Berliner Prater
The oldest bar in Berlin was founded in 1837 far from the city gates. The local pub, beer garden and open air theatre are to this date a great meeting point and venue for entertainment.
In 1852 the barman Johann Friedrich Adolph Kalbo took over the bar and expanded it into a beer and coffee garden. In 1857 a dancehall was built, and on a podium in the garden there were singers and artists who provided entertainment for the guests. After the example of the Vienna amusement park the Berliners called the pub "the Berliner Prater" and in 1867 the name became official. In 1869 the owner obtained a theatre licence for comedy, antics and small opera acts for the guests. In the area around the bar housing estates were built, mainly populated by the working families. The Berliner Prater became a rallying point for the social democrats, amongst others August Bebel, Rosa Luxemburg and Clara Zetkin held many political speeches. Since 1881 with a tram pulled by horses through Kastanienallee many people came visiting this restaurant from around the area and further afar. In 1919 Schultheiss - Patzenhofer brewery took over the Prater but from 1932 it belonged to the cinema business. After the end of the second World War in 1945 the Volksbühne played its acts in the "Berliner Prater" until the Volksbühne at the Rosa - Luxemburg Platz was rebuilt. Only in 1996 the theatre Volksbühne reopened a stage in the Prater. The Berliner Prater was reopened in 1954 in the GDR-time and was a highly visited beer garden, as from 1967 the Kreiskulturhaus also became popular in the city district of Prenzlauer Berg.