Marheineke Markthalle, Berlin

Marheineke Markthalle is a covered food market, and its present form carries the scars of a dramatic past. The hall opened in 1892 as Market Hall XI, part of a citywide replacement for open-air trading places. Its original plan came from Hermann Blankenstein with help from August Lindemann, and it began with 278 small stalls for everyday goods.

The most striking story is hidden below ground. At the end of the Second World War, the upper structure was almost entirely destroyed, but the basement stores survived; 22 traders resumed selling urgently needed food there. The cleared ground later served as a rubble-railway depot.

In 1953, rebuilding began with a design by Paul Friedrich Nieß adapted to the surviving remains. During the ceremony, district mayor Willy Kressmann sealed the paperwork from years of administrative struggle inside the foundation stone. Look at the surviving head building: exposed brick and three terracotta medallions remain from the older hall.

Its entrance decoration once used stylised fruit, sea life and flowers to hint at the goods sold inside. After a major redesign in 2007, the glazed eastern section reopened with about 50 stalls devoted to organic produce and delicatessen. Today, regional food, cafés, small services and changing art displays keep this rebuilt market hall active.