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04

Onkel Philipps
Toy Workshop

PRENZLAUER BERG

How to explain this intriguing anomaly of a shop, with its colourful, ivy-shrouded façade and piles of toys crammed into every available space? Calling it simply a ‘toy shop’ seems inadequate, while its official title (Uncle Philipp’s Toy Workshop) doesn’t quite cut it either. It certainly fulfils both these roles, of course, but it also serves as a portal to another, less contemporary Berlin....

The store was opened in 2002 by the eponymous Uncle Philipp as a place to sell and repair toys. Fuelled partly by his annoyance at how easily East Germans were discarding their childhood toys for Western versions, a big part of his original collection was – and still is – puzzles, board games, playing cards and other curiosities from the GDR; these now mix with modern items like drum kits, remote-control cars, monster costumes, and the impressively large model airplanes that dangle cheerfully from the ceiling.

‘This shop lives!’ declares a sign out front; and indeed, as you explore the warren of rooms inside, it’s inevitable that you or your child will make a doll squeak or a toy dog bark, either by actively pressing it or accidentally tripping over it. On a typical day, Philipp – or his ‘muse’ Hans – can be found guiding customers through the jumble of delights, dismantling and repairing a broken toy, or simply waiting for the kettle to boil on the small stove behind the counter.

Although the dedicated Ost-Shop in the front is where you’ll find the biggest selection of East German toys, if you ask nicely you may be handed a remote control and ushered towards the ‘secret museum’. Pull aside a sliding door to reveal a set of rickety steps that deposit you face to face with yet more ‘Ossi’ childhood memorabilia, this time presented behind glass and featuring yet more beautifully randomised juxtapositions: old dolls and badminton rackets, board games and radios. Pressing the control’s buttons will set off some activity behind the glass – inducing, more often than not, little squeals of delight. PS

Choriner Str 35, 10435; U Senefelderplatz; www.onkel-philipp.de

Map: North F2

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