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Tiles that travelled 1700 miles

7. Dezember 2011 in Circus Apartments, Circus News, Film by Paul

The video below was filmed by Andrew about a week or so ago when the tiles that were made in Lebanon for the Kitchen at the new Circus Apartments finally arrived in Berlin. If you get a sense of hysterical joy through Andrew’s editing work about this seemingly unremarkable event then it is because “the tiles” became almost symbolic for the trials and tribulations of the opening of the apartments in general. From delays in their construction to the logistical nightmare involved in their shipping and eventual storage as we waited for the building to be ready to receive them, it has felt at times that the journey towards the opening of the apartments next week has been almost two thousand miles for all of us, and not just the beautiful tiles that finally arrived from Lebanon via Hamburg.

So, just under a week to go and I am not sure excitement can build any further. As we move towards opening and the first weeks of operation, there will be plenty more photographs and films from the new apartment building which we will post here on the Circus blog. Not long now…

Multitude Fleamarket Fundraising Report!

6. Dezember 2011 in Berlin, Circus News, Events, Multitude by Paul

As you might have seen on The Circus Blog, last week lots of bits and bobs from the hostel and hotel “lost and found” were given to our friends at Multitude to use for their fundraising efforts at the RAW Fleamarket. Isabelle, who works for both The Circus and is heavily involved in Multitude, sent us this quick report to let us know how it went…

“On Sunday 27th November nine volunteers (including myself!) who work at the NGO Multitude based here in Berlin were running a stand at the RAW-Tempel fleamarket. We were there with all the lost and found kindly donated by The Circus, and we held our pitch from 10am until 6pm… eight hours in which we raised €310 for Multitude. We will us this money to be able to buy more public transport tickets for the refugees that we support, as well as food for some special cooking evenings at the temporary refugee residences.

This was a great amount of money, but we also finished the day with quite a lot of clothes and other items that we could not sell. So we will bring these things directly to the refugees’ residences so that everyone living there can choose some clothes for themselves. Everyone at Multitude would like to give big thanks to The Circus and to say that we are looking forward to future markets… Isabelle.”

…and everyone at The Circus would like to give a great big WELL DONE to everyone who volunteered for the fleamarket, and congratulations on the money raised. We will keep you posted with future Multitude fundraising actions here on the Circus blog.

The Circus Apartments: Opening December 15th 2011

1. Dezember 2011 in Berlin, Circus Apartments, Circus News by Paul

Apartments_Blog_3Yep, we are almost there. We are extremely pleased to be able to announce that we will be opening the Circus Apartments on Choriner Straße on the 15th December 2011, and therefore we are taking bookings again for those who want to come and join us in Berlin for Christmas, New Year, the Bread & Butter, the Berlinale or just to visit our wonderful city.

Apartments_Blog_2It was been a long and at times stressful process, but we are extremely excited that we will soon be opening the doors and welcoming the first guests. As you can see on the pictures the preparations are (now) progressing nicely, and we are convinced that we will be presenting to the world a truly spectacular space in a couple of weeks time.

We will be holding an official opening with tours of the building in the second half of January, but for now we are just happy that we will be finally able to do what we feel we do best… welcome old friends and new faces to Berlin, make people feel at home, and help them make the most of their time in the city.

For the opening period, we have some very special prices that means you can try out the apartments for the price of a room at the Circus Hotel. For more information about when you can take advantage of the offer, and more about the apartments themselves, check out the website:

The Circus Apartments Website

Apartments_Blog_1

Thanksgiving Dinner Like Your Mum (Mom) Would Make It…

28. November 2011 in Circus Hostel, Circus News, Events, Food, Goldman's Bar by Jim

the grubLast Thursday was Thanksgiving for our cousins across the great wide pond, so The Circus Café put on a special three-course turkey dinner. Now, coming from Stockport there is not much that I know about this festival, so I had to do some research to make it as much like Mum’s (sorry, Mom’s) for our guests as possible. Some things we managed, but some others we failed…

Thanksgiving Like What Your Mum (Mom) Would Do It…

I. Your Mum(Mom) needs to be there. FAILED. But Steffi our Café Manager was on hand to serve up the dinner and she’s a Mum (Mom) <Mutter> so that was okay.

II. Eat Turkey. SUCCESS.

III. Eat Too Much Turkey. SUCCESS

IV. Drink Too Much Booze. SUCCESS (After the meal it was down to the bar for a free keg of beer to wash down all that food).

V. Have Alcohol-Fueled Arguments With Loved Ones/Family* (*delete where applicable): FAILED. Even in this era of modern communications, skype and mobile phones, because of the time difference at least one of the parties was sober.

VI. Have Left-Overs For Sandwiches The Next Morning: SUCCESS, and the reservations office loved them very much.

So as you can see, it was not a bad effort considering this was Thanksgiving planned by people brought up in Manchester (England) rather than Manchester (New Hampshire), and a great time was had by all.

Except the Turkey. Roll on Christmas.

thanks giving 2011

Information about the delay of the Circus Apartments

9. November 2011 in Circus Apartments, Circus News by Andreas

In German here.

As you might know, there have been some quite serious delays in the opening of the new Circus Apartments. The reasons for this lie with problems on the construction site, which meant a continual delay in the handover of the building to the owner and subsequently to us. This has reached the point now where no guarantees can be made of a final handover date for the building, and thus we cannot make a concrete announcement as to the opening date of the apartments.

This is now the third major construction or reconstruction project we have been involved with following  the hostel and hotel, and it is clear in our experiences with all three houses that problems and delays are part of the process. It is not pleasant, but our experience with the other two houses also shows that over time these problems fade into memory, and that it is more important that structures are right and that we have a basis upon which to base the next twenty years of operations than to become overly stressed about delays of weeks or even months.

Thankfully, because of the hostel and the hotel, we are able to accommodate all those who have already booked to stay with us, and until we know more we will not be taking any more bookings for the apartments. We can only apologise to those who we have inconvenienced, and we recognise we have a responsibility not only to our guests but all our partners who are involved in the apartment project, and we are extremely thankful for their understanding.

After our experiences over the past couple of months we realise now that in a situation such as this one, it is premature to confirm and communicate a date until we are completely sure that we can meet all deadlines, so we ask for patience and understanding that we will not use this opportunity to make any further announcements as to the opening. That said, the Circus Apartments will be opening its doors, and we hope to be able to do so before the end of the year.

We will keep you posted about the progress of this project, that we remain completely excited about. We are still convinced that the new apartments are going to be spectacular, and as soon as we know for sure when we can share them with you, we will let you know.

Andreas, Tilman, Andreas, Jim and Christian
The Owners of The Circus GbR

If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact the Project Manager for the Circus Apartments Katrin Schönig: schoenig@circus-berlin.de

Go the Dragons – the Berlin St. George Supporters Club

1. November 2011 in Beer, Circus Hostel, Circus News, Goldman's Bar by Jim

St G Founding MembersHistory was made last week in Goldman’s Bar as it held the first meeting as the official HQ of the Berlin St. George Supporters Club. The foundation of this club is important, as it fills an aching gap in the Berlin social calendar – namely; where else can like-minded boys and girls get together to talk about Australia and the World’s greatest Rugby League Team.

All four founder members were of course present and correct – see photo above – our great leader Andy (President), Jim (Vice President), Lisa (Assistant to the Vice President) and Felix (Berlin Flames Co-ordinator). There were try outs for keenly sort-after places in the Berlin Flames Cheerleader team and lots of new members attracted.

Berlin Flames

Most importantly of course there was free beer – and I seem to remember somewhere towards the end Jägermeister – but by that point things were getting a little foggy. Let us just say that a good time was had by all and we are looking forward to the start of the new season and the next meeting on the club sometime in the New Year. If you are interested in becoming a member then just drop us a line… Go the Dragons!!!

Berlin St. George Supporters Club Website

Berlin Flames II

Apartments Art by Billy

31. Oktober 2011 in Art, Circus Apartments, Circus News, Design, Streetart by Paul

As we continue to work towards the opening of the Circus Apartments we thought we would give you a quick update on what is happening and a look at some of the things we have been up to. There have been a couple of delays on the construction side, which means we will be opening the new house in the second half of November.

One of the things that we have been doing is bringing in different artists and designers, chosen by Circus designer Sandra Ernst, to bring their creativity and inspiration into the apartments themselves. As you might have seen here on the blog, Lebanese architect Rani al Rajji has created the design for The Kitchen Café & Lounge on the ground floor. Elsewhere in the building, we have Marie Jacobi, Luc Massin, Rafael Scovino and Fehmi Baumbach making their own unique contributions through wall paintings, picture prints, light installations and collages.

From England we Billy, a street artist who is creating murals in some of the apartments. You find out more about her work on her website but here is a short film of her in the apartments during the artistic process. Over the next few weeks we will be bringing you more of these snippets as we approach the opening, so you can get a sense of how the apartments will look and the thoughts and inspirations behind the process.

Look who is in town…

27. Oktober 2011 in Berlin, Circus News, Football by Paul

The boys from St Pauli might be in town for a game against FC Union tomorrow night, but as part of their sightseeing tour the bus driver obviously decided they needed to drive by the famous Circus office and the Rosenthaler Platz…

St pauli

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