Hoeck E-Book

Matthias Gerschwitz

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 62

Beschreibung

»Wilhelm Hoeck 1892«: Stories and histories from the oldest beer pub in Charlottenburg, home of a 1932 Olympic champion. This book is about beer, schnapps and tradition, about an oarsman and a sensational Olympic victory. It is about a cash register, a jukebox and of course about people - people who made this place to be the one it is. This book is about a gem of Berlin gastronomy: the old-style Berlin pub and restaurant »Wilhelm Hoeck 1892« in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Just enter, and you will be captivated by a long gone era. You forget time and plans, and stay until the last call and glass. And you will hear yourself promise to come back and show it to all your friends. Many have kept their word. No wonder: once you have been to »Hoeck«, you are compelled to return as often as possible. Wilhelm Hoeck 1892 is old and antique, original and authentic. Dark paneled walls, scoured tables, time-honored schnapps kegs and shelves full of old bottles tell stories and histories from more than onehundred twenty-five years. It sure is a fine piece of old Berlin.

Leseprobe

AUTHOR

Matthias Gerschwitz, born 1959, was raised in Solingen, a German town between Cologne and Düsseldorf. After his university graduation, he worked as product manager for a manufacturer of household products and subsequently for an international fragrance company. He moved to Berlin in 1992 where he has been working as a marketing consultant. He started publishing books in 2007, initially focusing on his fondness for history.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Step In, Please

Outside Berlin's Gates

The »Wilhelm Hoeck« Story

Twelve Inches From Victory

Spotting Regulars

Heinrich Zille – The Sharp-Witted Observer

Tradition At Its Best

The Taste Of Berlin

Finally …

Picture Credits & References

Wilhelm Hoeck 1892

Wilmersdorfer Straße 149 · 10585 Berlin/ Germany

Telephone: [phone] · www.wilhelm-hoeck.de

STEP IN, PLEASE!

Following the traces of an old city usually means discovering the city center. But if you want to get a whiff of the famous Berliner Luft – the »Air of Berlin«, as a well-known Berlin operetta song from 1904 is called –, there are many places to explore. Berlin as it is today did not exist before October 1, 1920. The first German megacity emerged from the former royal residence first mentioned in the 13th century, seven other cities, fifty-nine villages and twenty-seven other rural districts. Many of the historic ninety-six boroughs are still alive. This is why the Berlin feeling is connected to typical Berlin attributes rather than architecture. Berlin in essence is characters, like the organ grinder who delights the audience with old Berlin melodies. It is the infamous Schnauze mit Herz Berlin way to talk, meaning »attitude with a big heart«. It is the Milljöh – the social environment of the poor living in the backyards of tenements around 1900 and the many beer taverns located at almost every other street corner.

Today, not many Berlin originals remain. Only a few organ grinders keep memories alive; most of the backyards are redeveloped; instead of the Berliner Schnauze dialect you hear languages and dialects from near and far. And many taverns have given way to upscale bars, restaurants and lounges. Some of them do look old, but mostly are nothing more than window dressing. But some real historic taverns are still to be found, places that seem to have been there ever since man first set foot into what later became known as Berlin. You may have to search for those places, since they are not necessarily located on worn tourist itineraries. But this exactly why the visit is worth the detour.

Wilhelm Hoeck (1870 – 1933)

This book is about such a gem of Berlin gastronomy: the old-style Berlin pub and restaurant Wilhelm Hoeck 1892 in Berlin-Charlottenburg, not too far away from the opera house Deutsche Oper. Just enter, and you will be captivated by a long gone era. You forget time and plans, and stay until the last call and glass. And you will hear yourself promise to come back and show it to all your friends. Many have kept their word. No wonder: once you have been to Hoeck, you are compelled to return as often as possible. Wilhelm Hoeck 1892 is old and antique, original and authentic. Dark paneled walls, scoured tables, time-honored schnapps kegs and shelves full of old bottles tell stories and histories from more than onehundred twenty-five years. It sure is a fine piece of old Berlin.

OUTSIDE BERLIN‘S GATES

The »fine piece of old Berlin« actually is a fine piece of old Charlottenburg, which still was a city in its own rights when Wilhelm Hoeck started his business in 1892.

According to documents from 1239, today’s Charlottenburg was first mentioned as the colony of Lucene. Later, names like Lützow, Lützen or Lietzow appeared. The colony was located south of the Spree river, close to the actual Charlottenburg’s town hall. Since 1937, a street named Alt-Lietzow recalls the origins of the name.

Sophie Charlotte, wife of Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg, must have fallen in love with this particular landscape when she decided to have Lietzenburg Palace built.

Charlottenburg Palace (around 1900)

All the craftsmen working on the building between 1695 and 1699 needed somewhere to live. So, a little colony was built just across the construction area.

In 1701, the Elector of Brandenburg was crowned Prussian King Frederick I, and Sophie Charlotte ordered the Lietzenburg Palace to be upgraded to a representative place. When she died in 1705, Frederick renamed the palace and the colony as Charlottenburg to honor his beloved wife. The colony received its town charter. Although the king had the palace completed, he never set foot into the building, but continued to mourn in the Berlin Stadtschloss palace.

His successor, Frederick William I, also known as the Soldier-King, did not really care for Charlottenburg Palace, but did invest in enlarging the town. His son, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great, did not follow the tradition of his predecessors. He relocated the royal court to Charlottenburg and added prestigious buildings to the steadily growing town. Frederick the Great later left Charlottenburg for his newly built Sanssouci Palace at Potsdam. But his successors on the Prussian throne returned and made Charlottenburg their favorite residence.

Meanwhile the townspeople of Berlin also were attracted to the Western suburb; it became a favorite destination for weekends and summer vacations. No wonder, as of 1770 many restaurants and beer gardens opened along the main streets Charlottenburger Chaussee and Berliner Straße – today: Straße des 17. Juni and Otto-Suhr-Allee. They led from Brandenburg Gate through the Tiergarten forest into the heart of Charlottenburg. As of 1817, a regular boat line on the Spree river also connected the two cities. This was too expensive for most of the citizens. They preferred carriages, the so-called Torwagen – an early and uncomfortable form of public transportation. Later, a savvy entrepreneur offered a regular service with well-sprung carriages named Kremser after their inventor, which operated up to 40 times a day. They were replaced by horse-drawn streetcars in 1865. In 1881, finally, the first electric streetcars connected Charlottenburg to the Berlin city limits at the Brandenburg Gate.

But not only leisure activities attracted the Berlin’s citizens. Charlottenburg became an sought after place to live, because estates were less expensive than in Berlin. Subsequently, wealthy bankers and entrepreneurs like Werner von Siemens built representative mansions with park-like gardens. By the way: on March 1, 1879, the von Siemens mansion became the first private building in Germany to be illuminated by electric light.

»Berliner Straße« (around 1800), direction Charlottenburg Palace

As the entrepreneurs moved to Charlottenburg, they also relocated their companies, such as the Royal China Manufactory KPM or Siemens. The steadily rising tax receipts allowed the town to grow from a residential suburb to an upscale town with broad streets, well-groomed parks, splendid residences and impressive public buildings. The new jewel in the crown was the Kurfürstendamm, which before had been nothing more than a riding path to the Hunting Lodge at the Grunewald forest. But starting in 1890, the Kudamm, as it is still fondly called, became a swank boulevard flanked by baronial estates even in its side streets. It was a place to promenade and display one’s wealth and a place to live life to the fullest, to enjoy art, culture and all forms of entertainment. And there were