Bonbonmacherei

Bonbonmacherei in the Heckmann-Höfe: Craftsmanship in the Basement

From Oranienburger Straße, a narrow passage leads into the Heckmann-Höfe, and it’s only in the back courtyard, a few steps below street level, that you’ll find the Bonbonmacherei. The courtyards originally belonged to a wealthy coal merchant who had a horse stable and sheds built here; in 1905, an industrialist bought them and gave them his name. Today, shops and restaurants line the courtyards. Inside the shop itself, only a glass pane above a waist-high counter separates the sales area from the candy kitchen, making the production process part of the visit. The round metal candy presses stand against the walls. The S-Bahn station Oranienburger Straße is just sixty meters away. There is explicitly no online shop; shipping is arranged by phone or email. The shop also has no seating; people come here to buy and watch. In addition to the S-Bahn, trams 12, M1, and M5 also stop nearby, and the U-Bahn station Oranienburger Tor is a good four hundred meters away.

Woodruff Leaves and Over 40 Varieties Made According to Old Recipes

Katja Kolbe and Hjalmar Stecher started a candy wholesale business in 1992. When an old Braunschweig candy factory closed down in 1994, both apprenticed there, learned the almost extinct profession, and took over the decades-old recipes and machines, including those for Berlin woodruff leaves. After stops in a garage and a shipping container, the Bonbonmacherei moved into the Heckmann-Höfe in September 2000. Sugar, water, and coloring are cooked in copper kettles over fire; the mass cools on a stainless steel plate, is kneaded, rolled through rollers, sugared in a coating pan, and cut with molds that are around a hundred years old. The assortment ranges from woodruff leaves, Bosnian plum, and prickly pear to Berlin cough drops and Blockmalz (a type of German hard candy), as well as fiery raspberries with cayenne pepper. Among Berlin’s candy shops, the Bonbonmacherei is one of the few that still truly produce their own. Additionally, there are herbal and cough drops like anise sticks, sage, eucalyptus-menthol, and cachou cubes with licorice sprinkles, as well as filled silk-gloss candies, mocha tongues, and crunch coins. The shop also offers mixes, from sour mixes to “Purple Mood” mixes.