Juli 2011

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U-Bahn Exhibition: Ost-Berlin vergessene Mitte

27. Juli 2011 in Art, Berlin, History, Our Neighbourhood, Photography, Stuff We Like by Paul

weinmeister1Just down the street from the Circus is the U-Bahn station at Weinmeisterstrasse, which is home until the 7th September to an exhibition of photographs from the artist and photographer Sabine Peuckert. The pictures document the neighbourhood around Weinmeisterstrasse, including streets close to the Circus such as Rosenthaler Strasse and Linienstrasse, during the East Berlin period and were mainly taken around 1980. Just a quick look as you get on or off your train makes you realise how much the neighbourhood has changed in the intervening thity-odd years.

You can see more of Sabine Peuckert’s photographs of the neighbourhood on this page on her website, and if you have a spare couple of minutes whilst you are in Berlin, jump off the U-Bahn at Weinmeisterstrasse and take a look.

weinmeister2

Hudson’s: Adventure’s in Cake and Cooked Breakfast

25. Juli 2011 in Berlin, Food, Stuff We Like by Paul

hudsons counterI have a new favourite street in Berlin and it is the Schönleinstrasse in Kreuzberg. The Saturday before last I headed down there with Katrin, Jim and little Lotte.

We popped in at the Cheese Mountain Tragedy gallery and studio to say hello to Josh, whose sketches have appeared on this blog before and whose daily comic makes me smile an awful lot.

Two doors down and we could say hello to Sharmaine and Thomas at Dialogue Books, who held a pop-up bookshop at the Circus on our Slow Travel Day and also appeared recently on this (virtual) pages.

It was nice to see them and what they were up to, but we had a different mission on that sunny Saturday morning. We had heard about Hudson’s cakes, which was why Katrin was along for the ride, but the rumours had also reached us that Jim and Katie, the co-owners of the cafe, were also offering cooked breakfast on the weekend.

Bacon and eggs on a Saturday morning anyone? Yep, that’s right…with proper baked beans as well, should you so wish. On Saturdays breakfast is offered a la carte, whilst on Sunday it is buffet time…make a date in my diary, oh yes, don’t mind if I do.

Hudsons Table

After breakfast (our) Jim took us around his old neighbourhood until enough time had passed that it was time for cake, so we headed back to Hudson’s to pick up some to take home with us. Mighty fine, same as the breakfast.

This is what makes Hudson’s so perfect for Anglo-German families such as ours…an English breakfast and then Kaffee und Kuchen. And with a bookshop down the street. What a great way to spend a Saturday.

(Hudson’s Cakes is not actually on Schönleinstrasse…the address is Boppstrasse .1, but it is basically the same street. Go and check it out if you don’t believe me…)

Exhibition in Berlin: Starving Artist Super Star

22. Juli 2011 in Art, Berlin, Events, Stuff We Like by Paul

dorothy1dorothy2

Above: Ancestral Research (Dorothy 1 and 2), Daniel Kingery, Oil on Ink Jet Print, 2010, (c) Daniel Kingery

The images above are by a Berlin-based artist who is an old friend of The Circus, Daniel Kingery. Daniel is one of the artists brought together by the Curatorial Project Group of the Free University in Berlin to present the “Starving Artist Super Star” group exhibition. The exhibition is concerned with exploring the artist’s identity in relation to historic artist’s roles and clichés, and brings together the work of the following artists from around the world:

Frank Arndt (D), Alex Auriema (USA), Mehtap Baydu (TR),Thorsten Brinkmann (D), Rebekka Deubner (F), Mark Emblem (GB), Künstlerkollektiv IOCOSE (I), Thilo Jenssen (D), Daniel Kingery (USA), John Kleckner (USA), Terje Nicolaisen (N), Mithu Sen (IND), Emeli Theander (S), Philip Topolovac (D).

The exhibition opened at the beginning of July, and we checked it out last weekend and found it extremely interesting…there is still a week to go so if you fancy a trip down to Kreuzberg, you will find the exhibition at Archive Books on Dieffenbachstr. 31. The exhibition is open daily from 2pm until 7pm.

Free Tour to… Marzahn!

20. Juli 2011 in Berlin, Circus News, Events, Hidden Places, Stuff We Like by Paul

This Friday we have another super free tour exclusive for guests of The Circus, this time heading east to Marzahn in the company of Jule, one of the Circus team and who grew up in this corner of the city. The tour, as you can see from the poster below, will visit the international gardens, the old village and the windmill, and also the socialist housing projects that are responsible for Marzahn’s somewhat dubious reputation. Sign up at the reception and join the fun!

marzahn Tour

Circus Talks: Eye Witness History Talk This Evening At Fabisch

18. Juli 2011 in Berlin, Circus Hotel, Circus News, Circus Talks, Events, Fabisch, History by Paul

circus-talks-buttonApologies for the late “heads up” about this event, but the next edition of The Circus Talks in cooperation with the ZeitZeugenBörse (Centre for Witness to Contemporary History) is taking place today, Monday 18th July at 6.45pm in Fabisch at The Circus Hotel.

The theme for this edition of the Circus Talks is “World War II and its aftermath”, and we are delighted to be welcoming Herr Baerwald to the Circus as our speaker for tonight. Herr Baerwald was born in 1924 and was a U-Boat operator during the war, before being captured by the British and held as a prisoner of war. After WWII Herr Baerwald was an active member of a theatre group in Germany.

Once again it promises to be a fascinating evening, and as always The Circus Talks are open to everyone, take place in English, and are free of charge. See you there…

Women’s World Cup Final – This Sunday at The Circus

15. Juli 2011 in Circus Hostel, Events, Football, Stuff We Like by Paul

wwcup 2011

So all good things must come to an end. The Women’s World Cup in Germany has been a great tournament, with lots of fans flocking to the stadiums but more importantly there has been cracking games of football. The Quarter Finals alone were full of drama, with England crashing with deadening predictability out of the tournament on penalties to France, Sweden fighting off the spirited resistance of Australia, and then the shock defeat of the host nation and favourite against the tiki-taka of Japan.

And then came the most dramatic of them all, as Brazil led the United States by 2-1 going into injury time, after 120 minutes of goals, faked injuries, a red card, a penalty saved and then re-taken and a barnstorming goal from Marta. The Americans looked to be leaving the tournament at the Quarter Final stage and then, in the second minute of injury time of extra time, Rapinoe floated in a cross for Wambach who crashed it into the net. Dresden and the American team went nuts, and it was clear that in the penalty kicks there could only be one winner.

The Semi Finals were a little less dramatic, but the USA came through a tough game with France to reach the final, and Japan put on arguably the best performance of any team in the tournament so far to knock out Sweden and reach the final of a major tournament for the first time. So Sweden and France have to lick their wounds and lift themselves up for the third place match on Saturday, whilst the USA and Japan duke it out for the big prize on Sunday.

And of course, you can watch both games at The Circus:

Women’s World Cup Third Place Match
Saturday 16th July @ 17.30
Live in the Circus Cafe
SWEDEN versus FRANCE

Women’s World Cup Final
Sunday 17th July @ 20.45
Live in Goldman’s Bar
USA versus JAPAN

New Tour: Kreuzberg SO36 – Ruins, Riots and Regeneration

14. Juli 2011 in Art, Beer, Berlin, Circus News, Hidden Places, History by Paul

Jim1Next Wednesday we are running the first of our new tours from the Circus, this time heading south from Mitte to the neighbourhood of Kreuzberg. The guide for this tour is Jim Hudson, co-owner of Hudson’s Cakes (Mmmm…cake) and author of the highly respected Architecture In Berlin blog. Not only does Jim have a wealth of knowledge about the history of Kreuzberg but he lives there too, so it is a chance to explore one of the most vibrant corners of Berlin with someone who knows it only like a local can.

Jim2The tour will explore Kreuzberg’s history, how the fall of the Berlin Wall changed the “SO36” postcode from squatter sub-culture to hipster hangout, and along the way Jim will show you the hidden courtyards, the popular rioting spots, weird architecture and the great bars that all add up to make the neighbourhood what it is.

Important to know: The tour is free and exclusive to Circus guests…places are limited so please sign up at the reception if you want to join.

Kreuzberg SO36 – Ruins, Riots and Regeneration
Wednesday 20th July @ 4pm

Dandy of the Grotesque at Fabisch

12. Juli 2011 in Art, Berlin, Circus Hotel, Design, Fabisch, Fashion, Stuff We Like by Paul

dandy1

We have a new installation in our Restaurant Fabisch, that showcases not only the talents of a men’s fashion designer who works just around the corner from the Circus, but also reflects the history of the building and the naming of the restaurant itself.

The new installation comes from Dandy of the Grotesque, a fashion atelier on Gormannstrasse, just a short walk from Rosenthaler Platz. Their name comes from the contradiction between the idea of the “Dandy” and the suggestion of an overweening concern with fashion, together with the “Grotesque” which, in a sense, perhaps implies the opposite. In the words of founder and creative director Itamar Zechoval, “Together they paint a portrait a of a man who is reluctantly fashionable.”

Itamar himself left his home country of Israel at the age of 21 to study fashion design in Milan where he worked for 10 years. He moved to Berlin in 2010 to open the new atelier and bring to the German capital his theatrical, dramatic and ironic creative approach that has developed through his experiences as designer, art director and personal createur for performing artists, like Marilyn Manson. With his made-to-measure men’s garments label he creates a dialogue between the initial design inspiration and the character who is wearing his garments and vice versa.

dandy2

dandy3

The Fabisch Story

In the early decades of the 20th Century, Rosenthaler Strasse 1 was the home of Phillip Fabisch’s men’s clothing store. Before opening The Circus Hotel we had the support of the Centre Judaicum who helped us research the story of the family, which not only helped us understand better the history of the building and our neighbourhood, but also the dark aspects of Berlin’s history as members of the Fabisch family were victims of the Nazi terror. You can read more about the Fabisch story on the company page of our website.

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