Konnopke’s Imbiß, Berlin

Konnopke’s Imbiß is the compact snack kiosk beneath the elevated U2 tracks on Schönhauser Allee, near Eberswalder Straße. Its story reaches back to 1930, when Max and Charlotte Konnopke began selling food from a tray. The present location gained its kiosk in 1960, and that same year brought the family’s signature currywurst with ketchup, made from a family recipe.

The recipe emerged because ketchup could not initially be obtained in East Berlin after the Berlin Wall was built. Konnopke is regarded as the first snack stand in East Berlin to introduce currywurst. The original kiosk was replaced during U2 renovation, and a new building opened at the historic site in 2011, styled after the 1960s. What you see is therefore a working food stand carrying a remarkably specific piece of Berlin’s divided-city history.