Koenigsberger Klopse are East-Prussian veal-and-anchovy meatballs poached in a caper-cream sauce; the dish travelled to Berlin with refugees in 1945 and stays on every Berlin tavern carte.
Koenigsberger Klopse originated in 18th-century Koenigsberg (now Kaliningrad) as a refined version of the German Klops meatball, distinguished by chopped anchovy in the mince and capers in the white sauce. When East Prussia was lost to the Soviet Union in 1945, Koenigsberg refugees brought the dish to West Berlin and West Germany. By the 1960s, Klopse had become a Berlin tavern standard. In the GDR, the dish appeared on HO-Gaststaetten menus under the politically scrubbed name Kochkloesse. After 1990, the original name returned. Max und Moritz on Oranienstrasse has cooked the dish unchanged since 1902; the boiled-potato side is non-negotiable.
3 editor picks for Koenigsberger Klopse in Berlin, ranked by editorial score. All Berlin signature dishes · Koenigsberger Klopse across every city.
Henne ★ 4.4
kreuzberg · Leuschnerdamm 25, 10999 Berlin
Henne Alt-Berliner Wirtshaus on Berlin's Leuschnerdamm has cooked one dish since 1907: a milk-fed roast half-chicken with kraut salad and bread, served in the original tavern.
Max und Moritz ★ 4.3
kreuzberg · Oranienstrasse 162, 10969 Berlin
Max und Moritz on Berlin's Oranienstrasse has cooked Prussian tavern classics since 1902 in the original ceramic-tiled dining room; the Klopse and rouladen anchor the menu.
Lutter und Wegner ★ 4.2
mitte · Charlottenstrasse 56, 10117 Berlin
Lutter und Wegner on Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt has cooked the city's traditional Wiener Schnitzel since 1811; the wood-panelled room runs the long lunch and Sunday classics.