St. Oberholz near Rosenthaler Platz and Silicon Allee in Mitte are important hubs of the city’s startup scene. Factory Berlin, which is a coworking space and incubator, is also located in the Mitte neighbourhood (though they’ve since opened up a second location near Görlitzer Park).

Kreuzberg, the center of Berlin’s hipster and artist scene, is home to the Berlin branch of the renowned betahaus.

Aside from these well known coworking spaces, which are all featured in our Startup Guide Berlin Vol. 4 book, there are coffee shops all over the city and reliable wifi available nearly everywhere. Note, though, that many cafes don’t allow computers on weekends. If you're keen on finding cozy coworking spaces throughout the rest of Germany, Coworking Guide is an excellent resource to find what suits you best.

📍Wattstraße 11, 13355 Berlin

Founded in 2012 by Nikita Roshkow and Nikolas Woischnik, Ahoy! Berlin has been a pioneer in its Wedding neighbourhood since its opening as the first tech organization in the area.

The aptly-named space represents a stable ship to jump onto and sail the stormy seas of innovation and entrepreneurship.

📍Rudi-Dutschke-Straße 23, 10969 Berlin

Before Christoph Fahle and his friends founded betahaus Berlin, they decided they wanted to create a big workshop space where people could do all types of work, including even fixing bikes.

They are in a five-story building complete with a coffee shop and a rooftop garden terrace.

📍Prenzlauer Allee 242, 10405 Berlin

Located in a former brewery in Prenzlauer Berg, Fab Lab Berlin is but one within a global network of over one thousand Fab Labs.

The space is a haven for teams working on first iterations of their prototypes; members have access to the latest digital prototyping tools (3D printers and laser cutting tools, to name a few) and an open digital fabrication studio.

📍Lohmühlenstraße 65, 12435 Berlin

Community manager of Factory Görlitzer Park, Caleb Screpnek, says that the space is unlike any other coworking space in Berlin. Inspired by the idea to prioritize easy movement, desktop computers aren’t fixed to the tables; members are encouraged to move.

The freewheeling style of the building not only includes workspaces and conference rooms, but also a Hogwarts-style library, a movie theater with sofas and even a “playground” with ping-pong tables, lofts to climb into and escape, and a ball pit for a leisurely paddle.

📍Lohmühlenstraße 65, 12435 Berlin

Google for Entrepreneurs is where innovative types can learn, connect and create. Since its founding, the hub has been a strong supporter of Berlin’s startup ecosystem.

It has also helped to build a strong community of entrepreneurs equipped with the skills and connections they need to realize their vision. It doesn’t end there. As a member, you can even attend a “tech talk” which is held regularly and hosted by Google and community organizers.

📍Wilhelminenhofstraße 92, 12459 Berlin

KAOS, much as its name suggests, is a bustling hive of activity. The space is located in a former abandoned building and nowadays, it caters to creatives from all disciplines.

Equipped with rooms for woodworking, milling, metalworking and 3D printing, KAOS also has desks, though the open space is more meant to be for collaborating and networking while working.

📍Skalitzer Straße 104, 10997 Berlin

One of the latest additions to the Mindspace family is located in Berlin on Skalitzer Straße; the space is one of eighteen locations worldwide.

In addition to 24/7 access, amenities include a coffee bar and soda fountain, free utilities, and a well-stocked event space. Through frequent events such as breakfasts and themed happy hours, as well as coding events and painting workshops, Mindspace prioritizes creating a strong sense of community.

📍Chausseestraße 19, 10115 Berlin

Silicon Allee was founded in 2011 by Travis Todd and Schuyler Deerman; ever since then the term ‘Silicon Allee’ has become synonymous with Berlin’s tech ecosystem.

Their mission was and still is to connect Berlin’s tech community with the rest of the world, helping locals gain international exposure and helping incoming foreigners get connected locally. Silicon Allee hosts the longest-running monthly coffee meetup in the German capital in which even non-members are welcome.

📍Rosenthaler Straße 72a, 10119 Berlin

Starting out as a café in 2005, St. Oberholz still has a chilled-out coffee house atmosphere. These days the fact that it doubles as a work environment is just one of its many perks. St. Oberholz now has two locations in Berlin. Both of them have a traditional café on the ground floor and workspaces above.

According to manager of both spaces, Tobias Kremkau, the critical feature that transformed the coffee shop into a creative coworking space was the “very long tables,” where new entrepreneurs began chatting about ideas and collaborating on new projects. Startups eventually arose out of these discussions.

📍Voltastraße 6, 13355 Berlin

AEG courtyards is the latest location in the Unicorn Berlin coworking chain. Located in a 120-year-old building, the space is full of striking contrasts; it has a nineteenth-century exterior but also a modern, bright and high-ceilinged interior.

Unicorn chooses their spaces – six and counting – without the intention of them being large or intricately decorated. This means that they can make their prices up to thirty percent cheaper than other spaces. But don’t be fooled by the bargain; Unicorn doesn’t scrimp on providing ultra-modern workspaces. They even have a barista in house to cater to your caffeine fix whenever it hits.

📍Kemperplatz 1, 10785 Berlin

The main goal at WeWork Sony Center is to make sure everyone feels welcome. “It’s our mission to really get to know the members on a personal level,” says community manager Aimara Geissler.

To create this homey atmosphere, WeWork offers a vast range of benefits for its members such as yoga hours, breakfasts and networking events. As for its location, you won’t be disappointed since the building is situated in the centrally located, vibrant Potsdamer Platz – with stunning views across Tiergarten, to boot.

Just so you’re aware of how we selected these spaces in Berlin, we sorted through hundreds of nominations from the community before a local advisory board helped us curate the final list.

All photos: Daniela Carducci / Startup Guide

*This article was originally published on October 17th, 2018 and updated on January 15th, 2019.