Photo by Kirti Poddar

As a concept, ‘curry’ is a matter of definition. The word ‘curry’ is an anglicised version of the Tamil word ‘kari’ meaning sauce. When English speakers say ‘curry’, they allude to a generic description of dishes from either the Subcontinent or South-East Asia.

Germans, however, think primarily of yellow curry powder. A basic commodity in Germany, curry shakers are available at every German supermarket right next to rows of pepper, oregano or sweet paprika.

Moreover, no other element has yet to influence the Berliner cuisine as much as curry powder. In 1949, a certain Herta Heuwer received ketchup, Worcester sauce and curry powder from British soldiers stationed in a war ravaged West-Berlin. She mixed the ingredients together and poured the viscously thick sauce over a grilled pork sausage.

The result was a snack that would later become Berlin’s notorious ‘Currywurst’. Greasy and unhealthy the Currywurst may be, but the fast-food dish has attained a true cult status. Established as one of the most popular dishes in Germany with sales estimated around 800 million a year, its numerous fans can now even enjoy an afternoon in the Currywurst museum just off Checkpoint Charlie.

Less fast and more foody, however, the Subcontinental version of curry has a different story in Berlin. In terms of visibility, the offer is staggering. Curry houses have made their mark on the local landscape, with local chains like Amrit-Mirchi thriving along the hottest tourist spots in Berlin.

With an ‘Indisches Restaurant’ looming at every second street corner, Berlin may seem like a curry metropolis for the untrained eye. Yet most of these places are a case in point for a local curry phenomenon that is mainly defined by a genuine lack of authenticity. All over Berlin, sauces are usually based on prodigious amounts of cream rather than on spices, with sugar being a common addition. Chilli powder makes way for sweet paprika and coriander is replaced by parsley. The sense of stodgy mass is only highlighted by the disgraceful presence of cheese, copiously sprinkled over bland vindaloos.

Photo by Mara Jimenez

Curry houses in Berlin therefore have to cater to the German sense of taste, otherwise accustomed to creamy sauces and very little spiciness. The abundance of Indian restaurants may give Berliners a sense of validation about living in a true, multicultural metropolis.

Simultaneously, however, the Europeanised version these restaurants serve often means that many locals never need to step out of their comfort zone and confront unknown flavours. Yet not all hope is lost for those searching for more authentic curry in the Hauptstadt. A quick review of a few local options:

Ashoka 

The first curry house in Berlin was opened in 1975 in one of the narrower streets leading to the elegant Savignyplatz. The restaurant is still a success, with the small imbiss-like space packed with smartly-dressed Charlottenburg crowds sipping mango-lassi and munching on steamy samosas. The added value of seeing a living Berlin institution may justify an early-evening visit, yet the food quality is fairly representative of the local curry affliction, with the overriding taste moving somewhere on the scale between sweet and bland.

Ashoka, Grolmannstraße 51, 10623 Berlin (Charlottenburg), 030 31 01 58 06. Open: Mon – Sun, 11-midnight . 

Yogi 

One of the many typically generic Indian restaurants in Kreuzberg, this time on the edge of the genteel Graefekiez. In the height of summer, Grimmstraße turns into an oasis of quiet, lush green in the middle of town, and Yogi is perfectly located to enjoy a balmy evening under comforting chestnuts and sycamores.

The food, however, is inconsistent at best. The positive end is that the dishes are never sweet and spiciness is attainable after a short negotiation. Order a vindaloo with the request “bitte wirklich scharf”, and it will indeed come spicy. The downside, however, is that the general quality is not much higher than what Berlin usually has on offer.

Müllenhofstraße 1, 10967 Berlin (Kreuzberg), 030 69 13 887. 

Sigiriya

Sigiriya 

In the heart of Friedrichshain’s bustling (some may say loud) ‘Szeneviertel’, between a seemingly unstoppable influx of burger houses, this small, Sri Lankan restaurant can be easily overlooked. Unlike the generically bland curry houses just a few blocks away on Gabriel-Max-Straße, this one is nearly the real thing.

The various dishes are all well-prepared and refined, with the focus rightly turned on spices. The menu even starts with an overview of the different spices used in the Subcontinent. Not all too surprisingly, the food is heavily coconut-oriented: from the hoppers (Sri-Lankan dough casks in the form of a dish) to the various curries, most dishes contain unmistakeable traces of coconut and coconut milk (thankfully, however, no cream or cheese to be found).

Also on the bread-front, the delightful Sri-Lankan pol-roti (coconut bread) is a must where naans or rotis will otherwise be called for.

Sigiriya, Grünberger Straße 66, 10245 Berlin (Friedrichshain), 030 29 04 42 08, Open: daily 12-midnight.

Buddha Republic

A relatively new addition to Charlottenburg’s gourmet landscape, Buddha Republic is Berlin’s first attempt at upper-scale curry. The deco is densely colourful with an abundance of details that seem to bear no relation to one another, yet somehow manage to stay pleasing. Buddha Republic prides itself in its tandoori-oven and excellent tandoori specials. And this with good reason. The meat is well marinated and tender, the spices and sauces perfectly handled and executed. The Maharaja Tandoori Special for two is especially pleasing and fulfills the high expectations its price raises.

Buddha Republic, Knesebeckstraße 88, 10623 Berlin (Charlottenburg), 030 31 16 42 04, Open: Mon-Sun, 16-midnight.

Agni

The real thing is hidden a stone-cast away from the banks of the Spree, in the otherwise low-key part of Moabit. Sanjay, the owner and the chef, runs the kitchen together with his wife. He moved to Berlin twelve years ago after studying catering with the ITDC Ashok group in Delhi. He then worked for several restaurants in Berlin and opened his own place in the summer of 2010. Most specialities are tandoori-style dishes, but there is also a variety of excellent curries.

Next to the open kitchen, there is a miniscule space left for guests with three tables. The walls may be barren, but fortunately, they are not covered with the tacky Buddha-paraphernalia that always seems to dumb-down any other Indian restaurant in town. The ambiance here is made of scents and flavours. The smell of tandoori is overwhelming and the sumptuous kebabs, rotis and daal are enough to impress even the most skeptical of visitors.

Agni, Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee 1, 10553 (Tiergarten – Moabit),  030 65 79 16 61. Open: Mon-Sun 11-23.

Brian Melican highlights some of the best train travel options from Berlin…

One of the great things about rail travel in Europe has got to be the sheer sense of possibility that descends when you enter a big station in any major city. The UK is different – at London termini (with the exception of St. Pancras) every destination on the Departures board is somewhere in the United Kingdom; often, all of the destinations are even in the same region. After several years of frequent rail travel all around Europe, I still get a buzz from walking into a central station, realising that I could get to Denmark, Switzerland or France without ever having to change trains.

Europe is your oyster (image by daveknapik)

A great place to enjoy that feeling is Berlin’s Hauptbahnhof. The Departures board regularly shows destinations as diverse as Warsaw, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris and Zürich.

All of these are places to which the majority of people in Berlin would probably never think of taking a train, but there are plenty of reasons to consider making better use of Berlin’s rail connections.

The greener amongst you will be well aware of the environmental benefits of taking the train, and the more adventurous will definitely be convinced of the idea of night-trains, complete with long boozy card games and plenty of “randomers” that just don’t take those low-cost, short-haul flights.

Then, there’s the fact that the price advantage monopolized by airlines for so long has continued to erode over the years, as the costs increase in everything from fuel prices to baggage fees. If you’re still not convinced, let’s look at which international destinations you can reach from Berlin, broken down by the hours it takes to get there.

Two hours

Most of the destinations within two hours of Berlin are still in Germany.  Although Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig, and Dresden are definitely worth a visit in their own right, if you strike out east or northeast, you can make it to Poland in just about the same amount of time. One hour to the east is Frankfurt an der Oder, which straddles the Polish-German border, and anything after that is…well, east of the border. Frankfurt an der Oder is directly opposite the quaint Polish town of Slubice, with which it shares a friendly-next-door-neighbor connection in an effort to represent a new era of German-Polish relations. Sitting just across the water from one another, one can see how close the countries truly are in history, as well as in modern geography.

Usedom shore

Alternatively, around two hours and one train change to the northeast lies Stettin (unpronounceable in Polish as Szczecin). The train ride to this interesting Medieval-turned-communist port town will take you through  Uckermark, which notably spawned Angela Merkel. Beautiful valleys carry on to Usedom, the Baltic island shared by Germany and Poland, which boasts sandy shores and reed-side cottages.

Four hours

Extending the radius out from Berlin by a few hours brings Prague within striking distance. There are good intercity train connections to the Czech capital via Dresden, offering a spectacularly picturesque stretch along the Elbe just after the city. A fascinating glimpse at the rural (read – dilapidated and donkey-powered)  parts of the Czech Republic before reaching Prague is to follow. Trust me, this is one journey for which you need not bring too many books.

Meanwhile, if you keep going east down the line from Frankfurt an der Oder, you’ll be in Poznan just three hours after leaving Berlin. Alternatively, you can get into Southern Poland via Dresden, with the stunningly well-preserved city of Wroclaw (in German: Breslau) just a little over five hours away from Berlin. Old cathedrals, a town hall, and intimate streets often give the illusion of a pre-war Poland, despite Wroclaw’s long history and large contemporary population. It is easy to get to: there’s even one direct train each day.

Six hours

Spending almost half a waking day on a train might sound somewhat claustrophobic, but the six hours and fifty minutes from Berlin to Copenhagen are anything but stuffy and boring. After passing through Hamburg, this specially-designed, diesel ICE train continues onto the rural Baltic island of Fehmarn, then straight onto a ferry. During the half-hour crossing, passengers can leave the train to enjoy a little sea air on deck or to stock up on over-priced alcohol (read – expensive until you actually make it to Denmark). People who like machinery get an up-close-and-personal look at the axles and bogeys on the ICE. It’s an unusual, fun and ultimately very practical way to travel, giving you the chance to stretch your legs, while feeling that you’ve really “moved” from one place to another.

Furthermore, six hours is more than enough to get you to Warsaw, by travelling on the Frankfurt-Posnan line. Going further into Southern Poland via Dresden, six hours open up the rather alluring possibility of Cracow, a true gem of a city that is still valiantly resisting the Easyjet hordes. Known for its deep connection to the Pope John Paul II, jazz, and film, Cracow has the historical allure and coziness of an old European town with the youthful vibe of a Western counterpart to Warsaw.

Southern Dutch countryside, by rhodes

Heading west, six hours’ travel will get you to Amsterdam with just one train change. Thanks to the new high-speed line between Cologne and Belgium, six hours can get you to Brussels in just under seven hours, as well! The landscape of this stretch over Europe’s northern lowlands demonstrates the rich soil and open land that give birth to some great hops and great cheese.

Eight hours

For the really hard-core railers amongst you, or just those with large amounts of reading to get through, the extra two hours are really worth it to make it to the following destinations. With the Öresund Bridge now open, there are connections from Copenhagen to most of Southern Sweden, putting the country’s bustling third city Malmö only seven hours or so away from Berlin; its second most magnificent city, Gothenburg, is now just over ten hours away.

Additionally, a judicious change at either Brussels or Frankfurt can put you in Paris for a day’s rail travel. There really is something very old-world and civilised about the idea of breakfasting in Berlin and dining in Paris after a train journey, isn’t there? This is the kind of thing that should be done with an ivory cigarette holder… The same is true of London, which is just over eight hours away thanks to Eurostar baggage and passport controls. However, you of course gain an hour by going back a time zone, so dinner doesn’t have to be too late, relatively speaking.

To the South, Zürich is suddenly within your grasp at eight hours and twelve minutes. If you fancy some mountain scenery, changing in Zürich can even get you into Northern Italy before the day’s end. Snow-capped peaks and cows with bells – not purple, unfortunately – are hard to beat.

There’s also the possibility of carrying on from Prague down to Vienna and Bratislava without even changing trains, although at nine hours journey time, you might want to walk up and down the train you’re on to keep the blood flowing. If you grow attached to the train, giving the carriages names and such over nine hours of close contact, you can head to its final stop of Budapest in only two additional hours. That makes a journey in which you leave Berlin at 10:45 and roll into the Hungarian capital at 22:35.

Not everyone’s cup of tea, but for the statistics freaks amongst you, all of this means that fourteen – count’ em – countries are within a day’s rail travel of Berlin: Denmark, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UK.

Ten hours + (night trains)

The longest one-day journey I have ever undertaken by rail was from Edinburgh to Hamburg, which had me leaving at 8:00 and arriving at 24:00. For all my love of train travel, this was admittedly about the limit of what one pair of legs could stand up to or, well, sit down to in one day. Nevertheless, it just goes to show what is possible by rail travel (even if not the most pleasant).

A cracking way to make this kind of sixteen-hour mission of a train journey into what feels more like a four or five hour jaunt is of course to take a night train. The night train to Paris, for example, takes about eleven hours, seven to eight of which you should sleep through. This allows you to think about striking out even further afield, while avoiding the sweats and motion sickness. If you travel to Paris by day and take a night train out of Paris in the evening, you could be in Madrid or Barcelona the following morning.

Berlin to Barcelona in twenty-four hours, without the stress of an airport, and a dinner in Paris thrown in? Sounds like a deal! I’ll just get my pack of cards and my ivory cigarette holder…

Most of the services mentioned in this article leave from Berlin Hauptbahnhof. You can find information on tickets via the Deutsche Bahn website. For information on Interail passes and general train travel and ticket buying within Europe, visit the wonderful Man In Seat 61 website.

About The Author

Born and bred in London, Brian Melican moved to Germany in 2008 after a degree in modern languages. Since then, he’s lived in several parts of Germany and now calls Hamburg something like home – if he’s ever there. Brian likes slow travel and even slower food, but very much enjoys fast trains. He works as a translator, journalist and writer.

Meaningful Gifts

Books are always a great present. Berlin has many bookshops all over the city, such as Marga Schoeller in Charlottenburg, Dialogue and Another Country in Kreuzberg or Shakespeare & Sons and St. George’s in Prenzlauer Berg. You could also make your very own bookmark.

Then of course there’s flowers and chocolates, the eternal favourites. Some great florists include Grün der Zeit and Brutto Gusto, both of which turn their trade into an art form. If flowers feel too prosaic or effortless, try making your own mosaic plant pot to go with them.

Berlin is equally brimming with sumptuous chocolate shops. Fassbender & Rausch are masters of all things cocoa-based, featuring chocolate sculptures of the city’s iconic monuments. For a more artisan focus, try Atelier Cacao or Estrella’s Chocolaterie.

You’ll find some other shopping options, from kitchenware to vintage, in our previous shopping guides. And don’t forget the flea market at Prinzessinnengarten and the Handmade Supermarket at historic Markthalle IX, both happening this Sunday.

Days out & Experiences

Why not take mater to the Museum Insel. Yes it’s a tourist classic, but then mum’s aren’t usually fussed by tiny, underground galleries dealing in post-ironic conceptual art, and there’s no denying the elegance of the area and the quality of the treasures therein. If you want to choose just one, our favourite is the Neues Museum. Alternatively, you can enjoy coffee and cake atop the Reichstag (book ahead to bag a place), then take a stroll through leafy Tiergarten.

Is your mum a theatre-lover? For English speaking mums there’s the English Theatre Berlin, but there are a plethora of other great spots from the Volksbühne to the Schiller Theatre (there’s still tickets left for Madam Butterfly on Sunday).

Babylon Kreuzberg, © Yorck Kinogruppe

Or there’s the movies. Yorck Kino group‘s stunning arthouse cinemas are dotted across Berlin and many show films in their original language. They offer a gift set for one or two people including entrance, popcorn and a drink. Just make sure they don’t book you into the back row – that would be weird.

About The Author

Natalie Holmes lives in Berlin and works as a freelance writer.  Her blog, The Horseshoenail, features articles on train travel, literature, culture and architecture, with sustainability as an overarching theme.

Rebecca Loyche visits Keystone Editions, Berlin’s newest and most adventurous lithography practice…

Image courtesy of Keystone Editions

Across from Maybachufer and on the northern banks of the Landwehrkanal, nestled quietly within one of the Hinterhöfe or back courtyards, is the Keystone Editions print shop.

There is something magical about walking into a light-filled shop, being greeted by the slight smell of pigmented inks and large, beast-like printing presses. Such smells and sights give the impression that one is witnessing the history of printed matter, starting from its early years.

The digital age has spoiled us with its immediacy, removing the simple pleasure of a print that has been drawn, transferred, developed, inked, and pulled entirely by hand. Yet, the resurrection of analog art, such as lithography, is acting as a counterpoise to technological advancement.

Lithography is a medium dating back more than two-hundred years. It utilizes water, oil, and a chemical-based resistant system to spread an image onto heavy, flat stone surfaces and plates. As one of the early workhorses of the graphic and mechanical age, it was once used to mass-produce a majority of printed pictorial material.

In the knowledgeable hands of Keystone Editions, the medium of lithography continues to thrive. Lithography plays a central role as break-out, respected and diverse art form. It keeps its relevance to the modern era alive, marking an old medium’s rebirth into a new age.

The founders and master printers of Keystone Editions, Sarah Dudley and Ulrich Kühle, opened their shop in Berlin in May of 2010. After traveling the world for close to ten years, Berlin offered the right combination of an international art scene, affordability, and a receptive art community to convince them to stay a while.

There were already other well-known, established print shops in Berlin, but Dudley and Kühle knew they could offer something unique and different. Since founding Keystone Editions, they use their printing expertise to work collaboratively with local artists, placing a distinct emphasis on changing the perception of lithography as a medium.

The pair are well-known in the printmaking community for “pushing the envelope” and seeking out non-traditional ways to shake up a medium that is deeply steeped in tradition. They have added sound elements to prints, used automated car equipment to draw on litho stones, and have plans to collaborate with some of Berlin’s slimy, little friends – the snails in the park.

Before starting their own business, the duo travelled the world, gaining experience in many different print shops. They quickly learned the ways in which printmaking can engage and interact with the local community. Their nomadic lifestyle brought them to Northern Ireland, Munich, Germany, the Kalahari Desert in Bostwana, Lowveld near the Kruger National Park in South Africa, and to the outback of Australia’s Northern territory.

By immersing themselves in local communities, they learned about the culture and the creative scene from an inside perspective, participating and observing local artists with whom they shared a home. From their travels and experiences abroad, they witnessed how printmaking enables and empowers people to tell their stories – stories of loss of a way of life due to the privatisation of public lands, for example, or stories about an inherent awareness of the earth that comes from living symbiotically with the land.

Dudley and Kühle spent time, during their travels, bringing the print shop to local artists, working with them, often in isolation in the countryside, desert, bush, and outback.  Working with the San artists in South Africa, Sarah Dudley explained this much more rural form of printmaking, commenting on the similarities of working with indigenous artists on stone from her experiencing with the San people in South Africa:

Image courtesy of Keystone Editions

“It was an interesting experience for them to draw on the stones because where they are from in the Kalahari Desert, there are plenty of rock drawings, done by their ancestors. We took them on a tour of some of the best rock drawings in the Kruger National Park at the beginning of the project, so they could see how other tribes of their people made images.

None of them had ever made a drawing on a stone before, and the work they were doing was largely inspired by how their lives had changed since no longer being able to live nomadically – it made for an interesting juxtaposition of ancestral connections through the stone with portraying life for a “modern” San person.”

Working abroad helped the pair develop a vision for their print shop practice. While waiting for the final details of a new job that would bring them back to Australia, the duo had a lengthy lay-over in Berlin and discovered the city. For years, the couple had lovingly been rescuing equipment from closing print shops around Europe.

Kühle, originally from Germany, was beginning to acquire quite a collection of machines and tools at his parents’ home in Soest. When news came that they would not be traveling to Australia, it led them to the next logical step – perhaps now was the right time to set up their very own print shop.  They debated over the location, asking themselves which country, which city, they should choose.  They thought about North America, which would have meant a sort of home-coming for Sarah Dudley, originally from Montreal, Canada.  In the end, the pair decided on Berlin, a city rightly known as a Mecca for “creatives” of all types. As icing on the cake, they found the perfect space in Kreuzberg.

Not yet even two-years old, Keystone Editions has broken quite a bit of ground. Keystone Editions print shop has published the artwork of many local and international artists, hosted artist exchanges, and collaborated with local street artists. Many well-known artists, such as Jim Dine, Liliana Porter and William Kentridge, to name just a few, have sought out the service and expertise of Keystone. Keystone Editions houses a broad collection of works on paper for viewing and for sale.  To keep up to date on future events, sign up for the Keystone Editions mailing list. If you are interested in finding out more about fine art printmaking or wish to purchase original art prints, visit Keystone’s multi-language website.

In terms of the Slow Movement, lithography is the slowest medium in printmaking; it is a true labour of love, requiring patience and a will to nurture. In turn, lithography offers the fruitful reward of a beautiful, fine art print. This is the central goal of Keystone Editions and, like their namesake – the keystone, the print shop is the final stone that brings the whole image together.

Keystone Editions’ two-year anniversary celebration will be on June 9^th from 5-9pm and will feature an exhibition of the works that have been printed in the shop. In addition, there will be printmaking demonstrations, live music, a vernissage of neighboring Boehmers Produzentgalerie, and of course food and drinks for the celebration.

About The Author

Rebecca Loyche is an artist, curator and writer from New York. She first came to Berlin for a 2-week performance piece where she lived as Ingmar Bergman’s characters from his film Persona. Shortly after that she fell in love with a German in Reykjavik and got an invite from a South African to come study in Germany. Her artwork can be found at www.rebeccaloyche.com and in 2010 she was the curator and Co-Director of the one-year project MMX Open Art Venue. The newest project she’s working on Co-Verlag just opened the end of April.

HKW by Sabine Wenzel

How often Newton’s third law of motion – that for every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction – seems to apply to the least physical aspects of life. Socio-politically, 1989 was a landmark year for Berlin, and the whole of Germany, with the fall of the Wall symbolising the collapse of years of oppression and the beginning of a new era of freedom and hope.

It was also the year that the Chinese government massacred demonstrating students in Tiananmen Square. In South Africa, F. W. de Klerk was elected, sparking the beginning of the end of apartheid, and in Afghanistan the Soviets started to withdraw, igniting a new phase of civil war. It was in the context of this tempestuous temporal juncture that the Haus der Kulturen der Welt – or House of World Cultures – was founded in Berlin.

Truly a child of its times, the HKW was conceived, both physically and curatorially, as an artistic and intellectual intersection between Berlin and the rest of the world. The institution describes itself as a place of international exchange, and takes seriously its role in sparking conversation between people – ‘people who, despite geographical, political or social divisions, are joined by common questions and challenges’. Citizens from across the world now call Berlin home, and with immigration to the city ever-increasing, the HKW provides a vital platform for intercultural, creative exchange, learning and problem-solving.

Due in part to the depths of its historical roots, the HKW, in its role as a cultural mediator and global gateway, today towers above other cultural institutions of its kind in Berlin. Not that there are many others like it. “The Haus der Kulturen der Welt is completely unique”, Silvia Fehrmann, the institution’s Head of Communications, claimed to me recently. “Berlin is unlike any other city. Because of its divided history, it has two or even three main theatres, two zoos, and so on…”

HKW Auditorium by Mila Hacke

Rising from the Wall’s rubble as one of reunified Berlin’s first new cultural institutions, the HKW is, according to Silvia, singularly placed to mediate the local and the global: at once a symbol of unity and arbiter of diversity, even – and especially – as the lines between the global and local become blurred.

But what really makes the place unique is what happens inside. Neither theatre nor gallery (but possibly both), the Haus der Kulturen der Welt is an original space for artistic, intellectual, philosophical and scientific dialogue in the form of exhibitions, interactive projects, workshops, lectures and symposia.

This year, for example, the venue plays host to the International Literature Prize, the Berlin Documentary Forum, and the now world-famous Transmediale digital arts and music festival.

Then, in September, in typical self-reflexive style, the HKW will address ‘the architecture of the former congress hall and the history behind it from the focal point of Art, Architecture and Ideology’, in a project entitled Between Walls and Windows.

In 1989 the winter of Berlin’s discontent ended and new institutions began to bloom in a cultural (and, 23 years later, apparently perpetual) spring. For the HKW, though, like many other places and movements at that time, the seeds of change had been sown long before; its roots inextricably intertwined with the history of the building and the city itself.

Built over thirty years earlier, the building started life as the West Berlin Congress Hall. Designed by American architect Hugh Stubbins, as the US contribution to 1957’s International Building Exhibition (which also saw the reconstruction of the nearby Hansaviertel district by some of the era’s most renowned international architects), the iconic structure is located on the banks of the Spree at Tiergarten’s northern edge.

Stubbins, who was familiar with Germany, having studied under Martin Gropius at Harvard, wanted to make a statement against the sinister paranoia of the Cold War. To some, the structure, built atop a man-made mound, was a beacon of freedom and unity reaching out to the East. To others, it was merely a move in the ongoing game of East-West one-upmanship; another subtle facet of that most curious and cynical war of nerves.

Clearly an optimist, Stubbins himself described the structure symbolically as ‘completely free’. Indeed, the uniquely shaped edifice, with its curved sides and soaring roof, is evocative of a set of wings, and in Stubbins’ view upheld the ideal of intellectual freedom.

Such sentiments laid the foundation for the future HKW’s fate, and further building blocks were added when, shortly after completion, the Congress Hall was given to the city of Berlin by the US in a gesture of cultural and political support.

The striking external architecture envelops an equally impressive interior, with a dramatic central auditorium that seats just over 1000 – a feature that patently influences the type and scope of events that are hosted here. There is, however, much more to the relationship between the building and what goes on inside.

“During the history of the building, the attitude towards architecture changed. As an artistic direction team, we tried to work with the architecture; to keep it in mind”, says Silvia.  When it was first built, the structure sported a very slender skin intended to integrate nature into the building – a popular modernist quirk of the era. Despite requiring reinforcement later, to Silvia, this strive for transparency and permeability is “a great metaphor for how we understand our work”.

The Haus’s location is also important. “The same institution in Kreuzberg, for example,  would have evolved very differently” Silvia posits. Situated in Berlin’s most developed area, the site is surrounded by architecture, such as the Reichstag and Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus, that looks with unerring positivity to the future. “The building’s universal, modern context relates very well to our discussions on reclaiming and reevaluating modernity in the context of multiculturalism, for instance.”

Germany has a long tradition of public funding of arts, and the HKW is practically completely  federally funded. Indeed, almost all cultural institutions in Berlin – and indeed across the country -  receive public money. “Society has decided – over years, decades and even centuries – that the way they want to create art is through public commissions to artists. This understanding is deeply rooted in the the German imagination”.

Photo by Frank Paul

In Berlin, however, the situation is changing. The ‘free scene’ that emerged as the government pumped money into its new capital’s cultural life has all but disappeared. The plethora of artists living in Berlin have less space, and there is more competition.

Rent is rising. That privileged situation is starting to dissipate, but, explains Silvia,  if the city wants to keep its international position as an attraction to artists, it has to develop strategies. As a member of the city’s Rat für die Künste (arts council), which is dedicated to mediating between the public and public policy, Silvia is actively involved in addressing these complex issues.

The Haus der Kulturen der Welt is of international standing and its funding is, thankfully, safe. Yet to Silvia, the bigger picture is also important, for no institution is an island. “Berlin has no beaches, no Roman architecture…What makes the city so appealing is its art and cultural scene, and this has to be kept alive. That’s why we must fight to maintain the diversity that makes Berlin unique, fertile and attractive”.

About The Author

Natalie Holmes lives and works in Berlin. She loves learning German, birdwatching and travelling by train, in between working as a freelance travel consultant and aspiring writer. A keen environmentalist, Natalie writes about sustainability and responsible travel on her blog, The Horseshoe Nail.

One of the first buildings to grab my attention on the way out of Berlin. Contrary to popular belief, it is not run by pandas.

As the suburbs give way to the countryside of former East Germany, old houses sporting un-refurbished facades become fairly common...

As do occasional larger abandoned complexes. Not far from here is the "Waldsiedlung", a secure housing zone built for the leaders of the former East German government, which was strictly off-limits to all ordinary Germans until 1989.

The Oder-Havel-Kanal also makes a guest appearance!

More old buildings in the small town of Zerpenschleuse.

This wonderful asphalt "radweg" provides a lovely short-cut through forests and lakes to Eichhorst in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte region.

The clearest water this side of Kotti. Needless to say, the trees here were thriving.

Eichhorst is a perfect place to grab a bite and watch the boats pootle up and down the Werbelliner Canal.

A little further on is the Werbellinersee itself, part of the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve. It's the fourth largest lake in Brandenburg and most famous for the hunting lodge on its western shore that was built by King Frederick William IV of Prussia and passed down to Hitler and Honecker respectively.

A school in the pretty town of Joachimsthal.

Chilling on the Grimnitzsee.

Finally, several hours later: an exhausted but jubilant arrival in Prenzlau, which has some splendid old churches, a distinctive Former East ambience and - most importantly for me at this stage - a hotel with decent food and a comfortable bed.

About The Author

Paul Sullivan is a Berlin-based writer & travel photographer and the founder of Slow Travel Berlin. You can check out his personal website here and some of his photography galleries here.

Anita Berber portrait by Otto Dix

What is it that is so beguiling about Berlin in the 1920s and 30s? A quick glance at the bookshelves above my desk reveals a dozen hefty tomes on that subject and that’s not including a plethora of novels by Hans Fallader, Phillip Kerr, David Dowling and, of course, Christopher Isherwood.

The enduring popularity of the film Cabaret and the current resurgence of TV period costume dramas in the UK bear out the fascination with this period.

I ask everyone at the beginning of my walking tour “so, what do you know about Weimar Berlin” and the answer is almost invariably: “Well, I’ve seen Cabaret”.

Berlin in the 1920s was the second largest city in the world, and the most modern city in Europe. It seems inconceivable that the description of Berlin as “poor, but sexy” was only coined by Mayor Klaus Wowereit in recent years. It would have been just as apt a motto for Berlin in the 20s, but maybe with an added “and desperate”.

Berlin in the 20s, the Weimar Republic, was a time born out of a disaster and destined to end in tragedy, a dance on the rim of the volcano. The end of the First World War , in November 1918, saw a revolution that swept away an entire political order.

Within a year, the German people had a whole new constitution, censorship had been abolished, and for the next 14 years, life would be like nothing they had ever experienced before. And Berlin would be the epicenter of this new freedom and openness.

This terrific documentary, Legendary Sin Cities, made by the Canadian broadcaster CBC, covers just about all the bases  for a portrayal of Berlin as the ‘Sex Capital of Europe’. The rampant inflation of the early 20s meant that nearly every foreign currency was worth more than the German Mark and tourists from around the world flocked to Berlin. Ten US dollars could buy you anything you wanted — and it was all on offer.

Entire life-savings had vanished for many middle-class Berliners, forcing them into a lifestyle previously unthought of. If you knew where to look, anything and everything of a sexual nature was available on the streets of Berlin. An openness and acceptance of sexuality saw a boom in the gay and lesbian population, and writers, artists and intellectuals were drawn to this tolerant and vibrant city.

Photo by Degilbo via Flickr

There is scant attention paid in the film to the huge technological, scientific and industrial advances of the period, but a film with such a provocative title obviously never intended to.

The film also does little to dispel the myth of Marlene Dietrich as a huge star prior to the filming of The Blue Angel in 1929, but it does, at least, give two of the real female stars of the era, Claire Waldoff and Anita Berber, their proper place in the scheme of things.

The Üfa studios were at their peak and Berlin was second only to Hollywood in film output. Technicians and engineers were coming to Üfa from the USA and around he world to learn the craft of talking pictures and the new techniques in special effects.

The seemingly inexorable rise of the Far Right is inevitably a major part of the film, but it is comforting to know that Berlin was a major challenge for the Nazi Party, with little or no support on the streets. Joseph Goebbels denounced Berlin as “a melting pot of everything that is evil” and set out to conquer the city. He surmised that “Berlin needs sensations like a fish needs water” and offered its citizens the ‘sensations’ of propaganda and brute force.

Yet before the ‘dark curtain’ fell on the city, as historian Alexander Richie so eloquently puts it at the end of the film, there is “no doubt that something quite unique happened, something special. An energy, a dynamism, a creativity, an openness to the world, to modernism, to new ideas that had not been seen in Berlin before that time and hasn’t been seen in Berlin since…”

About The Author

Brendan Nash is the author of Cabaret Berlin, which explores the entertainment world of the Weimar Era. He also runs the ‘Isherwood’s Neighbourhood’ walking tour, retracing the steps of the author and diarist Christopher Isherwood during his time in Berlin from 1929-1933, where he wrote his Berlin diaries that were to become the film Cabaret.

Elizabeth Markevitch by Thomas Nitz

While some people have shunned television completely, art initiative ikono from Berlin has chosen instead to harness the medium to bring fine art into everyday life.

Started in 2005 by Elizabeth Markevitch, ikono operates two channels — ikonoTV and ikonoMenasa — that broadcast art around-the-clock without sound or narrative.

Markevitch describes watching a typical ikono program as staring at “a living painting on your wall”. The camera pans leisurely, meticulously, even sensuously over a painting, sculpture, or installation, taking its time, zooming in on the smallest details and devoting precious seconds, even whole minutes, to those that might otherwise escape the viewer.

It may appear that the scene is completely unchanged, that nothing is happening on your television. And yet it is precisely in these moments that one grows new eyes with which to see this piece of art. “An artist or an art historian, critic or curator dealing with exhibitions basically has two ways to display,” explains Markevitch, “the exhibition space and the catalogue. Ikono offers to the art world a third way. Every film is, in fact, a visual experience prepared by a professional, who, instead of explaining the work, shows you where to look.”

Working with the world’s biggest museums, ikono’s team introduces new content every week to its playlists on ikonoTV, broadcast in Germany, and ikonoMenasa, accessible throughout the 22 countries of the Arab League, Israel, and Spain. The channels respectively reach two million households in Germany and 28 million throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

While both feature fine art, ikonoTV is attuned to European tastes and sensibilities, while ikonoMenasa carries culturally sensitive and family-friendly content. The fine art TV broadcaster envisions expanding to include Switzerland, France, and Italy in its coverage within the year.

Markevitch believes that pleasure is a powerful element that draws people to art. “People often experience pleasure looking at art. Yet pleasure in art is often totally forgotten. We are going to show you how to look at it, how to go completely into it, to really deepen your experience even more. If you don’t know how to look at a painting, you might miss details.”

What ikono strives to do, through television, is to create that glimpse of pleasure, or ignite the spark of interest that leads even the uninitiated viewer to want to learn more about the artwork.

Their website, ikono.org, bridges that interest with information, providing helpful links about the artwork, the artist, literature on the subject, and even listings of exhibitions and venues where the artwork may be viewed.

Equally noteworthy is the website’s Art On Demand, which makes available unique and exquisite art and design pieces, as well as high-quality films for downloading into a digital device.

For Slow Art Day 2012 (28 April), ikono will feature a playlist befitting the celebration by highlighting old and contemporary miniatures and calligraphy, presented in ikono’s signature style of leisurely and deliberate exploration. You can also check out the live stream on their website, or their You Tube channel.

About The Author

Vanessa Remoquillo is a writer and editor in Berlin.

We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments section below; positive or negative, it really helps us when planning future events to know what everyone enjoyed most, or perhaps would like to see next time around.

Either way, enjoy the photos and thanks again for your interest and support…oh, and if you’d like to find out more about any of the participants who were there on the day, check out the program (with links) here.

Hudsons setting up in the Lit Lounge

Tatiana from Mondo Azul

Life Drawing Berlin workshop

The delicious Stadt, Land, Fluss stall

Suff Weinladen

Steffi from Stadtschoenheit

B.Alive raw food stall

Live cartoon drawing from Josh Bauman/Caffeinated Toothpaste (photo by Zoe Noble)

Rica from Art Connect Berlin

Grinberg Massage Area

John Holten reading from his novel The Readymades at The Lit Lounge

SANDjournal

Swishing clothes exchange

More swishers

Nadelwald Sewing workshop

Wilde Gaertnerei

Hudson's cake selection

Dickes Bee food co-op

Occulto Magazine

“

Katrina from I'll Get You My Pretty

Carrots from Culinary Misfits

The Spiral School Of Music

Baklava from Goldhahn & Sampson

Kids workshop with Martyna Bec

Film workshop with Stuart Holt

Peggy from Multikulinarisches & Friend

The Berlin Pop Choir

About The Author

Paul Sullivan is a Berlin-based writer & travel photographer and the founder of Slow Travel Berlin. You can check out his personal website here and some of his photography galleries here.

OUTSIDE [TOURS]

Architecture Tour
4pm-6pm
Starts: Markthalle IX
Ends: Markthalle IX
Contact: Jim Hudson
Status: FULL

Christopher Isherwood Tour
11am-12pm
Starts: Nollendorfplatz, Schöneberg
Ends: Nollendorfplatz, Schöneberg
Contact: Brendan Nash
Status: FULL

Context Cold Wall Tour x 2
9am-12pm
Starts: Various
Ends: Various
Contact: Paul Bennett
Status: FULL

Hidden Path “Street Art” Tour
10am-12pm
Starts: Goerlitzer Bahnhof (in front of the Kiosk, when you leave the U-Bahn station)
Ends: Markthalle IX
Contact: David Baumgarten
Status: FULL

senseship walk “Urban Pioneers & Meaningful Trends”
11am-1pm
Start: Markthalle IX
Ends: Markthalle IX
Contact: Verena Deventer
Status: FULL

Note: there will also be rolling tours of the Prinzessinnengärten throughout the afternoon.

INSIDE [12-6PM]

Locavore Food Market

Goldhahn & Sampson

Bittervelt

Dickes Bee

Stadt, Land, Fluss

Soluna

Wilde Gaertnerei

B. Alive

Sunday Burger

Suff

Culinary Misfits

Stadtschoenheit

Lit Lounge

Portable Book Fair w/ SANDjournal & Kombinat Literatur Berlin

Berlin, Czech and German lit from Shakespeare & Sons

Children’s Books by Mondo Azul

Tea and Snacks from Hudsons

Readings

Fredrik Torisson (Swedish author of Berlin: Matter of Memory) 12.30pm

Eirik Sordal (Icelandic poet and short story writer) 1pm

John Holten (Irish founder of Broken Dimanche Press & author The Readymades) 1.30pm

Jan Wagner (German Poet and translator) 2pm

Music

Students and teachers from the Spiral School of Music 3.15-3.45pm

Electronic loops and voice from Dorothy Of The Day 4pm-4.30pm

A Capella Pop from the Berlin Pop Choir 4.45pm-5.15pm

Acoustic folk from Sarah Maguire 5.30pm-6pm

Kids

Puppet Theatre from Rotonda Teatro 2.15pm-3pm

Space exploration with Horizontereignis 

Multicultural themes with the Kids Art Workshop

Urban Sketching For Kids

Workshops & Presentations

 Free Ideas with Art Connect Berlin

Urban Sketching Berlin

Life Drawing Berlin 3pm-6pm

Live Cartoon Drawing with Caffeinated Toothpaste

Crafts & Sewing Workshop with Nadelwald & Grashina Gabelmann

Swishing (Clothes Swapping) with Natalie Holmes

Film Making with Most Interesting Person

Photo Mentoring with I’ll Get You My Pretty

Grinberg Method Massages

“A Celebration Of Creativity, Culture & Cuisine” will take place at the Markthalle IX (Eisenbahnstraße 42/43, Pücklerstraße 34, 10997 Berlin) on 22 April, 2012 from 12-6pm. Entrance to the event is free, but please feel free to donate to any specific workshops or presentations you enjoy (all money will go directly to the participants). Check our Facebook page for updates and more info.