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Culture In the decade or so since the fall of the Wall, Berlin has emerged as one of Europe’s most culturally vibrant cities, infused with a unique blend of Western and Eastern European cultures. There are world-class theatre and opera performances and a comprehensive array of museums and galleries to choose from. Beyond this, there are all the expressions of the counter culture for which Berlin is famous. Although remnants remain in Kreuzberg, the most avant-garde artists have moved to Mitte and, increasingly, to Prenzlauer Berg. The tourist information office (see Sightseeing) publishes an online event calendar (website: www.berlin-tourist-information.com) as well as the Berlin Calendar. Tickets to cultural events can be purchased through Berlin Tourismus Marketing (tel: (030) 250 025, reservations or (0190) 016 316, information hotline or (01805) 754 040, from outside Germany) or directly through most venues. Music: The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is renowned worldwide. Their performance space, the Philharmonie, Herbert-von-Karajan-Strasse 1 (tel: (030) 254 880 or 2548 8132, for information or 2548 8126 or 2548 8194, ticket office; fax: (030) 261 4887, for information or 2548 8323, for bookings; e-mail: kartenbuero@berlin-philharmonic.com; website: www.berlin-philharmonic.com), matches their reputation. Within the venue, the Kammermusiksaal der Philharmonie hosts chamber players, soloists and small orchestras. Berlin’s most elegant venue for classical music is the Konzerthaus Berlin, Gendarmenmarkt 2 (tel: (030) 203 090; fax: (030) 2030 92233; website: www.konzerthaus.de). The Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester is based here. The premier venue for opera, ballet and concerts was built in 1741-43, as the Court Opera House. Today, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Unter den Linden 7 (tel: (030) 2035 4555 or 2035 4438, for information; fax: (030) 2035 4483; website: www.staatsoper-berlin.de) is under the artistic and musical direction of Daniel Barenboim. The Deutsche Oper Berlin, in the west of the city, at Bismarckstrasse 35 (tel: (030) 343 8401; fax: (030) 343 8455; website: www.deutscheoperberlin.de), stages classical and modern opera, as well as ballet, operettas and concerts. Performances at the Komische Oper Berlin, Behrenstrasse 55-57 (tel: (030) 202 600; fax: (030) 2026 0405; e-mail: info@komische-oper-berlin.de; website: www.komische-oper-berlin.de), which opened in 1947, include music, dance and concerts. Theatre: The Deutsches Theater und Kammerspiele, Schumannstrasse 13A (tel: (030) 2844 1225; fax: (030) 282 4117; website: www.deutschestheater.de), mounts contemporary productions as well as 19th- and 20th-century plays. The neo-Baroque Berliner Ensemble, Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1 (tel: (030) 2840 8155; fax: (030) 2840 8115; website: www.berliner-ensemble.de), was built before the turn of the century, as the Neues Theater. It was taken over by Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel, and continues to show perfomances from Brecht’s works, as well as classical and modern pieces. For non-conformist and unconventional theatre and dance, the Volksbühne, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (tel: (030) 2406 5661; fax: (030) 2406 5642; website: www.volksbuehne-berlin.de), is one of the top addresses. Dance: The Hebbel-Theater, Stresemannstrasse 29 (tel: (030) 259 0040; fax: (030) 2590 0449; website: www.hebbel-theater.de), is one of the centres for contemporary dance and opera in Europe. It also hosts the TanzWinter and Tanz im August dance festivals. Classical ballet is staged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bismarckstrasse 35 (tel: (030) 343 8401; fax: (030) 343 8455; website: www.deutscheoperberlin.de), which has an excellent resident ballet company, Ballet der Deutsche Oper Berlin. Film: In the early 20th century, Berlin was the cradle of German cinema, with seminal films such as Metropolis (1927) and other works of German expressionism. The 1930 film, Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), starring Marlene Dietrich (website: www.marlene.com) was based on Heinrich Mann’s novel, Professor Unrath, and catapulted her to stardom as the sexy cabaret singer, Lola Lola. Berlin earned itself a reputation for decadence in the 1920s and 1930s, which were recaptured to good effect in the 1972 film, Cabaret. More recent works have included Wim Wenders’ Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire), in which two angels watch over the divided city from the Siegessäule. Berlin has over a hundred cinemas and new releases are often screened in the English original (OV or OF), or the original language with German subtitles (OmU). The best place to catch the latest big releases, often in the original version (OV), are the 19-screen CinemaxX Berlin Potsdamer Platz, Potsdamer Strasse 5 (tel: (030) 4431 6316; website: www.cinemaxx.de), and nearby eight-screen CineStar im Sony Center, Potsdamer Strasse 4 (tel: (030) 2606 6260; website: www.cinestar.de). Of the mainstream cinemas in the city’s western half, Kant-Kino, Kantstrasse 54 (tel: (030) 312 5047), sometimes has Hollywood fare in English with German subtitles. Of the numerous repertory and international screens, Arsenal, Potsdamer Strasse 2 (tel: (030) 2695 5100; website: www.fdk-berlin.de), is a central spot with a lot of English screenings. The Berlin Film Festival (website: www.berlinale.de) is one of the most important on the circuit and the Berlin Bear prize is almost as highly valued as the legendary Palme d’Or. The film festival takes place in February and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2000. At other times, it is possible to see English-language films at many of the city’s cinemas. Weekly film listings are printed on posters, which are displayed throughout the city. The magazines, Tip and Zitty, also have listings. During summer, there are popular outdoor film screenings in the Volkspark Hasenheide and at the Waldbühne, near the Olympic Stadium. Cultural events: Berlin offers a number of multi-disciplinary venues, which offer a range of cultural events throughout the year. Haus der Kulturen der Welt, John-Foster-Dulles Allee 10, in the Tiergarten (tel: (030) 3978 7175; fax: (030) 394 8679; website: www.hkw.de), hosts concerts, theatre, films, readings and events such as the International Festival of Media Art in February, with a remit to spotlight non-European cultures. Tacheles, Oranienburger Strasse 54-56 (tel: (030) 282 6185; fax: (030) 282 3130; e-mail: office@tacheles.de; website: www.tacheles.de), is an avant-garde, somewhat anarchic, cultural centre in the bombed out shell of a former department store. One of Berlin’s more poignant venues is the Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears), Reichstagufer 17 (tel: (030) 206 1000; website: www.traenenpalast.de), where West Berliners visiting East Berlin had to pass through. Today, it hosts theatre, films and concerts. Summer undoubtedly sees most of the cultural action in Berlin, with the largest event of its kind, the massive June Love Parade that takes over the Strasse des 17 Juni with multitudes of techno ravers and booming mobile sound systems. Other events that characterise this sunny month are the Karneval der Kulturen, a carnival of culture culminating in a colourful parade, and the Christopher Street Day, when gay and lesbian revellers march through the streets to proclaim their pride. Literary Notes Der Stechlin (1898), Theodor Fontane’s late 19th-century novel, has the Stechlinsee in the dark Menzer Forest to the southeast of Berlin as its setting. Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929) is Alfred Döblin’s epic tale of the city. Also from the inter-war period are Christopher Isherwood’s The Berlin Stories, comprising the novels Mr Norris Changes Trains (1935) and Goodbye to Berlin (1939). They depict Berlin in the pre-Hitler years of the decadent Weimar Republic. Bertolt Brecht moved to Berlin in 1924 and stayed there until 1933, when he fled after the burning of the Reichstag. He directed and wrote many of his early plays here, most successfully Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera), which opened in 1928. Berlin’s post-war appearances in English writing have tended to be of the spy novel genre – fitting, as the city was the front line of the Cold War. Robert Harris’ Fatherland (1993) is a disturbing speculative fiction of Berlin based on the premise that the Nazis had not lost the war. Peter Schneider’s The Wall Jumper (1984) is a mixed genre meditation on the Berlin Wall. |
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