Bookstore Basics

You will never be at a loss for places to buy books in Berlin. The most extravagant of these is Dussmann at Friedrichstrasse: three floors of books and music, listening stations, etc. During the week they are open until 10 p.m., can you believe it? Even if you’re not really looking for anything in particular, it’s a nice place to go if you need to be out of the house but don’t want to sit around in cigarette smoke in some bar.

However: for special orders I like to go to smaller, local stores because they need my business more than the giants do. If an independent store doesn’t have something, they can order it, usually within a few days (sometimes overnight) for no cost.

If you like to browse for old books, you will find a used book store in every commercial area in Berlin as well as tucked into a lot of residential streets. If you don’t have time to browse or aren’t having any luck, try the Zentrales Verzeichnis Antiquarischer Bücher. This great search engine will tell you who has your book, what shape it’s in, and will let you compare prices. You can order from stores around Germany, or just use it to find a book in Berlin.

Posted by Heather at November 3, 2002 05:02 AM