5 Fascinating Central Berlin Courtyards

berlin courtyards

Discover Central Berlin’s Beautiful, Historical Courtyards

This is a guest post by Jorge G who told me about some gorgeous Berlin courtyards a little while ago and kindly agreed to share his insights with the Berlin & Around community. Happy exploring!

Dive Into the Hidden World of Berlin Courtyards

A long time ago, when I was still getting acquainted with central Berlin’s urban landscape, one of the many things that intrigued me was the size of the street blocks. I soon found out that most of Berlin’s blocks are actually “hollow” inside, sporting instead very spacious inner courtyards.

Access to these courtyards is sometimes restricted to residents, but, fortunately for us explorers, other times open to all.  And many of these public spaces have very interesting stories to tell.

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berlin courtyards

This blog post will hopefully trigger your curiosity. Maybe next time you pass an open gate, you won’t simply keep going. Instead, you might accept the invitation to enter and explore. Who knows, you might find a hidden gem or two!

In this article, we will skip the famous Berlin courtyards that appear in every travel guide in favour of 5 insider spots.

Although, if this is your first trip to Berlin, do be sure to visit the beautiful Hackesche Höfe (Rosenthaler Str. 40-41) and its countercultural neighbour Haus Schwarzenberg (Rosenthaler Str. 39).  These are full of history and heritage, but a bit too well-known for Berlin & Around readers!

Let’s get started!

Rosenthaler Str. 51 (Mitte)

berlin courtyards
Modern meets heritage at Rosenthalerstr. 51. Photo: Jorge G.

Located in the part of Mitte kown as Spandauer Vorstadt, the first of our Berlin courtyards is often outshone by its neighbours (Hackescher Höfe and Haus Schwarzenberg). However, when it comes to history and culture, this Berliner Hof truly holds its own. 

11 thoughts on “5 Fascinating Central Berlin Courtyards

  1. Absolutely gorgeous! My best friend move to Germany and I’m planning a visit soon. I’ll definitely save your post!

  2. Berlin looks like a beautiful city and I love how unique all of these courtyards are! Thank you for putting these spots on my radar 🙂

  3. I really need to visit Berlin, can’t believe I haven’t been yet. I love discovering hidden courtyards when I travel, often overlooked and always really beautiful and unique. It’s so good that you’ve made a whole post about these ones. Can’t wait to check them out

  4. So interesting to discover those courtyards off the beaten path! Next time I go to Berlin I might stumble on them too!

  5. Great post. Any trouble with the residents in these? I know many residents get troubled by hoardes of visitors in their neighbourhood, but I think the problem is more at night with the party crowd and a lot of these courtyards seem flanked by offices, so maybe not a big problem

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