As we were headed east on the S-bahn, we glimpsed what appeared to be an enormous flea market--tents and crowds of people stretched down a broad avenue and into the Tiergarten. We hopped off the train at the next stop, jumped on a train going back to the previous stop, and alighted on Strasse des 17 Juni.
The market was bustling with an eclectic mix of families and children, teenagers, twenty-somethings, and septuagenarians. It runs down Strasse des 17 Juni until the arch at the beginning of the Tiergarten, and consists of two alleys--we walked up one and back down the other. The market has a wide assortment of goods, from candelabra to German comics, vintage clothing to porcelain. Not to mention CDs, Indian jewelry, antiques, Persian rugs . . . and, of course, the ubiquitous sprawling tables of weird, assorted junk.
I got a ‘70s Adec watch for 6 euros--mostly because the man selling it couldn’t guarantee that its battery was the only defect. (After getting a battery back home, though, it works perfectly!) I also found a ‘20s pearl broach for 5 euros—what a deal. There were some very tempting coats . . . but the vintage clothing was a bit more expensive than I would have paid at the Salvation Army at home, so I forced myself to keep walking. (My friend got two rad shirts for cheap, however--one old-school plaid number, and one vintage Jägermeister T-shirt.)
There’s also a wide range of food stalls: Thai noodles, winstubs (with brats and vin chaud), sandwiches . . . we got a hot, delicious cone of fries before hopping back on the S-Bahn.
Open Saturdays only.