Zeit für Brot

Zeit für Brot, which means time for bread, is an organic bakery that has been baking by hand with Bioland-certified ingredients since 2009. Its bakery café on Alte Schönhauser Strasse in Mitte is the one most visitors know, and it is a bright, busy place where you can watch the bakers working at the long counters behind the display.

The bakery is best known for its Zimtschnecken, cinnamon rolls glazed and sold warm from the tray, which come in several flavours and are a favourite with both locals and visitors. Bread is the other main attraction, from hearty sourdough and rye loaves to rolls and seeded breads, in keeping with Germany's strong bread culture. There are also sandwiches, cakes and other pastries, and coffee to go with them, so it works for a quick breakfast, a snack or a light lunch.

The café suits early risers, families and budget travellers, as prices are reasonable and the food is filling. Seating is mostly simple, with tables inside and some outside in good weather, and the atmosphere is lively rather than quiet. At peak times there can be a queue at the counter, but it moves quickly. Many people take their cinnamon roll to go and eat it on a walk through the Scheunenviertel.

The Alte Schönhauser Strasse bakery opens Monday to Friday from 7am to 8pm, Saturday from 8am to 8pm and Sunday from 8am to 6pm, which makes it one of the more useful early-morning stops in the area. Zeit für Brot has several other bakeries in Berlin, including on Eberswalder Strasse in Prenzlauer Berg, at Savignyplatz in Charlottenburg and on Weinbergsweg, so you are rarely far from one.

Bread is taken seriously in Germany, where bakeries are part of daily life and many people buy fresh rolls every morning. Zeit für Brot offers an approachable way to experience that culture, with organic ingredients, visible craft and a range that goes well beyond white loaves. If you have access to a kitchen where you are staying, a loaf of rye or sourdough from here makes an excellent picnic or breakfast.

The bakery is a short walk from Weinmeisterstrasse station on the U8 and Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz on the U2. Alte Schönhauser Strasse is a good street for fashion and design shops, and Monsieur Vuong, Father Carpenter and the Hackesche Höfe are all within a few minutes. Rosenthaler Platz and the cafés of Weinbergsweg are a little further north.