photos: Google Street View.
Berlin, much like many of its soul-searching inhabitants, is a creation always in progress, never quite complete. In fact, sometimes it’s quite hard to keep up with all the newest urban developments, so much so that even Google didn’t manage to update all of the Street View services to the present day state yet. We’ve taken screenshots of the most surprising sights – featuring the nostalgic memories of White Trash Fast Food and the Beate Uhse Erotic Museum – read on to see them and travel back to the not so distant noughties!
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by Michalina | Stories
You might have heard the news recently: After its closing last year the beloved Stattbad Wedding is currently being demolished and will soon have disappeared entirely. For the last couple of years if was filled with a lot of subcultural and nightlife projects including artists studios and workshops, offices for start-ups, a nightclub and bar, a space for concerts, exhibitions, screenings and dinner and whatever other project you can imagine inside the 4 tiled walls of a giant empty swimming pool. From my perspective its exactly these types of projects that use an abandoned relic of the past as a grow house for new progressive and alternative creativity that make Berlin what it is today. A hub for creative minds and alternative approaches from all over the world. It’s more than sad that places like Stattbad Wedding are not appreciated or supported by city officials and I’m worried that this will be harmful to the uniqueness of the city in the long run.
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by Frank | Wedding
Peachbeach, Urban Spree, 2014
Berlin is a mecca for street art murals, thanks to its many abandoned places and empty fire walls all over town. Obviously this attracts many artists who come here to find huge canvases for their work and a freedom of expression that they might not have where they come from. In Berlin the people have an openness, even an eagerness for all the different genres of art and they especially enjoy it when it’s out in the public for everyone to see. I think I have never been in another city in the world where street art murals have achieved a similar status as the normal sights of a city that people come to see here.
Wall Dialogue was a group exhibition at Neurotitan Gallery that showcased the work of 11 graffiti and street artists from Berlin (and one guest artist) who are mainly known for their large-size murals here in Berlin but also work in other cities all over the world. We have checked up on the artists and collected some of their murals here in Berlin, some of which still exists while others have been painted over already. Enjoy our new set of amazing artworks on the walls of Berlin after the jump.
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by Frank | Art
Robert Montgomery, All Palaces, photo: Kai von Rabenau,
courtesy Neue Berliner Räume
You’ve probably heard the news by now: The glorious Stattbad Wedding has recently closed (UPDATE Sept 2016: and now news broke it’s being demolished). This weekend the party makers of the club nights Stattnacht are throwing the last two parties in their temporary exile at one of the previously unused halls of Neue Heimat and after that an era has ended. I feel quite sad about this sudden development because the Stattbad was one of those locations that I have recommended through its entire run here on iHeartBerlin, for parties, exhibitions and other crazy stuff happening there. The old public swimming pool found a new purpose in the hands of the makers of Stattbad and the place including all its institutions such as the Open Walls gallery, the Stattbar and the Statt.lab was a wonderful experimental playground for a whole generation of creative Berliners and therefor an important part of the youth culture of Berlin for the past 6 years. It’s a shame that the place has closed so unexpectedly and there is not even a chance to have a final good-bye party there. So as an alternative we went back into our archive and compiled a huge best of from all the coverage and photos we have dedicated to Stattbad over the past 6 years and then some. Enjoy the Stattbad Chronicles after the jump and don’t feel ashamed to shed a tear for this amazing place on the final Stattnacht party on Saturday night and the open air on Sunday. We will miss you, Stattbad Wedding.
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by Frank | Art, Party, Photos
Artworks Zahra Shafie
Art openings are usually not the kind of events I feel very excited about. While at the theater I have a certain expertise, with contemporary art I have quite a lot of curiosity but feel that I lack in knowledge to appreciate most of the artworks. Since any good rule needs an exception, I have to say that I am really thrilled about tonight’s opening of the Young Persian Artist at Stattbad and I hope I can get you a little bit interested as well. The curator Mahsa Mergenthaler-Shamsaei choose four exceptional talents. From March 5-15, 2015, Young Persian Artists will host its first pop-up show featuring the rising stars from Tehran, under the title Hope Dreams Desire.
The group show features the artists Adel Younesi, Romisa Sakaki, Zahra Shafie and Ali Esmaeillou. These four represent a new generation of artists that have emerged in Iran with a loud, strong voice and urgency in their work which is hard to ignore. Even if they have not seen the war or revolution they still have inherited the society marked by these epochal events. The show features also new works around the theme of hope-dreams-desire, universal feelings, experienced and expressed by the artists in different and unique ways. If you are still not convinced that this is the place to be, you should check out the little preview selection after the jump.
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by Claudio | Art
photo: Amtsgericht by Herz&Blut
Since the beginning of our blogging experience we realized that Berlin has so much more to discover if you just open your eyes a bit wider. We always wanted to find the hidden gems, the undiscovered artist, the small off-theater production and give them the attention they deserved. Now after 7 years we managed to have quite a good knowledge of the city, but still every once in a while we make exciting new experiences here that take our breath away.
Last week we shared a similar experience with a group of fellow Berlin bloggers (FindingBerlin, Herz&Blut, Ghetogether to name a few). The guys from the Kulturfestival Wedding & Moabit wanted to show us the highlights of Wedding with a little tour and they did a marvelous job in presenting us not only spectacular architectonical highlights such as the Amtsgericht Tiergarten but also shared personal moments and anecdotes of their Kiezes with us while enjoying a slice of pizza.
From today on until September 14 the Kulturfestival Wedding & Moabit will transform these two neighborhoods into a lively creative oasis of ideas and festivities. Theater plays, dance performances, exhibitions, picnics, guided tours and of course an endless number of parties are just a few things you can experience during these days. Our recommended hotspots are the famous club Anita Berber, the monumental Amtsgericht and of course the Stattbad Wedding. Maybe after this weekend you will have a different view on Wedding and Moabit. You should also heck out our Fashion Week Guide to Wedding by the way. After the jump some more impressions from the different locations. Find out about the whole program of the festival here. Read on…
by Claudio | Art, Bars, Clubs, Galleries, Wedding
Vermibus is an amazing Berlin-based street artist that has been on my radar for a while since I discovered his Adbusting work at the subway stop Schönleinstraße in 2013. I think his transformation of glamorous advertising models into scary demonic creatures that almost ressemble Francis Bacon’s paintings is really fascinating. To give you an impression I have a few samples of his work and a super nice making of video of his tour through Europe for you after the jump.
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by Frank | Art
While the first two entries of our new series Berlin Goods were quite physical products made in Berlin our third one is from another nature. D3LTA is a brand new, really amazing photo app for iPhone and Android that was developed here at Stattbad Wedding by Christian Reich and his studio Rainbow Unicorn. The app will transform your photos into some amazing kaleidoscopic collages that could easily become the album cover of the next indie hipster band. It’s super fun to try out all the different filters on your photos and create your own little pieces of artwork. Speaking of which: Of all the submissions Christian will curate an exhibition of the best works that will take place later this year here in Berlin. We love the idea of that and can’t wait to see the results soon! After the jump a few impressions of the app.
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by Frank | Photos
Spank The Monkey
After an explosive NYE on Monday and probably a long night of partying for many of you at Berghain on New Years Day the week has been pretty calm so far as most of you are still recovering from massive hangovers. However, we do have a couple of recommendations for the rest of the week for you after the jump.
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by Frank | Art, Party
artwork: Jose Romussi
The temperatures are dropping, the snow is getting thicker and the events going on in Berlin are getting fewer. Still, there is quite a few nice things going on in the city. Kreuzberg Kalender is having 2 smaller events this week, the Salon Mindpirates is having his final week and then there is a series of Christmas-themed events toward the weekend. Enjoy the week in the snow! The events after the jump.
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by Frank | Art, Movies, Music, Party
