Berlin snow is never virginal for long. Gathering coal dust on its decent it often boasts a yellowy hue long before hitting the ground. But adaptable as only city folk are, we have come to value the many shades of Berlin snow as white, bright white – with an afterglow. So when it falls and before it’s had time to dissolve into a slush of tyre tracks, dogs’ dinners and gravel, here is were to go and legally enjoy the fluffy, toboggany whiteness of winter:

http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/stadtgruen/gruenanlagen/de/
nutzungsmoeglichkeiten/rodeln/index.shtml

Note: There’s a place in Berlin called Coca-cola hill!

…on a sunny day in October.
Please click on the images.

Fantasies are dreams that are awake – this is the motto of an artistic project in the Torstrasse 166. A deserted building in Berlin Mitte was transformed by 12 artists to a space, which touches all our senses…
Unusual, surprising and thrilling, the installation tangles our perception.  Don´t miss it! This art event lasts til 12 October 2008.
http://www.torstrasse166.de/

twin Gabriel

After the reunification, many new buildings were constructed in Berlin and quite a lot of them provoke a controversial discussion whether modern architecture enriches or rather destroys our cityscape. In particular the shopping mall „Alexa“ close to the Alexanderplatz, which was constructed in 2007, is not well received by everyone. The architects and owners of the complex claim that it follows the classical Art Deco Style and is constructed with much care and attention to beautiful details. The critics can’t follow this rationale and call the Alexa a nightmare in pig pink („Alptraum in Schweinchenrosa“) or a subterranean bunker, which was pressed by a tectonic plate movement to earth’s surface and painted in pink.

However several modern buildings have been constructed in Berlin, which don’t polarize options as much – at least concerning their appearance. At the best they give Berlin its identity and the Berliners are proud and happy to see them. Spontaneously I can think of three buildings in the center of the town: There is the GSW Headquarter close to Checkpoint Charlie in Kreuzberg. A convex high-riser with 22 stores, called the round “pillbox”, was constructed in 1999 to complete an older administration building. According to the plans of the architects Sauerbruch and Hutton, the high-riser is covered with glass lamellae in warm colors. These lamellae are the trademark of the building and depending on the light reflection change in gradation and luminance. The building develops a life of its own and isn’t just a cool, clean and repellent surface.

GSW Headquarter

Another high-riser, which is pleasant to the eye, is the so-called Kollhoff-Tower on the Potsdamer Platz. It was built in 1999 in the retro style of New York’s brick buildings. The tower of 103 meters is supposed to have the fastest elevator in Europe. The roof terrace provides a fantastic view over the recently constructed area of the Potsdamer Platz and the adjacent Tiergarten park. Unfortunately only ten years after construction the building must be already renovated, but it’s still beautiful with its distinctive and pointed shape!

A successful example of modern architecture in Berlin is also the new exhibition hall, which belongs to the museum of German history in Mitte, Hinter dem Gießhaus 3. It was designed by the Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, who has the reputation being the „master of light“ and the „magician of space“. Curved walls and light-flooded, spacious rooms lend the building its special and inimitable character. The visitors feel immediately embraced by the generous entrance area.

exhibition hall DHM (source: morgenpost.de)

Last but not least there is the philological library of the University of Dahlem designed by the British architect Norman Foster. This amazing building with an interior shaped as a book gives us hope that also in the future more modern and beautiful buildings in Berlin will be constructed.

Philological library FU Berlin (source: fu-berlin.de)

Southwest of Berlin’s city boarders, close to the town Groß Glienicke exists a place called „Waldsiedlung“. Despite the peaceful name and the romantic landscape, the 700.000 sqm area was once a military barrack in the Weimar Republic. During the Third Reich the barrack was expanded, and after 1945 was occupied by the soviet army. Even until 1989 it was used as a frontier-defence of the GDR. After the reunification the area was sold to a private property company and most of the buildings were demolished. Fortunately the so called Panzerhalle remained, and has been used for 10 years as an atelier and an exhibition place. The hall is huge, cold and drafty, but has a very special atmosphere especially in combination with the environmental forest, which is just beautiful; a stimulating contrast was created.
I visited the Panzerhalle for the first time in 2003 to see the exhibition „Blue Hall – market place Europe“. Artists from different european countries were invited to realise their idea of Europe, each one using a box of bananas. It was an amazing exhibition with funny as also sometimes provocative ideas. The Panzerhalle offered the ideal surroundings.

exhibit from „Blue Hall – Marktplatz Europa“

Last year the Panzerhalle was destroyed, but the people and the spirit, which created the Atelierhaus Panzerhalle still exist. The artists moved to another building belonging to the barrack Waldsiedlung, called now „Neues Atelierhaus Panzerhalle“. The artistic production continues and projects such as a sculpture garden are in preparation. It is a great advantage for Berlin and Brandenburg to have this place for cultural purposes, as so many different historical changes have taken place.

Lothar Seruset, Die Turnstunde

Berlin is actually one of the cheapest capitals in Europe. Without being rich or having a stable income you still have the possibility to find a nice flat in the center of the town and participate in the cultural life. There are a lot of places and events, where no entrance fee is demanded. Many buildings and monuments can be entered for free, for example the Friedrichwerdersche Kirche , the Reichstag , on mondays the museum Deutsche Guggenheim or the Holocaust-Monument close to the Avenue „Unter den Linden“ and the Brandenburg Gate .
In the evenings you can walk around and find spontaneous concerts on the sidewalks or in the Berlins huge public parks. Especially on friday evenings many gallery openings in Berlin Mitte take place, these are accessible to everyone . Residents and tourists are guided on special days through government departments, memorials, historical monuments, universities and other buildings, which are normally not opened to the public: Tag des offenen Denkmals, Einladung zum Staatsbesuch, Festival of Lights, Tag der offenen Tür…
Mainly during the summertime innumerable festivals and parties on the street are organised.

This unpretentious and easygoing lifestyle is also one of the reasons that many artists are attracted to Berlin, see Reuters-article „Artists flock to cheap Berlin from around the world“.

Queen Luise from Prussia and Princess Friederike in the Friedrichwerdersche Kirche, source: flickr

Datas and facts concerning „cheap Berlin“ as well as an interview with a scottish writer, living many years in Berlin, are coming soon.

As a parent you always look for good alternatives towards noisy-crowed playgrounds - and I still discover places where you find some peace and quiet. Nature-Park Schöneberger Südgelände is a places like that.

People’s life in Berlin seems very calm and with ease. Without doing business on Sunday, everybody can enjoy more time for recreation. There is a park called ‘Mauerpark’ in the neighbourhood where I live and people spend a lot of happy time there. One day, after I finished work, I passed by the park on my way home. It was a late afternoon, but the day was still very bright in one of the long summer days with the warm coloured sunshine. I was stopped by happy music and couldn’t avoid following the melody. I found several people playing some music and though I don’t know whether the music was composed by themselves, or whether they just performed the works of others, the atmosphere attracted me a lot. Turning around, I could see some people doing sports, lovers strolling around, couples passing by with a baby trolley, dogs chasing balls… all that seemed like a big life performance on a long day’s afternoon. From the scenery you could see the time floating through the people…

This park doesn’t look anything special but a big grassland. The lawn cannot be seen as neat and the trees are not many. Yet, it diffuses an aura that brings people together, and it is just these people, who spread a spirit of tolerance and fill the scene with life.

Prior to the world of Playstations and the WWW, there were other means to entertain the children of Berlin. Set in the grounds of Treptow Park you can find the remains of Plänterwald Theme Park which closed in 2001. Travelling on the S Bahn in between Ostkreuz and Treptow Park looking down the river in the opposite direction to Alexanderplatz you can see the large Ferris Wheel. From the walkway close to the river you can inspect what is left of the dinosaurs and rollercoasters. Worth a visit any time of year by bicycle or foot, you can venture the whole perimeter fence and see the old entrance kiosks.

For further history about the park please click here: Spreepark - Wikipedia: After ‘02 story is quite entertaining!

Look it up on google maps

Walking around in the center of Berlin without a goal or a special target makes you discover the most beautiful and interesting places. These places will never be found in any typical guide and will show you the real Berlin.
Impressive Buildings and sculptures from the 19th and early 20th centuries can be found around the area of the Charité (a famous and well-established hospital-complex between the main train station and the Friedrichstrasse): http://denkmaeler.charite.de/site/. On sundays the parks of the Charité are deserted and tranquil, so you can experience and enjoy a meditative silence, here you can recover from the sometimes exhausting activities in the capital.

Website representing the most important monuments of the Charité

A calm place is also the cemetery „Dorotheenstädtisch-Friedrichswerdersche Friedhof“ in Mitte, which is accessible from the Chausseestrasse 126: see article in http://de.wikipedia.org/.
The cemetery was built in 1763 and has become over time a place of great importance concerning Berlin’s tradition and history of art. Famous people have found here their last resting-place: between the artists Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Johann Gottfried Schadow are the writers and dramatists Bertolt Brecht and Anna Seghers, the philosopher Herber Marcuse, the members of the resistance Klaus Bonhoeffer and Hans von Dohnanyi, the politician Johannes Rau and lots more. Some of the tombstones are really extraordinary.

Grave of Karl Friedrich Schinkel, source: wikipedia

Not so silent but also quite interesting is the place in front of the ruin of the Palace of the Republic. Here the reconstructed palace will be built, this was damaged during second world war and finally destroyed in 1950. At the moment excavations are taking place on the former Palace Square (Schlossplatz): detailed article under http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/
The findings – foundations, walls and everyday items – are a significant source of the original construction of the palace and give an impression of the medieval settlement on this place during the 12th until the 14th centuries. There are plans to integrate parts of the excavation in the soon to be reconstructed buildings.

Preview of the excavation