Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin's ugly duckling in the days of the DDR, is looking more and more like a fairly pricey swan.

Prenzlauer Berg is a neighborhood with an overall feeling of freshness, movement and colour.

No other district in the Eastern part of Berlin is more popular and more in demand among Germans and non-Germans alike moving to the new-old German capital.

After Mitte, it is also the most expensive of the Eastern districts. Some also claim the area is one where people from all over the world meet - where the project of multiculturalism is at its best.

Before getting too enthusiastic, however, the fact is that one hardly sees an Asian or a Black face outside ethnic restaurants.

There are many places where one could start to map Prenzlauer Berg, but perhaps the best is the famous Kollwitz Platz, or simply "Kolle".

Prices for places to live here or close by are the highest in the district.

This refers chiefly to rental apartments, but places for sale form a growing share of the market. Real estate agents see this area as a special zone where everything is possible.

In renovated buildings throughout the neighbourhood, prices for renting per square metre normally range from DM 8 to 20. These figures apply to what is called the "Kaltmiete", i.e. rent which does not cover services and utilities such as garbage removal, garden maintenance, and electricity.

The same is true with buying an apartment. Prices range from around DM 3,000 to 5,000 per square meter. (This is lower than five years ago when prices reached circa DM 7,000).

The conditions of services and utilities in renovated buildings are comparable to the best in Berlin. However, for places that are still due to be renovated, it is wise to inquire about the standards: a few of the older buildings still only have toilets in the stairwell and require that you lug coal from the cellar for the heating stoves.

To look for an apartment, most people would buy the weekend issues of the Berliner Zeitung or the Tagesspiegel.

You might also call a local real estate agent. Yet don't be surprised if the agent cannot be reached, has no public office hours when you call, or is simply not in the mood to tell you about prices, because their business is "ahhh, so complicated" and advise you to buy a newspaper instead. Stüdemann & Hinz, however, seemed friendly and cooperative.

So, to live on Kollwitz Platz is to be at the centre of the action.

You have a high-quality weekend market right at your doorstep with products ranging from homemade cheeses and organic vegetables to designer lamps and kangaroo steaks.

There is likewise an interesting medley of shops and restaurants around you and a children's playground with a small jungle of tall Kastanien trees.

Try the restaurant Gugelhof where Bill Clinton had a meal during his visit in 2000. Savour the wonderful food at Mao Thai at 30 Wörther Strasse.

Have a stroll through the antiques shops in Huseman Strasse which had already been renovated by the end of the eighties. Erich Honecker, East Germany's last real leader, used to be guided through this street to be shown how much socialism was on the rise.

Just out of his sight, the buildings in the surrounding streets were almost falling down and here Honecker's tinted window Volvo rushed through to avoid any contact with reality.

The Wasserturm, another landmark of Prenzlauer Berg, is a stone's throw away to the south-east, offering an atmosphere like that on a hip cruise ship.

Turn from there into Rykestrasse and you are reminded where you are. Right beside the kosher restaurant Am Wasserturm, you will find a police-guarded redbrick building -one of the few synagogues in town which was not set on fire by the Nazis in the "Kristallnacht" of 1938.

Wall to wall with residential houses, burning this synagogue was not considered a wise thing to do.

If you would like to get a feel of Prenzlauer Berg from slightly more off the beaten track, follow Knaakstrasse to the north.

Check out what is for you among the many things on offer at the Kulturbrauerei (cultural centre).

Then walk down Lychnerstrasse. At number seven you can inquire with the language school "Tandem" for someone to exchange your knowledge of English for German, or other languages. You just have to pay for registration, find a suitable tandem-partner and off you go.

Try out one of the numerous ethnic restaurants or have a glass of wine and coq au vin in the wine restaurant Weinstein (no. 33).

At number 39 you can chose from a good selection of second-hand bikes or brand new ones.

Here you have also reached Helmholzplatz or simply "Helmi" - the less known brother of Kolle.

On your way, you may have noticed scores of small children and young parents pushing prams of all models. Pregnant women and young families can seem to be the real - and prolific - rulers of Prenzlauer Berg.

Instead of following Lychner Strasse from Kulturbrauerei you can also pass under the U-Bahn bridge and turn south into Kastanien Allee.

At the Volksbühne branch of the Prater theater directors like, Castorf and Schlingensief, present a refreshing form of drama.

If you are not for such entertainment, you may choose to mingle in the beer garden outside.

Bars, cafes, pubs, restaurants, takeaway eateries, bookshops and experimental galleries literally line this somewhat scruffy boulevard.

However, this was not always the case. Roughly 15 years ago, these ground floor spaces were damp and empty - often storerooms.

The few pubs which did exist were highly appreciated. To get into places like Trümmerkutte's pub (Kutte's rubble), for instance, you had to pass a moody doorkeeper whose job it was to discern men from boys. Once you were in, you had to order the right drink to be allowed to stay. My friend Ralf, for example, who ordered a cola, was thrown out for wanting a soft drink.

Such places have gone today, but they are perhaps worth remembering when you order a Milchkaffee in one of Prenzlauer Berg's plenteous prime cafes.