No No Birch Birch Land Land TEXT KATJA HÜTTE · PHOTOGRAPHY SABRINA WENIGER
Once upon a time there were only fields and farmland in Flingern. It was only built on at the end of the 19th century. On Birkenstraße you can still see a small part of the worker’s residential area that was created at the time. The main road divides Flingern into north and south. Starting at the Wehrhahn, where it is quiet and green at first, it crosses Ackerstraße, where it becomes more bustling and finally meets Dorotheenstraße. Birkenstraße is full of contrasts and interesting people. You can find pretty much everything here – apart from birch trees. A little girl on a blue scooter, wearing a pink helmet and leggings with a heart print, is whizzing past a homeless man sitting on a bench in the sun. An elderly woman is pushing her trolley across the street. Hip young people are drinking coffee sitting down, but also on-the-go. The former pharmacy right at the junction with Ackerstraße now sells Syrian groceries. In the early 2000s, one door up, used to be the shop front of “Wilde Heimat”, full of vintage treasures that delighted collectors’ hearts. Now the guys from stuf|f offer stylish men’s fashion and all kinds of accessories of the best quality: from Japanese socks and classic check shirts to Blaumann jeans. Occupying a former bicycle shop, Christoph Wilde’s antiquarian book shop looks like a walk-in sculpture or a scene straight out of a Kafka novel. Since 2009 towers of books have been growing up to the very high ceiling. Around 20,000 second-hand books are stacked up high.
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About another 35,000 are waiting in the warehouse. From morning to night here, in his castle made of cardboard covers, the Lord of the Books enters title after title into his database – for his eager readers. Sport Thelen, Düsseldorf ’s oldest sports shop, founded in 1898 can also be found on Birkenstraße. Hockey and tennis enthusiasts travel here from near and far for detailed advice and the right equipment – because this is what they specialise in here. The Schirmboutique is a charming shop just like from the old days. It moved to Birkenstraße more than 100 years ago. Walter Saß has been matching his customers with the right umbrellas here since 1991. Saß was actually born in Flingern – in the Flurklinik, a former hospital. He is “one of four people in the whole of Germany” who still repairs umbrellas. And when he says “I can repair any umbrella,” it is really just an observation without a hint of pride or bragging. Saß has spare parts of all types and manufacturers in stock. In his shop he also sells everything made by Knirps and anything umbrella-related: from elegant homemade men’s umbrellas with doublehardened Solingen steel, a walking stick with a bamboo handle from the 1960s, a range of French Fayet sticks – to fancy ladies’ umbrellas by Gaultier or Gucci. A little bit further down the road the aroma of fresh bread wafts over from both sides. On the left side is the Yusufogullari bakery with perhaps the best Turkish bread specialties in town. On the right is Bäckerei Bulle, offering a wide range of delicious breads and rolls, which are often sold out by the afternoon. There is only one thing you can do: put in an order and come back later. Aldenhoff Jewellers has been creating fine jewellery for women and men on Birkenstraße for the last 26 years – from earrings to wedding rings. The roots of the label and co-founder Ramona Aldenhoff lie in New York. This is where she returns regularly. However, the shop, flat and workshop of Ramona, who has two daughters, are all located on Birkenstraße. Those who want to do something for their physical health will also find a genuine Turkish hammam. Here, women as well as men, but on different days, use hot stones to work up a sweat and then get a good scrub and massage on heated marble in the beautifully tiled rooms bursting with authentic ambience. But there is more to discover: valiant little tailors sew from morning to night. There is an optician, an electrician, building services, sun shading technology, a medical supply shop, a computer shop, a launderette, barbers, hairdressers, a dry cleaner, a funeral parlour and a zoological taxidermist. Although it offers so much variety, Birkenstraße is clearly less hip than its nearby sisters, Ackerstraße and Lindenstraße, or Hermannstraße with its market and children’s playground. But then it has
STREETS OF DÜSSELDORF
