Zur Letzten Instanz, Berlin

Zur Letzten Instanz is the restaurant in this historic-looking ensemble on Waisenstraße, beside surviving pieces of Berlin’s medieval city wall. It belongs to the city’s oldest inns, with its story reaching back to the 16th century, when a dwelling here became a spirits tavern. The building’s rear wall once formed part of the city wall, and this kind of house was known as a Wiekhaus; no other such structure remains in Berlin’s old town.

The tavern has carried several names. Its present name dates from 1924, linked to the opening of a nearby courthouse. As local legend has it, two farmers ended a bitter legal dispute over a beer here, making this their true “last instance.”

What you see today is not the untouched medieval building. War damage left the house in need of rebuilding, and the surrounding ensemble was reconstructed down to its foundations before reopening in January 1963. The rebuilt complex follows classicism and includes three dining rooms, eight hotel rooms, and a small apartment for the landlord.

Look for the masonry along the rear of the ensemble: it recreates sections of the city wall. The garden also opens a view towards the last surviving remnants of the oldest wall, whose foundation is said to reach a thickness of 3.50 metres. Inside, the historic majolica-tile stove has been put back in place; Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have sat beside it.