These Artists Capture Kreuzberg’s Gentrification in a Chilling Video

These Artists Capture Kreuzberg’s Gentrification in a Chilling Video

Gentrification in Berlin is a subject that we are all to a degree affected by but many remain helpless in the face of it. The new visualization by the artist collective oddviz around Serkan Kaptan, Cagri Taskin and Erdal Inci deals with the subject of gentrification in Kreuzberg – in a seemingly simple, yet truly moving way.

Kreuzberg has long remained a stronghold of alternative lifestyles and social diversity, yet the recent developments make one wonder how long will it still resemble the free-spirited, laid-back hood many of us have fallen in love with.

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Deep Web – An Immersive Experience at Kraftwerk

Deep Web – An Immersive Experience at Kraftwerk

photo: Ralph Larmann. 

In February 2016 the impressive Kraftwerk Berlin showed a laser and sound installation by Christopher Bauder and Robert Henke called Deep Web as part of the CTM Festival. It is a moving, luminous architectural structure that weaves 175 motorized spheres and 12 high power laser systems into a 25 meter wide and 10-meter high sculpture of light and sound. It was a really immersive experience to see it.

This summer the show is back at Kraftwerk from July 12 until August 23, 2019, with special live performances on July 25 and 26, as well as August 8 and 9 that you shouldn’t miss. We have a little video from the first round to give you an impression.

 

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Experience a Visit at Berghain in Virtual Reality

Experience a Visit at Berghain in Virtual Reality

I honestly feel a bit guilty for posting yet another thing capitalizing on the fame of Berghain, but on the other hand, I know people are just gonna love it. And I don’t want to be in the way of that fun.

So, Berghain as made its way into the virtual world: Someone recreated it in Minecraft and Mixmag published a walk-through on Facebook yesterday. It’s quite rich in detail which is really impressive. It’s fun to trace your own steps through the infamous club and even walk corners you haven’t been before. My personal highlight is the little bat flying around in the place. Cute.

.Enjoy the experience and visit the empty virtual techno temple in the video below. Spoiler alert: It’s not really the same as going there IRL… 😉 Kudos to whoever created this…

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How Berlin Creatives Became My Endless Source of Inspiration

How Berlin Creatives Became My Endless Source of Inspiration

Before starting iHeartBerlin my life was not remotely as colorful and filled with creative minds as it is now. Without ever planning to, the blog enriched my life with so many encounters with wonderful people that became my endless source of inspiration. I met designers, that inspired me to start organizing fashion shows. I met store owners that made me create my own products, DJs that led me to run my own parties, dancers that got me involved into the theater scene, artists that became part of my exhibitions.

Up until that point, inspiration was mostly something I had to figure out by myself. And I was ok with that. I don’t remember having role models, or people that I aspired to. It took the perspective of a publication like iHeartBerlin that taught me to open my mind to what other people do, to appreciate their influence and let their creativity color my own. While writing about their work some aspects of their mindset seeped into mine, drop by drop. I was pulled into their worlds that were often so far from my own. But these foreign contexts shaped me like hardly anything else in my life.

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The Infamous Club Scene of Berlin in the 90s

The Infamous Club Scene of Berlin in the 90s

When it comes to the party scene I feel like I have seen quite a bit in my time here since 2000. I’ve known a time before Berghain. There were definitely more underground places, big factory raves, illegal parties in Treptower Park. Everything was a bit more secretive, word-of-mouth was the number one way to communicate places, and these were also changing locations quite a bit, always moving out of the radar of authorities. But there is one big thing that I totally missed out on: The infamous 90s. I came to Berlin in the 90s only once and I was so disoriented and had really limited ways to inform myself that I ended up in all the wrong places. It was still fun and exciting – of course a 17-year-old was easy to impress at the time. But there are some club names that keep popping up even 20 years later that I never stepped foot in and I wish I had.

This short documentary segment from the TV show arte TRACKS from 1997 gives us a little glimpse into the early days of iconic clubs like Tresor and Matrix, but also less known underground places that maybe only existed for a short amount of time – may they rest in peace in club heaven. Have a look for yourself in the video below and be inspired by Berlin’s 90s club scene.

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A Stunning Video Tribute to Notre-Dame de Paris

A Stunning Video Tribute to Notre-Dame de Paris

International travel videographer Alex Soloviev has already blessed us with his two stunning Berlin travel videos The Inner Layer and Everyday Berlin. Now, on the quite sad occasion of the fire at Notre-Dame, he released a beautiful tribute video of the French Icon that he shot on the roof of the famous church – a place that is probably not going to be accessible for years to come. From here you see those parts of the church that were probably the most destroyed by the devastating fire earlier this week.

As shocking as the fire and its damages to the beloved building were – it’s a relieve to know that it was not completely lost and can be rebuilt again. In Berlin, most of our major sights were also quite heavily destroyed by fires at some point in the past – for buildings this old it’s just always gonna be a part of their history.

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Capturing the Excitement and Anticipation of Spring in Berlin

Capturing the Excitement and Anticipation of Spring in Berlin

After his lovely poetic film Berlin, Berlin: Autumn, talented filmmaker Nehemias Colindres follows up with another beautiful Berlin film focussing on another special season of the year: Spring.

The lovely film perfectly captures this feeling of waking up and getting excited that we also feel every Spring when the temperatures rise and the trees start to blossom. There is something so magical about the season filled full of hope and anticipation for the following months that will be filled with cheerful times spent with friends hanging out by the river and chasing through long, warm nights. Especially the last couple of weekends felt exactly like that and we can’t wait for more of these lovely Spring days.

Enjoy the beautiful film!

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Deutschland – Rammstein Breaking Down Problematic German History

Deutschland – Rammstein Breaking Down Problematic German History

Berlin’s very own hard rock export goods, Rammstein, made a comeback last week with a brand new single and a music video directed by Specter Berlin. And although the band definitely caused many a controversy in their career spanning over a quarter of a century, the song ”Deutschland” has propelled them to the levels of scandal they might not have ever reached before.

To me, the song itself begins in a way slightly reminiscent of Rammstein’s earlier work, and the very first line of the lyrics obviously brings to mind the 1997 hit song that probably made Rammstein the international sensation it is today – ”Du hast”. The past remains the main motif visually throughout the entire ten minutes of the highly cinematic music video – and that’s where the controversy arises.

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The Symphony of Berlin Streets: 24h in a Mini Berlin

The Symphony of Berlin Streets: 24h in a Mini Berlin

Are you curious to spy what happens on the streets of a miniature Berlin on a single day? The six-minute long Minilook Berlin video will give you the chance to be an external spectator who checks out a teensy Berlin from the sky.
After the stunning Little Big Berlin video  we felt the need to experience once again the fascinating urban atmosphere of these incredible city streets. This time as well, everything you are expecting will be served: grey skies, crowded roundabouts, and of course Berliners running around like proper ants.

The Minilook Berlin project is realized by Efim Graboy and Daria Turetski using 42,069 still photos. It was made during the past 2 years with help from Berlin people and their balconies.

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A New Era for Music Made in Berlin: Watch these 12 Great Music Videos

A New Era for Music Made in Berlin: Watch these 12 Great Music Videos

Berlin in 2018 represents Europe’s creative metropolis number one. “Berlin reminds me of what New York was like in the early ‘80s,” Honey Dijon, iconic DJ, and cultural encyclopedia, told Clash in an interview in 2017, “It hasn’t been tainted as bad. It retains its rawness and roughness, it’s really young and still somewhat affordable. So there’s a lot of young artists.” – The European city that attracts musical talent ain’t London no more. Take a look at the following list of exceptionally talented and unique artists, and you’ll see: We have entered a new era of music made in Berlin. Whether short momentum or the start of bigger things to come. Don’t miss these 12 amazing, new music videos from Berlin-based artists!

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