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Berlin in full Bloom: Re-Openings in Spring

photo: Klunkerkranich

Spring has sprung! And you know what this means: Outdoor locations are becoming a thing again!

No more standing under heating lamps, clutching to your scarves. The last fluffs of your scarfs are scaling off your necks and many heads turn to other people again. With every raising degree, the core areas of the capital shift from inside to outside.

Berlin awakens in Spring. And along with it the people, the cafés, restaurants, urban parks and festivals are returning from their winter hideout. How we’ve missed the many opportunities to enjoy life under the clear sky. With Spring, all these possibilities are back!

And even better, we compiled a list of activities and locations that are back from winter hiatus and open again for you to enjoy. See them right after the jump. read more…

Exploring Berlin: 24h in Friedrichshain

by Alicia | Bars, Cafés, Friedrichshain, Galleries, Products, Restaurants, Shops

photos: Alicia Kassebohm

Especially when we are overwhelmed with work, when something significant changes in our life, or when we simply leave our usual surroundings to a new place, this is when we notice our most valuable asset: time.

In Friedrichshain you have time to get lost, as well as time to find something you didn’t know you were looking for. It is a place for nostalgia, for living in the moment, but also for seeking the future. It is an unfinished place, where one of time’s most significant effects becomes very obvious: change.

You definitely notice that unfinished character just by walking down Warschauer Straße, seeing all the construction works, graffiti and improvised shops and galleries. It’s always in progress, always changing. But this is what makes it special, what makes all of Berlin special.

The new label Lilienthal Berlin wants to capture exactly this spirit with their brand new watch, representing the individualistic and unique character of the city that is always in between a state of tranquility and movement. The iconic design symbolizes both the diverse history, but also its colorful present and future with subliminal details and aesthetic quotes of the city. With the exchangeable leather wristbands and color options of the body and face, it is adaptable to its wearer as the city itself.

To celebrate the launch of today’s exclusive pre-sale of their first model – the Lilienthal Berlin L1, which comes in a limited edition of 1440, all designed in Berlin and manufactured in Germany – the label sent us on a 24h tour to explore our favorite places in Berlin. We took the watch with us on our way through Friedrichshain, always with the time on our side. Enjoy our highlights after the jump!

World-Class Contemporary Art at Hamburger Bahnhof

by Keith | Art, Galleries

photos: Keith Telfeyan

Hamburger Bahnhof is perhaps Berlin’s best space to see contemporary art. When friends or family visit from out of town, this is the perfect contrast to the more traditional offerings on Museum Island, and there always seems to be an interesting event happening there, making it a regular spot for local friends as well. The permanent collection is world class, and the architecture is uniquely awesome – it is indeed a former train station, and the museum designers did well to convert the halls and long corridor into a sort of shrine for big ideas and creative feelings.

Exploring Berlin: A Guide To Schöneberg

by Yasmin | Bars, Cafés, Galleries, Market, Restaurants, Schöneberg, Shops

photo: Urban Nation / Nika Kramer

Schöneberg, oh Schöneberg. You are underestimated. Although you have so much to offer! The late and beloved David Bowie wasn’t the only one to notice your charm, but also numerous artists such as Iggy Pop and Klaus Kinski lived in your hemisphere. There’s something about you, something mature and unagitated but still exciting. Something that feels like home yet still comes up with surprises of the unknown.

Founded as a tiny village and first documented in 1264 (that’s… a long time ago), Schöneberg was merged in 2001 with the adjacent district Tempelhof and is now called: Tempelhof-Schöneberg. We will focus on the Schöneberg-part of the district today, presenting you the best options to eat & drink, see some art, spend some leisure time in the most beautiful spots and learn something about the history of the ‘beautiful mountain’ aka Schöneberg.

FYI: Even though the district is located at a quite elevated spot, the name ‘Schöneberg’ that includes the ‘mountain-theme’ is rather a wishful-thinking-name than a geographically correct one. But who cares, right? Let’s start with our guide to Schöneberg!

From Here To Me – Artists between Balkan and Berlin

by Yasmin | Art, Galleries, Photos

Semra Sevin, Berlin Reflection Glienicker Brücke, 2011

The search for a belonging, a definition of home is a constant topic in a globalized world. Berlin is a melting pot where people from all over the world cross each other, meet each other and – in the best case – love each other. The lifelong question of identity is a matter even amplified when different cultural backgrounds come into the mix of emotions. The distance that emerges over time to one’s ‘original homeland’ (which is maybe just a question of definition) is a space in which sometimes romanticized, sometimes critical perspectives reach the surface.
The beauty of it all is a frequent subject in art.

“From Here To Me” is a project and an exhibition where eight artists from Balkan states exhibit their work in which the aesthetics of Berlin as a bond with their personal homeland are displayed and merged into one. The contributing artists are not only from the Balkan states but also from Greece and from Turkey. They all succeed in creating a strong insight to their inner feelings through the outer arts. read more…

Exploring Berlin: Our Favorites in the West

by Frank | Cafés, Charlottenburg, Galleries, Restaurants, Schöneberg, Shops, Tiergarten

Writing the different city guides for our ongoing series Exploring Berlin has been a true pleasure in the past months. It’s something that we haven’t done so much in the past, but have been really getting into especially within the last year. We love how it makes us explore parts of Berlin that we haven’t been so focused on before and to always look out for the new things popping up. We have also enjoyed the feedback that we get from you guys that add their personal favorites to our themed or district guides and most of all we love to read the comments how these guides have helped you find you way around in Berlin.

When Citadines asked us to compile one of our Berlin guides for their Travel Capsule campaign we were of course happy to do so. The Travel Capsule is an interactive experiences in Paris and London that combines the physical with the digital. In both cities, the brand will set up a studio in big train stations which is a recreation of a Citadines apart‘hotel. In this studio visitors will be able to travel to either Berlin, London or Paris via a big interactive screen where they will get special recommendations for each city curated by local bloggers. This is were we come in: We chose 20 places in Berlin in different categories including culture, food, business and shopping that will be shown on an interactive video map inside the Travel Capsules giving the visitor a digital tour of the town while snacking on specialties from each respective country. If they are lucky they can also win trips and hotel nights in one of those cities such as Berlin where the Citadines apart’hotel is located at Olivaer Platz right in the heart of Charlottenburg.

We want to share a part of this guide with you today and selected 10 places that are in the West of Berlin including Tiergarten, Charlottenburg and Schöneberg – those districts that we have neglected far too long and that we particularly enjoy to discover these days. Have a look at our selection after the jump!

Exploring Berlin: Hanging Out in Kreuzberg

by Frank | Bars, Cafés, Clubs, Galleries, Kreuzberg, Restaurants

Following the spirit of our Exploring Berlin series we want to look at another district today and show you our favorite places there. This time we chose the one that we are surrounded by the most as our office at Blogfabrik is located right in the middle of it. I’m talking about Kreuzberg of course, probably one of the most popular districts of Berlin at the moment.

People who come to Berlin just love it here. It’s buzzing and it’s relaxed at the same time. It offers everything from delicious food, compelling art, pulsating nightlife and cultural entertainment. But apart from all of that Kreuzberg is particularly good for one thing: Just hanging out and having a good time. So we drove around in the past days dropping by the most beloved hang-out spots of the Berliners and snapping some photos for you. By the way all of the photos in this feature have been taken with the new Sony Xperia Z5 smartphone (versus the Z1 or my SLR that I normally use) which is being presented at the IFA these days. But now let’s dive into our favorite places in Kreuzberg.

Exploring Berlin: A Stroll down Kantstraße

by Alicia | Bars, Cafés, Charlottenburg, Galleries, Restaurants, Shops

photos: Alicia Kassebohm

Have you already tired yourself out following all summer events and hints and tips of the season? Maybe it’s time for a relaxed, yet not boring, weekend for you?

If this is you, we have assembled the highlights for culture lovers off the beaten path in the city for you – starting with a few spots in the versatile district Charlottenburg, where time seems to be running a bit slow to the beautiful facades and quiet parks in which you can meet original Berliners.

Attending a theater play, going to the movies or a gallery or meeting someone in one of the sometimes almost historical cafés – follow into the footsteps of Berlin’s artistic legends.

Pictoplasma 2015 – Form Follows Empathy

by Claudio | Art, Galleries, Wedding

Gallery Weekend can be a little snobbish and too crowded from time to time. Fortunately there is one event I am looking so much forward to it that it makes up for all other little annoyances: Pictoplasma, the unique festival for contemporary character design is back in Berlin. Presenting a dense program of inspiring artist presentations, conference lectures, animation screenings, workshops, installations, exhibitions, performances and a big party it has something for everybody who is in love with cute art! Also there will be a pop-up shop at the Uniqlo store where you can buy things and get a little workshop with the Japanese artist Akinori Oishi.

The main exhibition under the title Form Follows Empathy with international artists awaits you in the recently re-discovered abandoned crematorium of Wedding, while a group show by last year’s Pictoplasma Academy Alumni will take place at our beloved Urban Spree. For the cinema lovers the big screen of Babylon am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz will show a unique animations program, while lively art happenings and performances at Platoon Kunsthalle ensure that you truly get into character. And the best of it: all of it is for free or with a quite small entrance fee!

And since we are friends with the festival for a couple of years we are giving away 3×2 tickets for the screenings. Just let us know the time and which screening you would love to attend in the comments section (including a valid email-adress). A little preview in pictures and the trailer after the jump. read more…

A Guide to Bikini Berlin & The New West

by Frank | Bars, Cafés, Charlottenburg, Fashion, Galleries, Restaurants, Schöneberg, Shops

Bikini Berlin

Today we want to take a closer look at the Bikini Berlin and the areas around it with all its little gems and treasures. Since the opening of the mall last year a lot has happened in the good old West and all of a sudden everyone was speaking of a renaissance of West Berlin. A couple of high profile hotels opened in the area, new restaurants popped up, a new luxury cinema, the C/O Gallery finally re-opened after its move away from Mitte. And these are just a few of the new developments of the City West. It was about time that we explored this area and compile a little guide for you of the new West Berlin with the Bikini Berlin at its core. Enjoy our selection after the jump!

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