Berlin is the new Bohemia

'Nobody works in Berlin," the gallery assistant said. "Everyone's either an artist or a politician." It's an old tune, bohemia, and Berlin has heard it before, notably during the Weimar Republic. Lou Reed and David Bowie lived in Berlin during the 1970's and sang about its degenerate charms, as Brecht and Weill had celebrated them in the 20's. Today, what Prague and London were in the 90's, Berlin has now become: a magnet for anyone who wants to live and work in a city that is humming with cultural energy and, by contrast with the rest of northern Europe, an insane bargain. Large, grubby SoHo-style lofts in Kreuzberg, a bohemian quarter since the 60's, can be had for $500 a month.' More. When I was in Berlin in the mid 90s, it was cool, with places that recalled the East Village of the late 80s.