Kultursalon Roderich is a huge expanse of a café, Videothek and bookstore in one, that just feels like your perfect cultural retreat for the winter months. Tucked away in a courtyard just off Paul-Linke-Ufer, it opened last October when Martin and Moemet took over the former lamp factory.
They ran a video store in Friedrichshain but rising rents had them flee to the less gentrified West, bringing their books and DVDs along.
The two-ton concrete counter holds magazines and newspapers (an international section is on the way), and the wooden shelves are stacked with Martin’s choice of €1.60 artsy rental films (from Allen to Wenders – most have English subtitles), as well as just-released UK-import videos that haven’t finished their journey through the German dubbing machine.
In the book corner you’ll find German and English lit at bookstore-prices – or simply get comfortable on Roderich’s 1950s furniture and read all day for free.
Martin, a staunch defender of the old school Milchkaffee in the face of the soy-latte invasion, keeps his menu simple – albeit at gentrified prices (we all have rent to pay!): a few low-fuss beverage options, a small selection of cakes, rolls with cheese or ham (€3) and only one choice for dinner: Moemet’s €3.90 vegetarian soup. There are also two daily breakfast options (€5-9, served all day) made from whatever’s in the fridge, usually manchego or camembert and olives, as well as the perfunctory bread, butter and marmelade.
In the later hours, candles set the mood for one of the weekly events: readings by local authors, performances on the big, black piano in the corner, film screenings or theatre by the Berlin-based Hexenkessel troupe. Keep an eye on their website to keep up with their programme.
Although Roderich’s regulars are mostly Yukis™ (young urban kreative internationals) and academics, you can also run into the eccentric Turkish neighbor who sometimes stops in to tell Martin and Moemet stories about how he wants to shoot his son(!).
