What to see in Berlin, Berlin blog

Noel Gallagher does not seem to have temporarily lost the credit of the most faithful followers of Oasis, significantly large since the appearance of the band in the music scene in the early nineties. So it seems legitimate to infer the success of his solo tour accompanied by The High Flying Birds, a band formed expressly for recording and performing his new songs. In fact, his next concert in Berlin on the 9^th of March (http://www.noelgallagher.com/ # gigs/european-tour-2012/huxleys-neue-welt-09-03) has been moved from the Huxley Neue Welt hall, to the significantly more spacious Max-Schmeling hall, given the tremendous demand for tickets that the event generated in the city.

Perhaps the same can’t be said of how his first solo album has been received by critics. Not because it is a particularly bad album, Gallagher has not lost the knack of writing songs with catchy melodies, but because they expected much more from someone who spent years complaining that he was maimed his most experimental innovative and creative spirit by the demands of a band that had become excessively accommodative.

There have always been critics willing to accuse Noel Gallagher of a damaging banality, idiocy and reification of the rock / pop songs that dealt a fatal blow to the independent scene, as well as the shortage of those who hoped that the former songwriter of Oasis a qualitative leap that will redeem his embarrassing public statements and the creative slump of the last album of the group, become a parody of himself with less and less grace and talent. In this respect, maybe a couple of verses, “What if I am already dead? / How will I know?” from Stop the Clocks, the song that closes his first album with Birds Flying High, be particularly significant. The way to know if you are not already dead is naturally making a new album (judging by the lyrics of the named song, it doesn’t seem particularly recommended that Gallagher engages in philosophy). Although Gallagher’s new adventure is a bit more daring than his previous albums with Oasis, it’s essentially the same. Perhaps Gallagher now sounds more Kinks, galaxies distance to the incomparable talent as a songwriter Ray Davies, and the Stones “We Love You”, which the Beatles, but everything still sounds like the objectification of something already seen.

Paul Oilzum

The concert will not disappoint Oasis’ fans, who rent apartments in Berlin or to the nostalgic, increasing value in these times without a future.

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If we look carefully around us it is hard to find anything other than depth and mystery. It is surprising that such a tiny a creature as man, whose importance in the cosmos is computable to zero, may actually have the audacity to pretend to be able to understand the workings of life and the universe. Unless we believe  Pico della Mirandola (Discourse on the Dignity of Man, 1486) who said that man was created by God to know and admire himself, or to put another way to know love the beauty through the intelligence and greatness of God’s work. For as it may be discussed if an apple makes a noise after falling from a tree if no one is there to hear it, God would have needed at least one spectator so his work had meaning.

Even for the believer, life may never ceases to be essentially a mystery. A mystery that is expressed and displayed incessantly and fascinatingly as perhaps the oceans with such depth and substance and still we know even barely anything about it (probably not even 20% of the species that dwell in them) less that our own galaxy from which we all come from.

The same mystery is also expressed in archetypal totemic figures and  or symbolic ones of which one of the most suggestive has always been the snake,the  elusive, mercurial, poisonous, misleading, curvacious, without an end or a beginning creature that as the sea can hypnotize and provoke fear.  Remember the masterful Alfred Hitchcock movie, the birds and their ability to fly (one of the great hopes of humanity) think about their strange ways, their singing, so capable of leading to peace, madness or infatuation, the constancy of belonging to a geological age long before humans were, for they are dinosaurs changing in evolution just how we may have to change if one day we leave our planet, and want to continue to live.

Hence, perhaps, that the statements of these three themes that American photographer Mark Laita proposes  -best known for his advertising campaigns for Mercedes-Benz, VISA, Adidas and Apple-  can be seen until April 14 in the Camera Work gallery of Berlin can be as captivating as the unimaginable depth of the ocean bed (http://www.camerawork.de/lang-en/exhibitions/future.html) regardless of the extraordinary and unquestionable quality of the photographs. What connects the photos is, yes, the visual treatment that Laita Mark gives and makes his work so recognizable, the only way to make these wonderful species in a kind of still life by virtue of formal compositions that refer to the world of painting.

Paul Oilzum

But above all this mystery alluded to earlier and that the photos gives the sensation of being so close from the very beginning of time, step into the eye of Mark Laita when renting apartments in Berlin

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A festival that’s out of place in a nightclub of similar characteristics and another festival with a great lineup is the anticipated welcome that underground Berlin offers to spring 2012. Of course, you can’t miss it.

Out of Line Weekender is a three-day festival that takes place in the famous K-17 nightclub in Berlin. In this new edition, the three chosen days for the festival are March 2nd, 3rd and 4th and, from now on, I can tell you that this is going to be huge because not only does it take place in one of the most famous nightclubs of Berlin’s underground but, also, the lineup was closed off with some of the best bands around: Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, God Module, Blutengel, Dance or Die, Rabia Sorda, Dive, Spectra* paris, Alpha Point, Formalin, Ostfront, Auto-Auto, Lola Angst, Jäger 90, Forgotten Sunrise and Funker Vogt. Fifteen bands from the dark scene for all tastes that will be followed up by some of the best DJs in Berlin.

The concerts start on the afternoon of the 2nd and that will be the tune for every day, with five bands and an afterparty. Also, the people from Out of Line and K-17 have prepared the event to the last detail, with places to eat, clothes shops, accessory shops and band merchandise as well as a varied selection of spirits where you can also find the excellent house beer. The ticket prices for the festival are 21€ per day or 45€ for all three days plus delivery costs if you buy it from another city or country. If you also choose to buy an item from the Out of Line website, such as a band t-shirt for example, and the total costs exceeds 60€, the delivery is free.

The second festival is Dark Spring Festival which this year goes back to its initial date, because the first edition of the festival took place in March. This year’s is the third edition and it looks pretty interesting. The lineup is the following: Die art, Bloody Dead and Sexy, The Eternal Fall, Golden Apes y XIII Století, a typically Gothic rock lineup with the best taste and quality. As always the festival will take place at SO36 and it has afterparties with two of the greatest DJs, Orlog and Ragnar, who will prolong the party full of punk, gothic rock, darkwave and other dark sounds. The ticket price is 20 euros and it takes place on March 10th from 6pm until sunrise.

Two festivals that will melt the ice and give way to the festival season in Berlin, two events that you have to write down in your travel calendar before you rent your apartments in Berlin and your flights to the German capital.

For more information visit:

http://www.outofline.de/shop_neu/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=13085

Luz Obscura

Live music, good beer and the best atmosphere in two festivals full of sensuality and art. Rent apartments in Berlin and welcome spring!

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Berlin is a city with so many attributes that any stay in it becomes short. Its a synonym for culture, tolerance and diversity that rises from a tough history that its citizens strive so that it does not repeat itself. The good thing is that nothing stops them from living freely and making a party from every landmark.

So that you know which prospects Berlin has so that they can inspire you to visit it, here are some of them and their practical details to make your stay there a little bit easier.

From the 30th of March until the 9th of April you can join the Festtage Festival at the Staatsoper. This classical music and opera festival is a long time Easter tradition that takes place at the Schiller Theatre and at the Berliner Philharmonie. This year the opening will be by the great pianist Maurizio Pollini, whose work is inspired in Beethoven and contemporary composers. The ticket prices range from 26€ to 260€. http://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en_EN/press_releases/13088/42067/142101

Between the 25th and 28th of May, the wonderful Culture Carnival will take place, where everyone goes out on the street and dresses up as they want and celebrate the coming together of different cultures. During the four days, you can eat in stalls, dance, drink a lot of beer and erase all differences. On the 27th there’s the parade with different representative dances of all the migrant communities that live in Berlin.

If you like sand sculptures, we recommend the SandStation Festival, which is the biggest attraction in June in Berlin. There you can see different sculptors from around the world who will fill up nearly two acres of space with sand sculptures. This festival is free and you can be a simple observer of these artistic virtues or actively participate in the competition, even if you don’t win.

Fromt he 5th until the 10th of July there’s the classical music festival ‘Classic Open Air’, which this year celebrates its 20th edition. This is one of the most highly awaited music festivals by the people of Berlin, because it takes place in open air at Gendermenmarkt square and all the surrounding areas.

Between the 27th of April and the 1st of June there’s the 7th Contemporary Art Biennial in Berlin, which this year is curated by the visual artist Arthur Zmiljewski together with Joanna Warsza. Through the Biennial we can see and take the pulse of international art and gain information on the new trends by attending conferences.

You cannot talk about events in Berlin without mentioning the Christopher Street Day, which takes place on June 23rd with a great carnival that represents the long struggle of the gay movement for tolerance and the acceptance of sexual diversity. The carnival is attended by the LGBT community as well as the tourists and the people of Berlin who want to have a good time.

Nancy Guzman

If you were thinking of renting apartments in Berlin to enjoy for a few entertaining days or weeks rest, don’t forget to look at which of these events coincide with it.

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Beer is known as Germany’s traditional beer. That’s why nobody understands a trip to Berlin without dropping by a brewery and enjoying this drink prepared with wheat, barley and some secrets that the makers keep in order to make their beer a special one.

So that you can get to know the best German beers and don’t look like a novice if you travel to Berlin, here are some pieces of advice.

A good beer should have a strong taste of hops, refreshing taste and a golden colour, according to the specific characteristics of the drink

It’s also considered as a healthy drink, as long as it’s not drunk excessively, due to the amount of folic acid or vitamin B9 that it has.

Pilsener beer is famous because it carries the name of the city of Pilsen, and it has a special variety known as Diät Pils, made for people with diabetes or for those on a sugar diet. It’s blonde, in a soft golden tone, doesn’t taste much like hops, it’s slightly bitter and it’s alcoholic graduation is around 4º.

There are many beer brands, among which we can find Franziskaner, Warsteiner, Paulaner, Allgäuer Brauhaus, Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus and other ones that you can find in different parts of Germany.

Weizenbier, with its Berliner Weisse variety, is made with barley and wheat and has a high level of fermentation, which makes it very gassy and with a fruity taste. This is a beer typical from Berlin, and it’s usually drunk by adding raspberries. The famous brand of this type of beer is Einbecker.

One of the most famous German beer brands is Paulaner. Its name comes from its creators, the Order of Minims, founded by St Francis of Paola, who elaborated it in 1634 for their own consumption and to offer in popular festivals. In 1779, the abbey was turned into a prison and the factory was sold to the master brewer Franz Xaver Zacheri. After various mergers, in 1994 the company adopted the name Paulaner Brauerei AG, which became Paulaner GmbH und Co. KG as we know it today, which keeps on delighting us with its beers.

Warsteiner Brauerei is one of the most famous beer brands in Germany, and it’s star product is the Warsteiner beer. The factory was founded by the farmer Konrad Cramer in 1753, when he paid the patent as a brewer. Only in 1884 did the product begin to expand due to the arrival of the railways and the opening of new markets. The water with which they make the beer comes from the Kaiserquelle hot spring and, since the 1960s, the company has become one of the fastest growing ones in Germany.

Franziskaner is also considered one of the most popular beer brands in Germany. Its different beer varieties are made with different types of wheat, among which one of the most popular and recommended ones is the black wheat one called Dunkel.

Nancy Guzman

Don’t leave for tomorrow what you can do today. Rent apartments in Berlin to see its breweries and restaurants and then go partying until sunrise. It’s a good idea.

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Until the 4^th of March, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin will exhibit a retrospective of Gerhard Altenburg 1926-1989. Early Works. The exhibition is organized around a dozen; large and small works from its permanent collection, as well as, works corresponding to the period between 1945 – 1968 by the German artist Gerhard Altenburg.

Gerhard Stroech, real name of Gerhard Altenburg, was born in Rödichen-Schnepfental, Germany in 1926. He adopted his stage name after living for a while in Altenburg where he studied drawing with Erich Dietz. Throughout his life, he discarded the versatility and, between 1945 and 1948 he was a writer, working as a journalist and often going back to literature through poetry, although his major work, is in the plastic arts, painting, sculpture and graphic work.

In 1946, he worked following the trend of the Blue Four of the Bauhaus, Wassily Kandinski, Paul Klee, Alexej von Jawlensky and Lyonel Feininger, who in 1924 created the current of expressionist painting that marked an era.

Known for his uncompromising nonconformism, which led him to distance himself from politics and everything to do with the culture of the state in East Germany, bitterly criticizing official policies to reduce the creation of a policy needs. In 1964 he was sent to prison for six months on the charges of evading strict customs laws. His work was heavily censored by the official cultural policy of East Germany until the early 80′s, his exhibitions were closed and his works banned.

In 1959 he participated in Documenta II in Kassel, and during the beginning of the 60’s, he was invited to lecture at the Academy of the Arts in West Berlin. In 1964 he was awarded with the Burda prize in Munich, in 1967 he won the Prize of the Second International Darnstaad drawing, and year later Will-Grohmann Award. In 1961 the Museum of Contemporary Art in New York bought one of his works. He was a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin, Institute of Contemporary Art in Nuremberg.

He was enormously prolific, reaching more than 3,000 works including paintings, drawings and graphic works, 80 sculptures and 14 books. This has become one of the most important German artists of the twentieth century.

His work was strongly influenced by the major artistic trends of the time, which are crossed by the sociopolitical conditions and the debate on art in society. Literature and the experiences of World War II influenced his work throughout his life.

Although he had great differences with the cultural politics of the GDR state, never questioned his policy, as it stated in 1987 “My thoughts go beyond social forms, both under socialism as under capitalism we born and die”.

For more information: http://www.smb.museum/smb/kalender/details.php?objID=36111

Nancy Guzman

It is a good opportunity to get to know more about one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, just rent apartments in Berlin and enjoy it.

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For surpassingly tragic and dramatic reasons the views of Berlin associate the heights of the city with desolation, disaster and ruin, all those terrible images of a destroyed and ravaged Berlin at the end of the war by Allied bombing immortalized by the work of photographers such as Gonry Hein, who in 1945 flew over the city moved by the thrilling project to document the desolate state the streets that offered, they clearly could not be the same as in the preceding decades which  had been one of the most fascinating and vibrant urban scenes of the planet.

There is also a lyrical and melancholy vitalistic view from the angelic black and white heights offered by Peter Handke and Wim Wenders in the film Sky over Berlin, which in some way invested in their own form a sad tone of the reflective beauty to be found in books such as On Natural History of Destruction by WG Sebald.
For these and other reasons it may be impossible to heal the romantic feeling of vertigo on the inevitable demise of all things Berlin is when viewed from above but within our reach,  that that feeling for us to nurture life and desire is anesthetized, which is not difficult to say from the spectacular roof of the Park Inn Hotel, located in center Berlin  associated with the passage and of the destruction of time, celebrated in literature and film in the Berlin Alexanderplatz cinema, with novels by Alfred Döblin (1929), and movies by Piel Jutzi  (1931) and of course the television series by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1980). Its high altitude and its privileged position, after all it is the tallest habitable building in all of Germany, offers full views of the Berlin skyline and the mountains nearby.

No less fabulous is the 360 degree views offered by the Potsdamer Platz Panoramapunkt (http://www.panoramapunkt.de/de/willkommen.html), whose 100 meters can be covered in just 20 seconds thanks to the fastest elevator in Europe, where you can also visit an exhibition on the history of the central plaza. Also important are the famous Panoramacafé Café completely surrounded by glass walls.

On unusual feet of insulated porcelain that prevent energy transfering to the land, stands majestically since 1926 the very elegant 150 meters of the antenna carrying tower, designed by Heinrich Straumer and inspired by the Eiffel tower, undoubtedly one of the leading symbols since modern Berlin boasts of being the place from which the first television image of all time was broadcast in 1929. The picture viewed from a restaurant at 52 meters of height is just fantastic.

Paul Oilzum

Disturbing, and dizzying, finally, back to the Alexanderplatz, from where you can see from the stunning TV Tower, the tallest building in Germany, from the top of which all the apartments in Berlin experience a sub specie aeternitatis transmutation .

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The Museum of European Cultures in Berlin, located in Dahlem, opened after closing for two years due to the remodeling of its facilities to house the permanent exhibition related to cultural contacts maintained throughout history between European countries and the temporary exhibition entitled Explorations in Europe – Visual Studies in the 19th Century, which runs until April 8.

This museum founded in 1999, is heir to the old European Ethnology Museum and has about 27,000 original objects relating to everyday culture and European folk and art, which covers data from the eighteenth century to present times. The building itself was designed by German architect Bruno Paul.

The temporary exhibition is based on the study of visual representation of the nineteenth century in Europe, based on the Museum’s permanent exhibition.

In the nineteenth century artists and scientists travel to experience other cultures, explore new knowledge and enrich their minds.  Images start to be easier to register by means of photography, so travel records discoveries and scientific achievements are left for the future. There is also a major interest in collecting foreign objects.

It is a century in which curiosity dominates all areas of knowledge and creation, even the scientific term, which will be synonymous of certainty, is coined in 1833 by William Whewell. The rise of new medical products and concepts leaves behind beliefs and superstition and will give rise to the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel’s genetics theory, among others that will be discarded along the way.

The expeditions to investigate theories will generate curious objects, such as scale architectural models of buildings found along the path of the expeditions. There are also oil paintings and miniature buildings made by painter Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Kiesewetter who spent 14 years traveling through north-eastern Europe.

While photography was in its experimental stage, it was quickly adopted as a means to capture scientific images, because it allowed to freeze moments and have views from different angles in great detail and in a short time, replacing drawing or painting for scientific purposes.

Who will work with photography will be a privileged Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Karl of the Berlin Society of Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory. Virchow was a German physician dedicated to scientific research in the field of pathology, whose research led him to develop a cell theory, in which he explained that diseases originate in individual cells. In 1845 he published a study that shocked the scientific community because it described the symptoms of the first reported case of leukemia. For his work was nominated three times for the Medicine  Nobel Prize without never being able to receive it.

For more information http://www.smb.museum/smb/kalender/details.php?objID=34193

Nancy Guzman

To learn about the nineteenth century explorations and its impact on scientific progress is very interesting, so rent apartments in Berlin and visit this great exhibition to discover an unknown world.

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If it comes to travel, nowadays there are many options, for all tastes, around your city or country; from traditional tourism to very specific travel related to sports, gastronomy, business and art. Tourism, the wrongly known term “tourism”, now goes through many changes and contrasts, accompanied by a wide range of information available in the Internet. Previously, when traveling to some distant destination, you needed a travel agent, a guidebook, which not always contained accurate information or recommendations of a friend who has been to your destination. Today, you can plan each of the travel routes from home, with the dirty power of your credit card, you can make online reservations, buy tickets to concerts, museums, book restaurants, see the weather with almost exact precision, etc.

Along with the new mobile technology, a wide field of mobile applications has been opened. Nowadays, you can find a large market for applications related to all types of products, among these, tourism for adults. Similarly, to have complete maps of the cities you visit, site-specific guides, suggestions for restaurants, entertainment, etc..

Bleepersex is currently one of the most interesting applications for i phones, if you love the nightlife, sex shops, night clubs and adult entertainment. The creator of this interesting application is the Spanish Josep Perez, and it is noteworthy that Bleepersex was the winner of Best Application for Mobile Erotica European awards, during the last Venus Awards in Berlin. Bleepersex offers various possibilities during your trip or night exploration, you have information only for adult entertainment, from swingers clubs, fetish and bondage, models, videos and the exact location of various places of entertainment for adults only. In addition, Bleepersex provides users a connection with a special high privacy password and other “tricks” to skip getting caught with the “hands in the dough”.

The Internet and these kind of applications allow adult audiences to enjoy unrestricted information for those in search of adventure, sex and pleasure of all senses. Sex is still, despite any economic, political or social crisis, a constant market that does not decay. On the contrary, in times of recession, flows of money and business are produced through sex, it would be worthy to think about this issue, but it requires further analysis. Think about what future the Internet holds for us as these applications and uses are still being refined.

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Berlin and enjoy the diverse options of nightlife and entertainment for adults only. Make sure to explore this magnificent city, while chasing the flashes of the hottest night.

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Getting closer to the possible Third World War, the global crisis has affected considerably countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain. So, now it’s only expected that the clock strikes twelve for France and Germany and it’s all down the drain. Not to mention what is happening across the Atlantic. Thus, in times of political decline, and moral chaos, online radio-tv show Dead TV , directed by Anton Newcombe, the charismatic leader of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, is an acid commentary on current policies, as well as a inexhaustible music source.

Anton Newcombe is one of those personalities in the rock monarchy which only you can love or hate, or you like him or despise him. Newcombe with his band The Brian Jonestown Massacre changed the tuning of radio stations in the United States in the mid to late 90′s, when everything was grunge, alternative rock and gangsta rap. His music has inspired a long list of bands from the psychedelic new wave movement over the past twenty years,, Newcombe thus invented a postmodern style that to date, continues to be imitated.

Dead TV is broadcasted from Berlin where Newcombe now lives , a radio-tv  online  broadcast without a fixed schedule, where you mainly listen to classic soul, garage, beat, and other experimental genres, everything from re-broadcasting of videos and posts from unknown users on Youtube. Similarly, you can see conversations and interviews that the same Newcombe has with friends and collaborators. Newcombe stars a sort of global paranoia, in which he states and shares information systems that are against ordinary subjects and reports from various news websites and newspapers, Newcombe downloads his political commentary with blunt true language being intense and successful, ironic and humorous.

In addition, you will see Newcombe recording live music in his small studio in Berlin. We recommend the classic “There Is a War Going On” by the great Bobby Jameson, from his album “Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest” that Newcombe covered in 2010.

It should be noted that the domain of the site is in Iceland, where Newcombe lived for a time and made contact with musicians and artists, including the brilliant Jon Saemundur who is carrying out the DEAD series in various formats such as  shirts, hats, paintings, mandalas. Each of these objects bears a skull and the motto “He who Fears death can not enjoy life”, and is multiplied into different objects and clothing. To see Dead TV, click the following link: http://dead.is/ To learn more about the art of Jon Saemundur, and listening to his band Dead Skeletons in which he and Newcombe participate, visit this link:http://deadskeletons.com/

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Berlin and learn a little more of its diverse musical scene. Berlin continues to be a space for new alternative art projects in its various forms.

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