History

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A brief history of Rosenthaler Platz

7. Februar 2012 in Berlin, Circus Hostel, Circus News, History, Our Neighbourhood by Paul

As part of our slideshows which you will find in the hallways of the Circus Hostel, we have put together a brief history of Rosenthaler Platz – our neighbourhood – which is based on the wonderfully-detailed essay on the topic prepared with help from Jakob Hübner and the Centrum Judaicum here in Berlin. If you’ve got a lunch break approaching and you would like an interesting read with your sandwiches, then you can find the essay here, otherwise scroll down and see our brief history of the Rosenthaler Platz below:

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Under Trees: Exhibition at the German Historical Museum

30. Januar 2012 in Berlin, History, Museum by Paul

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From the Germanic tribes repelling the Romans from between the trees to the fairytales collected by the Brothers Grimm and the post-war environmentalist movement against the dangers of “forest death”, the German imagination has often been stirred by the forest. Right at this moment there is an exhibition taking place at the German Historical Museum that explores the importance of the forest not only as a place of recreation but its symbolic, spiritual and (yes) fairytale role in poetry, art and music.

From the website:

The exhibition will visualize this special relationship of the Germans to the forest, focusing first on the Romantic Age around 1800, when the forest and the trees first became a matter of scientifically based forest management and at the same time enriched literature, music and the graphic arts as subject and theme. It was above all painting – the core of the exhibition – that shaped patterns of perception that have marked our view of the forest up to the present day.

It looks extremely interesting, and we cannot recommend enough the German Historical Museum in general, as one of the best in Berlin and a must-see for anyone interested in history of the city and the country. The “Under Trees” exhibition is running until the 4th March 2012.

More information on the website.

Jimbo’s Crazy Tours – The Allied Museum

23. Januar 2012 in Berlin, Circus Apartments, Circus Hostel, Circus Hotel, Events, History, Jim's Berlin by Paul

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Every Tuesday one of the Circus owners – Jim – takes guests on a very special free tour to somewhere in the city that, well, he basically finds interesting. As he has a love for off-beat spots they are often in weird and wonderful corners of Berlin, that you basically would probably not visit during a “normal” exploration of the city.

The tour for tomorrow is to the Allied Museum, located in the former headquarters of the American military in (West) Berlin, and the museum itself can be found in old Army cinema. The US presence in Berlin that began with the division of the city into zones of occupation following the Second World War came to an end in 1994, four years after the reunification of Germany.

On the tour guests will get to see the original guard cabin from the Checkpoint Charlie border crossing in the Berlin Wall, as well as a GDR guard tower and one of the world famous “Candy Bombers”. These were planes that were used during the Airlift of 1948/9, when Stalin closed all land-based supply routes to the western zones of the city in an attempt to squeeze the Allies and, ultimately, bring all of Berlin under Soviet control.

Thanks to an extraordinary effort, West Berlin was supplied by air – the sheer number of planes and flights needed was astounding – and the siege failed. As the planes came into land, usually at the old Tempelhof airport, the pilots dropped sweets on little parachutes to the children waiting below, and it was from this action that they got their nickname. It was an incredible propaganda coup at a time of heightened Cold War tensions, and helped cement support for the Allies and the West within those zones of the city.

Jimbo’s Tour is free – although you will need public transport tickets to and from the museum – and is open to all guests of The Circus. Places are limited so people need to sign up at reception. And if you are not in Berlin but you are coming to Berlin soon, keep a look out for the Tuesday tours. On the hostel website you can find a list of the upcoming tours. See you soon!

The Tränenpalast at Berlin-Friedrichstraße

17. Januar 2012 in Berlin, History, Museum by Paul

Bild 183-1990-0403-016(Photo: Border crossing at Friedrichtraße station, from the Bundesarchiv on Wikipedia)

Tränenpalast means “Palace of Tears”, and this was the name Berliners gave to the border control checkpoint at Friedrichstraße station during the long years that the city was divided by the Berlin Wall. When the city was divided so too were communities, families and couples, and the building received its nickname due to the many tearful farewells that took place there.

After the Wall fell and there was no longer any need for a border checkpoint as the city was joyously reunited, it became a popular club until 2006. Due to its historic role, this fairly unspectacular building was placed under landmark protection as a reminder of how the division of the country and of Berlin in particular had such a painful impact on the everyday lives of ordinary people.

Last year the building became the location for a new permanent exhibition by the Stiftung Haus der Geschichte that brings together ordinary objects and artifacts from the time when the building was the scene for over 10 million individual border-crossings, as well as the stories of some of the individuals for whom this was truly a palace of tears.

The exhibition Border Experiences: The Everyday Life of the German Division, is open Tuesday to Friday from 9am until 7pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 6pm (closed on Mondays). Admission is free, and the nearest transport links (S-Bahn, U-Bahn and Tram) is Friedrichstraße. From Rosenthaler Platz you can take the Tram M1 from outside the front door of the Circus Hostel.

A Tour Around Berlin in 1929

11. Januar 2012 in Berlin, Film, History, Stuff We Like by Paul

Just over three minutes will take you back to the Haupstadt in 1929… fascinating glimpse of the city as it was, and thanks to In Berlin and Slow Travel Berlin for the head’s up…

Eyewitness History: A Film about the ZZB and The Circus

5. Januar 2012 in Berlin, Circus Talks, Film, History by Paul

You can read more about the ZZB and the cooperation with the Circus on an article at Slow Travel Berlin.

Many thanks go to Dougal and Ruby for such an excellent job with the film:

About the Filmmakers:

Dougal Squires has worked with Insight Radio in Glasgow and BBC Switch in London. He now lives in Berlin and has contributed to Artconnect Berlin and Slow Travel Berlin. Ruby Pester is a Scottish  artist living and working in Berlin. She creates collaborative and interactive performance projects and has recently worked with the Agora Collective and BBC Scotland and currently works with Artconnect Berlin.

Eyewitness Talks: Growing Up in Germany 1925-50

4. Januar 2012 in Berlin, Circus Hotel, Circus News, Circus Talks, Events, Fabisch, History by Paul

circus-talks-buttonOnce again we are really pleased to be welcoming another eyewitness speaker to the Circus, as part of our ongoing series of history talks in cooperation with the ZZB – The Centre for Witness to Contemporary History. The talk is taking place at The Circus Hotel tomorrow evening, and as always it is completely free, takes place in English, and everyone is welcome.

Our speaker this month is Frau Gericke who was born in Potsdam in 1925, and grew up through the Weimar period, the Nazi’s rise to power, and the Second World War. In 1945 her family’s home was confiscated to be used as Winston Churchill’s residence during the Potsdam conflict, and was only returned to the family after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990.

Frau Gericke will share her story with us, and will be available afterwards to answer questions. This is not only the first ZZB talk of 2012 but it is also the first anniversary of our cooperation with the ZeitZeugenBörse. We have had a great year of talks in Fabisch, and we are looking forward to many more fascinating evenings sharing the experiences of the eyewitnesses who are kind enough to join us and give us their time.

VENUE: Fabisch @ The Circus Hotel
DATE: Tuesday 10th January
TIME: 6.45pm

And finally…we have a very special ZZB-themed treat coming up in the next couple of days, so keep your eyes peeled both here and on our facebook page.

Circus Blog 2011 Review Part Two – July to December

21. Dezember 2011 in Art, Beer, Berlin, Berlin Wall Anniversary, Books, Christmas Market, Circus Apartments, Circus Hostel, Circus Hotel, Circus News, Design, Events, Festivals, Film, Football, History, Media, Multitude, Music, Photography, Review of 2011, The Kitchen by Paul

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Okay, so we reached the middle of the year yesterday in our review of 2011 via Circus blogposts, and as the cold wind blows outside the windows of the office here on Rosenthaler Platz it is hard to picture those warm and sunny days of barbecues in the park where we left things, but we will use the power of the blog and an ability to link to take us back to the recent past…

July. The Women’s Football World Cup got serious as we reached the knock-out stages. Germany, as always, were great hosts of the tournament, but they fell foul on the pitch to a surprise defeat at the hands of the eventual winners Japan. Here at The Circus we made a film, brought Dandy of the Grotesque into Fabisch, and began our tours to Kreuzberg with Jim Hudson whilst Jule and the other Jim took people to explore Marzahn.

Into August and Rani delivered the first designs for the new cafe and lounge at the apartments, whilst Sasa and the gang began the long process of deciding what special things would be served there. Berlin commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall with a series of different events and exhibitions around the city, whilst we met a 70 year-old on his birthday who had been born in the very building that now houses The Circus Hotel. Meanwhile Andrew was having a weekly struggle with the weather, Toga was off to watch his team at the Olympic Stadium, and Sandra was getting “in the mood” with her plans for new apartments. It all seems so long ago…

In September we met Carl Oskar for the first time when he popped by the hotel for a visit, but otherwise it was work, work, work, work, on the Circus Apartments. Meanwhile, we were checking out the international literature festival, and many of our guests were gaining our complete admiration as they took on the Berlin Marathon course. As we moved into autumn a friend of ours published a book on a subject close to the hearts of the English-speaking staff members of The Circus – beer – whilst Preston ran a special photography tour for the festival of lights and Digel waved to passing members of the St Pauli football team on Torstraße.

Into November and we hosted the inaugural meeting of the Berlin St Georges Supporters Club down in Goldman’s Bar, began our new fundraising campaign with our friends at Multitude, celebrated Thanksgiving in the Circus Cafe and drank our first glasses of glühwein at the Berlin Christmas Markets.

And so we reach December and the end of 2011. Sometimes December can be a calm and quiet month at The Circus, but not this year. We had a film crew come by the hostel to make a special clip for our website (coming soon!) but mostly we were getting the apartments ready for launch, which we did last week.

So as Christmas and New Year’s Eve approaches, we reach the end of our special review of 2011 (part two), and we would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone – guests, staff, partners and friends – who have been with us during 2011 and the next year of the Circus story. In 2012 the Circus will be FIFTEEN years old… who could imagine what would have happened when the doors opened on that first 40-bed building close to Friedrichstraße.

Ah, enough of the nostalgia. See you soon.

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