Zur letzten Instanz and the medieval wall

In front of you is one of the oldest corners of Berlin: a small tavern and, beside it, the last remains of the city's medieval wall.

1The lost wall

Berlin and Cölln surrounded themselves with a stone wall in the late 13th and the 14th centuries. The city grew, the wall lost its purpose and almost all of it disappeared. This stretch survived because houses were built right against it and used it as their back wall. It's the little that remains of the ring that once protected the medieval town.

2Four centuries of beer

The house is first mentioned in 1561. In 1621, according to the sources, a groom of the Elector opened a brandy tavern here, and the building has served drinks almost without a break ever since. The current name is far more recent: it dates from 1924. What you see is largely a 1963 reconstruction, because the building was badly damaged in the war.

They say Napoleon warmed himself by the tiled stove that's still kept inside. There's no document to prove it.

3A legal legend

“Zur letzten Instanz” means “At the Last Instance”, as in a court of final appeal. According to tradition, two farmers locked in an endless lawsuit at the nearby court finally made peace here over a beer: the tavern was their true court of last resort. The documented explanation is more prosaic: the name was chosen because of the court building on Littenstraße next door.

4What to look for

• The rough, unhewn stones of the wall, laid with barely any shaping.
• The large court building on Littenstraße, a few steps away.
• The tavern's sign, with its legal-sounding name.