Postcard from Arndtstraße 12 – Part 1: Three Sentences for a Street

Today is October 14, and there are still 78 days until New Year's Eve – eleven weeks and one day. Our annual break ends tomorrow; from Friday, October 16, the restaurant is open again. Until then, we write postcards.

The idea: a postcard that never gets mailed

A postcard has too little space, and that is its whole trick: when you have little room, you have to decide what really matters. So today we ask for exactly one thing: a postcard to a street. Preferably to Arndtstraße in Berlin-Kreuzberg, number 12, where our restaurant is. If you don't know it, pick the street you are on tonight. Or the one you grew up on.

The card has three sentences

Sentence 1 – the view: What do you see, hear or smell on this street? Memories count too.

Sentence 2 – the wish: What do you wish for the street?

Sentence 3 – the sign-off: How do you sign? A made-up name, initials or nothing at all. We only publish real names if you explicitly ask us to.

Three examples (made up by the editorial team)

To show how short it can be: all three cards are completely invented and do not describe a real street.

“Dear street, you smell of wet stone and fresh bread. I wish you a lamppost that never goes out. Regards, the stroller.”

“Dear street, at ten past eleven you are at your quietest. I wish you a night bus that is always on time. Your way home.”

“Dear street, you laughed at me once, and I laughed back. I wish you many more evenings like that. No sender.”

How to take part

Reply to the comment “My postcard” at the bottom of the page (as a reply, not as a new comment). Three sentences, 40 words at most, in English or German. Feel free to put the street's name in the first line. One request: write about streets, not about people. Nothing insulting, nothing that visibly exposes someone, no house numbers of private individuals.

The big question: what belongs on the front?

A real postcard has two sides: the picture in front, the words on the back. So: what is the better picture for a Kreuzberg street?

Team A – a place: what you would photograph, a house, a tree, a sign. A place is recognizable; whoever receives the card understands right away where you are.

Team B – a moment: what you cannot photograph, a sound, a smell, the instant the light goes on. A moment stays, even when the place changes.

Vote under “The big question” with a reply of one letter: A or B. One sentence of reasoning is welcome but not required. Both sides have arguments, not measurements.

In fairness

We don't know how many postcards will arrive. If there are only a few, we will say so openly in part two. If none arrive, we will publish our own instead, clearly marked as ours, and the street paper stays open until New Year's Eve.

Part 2: The Street Paper (Sunday, November 29, 2026)

On Sunday, November 29, 2026, 32 days before New Year's Eve, part 2 appears here on the blog: the street paper. It will feature the best postcards, sorted by street, plus the result of the big question. Nothing heavy, nothing hurtful, no names unless requested.

Still promised: Table 85, Chapter 76 (around Oct 16), Language School part 2 (Wednesday, Oct 21), seating usher follow-up (Oct 23), Telephone part 2 (Oct 30), Language School part 3 (Nov 4), Decibel Archive part 2 (Nov 7), Menu of Memories part 2 (Nov 14) and Resolution Swap part 2 (Nov 19).

78 days until New Year's Eve

Today is October 14. There are 78 days left until New Year's Eve, December 31, 2026.

Mastiha Mezedopolio, Arndtstraße 12, 10965 Berlin-Kreuzberg. Phone: 030 612 85 386. Closed for our break until Thursday, October 15, open again from Friday, October 16. And the next Drachmen Fest? In a year – as every year.