überlin

Wow, that was a blast! Last weekend, hundreds of friends, fans and randoms joined us and raised a glass/bottle of craft beer to the opening of our brand new coworking space and photographic studio. We were overwhelmed with the sheer number of people who came, the all-round positive wibes, the fact that people stuck around long after the booze ran out, and the many opportunities to catch up with – or meet IRL for the first time – the people who’ve supported us all these years.

At the risk of getting all Oscar winner on you (it was an honour just to be nominated), we’d like to say thank you to all the people who helped make the party such a huge success. In no particular order…

Everyone who came, drank, tweeted, ‘stagrammed, tagged our postbox, chatted, laughed and played Cards Against Humanity (you wrong ‘uns).

Our cotwerkers, for putting shots in us, generally being lovely and reminding us why we decided to do this in the first place <3

Our bartender Julia, for keeping her cool and keeping the drinks flowing, and to Maj, Christian, Mike, Ana and Hannah for helping out when demand got, well, ridiculous.

The people who provided the drinks: Schoppe Bräu for the Kreuzberg XPA, Brau Sturm for the Prototyp, Our/Berlin vodka, Berliner Sommer and Thomas Henry. Special thanks go to Kiera from the Global Craft Beer Festival, Lucy vs. the Globe and Sina from DESCAPE for the hookups, and Marcus from Alchemist Gin for distilling a delicious and exclusive “übergin” (with freshly foraged mirabelle, juniper, coriander and a touch of black pepper nomnomnom).

überlin resident INgrooves for their generous sponsorship (and the emergency Jack Daniels!).

Sarah from A Color Bright and Hannah (again!) for the event tips and advice.

Olli for coming through with the last minute branding touches and installing our “ü”s and that “überlin” lightbox that blew everyone’s minds on arrival.

Kathy Kunz, who introduced some much-needed interior design details to the space. Oh and for putting the final finishing touches on it – flowers for our vase, and a bow for Olive’s collar

Chris, for taking these wonderful photos, and letting Zoë take the night off!

Our neighbours from inside and outside the Haus, for turning up and prosting our new venture. It’s nice to know that not everyone thinks we’re ruining the Kiez ????

Everyone who shared the event beforehand, including a certain someone who let the “free drinks” cat out of the bag early (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE ???? ). And NotMsParker from Kreuzberg’d, for writing up this sweet review.

Extra special thanks to my wonderful wife and partner Zoë, for hustling to put together such an awesome event, looking amazing in a jumpsuit and for keeping her head when I was losing mine!

Photographed by Cristopher Santos.

Ever since we announced that we were going to launch the überlin coworking space and photographic studio, people have been asking us “when’s the opening party?!” Well, our friends, fans and all the borderline alcoholics we know will be happy to learn that we’ve finally set a date for our official opening.

On 888 (8th August, at 8pm), we’re throwing open our doors to celebrate the opening of our brand new creative space. There’s going to be booze and beats – both made in Berlin – bulldogs and beautiful people. And me. ????

So join us to get a sneak peak of Kreuzberg’s new creative hub and to raise a glass to the people who helped make it happen – including our super-supportive community. That would be you!

RSVP and get event updates over on Facebook, or get the details for your diary below. Me, Zoë and Olive look forward to welcoming you to überlin!

überlin Official Opening
Facebook event

Friday August 8th, 20hr
at überlin, Böckhstrasse 26, Berlin 10967 (map)

Drinks from Our/Berlin vodka, Berliner Sommer and Alchemist Gin (made in Berlin!)

Just as the quickest route to our heart is through our stomach, the surest way to gain access to the überlin coworking space is by toting bags full of delicious food. A couple of weeks after Silo brought their coffee beans and expertise to us, Pieoneers followed carrying meaty treats aplenty. On the menu were one of their delicious savoury pies and two kinds of Scotch eggs, an English delicacy that is perfect for lining the stomach for a serious night of drinking down the pub.

One of these baked, breaded beauties amounted to nothing less than the perfect hangover cure – recreating a Bloody Mary, with a tomato and basil salsa that replaces the egg’s yolk, all bound together with Worcestershire Sauce and, yep, vodka! The other variety, and the accompanying pie, both lined with black pudding, left us totally satiated, bellies full and homesickness abated.

To sample a taste of (our) home, go to pieoneers.de and place an online order(!) for pies, Scotch eggs (also available in veggie-friendly Falafel flavour), homemade chutneys and other specialities. Long live Pieoneers!

We didn’t *just* set up a coworking space to give us an excuse to set up a standing order for speciality coffee, but a partnership with Silo Coffee is one of the very first things we sorted out! The guys from Silo went out of their way to deliver the first batch of beans themselves, and took the opportunity to give us an impromptu coffee-making demonstration while they were here. For the geeks out there, our grab bag of goodies included: a Suke Quto from Ethiopia via The Barn, a Huila Palestina also roasted here in Berlin, by Bonanza – oh, and one of the most sought-after coffees in the world, a Geisha. Morgan and Pavel showed us how to prepare the perfect AeroPress coffee and left us with a recipe for cold brew that I’m looking forward to trying out. Yay!

If you’re interested in tasting Silo’s black stuff, here’s how:

– visit Silo’s wonderful café in Friedrichshain
– sign up for the Silo Curated Coffee Subscription, and get delicious beans/grounds delivered to your doorstop
– rent a desk at our coworking space! We brew up the finest specialty coffees every day, and I’m currently working out how to get it to come straight out of the taps. ????

We have BIG news here at überlin. But before we tell you what it is, we’d like to explain how it all came about.

überlin started as a short blog post written on a one-way flight from London to Berlin, back in November 2010. We had sold our belongings, packed up our laptops and popped our two cats into their travel crates. When we stepped onto the tarmac of Tegel airport on that rainy winter’s day, we were equal parts thrilled and terrified. We had nothing, we knew no one, and we had no idea what was going to happen next.

It soon dawned on us that moving to Berlin was the best decision we had ever made. Unshackled from her desk, former digital designer Zoë bought her first camera and started developing the beautiful photographic style that graces our blog’s pages. I got paid to write, sat in my pants at our kitchen table. In our spare time, we explored the city we loved and shared our experiences with a small but enthusiastic readership: our friends and family back home.

We were pleasantly surprised by how popular überlin became, and how quickly it happened. The close-knit expat community in Berlin took us under their wings, and into their hearts. They read, commented on and shared our content, pointing it out to their German friends and anyone they knew who was planning to move to, or visit, Berlin. Before we knew it, we were running one of the city’s biggest English-language blogs.

überlin has given us the chance to thank the community that still supports us, by extending all the help we can to expats and Berliners alike. We pay it forward by highlighting the awesome things that are happening in the Hauptstadt, and the talented people behind them. Now a customer support guy, I take my work home with me, spending my evenings answering questions and offering advice about moving to Berlin, getting an apartment and a job here, and how and where to learn German.

But while überlin has been more successful than we could ever have imagined, we’ve always longed for more. We’ve been looking for a chance to bring this community to life, to make our virtual network a bricks-and-mortar reality. And now we’ve found that opportunity…

Which brings me to our big announcement: as well as a blog, überlin is now a coworking space and photographic studio!

We’re busy fitting out a split-level space in the heart of our beloved Graefekiez in Kreuzberg. The bottom floor of this carefully renovated former factory is already a fully-equipped professional studio, where Zoë shoots for clients like Etsy. Now we’re hard at work upstairs installing custom-built storage and wireless speakers – as well as the all-important desks that we’re going to rent out.

Our hope is to provide freelancers and creative professionals with everything they need to establish themselves in Berlin. As well as a beautiful workspace, überlin members will get access to our network of experts, exposure to the opportunities that come our way, a bunch of perks and the privilege of spending all day in the company of Berlin’s cutest office dog, our Frenchie Olive. Anyone who uses the space or studio will also benefit from the support of a powerful platform to promote them and their work – this blog!

Don’t worry, überlin the blog isn’t going anywhere. We’re currently in the process of a huge redesign, and we’re going to continue to explore the places and people that make this city great, make funnies about expat life here, and provide valuable information for anyone thinking of coming to Berlin, whether for a short-break or a full-blown life-changing experience.

Stay tuned for updates and for an invite to our upcoming preview party, when you can come have a drink with us and check out our beautiful space! Until then, we’d like to thank you all for reading the blog, and providing us with years of support and friendship. You are the reason we do this, and without you we might not even be in Berlin, let alone embarking on this exciting new adventure. Danke sehr!

Liebe Grüße,

James and Zoë

We’re slowly going stir-crazy in our office/flat/shared cell. We can’t carry on like this, so we’ve started seriously looking at coworking spaces – and the city’s startup blog Venture Village is proving an invaluable resource. Not only have they published a list of the ten best coworking spaces, and are running a competition to find an overall winner, but they’ve also assembled this bumper map of all(?) the shared workspaces that Berlin has to offer. So much choice!

Do any of you have experience of coworking in general, or these places in particular? Feel free to leave your tips in the comments below – we’d love to hear from you.

View Venture Village Berlin Co-Working Map in a larger map