Berlin’s “Little Moscow” with a 24-hour supermarket: 2,000 products from Russia, including pelmeni from huge chests, 1,000 types of vodka, and solyanka “just like mom used to make.”
A microcosm where you almost feel like you've been transported to Moscow. The heart of this area is the well-known Russian supermarket, where you can buy traditional products at any time of day.
Berlin has a lot to offer internationally. From one of Europe’s best-known Gen Z brands, which recently opened a store here, to an exhibition by one of the world’s most important performance artists – the capital literally brings the whole world together. So it’s only natural that there are supermarkets from different cultures where you can take a piece of another country home with you. For example, the largest Asian supermarket with mochi, mandu, and matcha sets, or the largest Arab supermarket with a baklava counter and a rich selection of fruits and vegetables. Both have only recently opened and are already very popular. But that’s not all: for Russian food, there is not only the popular 24-hour supermarket Rossia, but also an entire “Little Moscow” on Stuttgarter Platz.
Photo: @xenia_wanderlust (Instagram)
The area around Stuttgarter Platz in Charlottenburg is often referred to as “Russian Berlin” or “Charlottengrad.” For years, the neighborhood has been considered one of the most important meeting places for the Russian-speaking community in Berlin. Since the 1990s and 2000s, the area has increasingly become a magnet for people from Russia, Ukraine, and other countries of the former Soviet Union. Russian is often heard on the streets, and several shops offer products from Eastern Europe . That’s why many Berliners refer to the place as the “heart of Russian Berlin.”
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The most famous place in the scene is the Rossia supermarket right next to Charlottenburg station. It opened in 2005 and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Here you will find a wide range of over 2,000 products from Russia and the former Soviet Union. These include pelmeni and vareniki, Russian sweets such as Aljonka chocolate, pickled cucumbers, caviar, kefir, and sprats from Latvia. You can also discover spices and sauces from Georgia here. Beverages include Baltika beer and numerous types of vodka such as Russian Standard, Beluga, and many more. You will also find Russian books, DVDs, and magazines here.
The supermarket also has a snack bar – a small but popular meeting place for fans of Eastern European cuisine. Right in the market, you can try classic Russian home cooking, especially solyanka: a spicy soup with meat, sausage, pickled gherkins, and lemon, which is considered a real classic in Russia and many post-Soviet countries.