Ursprung is a charming underground cafe in Dussman Headquarters.
Dussman is the German equivalent of Barnes and Noble with a massive CD department as well.
The Mother Ship Store at Corporate Headquarters is meant to be spectacular.
It has five floors of books and media.
The basement contains the Largest Classical Music CD store in the world and the Largest Jazz CD store in Germany.
There is also a highly impressive selection of World Music that is especially strong on Turkish classical and Eastern European folk.
Both German classical music and German jazz are impressive.
There is a ton of material you can't get anywhere else -
Unless you know a small niche CD store that covers your exact interest.
UNLIKE Barnes and Noble, they do not put a cafe into the bookstore to draw in customers and get increased revenue.
They don't have to.
The store is absolutely positively packed with long lines at the cashier of happy customers buying lots of stuff.
Prices are not cheap.
Dussman's is not going to go out of business anytime soon.
I personally bought about 200 Euros worth of post-experimental German Jazz and historical Balkan rarities.
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Which gets us to Ursprung.
After all that standing, buying books and CDs, the customers are going to want to sit down and have drinks and snacks.
Plus all the people working at the Dussman Corporate Offices are going to want to have a place for drinks and snacks outside of the offices themselves if they are meeting people for personal reasons.
Ursprung fills both needs.
It is down in the basement, the way the CD department is down in the basement, but the two facilities do not connect.
You go up from the CD store to the cashier to pay.
You step out of the store into the corporate lobby.
You take a spectacular staircase to get to Ursprung.
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How spectacular is that staircase, Samuel C?
* * *
Funny you should ask.
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When you go DOWN,
What you see is a massive greenwall of living plants, fully two stories high, and designed to have all sorts of colors of green.
The result is an elaborate and impressive visual.
When you go UP,
The staircase is open, made of opaque glass and has lights.
Underneath the staircase is a blue ceramic koi pond.
So leaving the restaurant, you get a psychedelic picture of bright lights and koi.
I hope you did not drink too much beer in the cafe before climbing those stairs.
They have a disabled elevator
If you are really in no shape to deal with flickering koi under your feet
While managing a vertical.
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How is the cafe itself?
There is a limited menu - with a heavy orientation towards vegan items.
I had an espresso drink and a pastry which were unimpressive.
Other Yelpers who ordered elsewhere on the menu report similar experiences of meh.
But you are really not at Ursprung for a Five Star Gourmet experience.
You are here because you are doing business at Dussman's or you are downtown near Dussman's and you really need a place to sit down and refresh.
Dussman's has chairs, the place is pretty, and you can take all the rest you need as long as you order something.
Your aching feet will thank you.
Your eyes will thank you.
Your palate will survive.
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Ursprung is a hell of an experience.
The experience is worth ten times as much if you just bought the books or music of your dreams from Dussman's. read more
