Rents were cheap in the crumbling tenement blocks in Prenzlauer Berg, Mitte and, later, Friedrichshain.

ECONOMIST: Geography of cool: Berlin

The shops themselves come and go but the most interesting boutiques can be found in the boho neighborhoods of Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain.

CNN: Berlin: Where to shop

If you prefer your music to have a pounding four-to-the-floor beat then head to the cavernous Berghain in Friedrichshain, where techno-heads party with hedonistic abandon.

CNN: Berlin: Where to be seen

As artists and students have been gradually priced out of traditional inner-city areas such as Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, this southwesterly district has become a haven for the annual hordes of newcomers seeking refuge in its relatively cheap rents, transformed ateliers and bars and burgeoning creative community.

BBC: An artful 48 hours in Berlin��s most-hyped borough