Buchstabenmuseum: Museum of Letters

2. April 2012 in Berlin, Design, Museum, Stuff We Like by Paul

Buchstaben_One

The Museum of Letters was founded in 2005, and is a non-profit organization devoted to preserving and documenting letterforms. Lotte was there over the weekend, and not only sent us some pictures to show you what it is like, but also to heartily recommend checking it out. If you are staying at the Circus it is a short walk towards Alexanderplatz, it costs €2,50 to get in and is a fascinating collection of signage and lettering from Berlin and around the world. G.O. C.H.E.C.K.I.T.O.U.T.

Buchstaben_Two

Buchstaben_Three

Buchstaben_Four

Buchstaben_Five

Buchstabenmuseum: Museum of Letters
Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 13
10178 Berlin-Mitte
Berlin Carré, 1. Floor
U+S Alexanderplatz
Opening times: Thu–Sat from 1–3pm
Entry: 2,50 Euro
Website

Here’s a Map:

Buchstaben_Map

Time for Chess?

28. März 2012 in Circus Hostel, Circus News by Paul

chess

With the start of the warm days we have dusted off our outdoor chess set, for those of you who fancy an intellectual challenge to go along with your bottle of beer or your foamy milchkaffee. For the new season Jim has promised to handcraft the chessboard on the pavement outside the hostel (as you can see above) and you can pick up the pieces from the reception. So if you fancy a game, come on by… and if you have no-one to play with, ask for Jim or Andrew as they are always up for the challenge…

B.I.N.G.O.

26. März 2012 in Circus Hostel, Goldman's Bar by Paul

bingo night

The latest keray-Z idea from the folks down in Goldman’s Bar is an oldie but a goodie (and with a twist). Yes, that’s right – its time for a spot of BINGO. But as Berlin is no declining northern English seaside resort, and the average guest of Goldman’s Bar doesn’t even know what a blue rinse is, we have come up with a form of the game that is more fitting. DJ Martin Decadence will be on the decks to entertain every Tuesday evening, and as he plays certain songs you can mark them off your card that you get from your friendly bartender. Depending on Martin’s mood and his playlist, someone will win prizes whilst others will be left hanging, waiting desperately for the first bars of Jump Around by House of Pain  to come throbbing through the bar speakers. Everybody, Baahhh-Bah-Bahhhhh…..BINGO!

Eyewitness History Talk: Cold War Berlin – The Division of a City

22. März 2012 in Circus Hotel, Circus News, Circus Talks, Events, History by Paul

circus-talks-button-300x300Next Tuesday we have the latest in our series of eyewitness history talks in association with the ZZB (Centre for Witness to Contemporary History). For our March event, we will be looking at the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, and how the city came to be divided on either side of the Berlin Wall.

A visitor to Berlin in the 1980s would have arrived to a well-divided city. Not only would it have been hard to imagine the concrete and barbed wire ever coming down, but also how it came to be there in the first place – it appeared to be such a permanent part of the Berlin landscape. We are really excited that Mr Herbert Töpfer, Berlin resident since 1935 will join us in the Circus to discuss his experiences of how Berlin came to be divided, from the occupation of the city at the end of the Second World War, via the blockade and the airlift, the increasing Cold War tensions, the building of the Berlin Wall and John F. Kennedy’s speech in Schöneberg.

It promises to be another fascinating eyewitness history talk at The Circus, and we hope you can join us. Entry is as always free, the talk will be in English, and Mr Töpfer will be available afterwards to answer any questions you might have. See you there.

Details:

Eyewitness History Talk – Cold War Berlin: The Division of a City
Tuesday 27th March 2012
Fabisch at The Circus Hotel
Rosenthaler Str. 1
Begins: 6.45pm

Roskilde Road Trip in Berlin – A call to action!

21. März 2012 in Art, Festivals, Music, Stuff We Like by Paul

Since 1971 Roskilde has been one of Europe’s most legendary music and culture festivals, and now – in order that the creative audience of the festival can feel part of the action in 2012 – they are taking it on the road in the form of Pop-up Lounges. Beginning in Oslo on March 1st, the Roskilde Road Trip has been to Lund and Stockholm and, from the 24th March until the 5th April, will be here in Berlin.

What’s it all about, eh?

The Berlin Pop-up Lounge will be at the RAW-Tempel in Friedrichshain, and is basically an empty space where creative souls can transform it into a brilliant playground. At the end there will be a showcase of the projects, and a live concert (in Lido) of up and coming bands that is free, but only open to those who have participated in the project.

Where is it?

Roskilde Map

In their own words…

From the facebook page, here is the call to action in English:

“Drop by and join us as we build, paint and laugh our way through the creation of the Berlin Pop-up venue! In just two weeks we will transform and re-decorate the Pop-up venue and prepare it for a massive (FREE!) showcase with great people, cool decorations and a concert with loads of new music.

If you have a great idea for what to create, please submit it before the event kicks off. Everyone is welcome to join! If you’re not much of a creator, but have a helping heart and are passionate about music, please stop by to give us a hand and hang out. We promise it will be fun, worth your while and filled with great surprises.”

Event Page on Facebook

Out from Berlin – Jim’s Trip to Zossen

19. März 2012 in History, Jim's Berlin by Jim

zossen cigar bunker

The town of Zossen outside Berlin has had a long military history in Germany.  It was a prisoner of war camp during World War I and from the 1930s on became a top secret complex that was the headquarters of the whole German army during the Second World War. The ‘Zeppelin’ bunker was completed in 1939, and was the largest and most modern telecommunications centre for the German Army.  Between 1939 and 1945 all messages sent by the army came through this command centre, which was so large that a tank could enter and unload with ease.

Less than a hundred metres away are the bunker complexes of Maybach I and Maybach II, which housed the top generals of the German military.  Built to look like ‘normal’ houses from the air, they were made of reinforced concrete and featured four floors, two above ground and two under.  The hundreds of workers entered through secret openings to the complex, connected by hundred of metres of underground passages.  The camouflage was so successful that the Allies didn’t discover it until a raid by the US Air Force in 1945, which missed in any case. After 1945, and under the terms of the Allied Occupation Agreement, the bunker complex was supposed to be destroyed.

What actually happened was that the Soviet Army renovated the Zeppelin bunker to make it nuclear-proof, and continued to use it.  Until 1994 it was the central command for the Soviet Air Force. .Alongside the bunkers, there are also a number of museums within the complex, such as the Garrison Museum (German military history), and an interesting exhibition on the ‘Everyday Life of the Russian Soldier’.  You can also explore the bizarre cigar shaped bomb shelters, which were supposedly virtually impossible to hit from the air.  They never caught on.

zossen memorial

Info: You need to take the regional train from Alexanderplatz which leaves every 30 minutes and then a bus from outside the train station to Waldstadt Wünsdorf. You can take tours of the bunker complex daily, which run at 2pm on Mondays to Fridays, and 1pm and 3pm on winter weekends (Nov to Mar). From April to October there are three tours a day on Saturdays and Sundays, at 12noon, 2pm and 4pm.  Unfortunately the tours are only in German, although there is an information sheet available in English.  The museums are open 10am until 5pm daily (In the winter months they are closed on Mondays)

Website

Oh boy… the sun is shining on Rosenthaler Platz

16. März 2012 in Circus Hostel, Circus Hotel, Circus News by Paul

Circus-three

Just over three weeks ago our neighbourhood looked like this. Now the sun is shining, people are in a good mood, and the whole city feels it is ready for spring. We hope all of you have a great and sunny day, and enjoy the weekend. If you need some hints of what to do, check out the listings guide from our mates at Slow Travel Berlin.

Ai Weiwei in New York – Photographs 1983-1993

14. März 2012 in Art, Berlin, Photography by Paul

martin_gropius_bau#This extremely popular exhibition has been hosted by the Martin-Gropius-Bau since October, and this coming Sunday it will close after the best part of six months.

So you have just a handful of days to get down there to take a look at the more than two hundred photographs from the decade Chinese artist Ai Weiwei spent in New York.

From the exhibition website:

“Ai captured life in the New York of the eighties with his camera. The result is a series of unique documents bearing witness to an artistically and politically exciting period seen through the eyes of an artist from China. And the viewer can already recognise the beginnings of Ai Weiwei’s concept art in these early photographs. The subjects are varied like life in New York – photos of street fights in Tompkins Square Park, transvestites at the Wigstock Festival, portraits of Chinese and American artists, intellectuals and friends.”

You can find out more about the exhibition here, but the main details are as follows:

Ai Weiwei in New York – Photographs 1983-1993
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Admission €8 (€5 concessions)
Open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-7pm
Exhibition ends on the 18th March 2012

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