Jetzt schnell noch lesen, bevor der Artikel im Spiegel Online-Archiv vergammelt: Oliver Hopwood, Student aus Warwick, hat für einen Schreibwettbewerb über Deutschland über den Berliner Friseur „Kopfgeldjäger“ geschrieben. Und das äußerst liebevoll:

Kopfgeldjäger for me epitomised my experiences of Berlin especially Prenzlauer Berg: a trendy but not exclusive hub of a proudly burgeoning East Berlin, playing with new fashions and styles and making them its own. Very original and quirky, in a way that having no wallpaper, peeling plaster, rickety fittings and creaky floorboards somehow comes across as very trendy. But this trendiness was not in the least bit intimidating: I’m always a little frightened by Toni & Guy here in the UK, and feel obliged to cower with humility whenever I walk past this temple of capitalist cool. In Kopfgeldjäger, though, I wasn’t ashamed to be looking like a scruffy, tired, footsore tourist, on the contrary I couldn’t stop grinning as soon as I walked in. I had that mildly absurd feeling as I sat patiently waiting to have my hair washed that I really had made it. Upon walking out of this place I would be instantly cool, hip, my hair the envy of all around me. For the first time ever I was excited about having my hair cut, so much so that I had to take pictures and videos. Admittedly, the other customers did find me a little odd. Cool à la Kopfgeldjäger wasn’t sickeningly expensive either – at 12 euros, it was an absolute Schnäppchen, so I treated myself to a Danish hotdog afterwards.

That said, for all its originality and quirkiness, despite its experimental decor and innovative styles, Kopfgeldjäger was unmistakably German in the more traditional sense. Yes, there was a faultless queuing system. On entry in the salon, the customer collects a ticket, upon which is clearly imprinted his/her queue number. An appropriately positioned LCD screen displays the customer queue number currently being dealt with. When I was there, the salon was packed full. But all was running so very smoothly. Talk about German efficiency.