Live music on Sunday and Thursday, film on Monday, museums, exhibition and art installations on the other days… another busy week, but with a pleasant ending at a vegan market, for a well earned break !
Tip of the week : don’t wait to get your tickets for the great Drama Festival happening at the Schaubühne from April 17th to 26th. FIND, the Festival of International New Drama, offers plays from all over the world with english subtitles.
► Friday-Sunday 27-29th : Spring Vibes
Sony Center is definitely not a place you would associate with the German concept of “Gemütlichkeit”. Yet you might change your mind for a week-end, as they’ve decided to make a nice present for all music-lovers. From Friday to Sunday, Herzgrün Music Festival (“Green Heart”) offers 28 free “private” concerts in quite unusual venues : two temporary greenhouses hosting 85 guests only, featuring apple and orange trees, primroses, daisies, kumquat plants, and many more. Indie, Pop, Rap, Electronic, Jazz, Chanson, Blues, Folk,… you should be able to find something for your taste among the 14 international artists who were invited to celebrate spring. Don’t forget to book your tickets online ! (but if you didn’t, or if all tickets are already gone, they say that there should still be some room for people coming at the last minute…)
Time : 18:00-23:00 on Saturday, 15:00-20:00 on Sunday
Place : Sony Center, Potsdamer Platz
How to get there from campus : Take the M1 to Pankow and the U2 to Potsdamer Platz (travel time : 40min)
Price : 0€, mandatory registration !
► Monday 30th : Sneakpreview
Going to a premiere without knowing what the movie will be? This could sound strange, but that’s the concept of the Sneakpreviews, an old tradition of Hollywood studios that arrived in Germany twenty years ago and that enables the audience to enjoy a movie without any bias or prejudice. You can experience it each Monday night at a very nice cinema located right in front of the huge Volkspark Friedrichshain (in a few weeks you would want to try their Biergarten before going to a movie !). Don’t expect mainstream films!
Time : 23:00
Place : FilmTheater am Friedrichshain, Bötzowstraße 1-5
How to get there from campus : Take the M1 to Eberswalder Str. and the M10 to Arnswalder Platz (45min)
Price : 4,50 €
► Tuesday 31th : my heart’s in my hand, and my hand is pierced, and my hand’s in the bag, and the bag is shut, and my heart is caught
For sure you already met one of them in the U-Bahn. “Excuse the interruption, I am one of Berlin’s homeless people…”, and they peddle their newspapers, usually finding only one or two donators in the wagon. Phil Collins worked for one of these homeless magazines in the 1990s, and has been developing since then a long-standing interest in issues relating to these communities. One of the projects which grew from this interest is the installation “my heart…”, named after a quote by Jean Genet, that was first shown in Cologne in 2013 and is on display at HAU until April 18th. Described as “a headfirst dive into a city, tuning in to its many unheard stories”, this installation will be accompanied by some events (a screening and a concert, more info here). On Tuesday evening, you will also get the chance to see the winning pieces of the 100° Theatre Festival, presented once more at HAU.
Time : 17:00-20:00
Place :HAU (Hebbel am Ufer), Stresemannstraße 29
How to get there from campus : Take the M1 to Oranienburger Tor and the U6 to Hallesches Tor (50min)
Price : 0€
► Wednesday, April 1st : West Berlin Scenes, 40 years of “Island of Freedom” in photographs
If you want to learn more about Berlin’s history, there is one museum you should not miss : the Märkische Museum invites visitors for a walk through the city’s streets and neighborhoods to discover how the urban landscape evolved through the years. Along this permanent exhibition, Harry Crone‘s photographs of West Berlin before the Fall of the Wall are on display until June. Focusing on the artistic scene, they show 40 years of this highly subsidized “Island of Freedom”, a city which aimed to showcase the success of the liberalist ideology. The Museum is free on each first wednesday of the month, otherwise it’s only 3€ for students.Another more thematic exhibition on West Berlin is on display at the Ephraim-Palais, and is also free this wednesday.
Time : 10:00-18:00
Place : Märkisches Museum, Am Köllnischen Park 5
How to get there from campus : Take the M1 to Pankow and the U2 to Märkisches Museum (40min)
Price : 0€ (only on this Wednesday !)
► Thursday 2nd : Jazz with Ernst
Looking for authenticity ? Eager for good jazz music ? Then you should be enthusiastic about discovering Ersnt’s cavern in Wedding. You cannot really call it a bar, nor a tavern. It’s definitely a place for habitués, smoking their cigarettes and clapping with the music.Each Thursday you will find a very nice Jam Session, but you can also try the place on Fridays and Saturdays, if you manage to get a seat, and to breath in the smoke-filled air ! (Some people say that it’s when you start to go out in Wedding that you become a true Berliner…)
Time : 20:30
Place : Nachtschwärmer bei Ernst, Sprengelstraße 15
How to get there from campus : Take the 150 to Osloer Str. and the U9 to Amrumer Str. (30min)
Price : 0€
► Friday 3rd : Mental Illness and Surrealist Art
It will be over in a few days…and it’s not to be missed ! Until April 6th, the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg displays a very intriguing exhibition of around 120 artworks made by the patients of a psychiatric hospital. The surrealists, whose work makes up the core of the permanent collection (with interesting pieces by Buñuel, Dali, Max Ernst, Magritte, Francisco de Goya…), in fact declared madness one of their ideals. In 1924, André Breton praised the all-encompassing power of madness in his First Manifesto of Surrealism.
With your ticket for the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg you can also visit the Museum Berggruen across the street, which shows a very nice permanent collection of paintings and sculptures by Picasso, and currently a temporary exhibition on Alexander Calder and Paul Klee. You should also go for a walk through the vast gardens of the Charlottenburg castle, a good way to digest all this art !
Time : 10:00 – 18:00
Place : Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg, Schloßstraße 70
How to get there from campus : Take the M1 to Pankow and the S45 to Westend (50min)
Price : 5€
► Saturday 4th : Veggie Pride
Even if you’re a Burger addict, you must admit that Vegan Lifestyle is part of Berlin’s urban culture. Looking for a “green alternative” to the many traditional markets that are already taking place in Berlin, the Green Market offers more than food and drinks, namely live concerts and workshops. Following the success of the Green Christmas Market of last december, you can expect a lovely and colorful atmosphere for this 3-days festival, a good plan for a gourmet Easter !
Time : From Saturday to Monday, 12:00 – 20:00
Place : Arena Berlin (by Hoppetosse), Eichenstraße 4
How to get there from campus : Take theM1 to Pankow and the S85 to Treptower Park (45min)
Price : 2€
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