The Heckmann-Höfe: the quiet courtyards next to the Hackesche Höfe, in Berlin

In Berlin-Mitte, between Oranienburger Straße and Auguststraße, there is a pedestrian passage that most visitors walk past without noticing. It is called the Heckmann-Höfe: a sequence of connected inner courtyards, restored in the early 2000s, less than five minutes' walk from the Hackesche Höfe. The difference is stark. The Hackesche Höfe have become a fixed stop on the tours and at peak hours you cross them in single file; the Heckmann-Höfe, a few hundred metres away, remain frequented almost only by those who live there, by customers of the workshops and by the odd Berliner on a break.

The history

The history of these courtyards is longer than their tidy appearance suggests. The core is already mentioned in 1799; in 1887 the owner of the time added a stable for horses and a coach house. The current name arrives in 1905, when the entrepreneur Friedrich Wilhelm Heckmann bought the complex: here his company, which specialised in building plant for distilleries (not, as is sometimes read, a sweet factory), had its offices and design department. After the war the area passed to the state of the GDR and fell into decay; it was artists, in the early 1990s after the fall of the Wall, who brought activity and workshops back, before the restoration that gave it its present form.

The courtyards

Walking inside, you understand why the detour is worthwhile. The central courtyard is cobbled and has a fountain surrounded by rose bushes, with studios, workshops and shops all around. The glasswork and Art Nouveau details of the restored façades form the backdrop to a dozen or so small signs: ateliers, restaurants, a wine bar. Entering from the Auguststraße side and looking up, you frame the golden dome of the Neue Synagoge, which rises a little further off on Oranienburger Straße.

The sweet shop

The highlight, for many, is the Bonbonmacherei: an artisanal sweet shop that works with recipes and machinery over a hundred years old. More than thirty kinds of sweets are made by hand, in the open kitchen behind the glass, and on certain days of the week you can watch the team pull, shape and stamp the hard candies one by one. It is a hypnotic act, and admission is free even just to watch. Among the flavours, the Berlin classic is Waldmeister, made with woodruff, with a grassy-sweet taste. In the same courtyards is also the Galli Theater, which stages comedies and shows for children and teenagers; and the playgrounds between the buildings are a reminder that this is still a lived-in piece of the city, not a stage set.

Getting there

Getting there is easy. The handiest stop is Oranienburger Straße on the S-Bahn (lines S1, S2, S25, S26), from which you turn straight onto the street; alternatively the U-Bahn Oranienburger Tor (U6) or the M1 and M5 trams that run along Oranienburger Straße. The main entrance is at number 32 Oranienburger Straße, with the opposite exit on Auguststraße. The courtyards are an open and free space; the hours and days of the individual shops and of the Bonbonmacherei vary, so it is worth checking beforehand if the aim is to see the sweets being made. A practical tip: pair it with the Hackesche Höfe and the nearby courtyards, so as to compare the mass tourism of one with the calm of the other in the same afternoon.