Sat, 21 November 2009
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Berlin Schnellimbiss stands have lost out to global fast food chains
"It's less a meal, more an institution," chuckles the retired policeman when talking about currywurst and pomme frites. 
For 15 years "Bernd" has been a familiar figure, serving German sausage specialities to customers from a converted caravan on Savigny Platz in Berlin. But now he's quit his pitch on the square.
"Selling currywurst just isn't paying anymore," he sighs. In earlier years, a trio of currywurst stalls were to be found on the tree-fringed square, close to where the city's overhead S-Bahn trains rumble past, and restaurants and pubs compete on both sides of the Kantstrasse.
Now all have gone, much to the dismay of street workers, writers, artists, poets and teachers from the nearby Technical University, who live in the vicinity of the square, and used to learn all the latest city gossip when munching their mid-day currywurst and pommes.
It's a similar story in several other Berlin districts. Currywurst proprietors have been hurt by the bewildering spread of alternative fast-food outlets in Berlin in recent years, he says.
"Sure, a lot of sausages still get eaten in Berlin, but the demand is nowhere near as great as in former times," maintains ex-cop Bernd.
"People are in such a mad rush these days," explains Bernd, who used to patrol Berlin's streets in the mid-1980s until he was forced to take early retirement with a serious back ailment. "They flock to these 'indoor' fast food joints," he sniffs. "It's wrecking our trade."
*quote1*Sandwich havens, Starbucks coffee joints, mini-pizza establishments, Sushi take-outs, bagel parlours, even rival "hot-dog" stalls have mushroomed, as speed has become of essence in the German capital.
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