Surviving the Winter in Berlin

It's a party at first, but there are dark days ahead.

A recent harvest moon shines over the streets of Friedrichshain - an ancient sign of the approaching winter.

My family and I spent Sunday back at the Mauerpark Flea Market - the first time I had been back since we first moved here in 2022.

It was the perfect fall day - temps in the mid teens (that’s Celsius, by the way, it was in the high 50s F) with clear skies. Most of the tourists have moved on and it’s mostly local Berliners out enjoying the last days of sunshine before the north German winter.

As Berlin gears up for the first of many (many) long weekends, holidays and festivals of autumn—it might seem like I’m being overly negative worrying about winter already.

After all, we have a four-day weekend this week to celebrate German reunification - the holiday marks the start of the Berlin Festival of Lights, there’s also the Medieval Juggler’s Festival in Spandau, the Schöneberg Pumpkin Festival, the Autumn Market at Domäne Dahlem, to name a few.

Almost every bezirk, neighborhood or reg…