Hafen

על המקום הזה Hafen

Hafen has been on the Motzstraße in Schöneberg since 1991 and is one of the few bars that has survived the generational changes that have altered Berlin's gay scene since reunification. The Motzstraße and Winterfeldtplatz area was the heart of West Berlin's gay scene from the 1970s onward — what Hafen carries is institutional memory. The bar is unpretentious in the way that old Berlin bars are unpretentious: the pool table that has been in the same corner for 30 years, the regular clientele who know each other's names, and a level of decoration that prioritises function over aesthetics. Schöneberg's gay scene is quieter now than it was in the 1980s and 1990s — much of the younger generation has moved east to Kreuzberg and Neukölln — but Hafen's staying power speaks to the ongoing desire for exactly this kind of place. It is the bar where you come before going somewhere else and stay until 4am because the conversation was better than whatever you had planned. Tuesday quiz nights are a Schöneberg institution.