What better way to begin the year than enjoying good films. The Berlinale -Berlin International Film Festival- will celebrate its 62nd edition from the 9th to the 19th of February in the German capital. Berlin, a city with a broad cultural and artistic scene, celebrates one of its most prestigious events. During this year’s edition, the streets will be full of celebrities and parties and there’ll be many news stories regarding the world of film.

A festival of great projection, the Berlinale 2012 will show some 400 films of different styles and genres. It will open with the premier of the film ‘Les adieux a la reine’ by the French director Benoit Jacquot, which is an adaptation of the novel by Chantal Thomas that portrays the beginning of the French Revolution from the point of view of the servants who worked at the Palace of Versailles. It stars Diane Kruger, Virginie Ledoyen and Léa Seydoux.

In the competition section, where they discover new film talents, films such as ‘Time for outrage’ by Tony Gatlif, ‘Dictado’ by Antonio Chavarrías and ’10+10′ by Hou Hsiao Hsien among others.

On the 14th of February, the honorific Bear of 2012 will pay tribute to the career of Meryl Streep. She will attend the Berlinale palace in the event of the presentation of her latest film, ‘The Iron Lady’, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, where she plays the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

In a statement made by Dieter Kosslick, the director of the festival, he says to be delighted to give Meryl Streep -a world star and an extraordinary artist- the honorific Golden Bear. He outlined her great talent and capacity to easily combine comedy and drama roles.

In the tribute to Meryl Streep, six films of hers will be screened. ‘Kramer vs Kramer’ by Robert Benton, ‘Sophie’s Choice’ by Alan J. Pakula, ‘Out of Africa’ by Sidney Pollack, ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ by Robert Altman and ‘The Bridges of Madison County’ by Clint Eastwood.

We’ll also enjoy the retrospective labelled ‘Happy Birthday, Studio Babelsberg’, where they’ll celebrate the centenary of the first film that these studios produced (February 1912), ‘Der Totentanz’, directed by Urban Gad, followed by ‘Münchhausen’ (1943) by Josef Von Bakey. After an era dominated by the Nazis, in the years 1946-1990, the filmed over 1500 productions there and, after the fall of the Berlin wall, they went through a long process that lead to its eventual privatization.

Various failed attempts emerged to give Studio Babelsberg its splendor back, something that it didn’t recoup until 2004 under the management of Carl Woebcken and Christoph Fisser. This meant the beginning of its biggest international projection, with films such as ‘The pianist’ by Roman Polanski or ‘The reader’ by Stephen Daldry, both included in the retrospective.

Berlin is always a recommendable destination, but possibly even more this month. For all the information on the festival, you can visit http://www.berlinale.de

Dani

This is one of the most prestigious international film festivals that gathers the best directors and actors from around the world. If you decide to visit the festival, don’t hesitate to rent apartments in Berlin

Contact Me 

Translated by: aleixgwilliam
Contact Me

The contemporary, audiovisual cross-cultural festival Transmediale, which this year celebrates its twentieth anniversary in Berlin, between the 31^st of January and the 5^th of February http://www.transmediale.de/ was founded in 1988 with the name of VideoFilmFest under the artistic direction of Kwell Micky.

Based on the fundamental objective of offering promotion of all electronic media productions that did not fit into traditional film festivals like the Berlinale, the event has experienced a sustained and rapid evolution as illustrated by the adoption of the current name in the edition 1997/98, because the last five years of the twentieth century, its programming covered a broad spectrum of multimedia art forms, including music and nightclub culture.

In fact, in 1999, with a curator and an independent economic funding, Transmediale gained a new appendix devoted specifically to the sonic art world of electronic music, digital and experimental contemporary, as well as to the wide range of artistic and social activities that are connected or developed within the audio culture. Originally called Club Transmediale and, since 2011, CTM-Festival of innovative music and related arts, this parallel festival essentially interested in exploring the intersections between cutting-edge contemporary sound creation, properly embedded in the culture of the society and its social and technological transformations, as well as other art forms and fields. In 2012 it will revolve around the notion of the spectral (http://www.ctm-festival.de/ctm-festival/ctm12.html).

Through the spectral, the festival consist of a series of aesthetic of the past with their particular unfulfilled utopias or dystopias, the sinister character of the hallucinatory effects of audiovisual media, and the demand for experiences of transcendence through elements such as mysticism, as psychotropic, occultism, overlapping layers of different temporal, mundane forms of alchemy or euphoric rejection of physical presence as a way of constructing a reality in which submit or exorcise the ghosts that are necessarily present in every case.

The agenda of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Transmediale, under the artistic direction of Kristoffer Gansing simultaneously tries to look back and redefine the lines of growth for the future. It has been decided at this time to eliminate the competition and prizes (including the theoretical section, which takes the form of a residency program for artistic research) clearly opting for a thematic approach to equip the festival with greater coherence between its different sections, making it more akin to the criteria of an art curator and closer relationship with the transmediale community.

The topic that will revolve around this year edition is the incompatibility, understood as an essential condition of cultural production in times of crisis.

Paul Oilzum

If you are interested in the culture associated with electronic music and contemporary visual media you can’t miss this event. Rent apartments in Berlin during these days, and enjoy Transmediale.

Contact Me 

Translated by: Hans
Contact Me

It’s been nearly fourteen years since Lauryn Hill, who will offer a highly awaited concert in Berlin on the 26th of January (http://www.tempodrom.de/ms._lauryn_hill_2012-01-26_20.html), surprised everyone with her first solo album, ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’, an almost immediate classic that, already well in the second decade of a different century since the one it was made in, can easily be said that it has overcome all the tests that time brings.

Of course that from the singer from The Fugees it would have been difficult to find someone who wasn’t expecting anything food, but all the expectations were surpassed by an album that, in a decade characterized by its musical wealth and not precisely by the lack of memorable albums -responsible that independent music hit the top spots in the sales charts and giving, for a few years, an unusual and new shine to popular culture- stands out as an authentic landmark that is used as a bridge between different generations, updating a whole tradition so that it wasn’t lost in the frenetic rhythms of the times ahead.

Lauryn Hill herself has declared, in one of the incredibly rare occasions that she gives out interviews, that that was in great measure one of the aims of the album, to update the old vocal harmonies of the doo woop that she learned to love by listening to her parent’s albums, dressing them with the clothes of contemporary sounds that had meaning for the people of her generation, such as hip-hop, reggae or R&B, wisely mixing them with the spirit of soul.

It would be hard to think of an attempt that has ever obtained a higher artistic and commercial success simultaneously. Lauryn Hill was the first one to be surprised when finding out that the album that she’d made from the depths of her heart and with her whole honesty, simply so that the type of music that she enjoyed listening could exist in the world in an intimate way, that the wishes of millions of people were that they wanted to listen to the exact same sounds and rhythms. At the end of 1998, the year of its release, it was virtually impossible to find a single specialized publication whose list of best albums of the year wasn’t headed by ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’, which in February of 1999 won give of the eleven Grammys that it was nominated for, even album of the year, contributing in a decisive way to the task of clearing the path of the assimilation of hip-hop in popular culture, a task which was initiated by Outkast, Jay-Z or DMX.

In a more or less expected way, let’s think of Juan Rulfo for example, excepting sporadic shows and an MTV Unplugged, silence later ensued, which is in no way any less the declared contempt that Hill feels on the world of stardom.

Paul Oilzum

That’s why that a concert of hers is a huge event which can only bring something ineffable. We think that you would hate to miss it if you rented apartments in Berlin during those dates.

Contact Me 

Translated by: aleixgwilliam
Contact Me

From the 20^th till the 29^th of January, the Exhibition Centre Messe Berlin, Berlin-Charlottenburg will devote 26 of its rooms to the 77th International Green Week, one of the most famous events in Germany, which has gathered more than 78,000 exhibitors and 30 million visitors since its first edition eighty-six years ago.

Although its origins in 1926, when up to one fifth of the area of the city was still engaged in agriculture and horticulture (it is estimated that in Berlin there were no less than 45,000 horses, 25,000 pigs, 21,000 heads of dairy cows and half a million poultry, so, up to 200,000 Berliners were cultivating their own piece of land) it was nothing more than a local market. With time it has evolved into the largest food fair for agriculture and horticulture in the world. On this fair dozens of countries have the opportunity to present their wide range of agricultural products to a vast audience from all continents.

The rapid expansion of the Green Week during the twenties and thirties had to do mainly with the large number of technical and scientific inventions presented on it: e.g. a curious device that served to demonstrate that dogs only follow the traces left by humans but not because of their smell or a giant rotating machine that allowed eggs to keep fresh for a period of a year.

The distinctive logo of the Fair, consist of two stylized yellow wheat spikes gracefully bending in the wind on a green background, which was designed in 1935 in accordance with the art-deco aesthetics by Wilhelm Holter. The same logo remains to this day the symbol of the event. A few years later came the war and the subsequent disruption of Green Week, which was not held again until 1948, in particularly harsh conditions (the three western sectors of the city, had only electricity supply from 11 pm to 1 am and from 9 to 11 am), which did not prevent the filing of a portentous nearly three kilos cucumber and a pumpkin of a half over forty. Due to the food scarcity, there are those who argued that this was the most glorious period of the Fair, when the week gained dimension with magic bordering desiring to be manifested in the scenic illusions of some of the places where statues convincingly made cardboard times ham and sausages.

Despite this the show continued to grow, overcoming all sorts of difficulties, including the construction of the infamous Berlin Wall in 1961. Precisely one year after Green Week held its first international edition, almost like a challenge.

For more information: http://www.gruenewoche.de/

Paul Oilzum

Predictably, it was after the Berlin Wall and with the unification of Germany when the green week earned its had its ultimate accolade, becoming the impressive and massive spectacle that is today. Be sure to visit this spectacular event if you rent apartments in Berlin

Contact Me 

Translated by: Hans
Contact Me

‘Divided Heaven. 1945-1968. The Collection. is one of the most interesting exhibitions at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin of a peak period of history in Germany and the world, where art is influenced by the accumulation of consecutive events that would change the world’s geopolitical physiognomy. This exhibition is the continuation of a project that in its first stage was called ‘Modern Times’, and it covered the development of art from 1900 to 1945.

The title of the exhibition ‘Divided Heaven’ is taken from a novel by the German writer Christa Wolf, published in 1963, which was about the social problems in the German Democriatic Republic through a couple who go back to East Berlin a few days before the construction of the wall begins. This novel won the Heinrich Mann Award and was translated into various languages.

Echoing this novel and the human meaning that politics had in thousands of people who were captured by each regime, the exhibition tries to show that the imposed barrieres were broken by the vision of artists from both sides of ideological barriers, juxtaposing styles and aesthetic trends further than contemporaneity.

The period of time that this exhibition covers is from 1945 to 1968, which refers to the end of the Second World War and May of 1968, the great social protests which arose in the world. During this lapse of time, the Vietnam War took place, man went into space and on the Moon, they built the Berlin Wall and there was the Cuban missile crisis; in few words, the world went through great convulsions which didn’t leave out the creation of artists and these got involved in this fight for the human condition.

For this exhibition, six artists got together: Wilhelm Lachnit, Ernst  Wilhelm Nay, Sigmar Polke, Werner Tübke, Georg Baselitz and Renato Guttuso. Through their works they make the narration of ‘Divided Heaven. 1945-1968. The Collection’.

Wilhelm Lachnit (1899-1962) is present with his work ‘Jointed Puppet’ from 1948. Lachnit was an active militant of the Communist Party and an independent artist. His pictorical work reminisces of early expressionism, which is notorious in ‘Jointed Puppet’, both for the use of colours, the texutre and the style, which reminds us of Picasso’s first stage. In 1933, Lachnit’s work was considered as degenerate art by the Nazis and his works were confiscated and he was arrested.

Ernst Wilhelm Nay was a German artist who had a long artistic career which began in 1921 when he began to paint. In 1925 he began to study with Karl Hofer from the Berliner Akademie. During those years he studied the works of Picasso, Matisse and Kichner. In the 1960s the moved to abstract art.

Sigmar Polke (1941-2010) had the singularity of having the enormous capacity of experimenting styles, but his subjects were always centered in political and social events of the 20th century, which is inscribed in his work ‘Dublin’, which reflects the Irish conflict.

For more information: http://www.smb.museum/smb/kalender/details.php?lang=en&objID=29845

Nancy Guzman

A great idea for the end of the year is to rent apartments in Berlin and attend this exhibition which cannot be missed.

Contact Me 

Translated by: aleixgwilliam
Contact Me

Tanz der Vampire is German musical by Jim Steinman and Michael Hunze. It’s based on the great film by the legendary French director Roman Polanski. The film was shot in 1967 and Polanski participated as an actor playing the role of Alfred. The musical was premiered in Vienna in 1997 and since then it’s been to most of Europe with great success. After its first shows in Austria, the show travelled to Germany, Broadway (USA), Estonia, Poland, Japan, Hungary, Belgium, Russia and Finland. Now it’s back in Berlin for a second time, where it already showed between 2006 and 2008.

The plot of the show is based on the trip to Transylvania by Professor Ambrosius and his assistant Alfred. Both move to Romania due to the story of some strange happenings which seem to coincide with the suspicions of the professor on the existence of vampires.

After staying in a hostel, they realise the fear of the locals to talk about these happenings and their determination to deny the existence of vampires. However, both find out that the locals accumulate large quantities of garlic, both in their doors and their windows. Alfred falls in love with Sarah, the young and beautiful daughter of Shagal, the owner of the hostel where they’re staying at. Sarah is also wanted by the sinister Count Krolock, who is the focus of all suspicions by Professor Ambrosius. Actually, Krolock is the dominant vampire and seduces young Sarah, with promises of power and wealth to lure her to the castle. The father of the young girl, Shagal, goes out to find her but he’s bitten by vampires and he’s picked up on a road by locals, frozen to death and without a single drop of blood in him. Back at the hostel, he resuscitates as a living dead and escapes. The professor and Alfred follow him to Krolock’s castle, who kindly offers them a place to stay, with dark intentions. Herbert, the homosexual son of Count Krolock, is attracted by the young assistant and, on his behalf, Ambrosius is fascinated with the Count’s library. The two vampire hunters find the crypt where vampires sleep, but they’re unable to finish them off. The Count finally realizes the intentions of both his guests and decides to ‘vampirize’ them, but after the vampire dance which would take place that same night. In the commotion, Ambrosius and Alfred will try and escape and save beautiful Sarah. A delirious, funny and gripping comedy of terror which you cannot miss.

The shows in Berlin will take place from the 16th of November of 2011 until the 29th of April 2012. The chosen place is for such a unique show is the Theater des Westens. Ticket prices range from 36 euros for the cheapest tickets to 100 euros for the best seats. For more information visit the following website: http://www.danceofthevampires.com/

Fernando Paterna

Berlin is the German capital and one of the most interesting cities in Europe. If you’re thinking of visiting it to see the musical ‘Tanz der Vampire’, we’d recommend that you check out the possibility of renting apartments in Berlin

Translated by: aleixgwilliam
Contact Me

Every day you get more families who decide to spend Christmas away from home. There’s no need to say that overwhelming Berlin is an ideal destination for the dates close to the Advent Calendar. If you’re lucky, you may even have snow as an added plus to the landscape belonging to a postcard to your wished for and deserved vacation.

But Berlin is something more than its impressive places at the Museumsinsel (Island of Museums), the open air art gallery on the Wall, or a route around the most emblematic locations in the city (from the Brandenburg Gate to the renovated Potsdamer Platz), because the city has a varied leisure offering which, sometimes, is a tad unknown to the traveller.

Without doubt, something which the self-respecting traveller who visits Berlin in mid-December cannot miss are its multiple Christmas markets, where he’ll be able to stock up with German gastronomical delights, crafts, toys or exclusive jewelry. To enjoy it during the trip, to take it back home or to give as a gift to the loved ones, the Berliner markets are unmissable places to find the most original and affordable ideas to regale for Christmas or the Three Kings. The first apex of the magical Christmas shopping triangle is located in a baroque palace. If Charlottenburg is a must visit location at any time of the year, during the days before Advent it’s an obligation. To the overwhelming beauty of the place they add, firstly, a spectacular staging with elegant illumination and, secondly, an open air market (under marquees with heating) which gather 150 different exhibitors. Here you can gather all the German gastronomical delights (from its good wines from the valley of the Rhine to the famous sausages and meats as well as its excellent chocolates).

Together with the national delicatessen, they sell all sorts of crafts, paying special attention to glass jewelry. The prices, as you can imagine, are pretty adjusted. The second apex of the Berliner Christmas markets that the traveller must not miss, especially if he’s travelling with children (because they offer beautiful handmade toys), is the one which is located (from the 24th to the 31st of December) in the emblematic Gendarmenmarkt. Presided by the Berlin Concert Hall (the Konzerthaus), where we’ll be able to enjoy a special Christmas carol session if we go there with plenty of time, which is flanked by two cathedrals (the French catholic one and the Luteran German one), the traveller can stock up at the Gendermenmarkt market with practically everything. Here he’ll also find the typical sausages and Glühwein, a scented aromatic white wine which is drank warm. The third apex is on the elegant avenue Unter den Linden, close to the Opera Palace. The most outstanding thing of it are its objects for decoration made out of clay.

Candela Vizcaíno

Anyway, local gastronomy and ideas for affordable gifts to enjoy in your apartments in Berlin or back at home.

Contact Me 

Translated by: aleixgwilliam
Contact Me

If there’s a city where you can enjoy looking and buying in Christmas markets, that would be Berlin. This city possesses close to 60 markets with all sorts of offers for gifts to give to you best friends and/or family.

Christmas is a holiday especially dedicated to children, because in the Christian world it’s a remembrance of the birth of Jesus. Hence that in the surrounding area of St. Nicholas Church (Nikolaikirche) in Berlin, you’ll find an interesting market where they sell crafts. But the most interesting thing is the nativity display of live animals which will thrill the children. Together with this, there are small shops dedicated to children, where they can listen and participate in small plays which tell Christmas stories.

The district of Spandau has about seven Christmas markets. One of the biggest and most famous in Berlin is Spandauer Weihnachtsmarkt, in the Western outskirts of Berlin, specifically in the old town of Spandau. Here you can find many German traditions, crafts, carols, a nativity display with farm animals and Christmas painting displays. This market is open from the 25th of November up until the 23rd of December, from Sunday to Thursday from 11am until 8pm, and open until 9pm on Friday and Saturday.

The district of Mitte has 10 Christmas markets. The most famous of them all is the Gendarmenmarkt, where you can find sculptures made of stone, wood and metal, as well as other crafts of high artistic value. Walking around this market means meeting fire-eaters, jugglers, illusionists, singers and gospel singers. What’s pleasant about this place is that it has excellent bars and restaurants where you can try delicious local foods and atypical products prepared with organic products. The market is open from the 21st of November until the 31st of December, from Sunday to Thursday from 11am until 10pm and on Fridays and Saturdays it’s open until 11pm.

The district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf has the Christmas market of the district of Charlottenburg, whose main charm is the scenery of the Bellevue Schloss Palace, a beautiful baroque construction which lights up during Christmas, giving the area an air of grandeur. The market is made up of 250 crafts stands among which we can find little stalls where to buy some delicate culinary preparations while you listen to Christmassy and classical music. It starts on the 21st of November and finishes on Boxing Day. The opening times are from Monday to Thursday from 2pm until 10pm and from Friday to Sunday from 12pm until 10pm. We recommend buying with plenty of time because it’s not open on the 24th of December.

One of the curiosities is the Hanukkah Christmas market in the district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, where you can find lighting from all over the world and different culinary specialities, such as kosher glühwein (warm wine), as well as activities for children and concerts for adults.

Nancy Guzman

To get to know and walk around the different Christmas markets that this city offers, rent apartments in Berlin and see for yourself how they experience Christmas in this city, where customs and typical food are a big part of it.

Contact Me 

Translated by: aleixgwilliam
Contact Me

The creator of the “Peace collection” was one of the most prominent designers in the fashion fairs that were held in Berlin in last summer, what makes her so special?, apart from her beautiful, modern and feminine designs, her concept of “sustainable fashion”, a poetic construction of the Mayer brand, which manages to connect very well her creations with the free, innovative and artistic spirit of the city.

In simple words, it is the reuse of recycled materials in the creation and elaboration of new clothes, but this is not the only reason for Mayer, known as the brand of the young designer that has been highlighted with a particular identity in each of its clothing. In 2006, Mayer launched its famous “Peace collection” in the multicultural and multi-artistic neighborhood of Mitte, the collection was quickly known for merging a speech of social engagement with designer clothes. For Mayer, it is not enough to make an urban collection of innovative designs, the human being should also be part of this, and especially his soul, starting point of the entire collection of Mayer and an anthroposophical view of fashion. On the other hand, she was inspired by Japanese fashion, especially in Johji Yamamoto, technique used by Christine that highlights by her patterns worked in the same model, which results in more mobile and varied clothes.

The famous sustainable design that has made her so famous in Berlin and now in the rest of Europe and the world, it is mainly based on the reuse of fabrics of past centuries, such as blankets, coats, looms, etc.., Which are processed with the Japanese technique that she has mastered making designs that fit perfectly into the female body. True works of art with social content that is worth knowing in the district of Mitte.

Luz Obscura

Rent apartments in Berlin and get to know the latest trends of Christine Mayer’s designs in the popular district of Mitte. Enjoy the capital of art and creativity.

Contact Me 

Translated by: Hans
Contact Me

A great place to enjoy music and entertainment is The Kater-Holzig, which has a menu that invites you to become a regular at this bar. This bar has revolutionized the concept of space for parties offering a good taste of Berlin.

Located in Köpenickerstrasse 50, 10179, It is surrounded by one of Europe’s largest places for fun, where the Open Air are usually performed, is considered an area of attraction for those who like to enjoy in a different way, in the midst of diversity.

Its name, Kater Holzig, is coming from “Kater” that means cat or hangover and “Holzig” that means group of logs. This particular name gives a particular sense to the band. Heir to the legendary Bar25, which closed its doors in 2010 to accommodate this new concept of a place that is more than a bar, rather than a restaurant or a disco with live music. Is all that is needed for enjoyment without timing.

Housed in an old recycled soap factory, it has been conditioned to have the best acoustics and a stage that can accommodate groups of electronic music to accommodate all musical tastes for the public to enjoy until dawn without feeling blowout in your eardrums.

Its interior design is made with wood, rough brick, graffiti and details that make it unique and warm, a place where nothing is out of place and all styles can share the same space.

Your of menu is a treat to the palate. From vegetarian meals to exquisite gourmet fawn specialties, which are a privilege. A very good choice of salads with dried tomatoes and basil oil, all natural products guaranteed to be self-billing. If you like duck meat, you must try the duck legs, specially caramelized with hazelnuts, dumplings and red cabbage with cherry sauce. Not being this enough, wild rice with vegetables is a delicacy that few restaurants can offer.

It is best to make a reservation ahead so you can ensure full enjoyment of these delicacies, which has become famous for its organic and clean production, a concept that fits the big changes that consumers today demand.

The restaurant is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 18:00 hours. On Sundays, holidays and is closed Monday and entered by Michael Kirchstr 22.

But Kater-Holzig also has a cafe that is opens from Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00 for those who like to enjoy a pleasant conversation in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

For more information http://www.katerholzig.de/

Nancy Guzman

If you want to spend some nice days to defuse tensions at the end of the year, nothing better than renting apartments in Berlin and enjoy a nice party at the Kater-Holzig, a place that has it all, so book your apartment in Berlin and come to restaurant so you do not run out a great picture.

Contact Me 

Translated by: Hans
Contact Me