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16 Amazing Creative Responses to the Pandemic from Berlin

This year was quite different, wasn’t it? There was a lot of crazy stuff happening, but we can all agree on what the most significant thing was: the pandemic. If you would have told me a year ago that this would happen, I probably would not have believed you. But here we are, 9 months into a global outbreak of an airborne viral disease that has turned the world upside down.

Of course, this pandemic brought us a lot of negative things, but I don’t want to focus on those – you can simply turn on the news for that. I want to focus on the things that were good, specifically on how people responded to the crisis in positive ways. While a lot of us were struggling with our lives, our work, and our mental health, some people gathered their creative energies to come up with great things to brighten the days of everyone else and show some optimistic spirit.

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Assimilation – Wilfully Forgetting to Remember Who You Are

by Guest Author | Stories

In trying to get back to a sense of normalcy again, we must all agree that a lot has happened. People have lost their lives. Children have whisked themselves away from family responsibilities into distant places to ensure their parent’s safety. Plans have been shifted, changed, and postponed. Jobs, relationships, and several other opportunities have evaporated into thin air. Universities, Shops, and Restaurants have turned down services. Schools and other institutions have closed their doors and turned towards the digital. And we are now learning new ways of treating ourselves and each other as we find better alternatives to our lives. In the spirit of wanting to take a new leave, I did something I haven’t done in a long time. I forced myself to remember. I reflected on my past. I traveled through certain corners of my mind I had completely cut off for reasons I cannot say out loud without risking putting myself in an uncomfortable position.

Play the Game: What Dating Type Are You?

by Frank | Products, Stories

When it comes to dating in Berlin, things are not quite as black and white as you imagine. There are all these different new ways of life and love we have come to accept here and it only proves the liberal spirit of the city we love so much,

But where are you on the spectrum of love? For our book Like A Berliner (which by the way makes for an excellent Christmas present – order it here!) we sat together with illustrator Sophia Halamoda and came up with a smart little game of questions and answers that will solve the riddle and define what dating type you are.

How to be Funny in German: A Guide

by Adri | Stories

After living in Berlin for eight years, I finally started consuming German mass media because of my work. A few months ago, I got a job as a subtitler; I essentially binge-watch German movies and write subtitles in English. While I enjoy my job because I get to sit around, watch TV and write all day, I can’t help but notice a trend in all the German content I watch; it’s seriously lacking comic relief that I can relate to as an American. However, it is also witty in its own unique way that I, as a native English speaker, can’t entirely grasp.

There’s this extremely prevalent stereotype: “German’s can’t take a joke; Germans have no humor” bla bla bla. But this doesn’t really match up with the German people I know and love, many of whom are absolutely hilarious.

I decided to unpack some of the intricacies of German humor through a few conversations and an internet deep dive. Here’s what I found:

Show Your Business – A Competition for Freelancers and Solo-Entrepreneurs

by Claudio | Stories

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Having your own business is a tough choice. Not only because you have to navigate new challenges and obstacles every day. But also because you have to be responsible for all of your choices and own the consequences.

This said if you build up your own freelance activity, your yoga studio, or even if you become a self-employed tax consultant it can feel immensely rewarding when your efforts become a tangible enterprise that pays your bill, your rent, and even your drinks on a Saturday night.

Because 2020 without being too polite has been a fucking disaster for freelancers and self-employed entrepreneurs our colleagues from the Blog Mit Vergnügen and Holvi, an online-bank specialized in the needs of freelancers launched the competition #ZeigdeinBusiness to give freelancers more visibility and also the possibility to win some amazing supports for next year.

9 Wonderful Things to Do to Make the Best of the Lockdown

by Frank | Stories

We’re halfway through November lockdown and to put it mildly: people are on the edge. I’ve had so many phone calls about depressions, worries, fatigue, anxiety – and that was just about November in general! I’m feeling you here, I’m feeling all of that – I really do. But to be honest, I think at this point it’s better not to dwell on these feelings too much. It’s just going to become a spiral that leads further down, and we’re probably better off staying optimistic hoping things will get better once the situation somehow passes – whenever that will be.

And in that optimistic spirit I did what we do best here at iHeartBerlin: gather some ideas for a fun listicle – this time about some lovely spirit-lifting things to do to make the lockdown period and winter, in general, a bit better. And I’ll spare you the obvious such as taking walks in the park and binge-watching Netflix because I think we’ve done enough of that already. And I’m sure you all already Marie-Kondoed your house and perfected your sourdough baking skills during the last lockdown. So we’re moving on to new things, more specific things – all of which are approved and tested by me personally!

Learn How to Complain Like A German

by Michalina | Stories

It’s been a while since we last published a feature from our ongoing series “Learn Deutsch with iHeartBerlin”. In fact, you haven’t got any German tips from us since you were introduced to the “10 German terms that describe complex personalities in one word”. But now, we’re back, and taking it a step further: here’s not just a few new words, but actual sentences! And might I add: extremely practical sentences, since Berliners have always been somehow notorious for their complaining. So if you want to bridge the gap between a tourist and a rightful dweller of this city, you better learn these by heart.

How Americans in Berlin Experienced the 2020 Election

by Adri | People, Stories

Caitlin Hardee, an American who’s lived in Berlin for almost 10 years, slept badly beside her laptop on Tuesday night awaiting results she knew would not come by morning. With the presidential election still undecided until Saturday, Americans in Berlin haven’t slept much at all last week.

Because Donald Trump hinted he would declare victory before all mail-in ballots were counted, Democrats Abroad, the overseas chapter of the Democratic Party, organized a “Rally in Berlin for free and fair elections in the United States” in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday to demand all votes be counted. Around 50 people attended the rally with little commotion, but police were present to ensure social distancing measures were followed. Emily Lines, the vice-chair for Democrats Abroad, said that only two counter-protesters came to the rally. One of the counter-protesters was not an American, but still chose to support Trump and was not wearing a mask.

A Glimpse of Berlin’s Future in the next 50 Years

by Adri | Stories

Berlin is a city of reinvention at every level—individuals come here to reinvent themselves and the city itself is always reinventing itself. With a constant influx of people coming to Berlin every year to discover its rich history, plentiful parties or simply political safety, the future of the city could go in many directions. Will housing become even more competitive? Will the city find ways to become more environmentally friendly? Will the coronavirus force the city to stagnate or will creativity continue to flourish? Right now, Berlin seems to be on the brink of another phase of reinvention.

100 Years Berlin – Unfinished Metropolis, a free exhibition at the Kronprinzenpalais that is still open until February 2021 but currently closed due to the lockdown in November, seeks to answer some of these questions by examining the last century. Unfinished Metropolis celebrates the centennial of the conglomeration of Berlin and asks the visitor to examine the past to look forward. The exhibition reviews urban planning successes and failures of the last 100 years in Berlin and also features winning entries from the International Urban Design Ideas Competition for Berlin-Brandenburg 2070. These entries provide an idea of what the city may look like in 50 years. Here’s what those winning entries propose.

Discovering Berlin From A New Angle: A Scavenger Hunt with Surprises Hosted by glo™

by Frank | Products, Stories

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If you’ve lived in Berlin for a long time and your job is all about knowing everything about the city, I can tell you, to surprise me with something new is a feat you are gonna be destined to fail at. Alas, of course, you are really inventive. And whoever organized that scavenger hunt by glo™ that I was invited to join last week sure was!

The whole experience made me realize, that the city has an infinite amount of surprises left for me to experience. Discovering Berlin from a new angle, seeing places I hadn’t seen before, or seeing familiar places in a new light – this is what keeps me motivated to do this blog and it keeps my enthusiasm for Berlin as fresh as on the first day.

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