All Our Love to the Birds of Paradise in Berlin

All Our Love to the Birds of Paradise in Berlin

Glamorous personalities have all experienced it: The moment the mob gathers around, thrilled to have found a victim who dares to be different. Like a crowd of grey pigeons staring down at the colorful bird of paradise. Laughing, in the absurd belief that they are better because they are many. Lots of grey against a spark of glamour. Too narrow to see, it is this spark that makes all the difference. It is what makes you special and them so very simple. Too blank to understand that it is you who is the winner and them who lost so long ago. They lost themselves in the thirst to please each other. One grey pleases another grey. Now they like each other, but the fewest like themselves. It is hard to know who you are when you put on a uniform.

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When Art Becomes Therapy: An Immersive Experience in Berlin

When Art Becomes Therapy: An Immersive Experience in Berlin

One of my favorite things about living in Berlin is the ridiculous amount of kooky events available at any given time. In the last month I’ve attended a Kundalini Active Meditation (where you literally “shake” your body whilst standing for a solid 15 minutes in a room full of strangers), danced from music from all over the world (Karnival de Kulturen) while ending at a open air rave in the middle of one of my favorite parks (Hasenheide), and attended an immersive art/dance performance/therapy session by the Mexican American artist Jazmin Medrano. 

Because I’ve lived in Berlin for three years now, nothing really shocks me anymore. Once I went to the infamous Berghain club alone and was approached by a normal enough looking man wearing only tennis shoes and a leather harness on his chest. “I can massage your feet if you want,” he offered. “No thanks, I don’t feel like taking off my shoes,” I replied truthfully.

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Secret Diary of a Private Yoga Teacher in Berlin

Secret Diary of a Private Yoga Teacher in Berlin

photos: Alicia Kassebohm

The following guest-article is brought to us by our favorite Berlin-based Yoga teacher and founder of Your Space Michaela Aue who is making the iHeartBerlin team sweat like animals and giggle like kids in all of her classes.

Berlin is Yoga heaven but Berlin men can be a Yoga hell. But before I go into this in detail let me tell you just a bit about me. I am yoga teacher living and working in Berlin for many years now. My best friend would probably describe me as a white-wearing creative chaos of some sort. For most of my adult life I have been consumed with the search of the ‘Mind-Body-Connection’.  Sounds so cheesy, but it is so true. Some might call it ‘the moment of bliss’ while others call it ‘being in your center’. The balance between body and mind is probably something we can all agree on for now.

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Learn German The Fun Way: 5 Alternative Language Classes in Berlin

Learn German The Fun Way: 5 Alternative Language Classes in Berlin

photo: Deutsch for Dich

Earlier this month marked my third year anniversary of living in Berlin. Though I have a permanent WG in Schillerkiez (the best Kiez in Berlin), a handsome German boyfriend with no interest in polyamory (the holy grail!), and a close-knit group of hilarious friends, I still don’t feel like a true Berliner.

Why? Because I don’t speak German.

I can read and understand most things, but every time I try to say something other than “Tschüs!” I freeze.

When I was visiting family in the USA a few months ago, I was amazed at my charisma. I was cracking jokes with the Waffle House waitresses, articulately asking for directions to the nearest Target and politely inquiring where the Kombucha section was in Whole Foods. I couldn’t believe how confident and shiny I was, not just around my family and friends, but out in the real world. Who was this girl? In Berlin, I shrink inside of myself every time I have to speak German with anyone. Upon returning and feeling my shiny-self dull more and more, I decided that learning German was no longer some frivolous thing expats like me talk about doing, it’s something that I needed to do order to let my true self shine.

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The Six Day Berlin Bike Race at Velodrom

The Six Day Berlin Bike Race at Velodrom

Sponsored

Lycra, lights, DJs, sweat and slings. This could be another night at Berghain, but instead we find ourselves at the Velodrom at the 107th Six Day Berlin race– the world’s oldest six-day bike race- thanks to the kind invitation of GASAG who is one of the sponsors of the event. Do you want to experience it as well? We have tickets for you to win!

Berlin is a city of bikers. We use bikes to get around town and to work more so than most people in other large cities. And, most of us have a close relationship with bikes. They can be a fashion accessory. They get you where you need to go. And, they are generally more reliable than the last person you talked to on Tinder (just don’t park it near Kotti, otherwise it will also disappear).

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A Bike Tour through Kreuzberg with a Barista

A Bike Tour through Kreuzberg with a Barista

photo: Urte Kaunas

There are so many stories written about Berlin: a city of inspiration, creativity, lost and found spirit, art and music, crazy dance floor love fairytales and never ending discoveries. In the end, every story reflects its personal angle and puts a different color pallet to fill the page. Berlin is made of many different routes – so let’s ride.

Getting into the streets by a city bike, having a cup of beautiful coffee on the way, observing the people in the streets, having spontaneous chats and exploring the local cafes and restaurants sounds like a perfect idyll of a day in Berlin.

For our brand new guide we got together with the charming Edoardo, head barista of Refinery High End Coffee in Mitte and Kreuzberg, and teamed up with Creme Cycles and the bikecitizens app to create a bike tour that unites the spirits of Berlin, delicious coffee and beautiful bikes.

Our tour starts in the most beloved and diverse districts of Berlin: “Kreuzberg is purely bizarre: you never know what to expect from the people, it’s ever changing and there is always something odd to discover,” says Edo before we start our tour…

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The Stories behind Berlin’s Icons

The Stories behind Berlin’s Icons

photo: Camilla Bundgaard.

Perhaps one of the main thoughts when thinking about Berlin, at least for young people that is, are its popular nightclubs, music venues, events, clubs and techno parties. In fact, Berlin has been gaining a reputation of this wild and sleepless city where the party never ends. However, Berlin is much more than just an endless rave – not to mention that it was the capital of Nazi Germany and it was also infamously divided during the Cold War – and its historical landmarks are a crucial part of what makes Berlin such an interesting city. So, although we usually try not to write about mainstream tourist sights, through the big urban icons listed in this piece you will get to understand a little bit of the history behind them.

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How Playgrounds Color Berlin’s Club Culture

How Playgrounds Color Berlin’s Club Culture

illustrations: Nicola Napoli

As far as I can tell, there is no greater threat to a child’s physical health than Berlin’s playgrounds. Don’t be fooled by their cute themes, like Underwater World (Kreuzberg), Dragonland (Friedrichshain), and Indiana Jones (Kurfürstendamm). Strewn about these playgrounds are sharp nuts and bolts, rough rope bridges, and slides of heat-inducting aluminum. But do Berliners seem to mind? Not one bit.

I’m convinced that Berlin’s playgrounds teach impressionable young Berliners to associate good times with the rusted nails, exposed wiring, and holes in the dirt. That’s why the most popular nightclubs among adult Berliners resemble decrepit playgrounds. Berliners have become masters of recreating the Lord of the Flies landscapes of their youths.
What’s interesting, however, is that this reenactment of childhood playtime doesn’t stop at shoddy construction. Here are a few other similarities I’ve noticed between playground and club fun.

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A Natural Workout in the Parks & Playgrounds of Berlin

A Natural Workout in the Parks & Playgrounds of Berlin

Are you one of those people who have a contract for a gym and hardly ever go there? Especially at the beginning of the year, people have the intention to work on their body, preparing for summer. But let’s be honest: when the summer is finally there, who wants to still go to the stuffy, stinky gym? We think there are better options to do a body workout than going into a studio.

There are many options to train your body, fitness trends like Yoga, Pilates, Crossfit… But did you ever try Natural Movement? Sounds like something you can only do in the wilderness, but hold on, Berlin also has its spots for this! Natural Movement offers you to explore your body’s full range of motion and agility. By practicing, you will start to gain the skills, strength and condition essential to adapt and perform in any environment. And please, don’t worry to look like a little monkey, we love monkeys!

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Berlin Biting you in the Ass

Berlin Biting you in the Ass

photos: Tania Strauss

My story is not different from anyone who has moved to Berlin and got stung by its venom. The venom is strong enough to infect you and leave you alive with its side effects, happily suffering. My friend describes it as “Berlin biting you in the ass”. This is quite accurate. You see a bite in the ass leaves a mark, a literal mark and a feeling. So does Berlin.

I moved to Berlin exactly 300 days ago. Just writing this is making it even harder to believe. 300 days. That is the longest I have ever been away from home. Well, I am kind of confused now as to where home is, but Berlin seems the most appropriate next to this word. I have found a home in the coldest, greyest, probably cruelest city in Germany. It is also the coolest, most liberal, accepting and very different from the rest of Germany.

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