By Claudia von Duehren
No celebrity passed by his booth. At currywurst legend Klaus-Peter Bier (83), hungry stars lined up at night. Today the owner of the legendary snack bar “Kudamm 195” passed away.
“My father fell asleep peacefully on July 2,” says Gregor Bier (49) at BZ
Laus-Peter Bier (left) and his son Gregor at the snack bar. Celebrities usually came in the evening Photo: Private
Since 1997 he and his father have been selling currywurst on the Kudamm. His regular guests included Berlin veterans such as actor Harald Juhnke (1929-2005) and playboy Rolf Eden (92). “Juhnke always brought a sausage and a beer, and his son Oliver is often our guest,” reveals Gregor Bier. Rolf Eden enjoyed the sausage with the house sauce for lunch, even though he was “constantly on a diet”.
It goes without saying that the former mayors of Berlin Eberhard Diepgen (80, CDU) and Klaus Wowereit (68, SPD) also loved the Bude am Kudamm and were happy to take distinguished guests from the city there. Wowi donated a crispy curry to tennis star Boris Becker (54).
A beer for three. Klaus Wowereit, Gregor Bier and Boris Becker Photo: Peter Bischoff/Getty Images
But stars from afar have also followed the call of the famous sausage. Magicians Siegfried and Roy came to Kudamm 195 from Las Vegas and were thrilled. Even the first wife of the Persian shah, Farah Diba (83), feasted on the Berlin specialty – accompanied by the BZ, by the way!
The magicians Siegfried and Roy conjured curry – in their stomachs Photo: Private
Berlin-born Klaus-Peter Bier opened his snack bar in the mid-1960s in the corner building at Kurfürstendamm 185. “At the time, he bought from the same sausage supplier as the Berlin inventor of currywurst Herta Heuwer”, explains Gregor Bier.
The Kudamm 195 cult snack bar with its high tables Photo: Ufuk Ucta
It wasn’t long before Klaus-Peter Bier am Kudamm was selling twice as many sausages as Heuwer on the corner of Kantstrasse and Wilmersdorfer Strasse – with a glass of champagne to accompany it.
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
But in December 1989, a fire destroyed Klaus-Peter Bier’s popular snack bar. In the boarding house above the curry stand, a guest had fallen asleep with a cigarette. The old building completely burned down, ten people died. Klaus-Peter Bier was only able to save his cash with small change. “A year later we moved ten houses to number 195. Today we are the oldest tenants in all of Kudamm”, reports Gregor Bier.
Alpine rocker Andreas Gabalier enjoyed curry at Gregor Bier Photo: Private
His father stayed by his side until the end. Incidentally, the senior himself preferred the homemade meat skewer with spicy sauce according to the family recipe.
