializing in art and design, urbanism and architecture, cultural theory, and economic critique, ProQM’s collection includes internationally oriented books, magazines, and periodicals. The bookshop also hosts regular events in various formats, such as book launches and interdisciplinary discussions on topics ranging from architectural theory to music and film.
Location: Almstadtstraße 48-50, Mitte
Nestled in the Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood, Mundo Azul is an independent bookshop specializing in international children's and teenagers’ literature. The shop promotes small publishing houses from around the world, offering books in many languages: a large selection in German, Spanish, English, French, Italian, and Portuguese, as well as Arabic, Polish, Russian, Chinese, and more. The owner, Mariela Nagle, originally from Argentina, has turned her bookshop into a space that promotes intercultural awareness and diversity. She organizes lectures and seminars on literature and education-related topics, such as multilingualism, and promotion and visual language of children's books.
Location: Choriner Straße 49, Prenzlauer Berg
Joining a book or writing club is the perfect way to meet new people who share a passion for literature. It offers you the opportunity to broaden and deepen your reading, discuss your views with other enthusiasts, and improve your writing skills and style.
A growing number of book clubs now operate as events or groups on social media and networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or Meetup.
One example is Berlin Book Swap, a group of avid readers who meet in cafés and parks around the city to discuss books. What sets this book club apart is its focus on book exchanges. Participants bring a book they’d like to swap, discuss the books available, and everyone leaves with a new book to read. It’s a fun way to discover new reading recommendations and connect with fellow readers.
Numerous thematic reading groups exist in the city, such as the Berlin Feminist Book Club, which meets monthly to read and discuss contemporary feminist literature.
And if you can’t find what you’re looking for in one of the existing groups, why not start your own book club with passionate friends?
Many Berlin bookshops are expanding their offerings by organizing literary events and even hosting their own book clubs. For example, Curious Fox, a bookshop in Kreuzberg run by Irish owners, holds a literary evening every third Thursday of the month at 7:30 pm to discuss a previously selected book. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, and new participants are always welcome.
Shakespeare & Sons, as mentioned earlier, also occasionally hosts literary writing events.
Enrolling in a writing workshop is an excellent way to effectively enhance your stylistic skills. Surrounded by professionals and fellow students, you’ll have the opportunity to make lasting progress. Berlin offers several writing workshops, including the Berlin Writers’ Workshop, which provides a range of classes, from creative writing to nonfiction and poetry. They also offer a “Reading Like a Writer” class, where a selected book is discussed and analyzed in depth.
From unique bookshops to various reading clubs and writing workshops, Berlin is a haven for book lovers. Explore the city’s literary offerings to find your next great read or writing inspiration.
