Olga | iHeartBerlin.de

Martin-Gropius-Bau: An Interactive Exhibition About Rituals of Giving

Installation view Lee Mingwei: 禮 Li, Gifts and Rituals, Gropius Bau, Berlin, 2020, photo: Laura Fiorio.

The lockdown hit the cultural scene very hard. I am working in the art scene, so it made me particularly sad about not being able to visit exhibitions and museums. On the one hand, I’m amazed at how diverse the program is online: how close you can suddenly get to artists, museums, and galleries. Everything has become very personal and we can take a look behind the scenes. On the other hand, experiencing art on-site – the closeness to the work of art, the dimensions clearly in front of me – cannot be replaced.

All the happier I was finally being able to visit an exhibition: The first thing I chose was Martin-Gropius-Bau and Lee Mingwei’s exhibition: 禮 Li, gifts, and rituals (until July 12, 2020). Lee Mingwei is a Taiwanese-American, contemporary artist who dedicates himself to the rituals of giving and receiving gifts.

A Guide to Open Air Cinemas in Berlin

by Olga | Movies

Summer is practically here – time to rapidly take advantage of the good weather. There are many ways to enjoy the Summer daylight hours in the sun. Go for a swim, meet friends for an Aperitif or do some outdoor activities. But if you also want to spend the evenings catching some fresh air you should definitely visit an open air cinema and watch an awesome movie in these last summer weeks.

We would like to introduce you to a couple of open air cinemas, which not only convince with their cozy atmosphere, but also offer an interesting program. Read an introduction for the open air cinemas und their program after the jump.

Quà Phê: A Little Piece of Vietnam in Berlin

by Olga | Cafés, Mitte, Restaurants

photo: I Heart Alice

Today I want to tell you about one of my favorite cafés that I visit on a permanent basis. Quà Phê in Max-Beer-Strasse in Mitte has opened its doors for the first time not too long ago and was from the beginning on something very special for me. Here you don’t only get delicious cappuccinos with cute mild foam drawings but also many different Vietnamese dishes and they’re all very special.

The café is located on a small side street near to the Schendelpark, more precisely near the Alte Schönhauser Straße. You can sit inside and outside, which is particularly pleasant at this quiet side street. The interior is beautifully decorated and authentic. Between old fans and ancient rusty gates there are long rustic wooden benches and small seating areas, where you can make yourself a comfortable place.

After the jump you can read more about the food in Quà Phê. read more…

Berlin Thrills: The Escape Games of Berlin

by Olga | Entertainment, Mitte, People, Prenzlauer Berg

Darkness, silence, a locked-up room – no solution, no escape…

What sounds like a horror movie at first is the opposite of it and in fact really great fun. We’re talking about a more or less new trend that has arrived in Berlin a few years ago and is now becoming increasingly diverse. In so-called Live Escape Games you voluntarily let yourself and your friends or colleagues include in a complex of rooms and have to find a way out of the premises before the predetermined time runs out. The aim is to work together, to solve tricky puzzles and to pay enough attention to even the smallest details because they could lead you to the right solution. Each game includes a detailed story and there are many – you can take on the role of thieves and steal an exhibition object, escape from a bunker or convict a murderer.

After the jump you can get a glimpse of the game procedure.

Sounds like France – A French Festival at Konzerthaus Berlin

by Olga | Music

photo: Sebastian Runge, Konzerthaus, Großer Saal

Do you like France? The question may seem a bit odd, but I always feel like people either love France or they don’t like it at all. I think the country is beautiful, the language very sexy and I loooove French movies because they are often hilariously funny and inspiring. But, I wouldn’t call myself a connoisseur of French music – not yet. Sure, I think mostly everyone heard from Louanne and I am very proud that I almost know all the lyrics of her song. But that’s mostly it – and that may be changed at the Festival Frankreich at Konzerthaus Berlin starting tomorrow. Learn more about it after the jump.

An Inside Look at Berlin in 1900

by Olga | Videos

Today we’re living in an exciting world and we have so many opportunities in life. We do not know how the future will be, but we do know how past times looked like and we can compare this to our life today in Berlin. A lot of things today we take for granted: We can quickly move from one place to another, we have a huge amount of different opportunities for culture, entertainment and commerce that offer us everything our hearts desire. But how did Berlin look like before all of this?

The streets were not developed, people walked in crowds on paths that we know today as noisy streets. The attire was very different – dominated by dresses and skirts for women and hats for everyone.

We got a very good look on all of this with a very compelling video that we want to share with you. There are some great shots from the old Berlin in this short film that shows our city in the time around 1900 – all of it colorized. It’s very fascinating to look at the clothes and faces of people. You feel like you’re actually closer to them and everything is quite realistic.

One can not imagine that the Alexanderplatz was once a fairly quiet place with children playing on the streets and happy crowds walking through the city. A Berlin quite different from what we know today – it has its own unique charm.

The video, accompanied by music by Hans Zimmer, you can see after the jump! read more…

Mysterious Bach – Classical Pop-Up Concerts in Secret Locations

by Olga | Music

photo: Konzerthaus Berlin

The weekend awaits you – fun parties, dancing to cool beats, a glass in your hand. We’re always looking forward to some exciting hours to get away from the daily working. But what about after the weekend starting the week with some gentle sounds and a small alternative program?

After a while we’re really in the mood to listen to some classical sounds and now we have the pleasure to share with you some great evenings at Konzerthaus Berlin. On the occasion of the Bach Marathon, taking place on November 28th, you have the chance to enjoy a warm-up with series of small pop- up concerts which take place from the 24th – November 27th. This is a beautiful and very special alternative to everything our city offers us in the field of all kinds of music. Get to know what is so special about it after the jump. read more…

The Berlin Experts: The Hundert – A Magazine about Start-Ups

by Olga | People, Stories

photos: The Hundert /Irene Wissel

About 5 years ago Jan Thomas arrived in Berlin with a plan to do “something big” here. His professional background was marketing but his main interest was the thriving startup scene in the city that he didn’t know much about at that point. He started to write about it on his small blog called “Berlin Valley”. While writing, analyzing and reading other blogs and media, he learned very quickly how the scene works, what its problems and needs are. He went to all kinds of events, where he met a lot of people and collected their business cards. After a year he had a large pile of cards lying on his table and Jan began wondering, how he could use all of his new contacts on his blog. First idea – ask the ten most important players he knew to write their statement on the Berlin startup scene. It should be simple but interesting. Yet he struggled to narrow the group down to ten, so broadened the number of participants to fifty and then quickly to a hundred – the concept of the Hundert began to take shape. From this simple idea a new magazine completely dedicated to the startup scene in Berlin was born and the first issue came out in October 2013. Since then 6 issues of the Hundert have been released, with currently 4 editions a year.

We spoke with the editors of The Hundert about the advantages of Berlin as a base, how to start a project, how to network and how to find investors. Read our interview in a new edition of The Berlin Experts after the jump.

Berlin-Kreuzberg in the 70s

by Olga | Photos, Videos

photo: Thomas Dornfeld

For a few months now we have been mostly working out of Blogfabrik which is located in the middle of popular Kreuzberg, 5 minutes walk from Kotti, and 10 minutes by bike from Schlesi. Here the life beats very fast and when we exit our awesome office for lunch, a wide variety of international restaurants await us in the streets of Kreuzberg and there are so many opportunities to eat something delicious and special.

Kreuzberg stands for international cultures and a wild nightlife with loads of young people visiting numerous bars like the Würgeengel or Farbfernseher, clubs like Watergate or Ritter Butzke – it’s always exciting to move around in this district, because Kreuzberg is one of the places where you never get bored. One of the highlights of this vibrant area that you can experience is the big street festival on the 1st of May (labor day) where masses of happy, celebrating people make their way through the streets of Kreuzberg. If that’s too much for you, you can also spend relaxing hours at the Görli park. To keep it short: Kreuzberg is a very great and also one of the most diverse places in Berlin.

So much for today’s situation – but how was it back in 1979? How were the people and how diverse was the crowd? We want to share with you a great video that we found that sends us on a journey back in time and shows us places we know how they used to be. The area is beautiful and hauntingly silent and it shows that especially the people of Kreuzberg make the district so unique. In addition to the video we also found some photos that were taken around the same time by photographer Thomas Dornfeld who captured some street scenes of Kreuzberg. Enjoy the video and the photo after the jump.

The Berlin Experts: Give Something Back to Berlin

by Olga | People, Stories

photos: Kalle Kuikkaniemi

In our time it’s increasingly important that we all work together and no matter where you come from – humanity is of great importance! For our next edition of The Berlin Experts we interviewed the makers of a great platform that offers a variety of social projects in Berlin. Everyone can join the projects and “give something back to Berlin”. There is already a huge amount of hard-working volunteers and since 2012 the platform organizes community projects that aim to better the lives of many different groups of people in Berlin. There are language courses for foreigners who migrated here, creative evenings, workshops, food events and so much more. Since 2013 there are also many projects to help refugees and other people in need.

Read the interview after the jump and have some impressions from the work of Give Something Back to Berlin.

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