Last week the Berliner Volksbank published their business report for 2012, which also featured a focus on tourism in Berlin and Brandenburg. Amongst the articles included in the publication was a profile of The Circus, exploring the history of the company and key elements of The Circus philosophy. It also features the above photograph of the five owners of the company (l/r: Tilman Hierath, Christian Göppert, Andrew “Jim” Hadfield, Andreas Digel and Andreas Becker), as well as some our guests, Jule from our reservations office, and Roman, head chef in our restaurant Fabisch.

You can find the report here (it is in German) with the Circus story starting on page 5. Here is Andreas’s reaction:

“When the report from the Berliner Volksbank, which contains their annual accounts and has a print run of forty thousand, landed on our desks I couldn’t help but think back to the early days of The Circus. I remember walking the streets of Berlin with my mates, dressed in jeans and t-shirts, and marching into any bank we saw to try and persuade them to lend us the twenty thousand euros we needed to get The Circus project off the ground. Each time we walked in, and each time we failed… thirteen times.

So to find ourselves in the annual report of one of Berlin’s biggest banks is one of those moments where you realize you have come a long way, and as always, we have to offer up a big thank you to all those involved in the journey.” – Andreas Becker

On Tuesday 21^st May 2013 we are extremely pleased to be welcoming to The Circus another eyewitness speaker from the Zeitzeugenbörse (Centre for Witness to Contemporary History). This is part of our monthly series events that we have been running for the past two years, in which we invite speakers to come and join us for a while and tell us their own personal stories about different moments in Berlin and German history.

This month we are delighted to welcome Dr Golkowsky who will be coming to talk to us about the Second World War and its aftermath. Dr Golkowsky was born in 1934 in Silesia, and will share stories of his experience during the war, the flight to the west, and observations on life for himself, friends and family, on both sides of the iron curtain.

We are really looking forward to another fascinating evening of personal history in Fabisch, and we hope you will join us. The talk will be in English, is open to all, and is free… although we will be collecting contributions towards our own donation to the ZZB to help them continue in their important work.

Where: Fabisch at The Circus Hotel, Rosenthaler Straße 1 (U8: Rosenthaler Platz)
When: Tue 21^st May at 6.45pm

(Photo: Bundesarchiv on Wikimedia Commons)

If you want to join in the raucous and rowdy celebration of Berlin’s multicultural spirit then head south from Rosenthaler Platz to Kreuzberg on Sunday to join in with parade of the Carnival of Cultures, a fabulous collection of carnival groups from around the world made up of masqueraders, musicians, dancers, DJs and artists.

Around the Parade, from Friday to Monday there is a great programme of events going on around the neighbourhood… more about which you can find on the Carnival website. But never fear, if you head down on the U8 to Kreuzberg over the weekend you will have a great time of tasty food, super tunes, and over a million people throughout the four days who have realized as well that there is only one place in the city to be.

(Photo image: © visitBerlin | Koschel)

So you’ve come to Berlin and want to explore the city. The weather is fine, so you don’t want to join the crowds on the U-Bahn or sit in a stuffy bus, but at the same time you have realized that the walk from the East Side Gallery to the Bauhaus Archive might be a little too much for your feet to take. Never fear, we have you covered. We already offered the chance to rent bicycles, segways and Elmotos here at the Circus, and now we have a new member of our two-wheeled family – the Pedelec, thanks to the good folks at Lautlos durch Deutschland.

Unlike the Elmotos they have pedals, and unlike our bikes they have a motor… so if you manage to actually find a hill here in Berlin (next mountain to the east, somewhere in Russia) then you can let the Pedelec take the strain. When you are feeling fit and good, like a 2012 Bradley Wiggins, then the Pedelec works just like a normal bike as you cruise through the streets.

If you want to rent two wheels for your tour of the city, the prices are as follows (per day): Bike €12, Segway €15, Pedelec €18, and Elmoto €20… and if you need MORE WHEELS FOR YOUR MONEY… we also have rollerblades, for the low, low price of a fiver a day. Get moving through the city!

We are extremely proud of our apartments on Choriner Straße, and in the first year that they have been opened we have really enjoyed welcoming guests to the newest member of the Circus family, and hearing how much people have enjoyed the space and the facilities that they have to offer. But what if you want to have a look around but you haven’t arrived yet and are a long way away? Thanks to the good folks at Spree 3D you can have a poke around one of our 6 person apartments (which goes by the name of Heinrich) on the Apartments homepage. Click on the picture above to take a look, or follow this link, and thanks again to Daniel and everyone at Spree 3D for the chance to offer this virtual tour.

Coming up next Wednesday 15^th May at the Sputnik Kino in Kreuzberg is an event that sounds quite scary if you are the filmmakers involved… basically they get the chance to present their short films to an audience – there is no application, pre-selection or jury – and they will be simply judged by those watching. Any type of film can be presented, but if enough of the audience show the red card then the screening will be stopped. Nerve-wracking!

After the screenings there will be a short Q & A to give the filmmakers and the audience the chance to talk about the films, and this is a great opportunity not only for the filmmakers themselves to test their work, but also for those of us interested in film to get an idea of what is being created. The screenings start at 8.30pm and admission is free.

In Berlin we have a number of different “long nights…”, whether for museums  or knowledge, but coming up on the 11^th May is a long night that promises to be the tastiest of them all: the Long Night of Cuisine. In the neighbourhoods of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg a number of culinary establishments will be opening their doors from 6pm until midnight, giving you the chance to sample their work for a small price, showcasing the ever-increasing range of high quality, owner-operated culinary destinations we have here in our city.

Here’s some more information about what to expect:

On Saturday May 11th, the Friedrichshain shops “Küchenliebe”, “Zuckerstück” und “Stadtschönheit” invite you to a punch party with disco appetizers in mason jars. The café “Zuckerstück” is serving punch and cake, and the catering company “Stadtschönheit” is offering appetizers in mason jars, all accompanied with relaxing, electro lounge music from Horst Matrix. The restaurant “Schwarzer Hahn” is offering delicious smoked Thuringian pork with mustard-cream cucumbers, May-punch and jars filled with tasty duck rillette and black nuts. Café Sellberg invites you to a special reading with stories about coffee. While listening, you can enjoy the café’s three most popular cakes: cheesecake, carrot cake and nut brownie. Additionally, you can win coffee vouchers and a Berlin breakfast for two.

Whoever prefers tea instead can join an informative tasting of the trendy cult drink matcha tea. The tea store “Teekränzchen” welcomes you to the exciting world of tea: from tastings to tours through the diversity of tea, a visual tea seminar, a tea tombola with the motto “Every ticket wins”, and an exciting quiz. The Scandinavian candy store “Herr Nilsson GODIS” will surprise with its Nilsson’s Wheel of Fortune: visitors can try their luck at spinning the wheel to win different prizes like a Herr Nilsson T-shirt, a candy tasting or a special discount. You can experience a different kind of disco in the restaurant “scheers schnitzel”, located at the Oberbaumbrücke. At their “Schnitzeldisco” you can get cocktail shots (i.e. Basil Smash, MaiThai Shot, 3-Days-Awake-Caffeine-Shot), a tasting portion of schnitzel and a scheers-dessert for a small price. The party will be accompanied by a DJ desk. Caution: come as a schnitzel and get a schnitzel for free.

Guests will get an introduction of classic German brewing in Kreuzberg at the “Brahaus Südstern”. Small samples of rare beer specialties will be served and its characteristics explained, as Brewmaster Thorsten Schoppe presents his own favorite beers. Other participating culinary partners in Kreuzberg include “Cupcake Cuisine”, “OlioBiscotti” , “Zum goldenen Krümel” and “W.E.I.N. eG”.

You can register for the event and find out more information on the Long Night of Cuisine website.

(Photo: Monika Rittershaus)

Throughout the month of May the Komische Oper in Berlin performs only operas by… well yes, you’ve guessed it, the one and only Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. There are loads of different performances throughout the month, but we are especially pleased to announce that we have teamed up with the Komische Oper to offer Circus guests a €10 discount on the following:

10^th May – Don Giovanni
12^th May – The Marriage of Figaro
20^th May – Don Giovanni
23^rd May – Don Giovanni
24^th May – The Abduction from the Seraglio
26^th May – The Abduction from the Seraglio

If any of our guests are interested then please contact the reception, where you can also get information about the rest of the festival.

We have a new addition to the Circus Hostel who stands guard over the main entrance. We will be running a little competition based on our friendly doorman which we will announce later in the week, but for now we hope you will come by and say hello. Meanwhile, out back, our regular non-paying guests have returned to the hostel courtyard… and we wish the new family all the best for the future…

More pics from the hostel on facebook here