Pub crawls give Berliners something to moan about

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An article on the international section of Der Spiegel tells the tale of the rise of the Berlin pub crawl, organised boozeathons that can be seen shuffling down Oranienburger Strasse most nights of the week. Generally populated by Americans, Brits and others from English-speaking nations, the travellers combine cheap shots and other drinks promotions with the handy help of a guide - often as drunk as they are - who show them from bar to bar and point them in the right direction at the end of the night to help them find their hostel bed. According to the article these pub crawls, run by a number of different companies in the city, have been the cause of a number of complaints to police by patience-stretched residents involving alcohol-fuelled bar fights, random public urination and other pleasant things like that.

My experience with the pub crawls is limited, although I have friends who have been guides on these things in the past, and I did walk into Dr Pong the other week to find myself in what I always imagined a college frat party was like. It was quite a sight to see when the guide decided they’d played enough ping-pong and forty people disappeared in a matter of seconds. And you may know us by the trail of empty Beck’s bottles. They also sometimes come through the Goldman’s Bar at the Circus, where my brother works. That is usually early in the evening, so the real fun hasn’t yet started…but judging by how some of their number stumbled up the steps towards the street at the end of their visit, it is unsurprising that these things can get out of hand.

Anyway, the thing I don’t really get about the whole idea of the pub crawl is this: many of those who sign up to follow the leader to the few bars who will actually allow a group of 30 tourists to arrive at once are the same folks who stay in hostels, make all their travel arrangements themselves, swear on the Lonely Planet or Rough Guides, and like to distinguish themselves as real “travellers” as opposed to “tourists”. But a pub crawl seems to me to be a vodka-loaded version of the a coachload of old folks being shown the city from the comfort of their air-conditioned bus or deposited in front of the steps of the Pergemon museum. Berlin may have a reputation for hedonism, but I’m not sure a pub crawl is the best way to discover what the nightlife scene is all about and it is certainly a long way from an “authentic travel experience”.

I imagine that any bar or club with any sense would not let one of these things even cross the doorstep, which suggests that the idea of Berlin nightlife that the tours offer is less than representative…but then again, talking to those friends who run these tours or have guided them in the past, the participants don’t really care all that much…it’s all about the free shots 2 for 1 special offers. Considering many of them wouldn’t be seen dead on a Club Med package holiday, they seem to want similar things as part of their eurail dash across Europe or budget-airlined city break.

But there is one organised pub crawl that everyone I know who as done it raves about. Unfortunately, the Literary Pub Crawl takes place in Dublin and not Berlin, features a number of pubs in the Irish capital, and is led by a pair of actors who tell tales from the city’s literary history and perform scenes from the likes of Joyce and Beckett (amongst others) along the way. Maybe someone will bring the idea to Berlin, and offer the backpackers and other travellers the chance to experience scenes from Erich Kästner’s Fabian or Döblin’s Alexanderplatz…now that might be something worth joining a group for.

On the Atari DJ Tapedeck: ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’, Oasis.

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Filed under Beer, Berlin, General, Germany, Travel