Berlin Portrait: Luisa Weiss, The Wednesday Chef
by James Glazebrook
How long have you been here?
Well, I moved to Berlin in December 2009, so the short answer is that I’ve been here for three-and-a-half years. But the long answer is that I was born here and spent my childhood between Berlin, where my mother lived (still does, actually) and Boston, where my father and I moved after my parents divorced. I went to high school in Berlin and then left for college in 1995. After finishing university in the States, I got a job in New York and stayed there for ten years before deciding to move home again in 2009.
What brought you here?
A combination of factors: my lifelong homesickness for the city and my love affair with my husband being the most important ones.
Tell us about your Kiez, and what you like about it.
We live in northwest Charlottenburg, near Klausener Platz and across the street from Schloss Charlottenburg. I wasn’t sure about the neighborhood when we first found the apartment. At first glance, it seemed weirdly anonymous. But now that we’ve settled in, I love it so much, I never want to leave. It’s a really peaceful neighborhood. Incredibly quiet and verdant, but it still feels like you’re close to all kinds of things, with the Schloss across the way and the Berggruen and Bröhan Museums, among others, visible from our living room window. Klausener Kiez is a real mix of Turkish families, young professionals and old ladies – to me it feels very much like the old West Berlin I grew up in.
What are your five favourite things in your neighbourhood?
I can walk to the Antikmeile Suarezstrasse, the Lietzensee or the nearby Restaurant Engelbecken in minutes, or I can get lost in the Schlosspark Charlottenburg with its manicured hedges and gardens. I can have delicious Börek from a wood-fired oven or organic tomato-fennel soup with a slice or two of Vollkornbrot from one of Berlin’s oldest Vollkornbäckereien, Brotgarten.
Especially now that we have a baby, I feel like there’s no better place for us to live.
Just finished your ” My Berlin Kitchen” book . The recipes brought back many tasty memories of my childhood. Can’t wait to make Pflaumenmus ( for starters) . My tree is full of Zwetchen , the first time in ten years.
Thanks
Gisela
Loved the Berlin Kitchen book .Thanks for bringing my mothers and grandmothers recipes back toLife. My Zwetchen tree is full of fruit this year and I hope to make Pflaumen mus.
Dear Mrs. Weiss,
My granddaughter gave me your e-mail, but for some reason she did not mention that you lived in Berlin. How thrilled I was to read about you. I was born and raised in Berlin, in Schoeneberg, and I was there all during WW II. Not the best time to be in that once, and again, beautiful city. I have traveled with my husband the world over, but no city compares with Berlin. Perhaps it is because I was born there. I came to the U.S. in Dec.1954. I am a trained Chef and had my own Restaurant when I was younger. I still speak and read etc. German. I have no close relatives left in Berlin, only childhood friends. I have not been back to Berlin for several years, only take a few trips through Google Earth.
Most sincerely, Rosemarie Felts
Thanks for writing, Rosemarie! I’m so glad you agree about the loveliness of Berlin. Maybe it’s time you take a trip over again!! All the best to you, Luisa
[…] so schön, interessant , spannend & detailliert ist, dass sie einen eigenen Post verdienen).Hier kann man ein Interview mit Luisa Weiss lesen, in dem sie über ihren Berliner Kiez […]
Sie geben keinen Namen. Sind Sie auch aus Berlin?
Ich wurde in Berlin geboren und verlebte die Kriegsjahre in Berlin.
Oh Luisa, you look gorgeous here – healthy and radiant! Berlin clearly suits you x
Oh Luisa you look gorgeous here! So healthy and radiant! x
Amazing story and lovely pics! This is the kind of perspective I am looking after. How do you feel as a challenge for raising a kid here? I am interested since is so open and free (drugs and other risks included) that kind of scares me. All the best.
Thank you! I think Berlin is an amazing place to raise a child. Not only because of all the social programs (Kindergeld, Elterngeld, Kitas and so forth) that living in a social democracy will give you, but also because it’s a really green, peaceful city – full of both huge parks, great playgrounds and all the culture you could ever want. I’m biased, of course, since I grew up here and my happiest childhood memories are from my time in Berlin. But I should add that that was not just as a small child, but as a teenager, too. My high school years were such a lovely time. From the perspective of a parent of a very small child, I feel incredibly privileged to be raising my child here – I can spend so much time with my baby without the pressure of going back to work right away, and I can rely on the myriad options of childcare when the time comes for me to return to work full-time. As for the risks that an older child faces (you mention drugs and other things), it’s complicated. I hope very much that my husband and I can educate our son, when the time comes, as best we can about being smart and making good choices in life. Both of us grew up here and neither of us ever even really dabbled in anything illicit, which I chalk up to our characters and our families. But of course that is no guarantee. However, I think those risks exist no matter where you live. In other places, they might be more suppressed or underground. And, for what it’s worth, even the biggest potheads in my high school have turned into incredibly successful people! ???? Doctors, academics, musicians, artists… Anyway, this was a really long answer to your question. If you’re thinking of raising a kid here, go for it!
great!
Gorgeous pictures of a wonderful woman. Nice new series!