Café Sibylle

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Café Sibylle, 2009

The Café Sibylle is a café in the Karl-Marx-Allee no. 72 in Berlin , in 1953 under the name Milchtrinkhalle was opened and has since operated with short breaks.

history

Milchbar, 1957

The milk drinking hall opened in 1953 on what was then Stalinallee, which was then transformed into a splendid socialist boulevard . Shortly thereafter, in milk bar renamed, she was initially as just such and designed ice cream parlor. In the 1960s, due to political influences, the name was changed to Café Sibylle . The name referred to the women's magazine Sibylle , which was popular in the GDR , since editors and models, as well as fashion shows, are said to have held regular meetings in the café. By designing the street, now known as Karl-Marx-Allee, to become a socialist showpiece with selected shops and facilities, the cafe soon became an exclusive address and developed into a central point of contact in the district. After the reunification , the Café Sibylle was closed.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the café was reopened. In addition to the café, a permanent exhibition was set up showing the history of Stalinallee / Karl-Marx-Allee. During the renovation work before the reopening, original wall paintings from the days of the ice cream parlor in the 1950s were uncovered, which were incorporated into the design of the new Café Sibylle. Due to financial and contractual discrepancies as well as the bankruptcy of the operating association that rented the premises, the café was closed on April 1, 2018.

In July 2018 it was announced that a new operator had been found for Café Sibylle, who would continue to run the exhibition in addition to the café. The Café Sibylle was reopened on November 16, 2018 with an official inauguration ceremony, which was also attended by Hans Modrow , the last head of government of the GDR. Modrow described the café at the opening as “a symbol of the capital”. Regular operations resumed the next day.

exhibition

Stalin's ear

The exhibition in Café Sibylle documents the history of Stalin- and later Karl-Marx-Allee. On display are old construction plans, photos and other exhibits from the time the street was redesigned in the 1950s and the years up until the fall of the Wall. The exhibition also houses various everyday objects from the GDR in the 1950s and 1960s.

The most curious pieces in this exhibition include two fragments of the former Stalin monument that stood on Stalinallee from 1951 to 1961: an ear and a piece of the beard. Workers who were involved in the dismantling of the monument kept these parts as souvenirs and made them available when the exhibition was erected.

Others

The yellow neon lettering "Café Sibylle" above the entrance door, as well as the lettering of the Karl Marx bookstore a few doors down, have been placed under monument protection in order to counteract the disappearance of the neon advertising widespread in the GDR .

literature

  • Martin Jander: Berlin (GDR). A political city walk. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2003, p. 38 ff. ISBN 978-3-86153-293-4 .
  • Peter Devaere: Berlin Cafés: The 50 most original coffee houses in the capital. CreateSpace 2016, p. 47 f. ISBN 978-1-53763-869-0 .

Web links

Commons : Café Sibylle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Sebastian Blottner: Café Sibylle relies on GDR history without Ostalgie. Berliner Morgenpost, April 6, 2016, accessed on September 18, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Kristin Kruthaup: East Berlin cult Café Sibylle front corner. Märkische Allgemeine, March 19, 2018, accessed on September 18, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b Eberhard Schade: Living in the architectural monument Karl-Marx-Allee. Deutschlandfunk Kultur, accessed on September 20, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Andreas Hartmann: Coffee is running out in the east. The daily newspaper, March 20, 2018, accessed on September 18, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Nele Jensch: New hope for the Café Sibylle on Karl-Marx-Allee. Der Tagesspiegel, July 5, 2018, accessed on September 18, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Christian Gehrke: Cult meeting of the East - Cafe Sibylle has reopened. Berliner Zeitung, November 18, 2018, accessed on November 25, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Jens-Axel Götze: Swedish ice cream cup and Stalin's mustache. Friedrichshainer Chronik, May 2011, accessed on September 20, 2018 (Memento in the Internet Archive ).
  8. ^ Annette Hörnig: Struggle for the cult café. Super Illu, April 5, 2018, accessed September 20, 2018 .
  9. ^ Lothar Bertels: Gotha im Wandel 1990–2012 . Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-03684-3 , p. 163 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '2.3 "  N , 13 ° 26' 13.3"  E