[paublyrne]

Several of the shops mentioned in the article are in Kreuzberg which was in the west before the wall came down but now has more in common with other eastern districts like Friererichshain or Neukolln than ones like Charlottenburg in the west. These kind of quirky workshop shops or independent shops are more common in those eastern districts I think than in the west now, which has more of the usual sorts of big high street chains.

[inferiorhuman]

Kreuzberg was also one of the poorest parts of West Berlin and is now home to all the hipsters (and uses East German Ampelmännchen if memory serves).

[asymmetric]

> with other eastern districts like Friererichshain or Neukolln

Neukölln was in West Berlin, although it’s geographically to the (south-)east of the city.