Kugelbar
Bowled over in Wedding
Retro charm meets Kiez-komfort in Wedding’s rustic Zur Kegel-Stube – or Kugelbar as it likes to call itself now – a chic rustic pub from the 1960s with a blowing alley in the basement.
You can still spot relics of the location's former stuffiness from the outside. The “Bauhaus-style” building is a brick square, and the Schultheiss beer sign still hangs proudly outside.
Before Mauerfall, this was a place of “terrible coziness” for the allotment gardeners whose plots snuggled up against the Berlin Wall. The entertainment on offer – bowling, pinball, darts, beer-and-schnapps combos, and regular-table talk – could just as easily have been found in the Ruhr Valley. But this was old West Berlin.
After the Wall came tumbling down, the building was empty for a long time until 2011, when Jessica Schmidt, Ann Franke and their team resuscitated the pub.
Schultheiss became "heisser Scheiss" (hot shit). Today, the Kugelbar already looks different simply because it’s being half-eaten by a wildly overgrown bush. Inside, the ceiling was stripped to its bones, the nasty styrofoam tiles were tossed, and with the addition of a wood-burning stove and furniture from the 1960s, the job was done. In the basement, you'll find a small dance floor, a stage, and the plucky two-lane bowling alley.
What makes Kugelbar special is its original mix of music, culture, and art. Standouts include the "Saddest Song Contest" during the darkest time of year and the post-Christmas "leftovers buffet.”
Otherwise, musicians and DJs of all stripes are constantly coming and going. The basement can be rented for roaring parties. When I did so myself years ago, I was surprised to see a completely different crowd every time – six seniors having a coffee klatch in the afternoon, or serious musicians huddled over three MacBooks with a guitar and keyboard. One downside is the heavy smoking permitted on the upper floor in the evenings.
In 2019, the Kugelbar was threatened by “gerontofication"— the retirement home located directly behind it was looking to expand. This was prevented by the pandemic, and during that time, the Kugelbar cleverly reinvented itself as a "Kulturspäti" and survived. A Späti is always a viable business model in Berlin.
At the time of writing, the eviction notice was off the table and Kegelbar was operating as usual as a cool pub and event space.
📍 Grüntaler Straße 51, 13359 Berlin
Opening hours : Wed-Thur 1900-2300, Fri-Sat 1800-0300, Sunday 1600-2200
