A mushrooming of fitness centres across Berlin and into the former communist half of the German capital was an early sign of the city's transformation following the fall of the Berlin Wall.

But with Berlin's historic centre enjoying a big influx of young professionals as the German capital takes on a broader political and economic profile, its so-called Mitte district is fast becoming a new hunting ground for international fitness companies.

After a modest start to life in Mitte during the mid-1990s, the Healthlands (since renamed Elixia) gym at the corner of Behrensstrasse and Friedrichstrasse has recently found itself in a sense of a victim of its own success.

Having been for sometime the only gym the right in the heart of the new Berlin and with rather modest membership rates, Elixia quickly emerged as one of the most trendy and popular fitness centres in town with queues sometimes forming at for exercise machines during peak periods.

More recently, Elixia introduced higher memberships, in part it appears to help trim back numbers and ease some of the peak-hour pressure on the machines and changing rooms.

Now the Elixia gym is facing up to a stiff challenge from just a round the corner with the British-owned Holmes Place opening a decidedly upmarket fitness centre in Friedrichstrasse in October.

Billed as one of their star gyms in a fitness empire stretching across Britain and Europe, the new Holmes Place "lifestyle club" is to occupy three levels on a 5,000 square metre site.

As mark of the image the new gym hopes to create, it is proposed that its bar will offer Sushi.

Apart from a 16-metre swimming pool and a range of additional wellness service such as beauty treatments and massages, Holmes Place hopes that the will attract a large swathe of members from Berlin's new burgeoning media and political elite.

A dozen years, however, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and a new moneyed class has been somewhat slow to develop.

Indeed, there have been press reports that Holmes Place has not exactly been stormed by people seeking to sign up with many balking at the monthly membership of about EUR 123.

While its services might not be quite what Holmes Place intends to offer, Elixia's membership dues are still considerable lower than its new rival.

The result has been that while some of its more well-heeled members have been talking about moving around the corner to Holmes Court, Elixia seems to be hanging on to it more groovy membership and consequently its position as one of Berlin's most fashionable gyms.

Elixia - Mitte
Behrenstr. 48 /Ecke
Friedrichstr.
10117 Berlin
Tel: 030 20 63 53 00
Fax: 030 20 63 53 10

Holmes Place
Quartier 205
Friedrichstr. 68 (Eingang Mohrenstraße)
10117 Berlin
Tel: 030-20624949
Fax: 030-20624945

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