You're right that the tram network is much older than 1950. Berlin had one of the densest tram systems in the world by the early 1900s, with lines crisscrossing both halves of the city. After the war, West Berlin made a deliberate shift away from trams, removing most tracks by the late 1960s in favor of buses and the expanding U-Bahn, partly because trams were seen as old-fashioned and blocking car traffic. East Berlin kept the trams running because they were reliable and didn't rely on imported fuel, plus the GDR government couldn't afford to rip them out and replace everything. You can still see remnants of the old West Berlin network if you look closely, like the tracks embedded in the street on Zossener Strasse in Kreuzberg.

arrow_drop_up 22 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

One bit of history worth mentioning: the tram was actually dismantled in West Berlin partly because of the car lobby and the Senate's vision of an "autogerechte Stadt" (a city built for cars). The U-Bahn was seen as the proper modern backbone, with buses filling in the gaps. The last West Berlin tram line ran from Zehlendorf to Dahlem and shut down in 1967. If you walk around Steglitz or Neukölln now, you can still spot sections of old track peeking through the asphalt on side streets.

arrow_drop_up 5 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

The tram system actually predates the division by quite a bit. Berlin had one of the earliest electric tram networks in the world, starting in the 1880s, and by the 1920s it covered most of the city. What you're seeing now is the result of a deliberate policy shift in the West after the war. The Senate decided trams were old-fashioned and blocked traffic, so they ripped out about 300 kilometers of track between the 1950s and 1960s, replacing them with buses and expanding the U-Bahn. The East kept theirs because it was practical and cheap, and they even added new lines to connect the big housing estates like Marzahn and Hellersdorf in the 1970s and 80s.

If you want to see a remnant of the old network, walk down Potsdamer Straße in Schöneberg. You can still spot the ghost tracks embedded in the asphalt near the intersection with Bülowstraße. They were never fully removed, just paved over.

arrow_drop_up 5 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

i'd say skip the big names and look at studiowest in prenzlauer berg, they do amazing japanese style but the waitlist is like 6 months. if u want something quicker, the artists at bitterlich tattoo in mitte are super underrated, especially for fine line. and honestly, walk past the instagram hype, go to a shop in person and ask to see their portfolio book, that's where the real stuff is.

arrow_drop_up 5 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

The Berlin tattoo scene is pretty spread out, so it depends on what style you're after. For fine line and minimalist work, I'd look at A Fine Line in Kreuzberg, they're booked out weeks in advance for a reason. If you want bold traditional, check out Die Wilde Ecke in Neukölln, they've been around forever and the artists there are solid. Honestly, your best bet is to scroll through Instagram and find someone whose healed work you like, not just the fresh photos, because that's where the real skill shows.

arrow_drop_up 3 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

One thing nobody's mentioned yet is the tattoo convention at Arena Berlin, usually in early summer. It's a good way to see a bunch of styles in one afternoon and talk to artists face to face without committing to a shop. I found my guy there three years ago, he works out of a tiny studio near Boxhagener Platz and does amazing neo-traditional, but he rarely posts on Instagram so you'd never discover him otherwise. Bring cash if you go, a lot of the booths only take that on the day.

arrow_drop_up 2 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply