Berlin Logs October 2015 by Berlin Logs

THE TATTLETALE HEART

A VERY BERLIN GUIDE TO OKTOBERFEST

Case Against The German Man. By Alix Berber Page 08

It’s time of year again where friends and family have an annual get together Page 11

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Berlin Logs LOCAL ENGLISH MAGAZINE

18 AN ODE TO BERLIN’S WEIRD SEXUAL PAST

When Electro Meets Classical The Brandt Bauer Frick at the Silent Kulturquartier

20 30 ORIGINAL UNVERPACKT FIGHTS BACK AGAINST WASTE

Vol: 01 Issue: 05 | Berlinlogs.com | October 2015 Cover Image by Max Parovsky

Berlin Logs

OCTOBER CONTENTS 04

What’s New: Festival of Lights, The Green Market Fall Edition & More

Multisensory Dreamscapes at Berlin Atonal

The Party Never Stops: A Night with Berlin’s Buskers

Mingle Up: Some Perfect Date Ideas In Berlin

Caught At Borders, The Berlin Logs Team Gets Stuck

Buying Bulk: Original Unverpackt Fights Back Against Waste

Hans-Joachim Roedelius: Sounds From An eElectronic Musician

Getting A Slice Of The Vegan Pizza Action

An Ode to Berlin’s Weird Sexual Past: Berlin Burlesque Festival

Food Tips: A Fat Vegan’s Guide To Berlin

The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble at Green Kulturquartier

Poor & Sexy: How you can avoid contributing to gentrification

Team

A Word

Managing Editor:

For most, the arrival of October means the return to short days and long nights (cheers, daylight savings) and time to return to our caves to hibernate through the long Berlin cold. But we’re here to remind you that Berlin has plenty to see you on till Christmas (and the welcome arrival of the Weihnachtsmarkts). For culture lovers, October heralds the opening of the classical music season, and following last month’s Art Week, the city is brimming with young up-and-coming artists, so there are plenty of interesting things over at the smaller galleries. If art and culture isn’t really your thing, then the resumption of the academic year should keep you occupied with a plethora of fascinating (and free!) public lectures on offer to keep the grey matter in top form. We’re also looking at our team’s stories from the border ahead of next month’s refugee-centric edition as well as some practical tips on not being that newcomer to Berlin.

Sarah Coughlan Editors:

Eileen Carelock Lily Cichanowicz Art Editor:

Sasha Prince Office Manager:

Anna Geary-Meyer Founder:

Daniyal Waseem

Berlin Logs. Habsburger Str 10, 10781. Berlin + 49 (0)30 982 942 02 info@berlinlogs.com www.berlinlogs.com

We hope that’s enough to keep you going for now, and we’ll see you next month for an in-depth look at the refugee crisis with interviews, opinion, and a how-toguide to lending a hand.

The Berlin Logs Team

Berlin Logs

Berlin Dreams:

Land of Opportunity By Lily Cichanowicz

fter spending a dismal four years studying sociology in the United States, I can conclude with resounding evidence that the so-called American Dream is, in fact, just a dream. The middle class is shrinking, labor relations across the board are pitiful, and we have a thing called the prison industrial complex. As a millennial growing up in one of the worst recessions the “free world” has seen in decades, I have witnessed my hopes for the future dwindle into simply wanting to have enough money to buy groceries without feelings pangs of anxiety, and to perhaps earn that money without feeding into the soul-sucking corporate machine. Honestly, in America right now, it feels like you have to choose between one or the other. I didn’t really mean to come to Berlin, or to stay here and attempt to gain legal status, but the more time I spend looking around at my current environment, the more I start to wonder if this is what it was like for everyone who came to America riding on the wings of that dream of freedom, asylum, and opportunity. About a month ago, feeling like a grain of soot getting tossed around in the rushing current of this city, completely unsure of any lead or direction to take, I sat in a coffee shop where I overheard a couple of expats talking about their battle with the concept of “purpose”. I decided I had nothing to lose and approached them. Without hesitation they invited me to sit down with them and let me pick their brains. Since then I’ve been met with such resounding hospitality in the words and the willingness of others to offer advice and support: “It’s not a fight; no one is against you—they might not be for you, yet.” Things aren’t so cut throat. The stakes aren’t so high. You won’t ruin your future because you wore the wrong skirt to an interview. “As an expat we’ve all been where you are so we help each other and only ask that you pay it forward.” Time and again this mentality has been both spoken and demonstrated. “You might get your dream job after you walked your friend’s coworker’s dog who turns out to have been searching for someone exactly like you to do X, it’s really like that here.” Offering a glimmer of hope that purpose might actually be waiting for you at any corner. In Berlin the economy is newer. There is still a sense of fluidity, and the cash hasn’t solidified into the top 1% of the population. In fact, money doesn’t really feel quite as important among my new set of peers, not compared to passion. I mean this in the sense that having a lot of money isn’t so necessary, giving people more freedom to drop everything and start all over again, to pursue a passion without that same sense of hesitation for fear of social scrutiny that has become so common in the US. To me, Berlin is a place where success might actually yield to the pursuit of one’s passion. I’m sure that to the natives, we immigrants or expats or whatever you want to call us are actually diluting this sense of

freedom from wealth, a space that has been filled instead with a sense of openness to possibility. Let’s hope that, like those who washed in during the wave of American immigration, some greatness is coming with us. And speaking of “immigrants”, we cannot talk about Berlin as a land of opportunity without paying our respects to the refugees who embody this same vision in a way that I cannot even imagine. In Angela Merkel’s recent decree to keep Germany’s borders open to them, I felt the echo of the hordes of immigrants—my ancestors—with much of humanity’s most beautiful elements in tow, embarking for Ellis Island, intending to make a better life in a new place.

Berlin Logs

WHAT’S NEW FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

The annual festival of lights returns this October, so expect to see your favourite Berlin monuments lit up and surrounded by an inordinate number of tourists during the second week of October. Local and international artists will be utilizing the famous sites as canvases on which to project their temporary works. And for the really keen, the LightSeeing tours offer an in-depth look at the festival. Festival of Lights: 9-18 October at various spots in the city. Free.

THE GREEN MARKET FALL EDITION One of the city’s finest vegetarian and vegan markets returns this month with its autumn event, bringing together food, beauty products, fashion, gifts and a whole host of other veggie and vegan friendly produce. This is the kind of event geared towards greeneaters who know that making ethical lifestyle choices doesn’t mean an ascetic lifestyle (read: there will be doughnuts). The Green Market: 10-11 October - Arena Berlin, Eichenstraße 4. Entry 2€.

TALK AND PLAY Do you even game, bruv? The bi-monthly board gaming spectacular Talk and Play returns in October for committed board- and digital game fans everywhere. This edition’s talk will be given by Luke Crane (of Mouse Guard and Burning Wheel fame) and will look at the world of RPG under the title The Aim of the Game is to Win. Discover new games, play and indulge your personal geekdom with like-minded folk. Talk and Play: 6 October 7-11pm - 1 Charlottenstraße. Tickets free, but confirm attendance online beforehand.

MESHCON AT MAKER FAIRE 2015 Feeling handy? The Meshcon / Maker Faire mashup promises to bring together the Internet of Things with fashion and design for those in-the-know and curious types who are above-averagely-dexterous. The event is aimed at fashion designers, local producers, knitters, textile manipulators, software developers and DIY hardware makers and will represent some of the city’s smartest and most forward-thinking techie-artist types. Meshcon at Maker Faire: 3-4 October - Postbahnhof am Ostbahnhof. Tickets from 11€.

JUTEN TACH’ REFUGEES Following Hamburg’s hugely successful Moin Moin Refugees event last month, the 31 October will see a huge charity-event-come-street-party arrive in Berlin. Expect food, drinks, music and a surprising degree of corporate support, with all proceeds from the event going towards supporting the refugee situation as the city’s people organise in aid of its newest residents. Juten Tach’ Refugees: 31 October from 9pm Rathausstraße 1. Free.

WORKSHOP: PITCH IN 60 SECONDS As Europe’s uncontested king of startups, Berlin is brimming with would-be entrepreneurs looking to get their million-dollar idea off the ground. Trouble for many of them is they have no idea how to deliver the “elevator pitch”--for those outside the startup bubble, an elevator pitch is a super short pitch (of your idea) to a potential investor, ostensibly as a long as an elevator ride. Help is at hand via Pitch-e, a monthly workshop designed to hone exactly that skill. Learn the art of business storytelling and present your ideas to the group. Pitch in 60 Seconds: 14 October 7-10pm - Betahaus, Prinzessinnenstraße 19-20. Free, register online.

THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF MENTAL STATES LECTURE Berlin School of Mind and Brain Distinguished Lecture Series brings you David Rosenthal of City University of New York (CUNY) in a free lecture which will address the progress in our understanding of what it means to be conscious with a focus on the philosophical, neurological and psychological and the difficulty in defining a concept from which we are incapable of removing ourselves. Expect lively debate, intriguing examples and a mind-boggling tour of the inside of your brain. What? We can be highbrow too. Distinguished Lecture Series - Berlin School of Mind and Brain (HU Berlin): 29 October 6-8pm Luisenstraße 56 Festsaal, 2nd floor. Free.

Berlin Logs

The Tattletale Heart

CASE AGAINST THE GERMAN MAN By Alix Berber

ince I started dating I’ve always gone international. There are only a few European countries I haven’t planted my metaphorical flag (yes, this is a dick joke about my metaphorically huge dick). There is only one country I try to avoid men (and only men): Germany. “Why? What have German men ever done to deserve this?” I hear say, my dear reader. Well, I’m glad you asked. The fantasy of German dude sweeping one off of one’s feet and carrying one past the Ausländerbehörde into a future of passion and excitement hasn’t ever had much traction. A friend of mine who has been in a long term relationship with a German man recently told me that if she wanted to have sex with him, she would write him an email informing him of her desire and the two would take it from there (I wish I was making this up). In light of this, I’m wholeheartedly convinced that it was a German man that came up with the word Geschlechtsverkehr – a word that takes the fun out of something that is supposed to be the height of ecstasy but has turned into something altogether more bureaucratic the moment a Thomas, Dieter or Malte gets involved. Have you ever tried dirty talk with a German? It’s the least sexy experience imaginable, and I blame no one that abandons learning German after having suffered through it even once. In my experience, a date with a German man is like going to an Amt: it’s draining and you feel like neither of you really wants to be there. You fill out the forms, bring all the paperwork, sit down until your number is up and finally, you get a Bescheinigung, and that’s only if you’re lucky. The idea of Netflix and Chill has a German version which I call ARD Mediathek & Suffering. It’s free, supposedly fun, and all that in the narrowly timed parameters (8pm-6am) of the German Jugendschutzgesetz.

It’s putting the Ordnung back into the Geschlechtsverkehr. If romance is dead, it was a German man that killed it. From the offer of money for sex via tinder to online dating messages consisting of cringeworthy detailed descriptions of sexual acts, the perpetrators were always the same: German men. My personal favourite features generous titbits like: ‘Heute morgen beim erwachen fand sich ein pulsierendes, ein kräftiges, ein forderndes Glied zwischen meinen Beinen‘ (‘This morning I found a strong pulsating, demanding phallus between my legs’). I’m seldom speechless but how does one reply to such a message? And I know I’m not alone. The Tumblr blog Straight White Boys Texting has a German equivalent called Straight White German Boys Texting. The submissions oscillate between gently cringey to projectile vomit inducing. It seems the way German men express desire in writing is deeply flawed. Of course, courting has always been difficult and a recently released map showing which emoji is used most in which country educates us further on this ancient struggle. That the see-no-evil monkey is preferred by Germans is something I blame entirely on German men trying to flirt. They know they’re doing the wrong thing, but German mentality dictates that if they don’t see it, it’s not there. So dear reader, please trust me that if you ever receive an unsolicited dick picture, followed by an emoji of a monkey hiding its face, the sender is almost certainly a German man. I wish the Unicode developers had stuck with the traditional option of featuring a fourth monkey specifically for the German man: the do-no-evil-monkey covering his genitalia.

Berlin Logs

The Party Never Stops

A NIGHT WITH BERLIN’S BUSKERS By Robert Arenella

PHOTO: zicamen

he 300 person strong crowd outside of the Warschauerstraße station roars in protest as the two officers make their way toward the busking quartet at the center. Despite his battle cry, the young Brazilian starts to casually pack up his distortion pedals. For street performer Zicamen and the three musicians he plays with under the name The Party, this interference is a daily occurrence. And just like any other time their impromptu shows get busted, the quartet packs their things, urges audience members with nothing else to do to come to the next location, and splits their earnings four ways. The four men laugh and run down the merits of the set they just

ran through. It’s hard to believe that the four guys have ended up playing on Berlin’s streets together only a few weeks ago but they really work as a group to round up a bigger crowd and save up for their own ends. Brazilian beat-boxer Zicamen and Australian bassist Mad Max plan to continue travelling on, to England and Switzerland, respectively. Klass, their Hannover-born drummer, works the busker scene sporadically to bring money back to his ‘nice little home in the countryside’. Nobody’s quite sure what saxophonist Mike needs his money for. Between songs, the lean Brooklyn man decked out in Japanese robes and Morpheus sunglasses speaks about the evils of money, about a coming financial crash, and a need to band together to grow our own food. Maybe

“

Berlin Logs

The Polizei want to shut down The Party!

he’s setting up a farm for the end of days. The impending dystopic future may explain his irritation when a small Frenchman breaks up the jovial post-concert banter and threatens his plans by demanding payment from the band. The small man claims to have earned his keep by stripping half naked in the middle of the set and dancing in a style that can only be described as an hour long seizure, as the musicians worked the crowd into a frenzy with Eurythmics and Bob Marley covers. ‘You can’t just come up here and dance and think you’re getting paid! I get it, it’s your art, but you gotta tell us first that you want to get paid! Let’s go, I’m getting tired of this!’ Mike rants as he stomps off towards the M10, leaving The Party to finish packing. The funk doesn’t last long. Mike has surrounded himself with a group of German teenagers and is pontificating on his vision of the future, or why white Australians aren’t supposed to live down under. After half a pack of cigarettes and a few Sternies, it’s hard to muster up the concentration to keep up with the lecture. Zicamen and Max are in the same boat, half sleeping on the tram seat after a long day. Only Klass seems to keep up, chuckling every few seconds, waiting for the tram to take off towards Eberswalder and the ‘secret location’ that Mike promised his young fans. You can tell the German is getting anxious, his eyes dart around the cabin from behind his retro glasses until he can’t take it anymore. The wry percussionist whips off his Panama hat, revealing a retreating hairline, and leaps to his feet, musical spoons in hand. He begins to rap them on his fingers and urges the passengers to join him. The teenagers begin to slap their chests in rhythm, only to be scolded by a BVG worker who comes storming out of the driver’s compartment. His warnings don’t hold much weight with The Party. Even though young Max and Zicamen are more likely to pass out, old guard Mike and Klass parade the aisle belting out ‘When The Saints Come Marching In’. The rowdy late night crowd cheers the duo on as they dive into their pockets for wallets and cameras. A stag party goes far enough to toss a 10€ note into Klass’ hat. The duo trundles off the tram, splits their gains between the two of them and joins the rest of The Party. And it all begins again at the U8 Rosenthaler station. Despite playing all day, the group manages to set up once again and launch into renditions of Bobby McFerrin for club kids returning on the last trains. Once again, the crowd swells and dances as the band dare to play one more song and risks police attention. However, the police are just another obstacle for these men to work around and precautions are taken to avoid trouble. The Party migrates to the Späti on Kastanianallee to crack open Max’s bass case and divide the overflowing pile of change they have

drummed up. As the rest of the musical collective rolls up, sips cold beers, and makes conversation with everyone from the local drunks to the American coeds in town, they make plans to record the next day before playing at Mauerpark. With more than 50€ rattling away in their pockets and new setlists to draw up, it’s clear that nothing can stop The Party in Berlin.

Berlin Logs

CAUGHT AT BORDERS THE BERLIN LOGS TEAM GETS STUCK Niklas Kossow and Sarah Coughlan

The current political climate has meant that there’s been plenty of horror stories of people stuck trying to cross from one country into another. And while next month’s issue will address the political side of borders and what the refugee situation means for Berlin and those struggling to cross over into Europe, this month we’re thinking a little about our own border horror stories.

henever you open a newspaper today, you will find a story about borders. Refugees crossing the borders in the Balkans and onto Northern Europe, Donald Trump asking to build a wall on the US-Mexican border or Victor Orban trying to build a similarly grotesque fence on the Hungarian-Serbian border, the list goes on. Many people in Europe regard the Schengen

Area as one of the great achievements of European unification, enabling millions of its citizens and residents to travel between countries without being asked for their passport. Yet, despite this shining example of a borderless world, many of us still regularly encounter borders, border officials and all our fellow travellers waiting in line to cross into different countries. We were interested to hear about

Berlin Logs different experiences some of our writers had at borders. We simply asked them: what was your most memorable border experience? The results were a mix of the hilarious, the uncomfortable and the ridiculous, but they all served as a reminder that this is a world which treats its borders seriously. “The most arduous border crossing I’ve ever encountered happened while trying to come home. I had spent a month studying Spanish at the University of Havana, which was exciting, informative and filled with many different cultural experiences. My grandmother was born in Cuba, but I’d never before had the opportunity to visit the beautiful Caribbean island. When flying home via Houston’s George Bush Airport, I freely stated that I’d been to Havana, and was immediately ushered into secondary customs inspection and grilled by officials, who, after finding all of my required paperwork in order, began to disparage Cuba: ‘It’s a pity how corrupt that country is, and how Castro has so recklessly wasted all of their resources,’ the agent fatuously claimed. ‘Have you ever been to Cuba?’ I asked. ‘No, of course not.’ ‘What you describe sounds more like U.S. policies than anything I observed in Cuba.’ This perceived insubordination enraged the authority, who proceeded to search all my belongings and my person, making every possible effort to humiliate me for subtly challenging his ignorance. During my travels, I’ve occasionally been eyed with suspicion, but have never felt more abused than when just trying to return to the United States.” Rhonda Winter, US citizen. “In my life I looked into the eyes of many border officials. Most of them hardly paid any attention to me. Some looked at me suspiciously and flicked through my passport many times, before finally swinging their stamp of approval. Some probably expected a bribe while doing so. When I got to the border control at Tbilisi airport, I didn’t expect much. Georgia, as a country eager to join the European Union, dropped visa requirements for EU citizens years ago and, since a major anti-corruption campaign, is said to have efficient and clean public service. So I was a bit confused when the official started to go through all the pages of my passport, apparently looking for something. Having thoroughly reviewed my identification, he finally stamped the passport, reached for a bottle of wine, handed it to me together with my passport, and with a big smile and said, ‘Welcome to Georgia’. He was the first border official that left me with a bottle of wine, speechless and with a little tag telling me all I needed to know about great investment opportunities in the most liberal country in the Caucasus.” Niklas Kossow, German citizen “I sensed something was up. The passport made an irregular beep every time it was brought across the

scanner. The man behind the desk eyed me up with increasing suspicion. His gaze fell upon me, then shot to that on my passport. Rather sheepishly, I watched on hoping that with the next swipe I would be permitted to pass customs. It beeped once more this time forcing him to reach for the telephone and dial. He muttered something incomprehensible into the receiver only for a man moments later to arrive and usher me through to another desk, this one without queue. The security officer made me confirm my name and details on the passport. Then, as though it was out of his jurisdiction reached, for the phone and began to make a call. This time I was able to hear my name being repeated over the line. Then something strange happened. The phone was passed over to me. A woman’s voice, stern and controlled, began to interrogate me. ‘Liam McGuckin, your visa expired two weeks ago, why are you still in the country?’ I was shocked. How had I been so unaware that I was here illegally. The more I repeated my confusion over departure dates the more ridiculous I sounded. Eventually, and after much squirming I was allowed to pass, although not before being made to feel like a disobedient child. The woman ended the call with a warning, and told me firmly never to do this again. I won’t.” Liam McGuckin, British citizen

Berlin Logs

“Trekking in the lower Himalayan ranges in eastern India is a lot of fun but that also means following routes that keeps crisscrossing the India-Nepal border. This can be a very irritating and frustrating experience sometimes.

throughout the rest of my travels.”

There is hardly any mobile connectivity in the border regions so travellers have to depend on the very few telephone booths in larger villages on the way. On one of my many hikes in the Himalayas I had to make a call home to check on my ailing grandmother. The place where I stopped for a cup of tea and a bite to eat said that there was a working telephone booth in a nearby village – which turned out to be a three hour hike. This village, called Tumling, is on the India-Nepal border. A triangular column in the centre of the village marks the border. When I asked around for the telephone booth a shepherd pointed me to a shanty a mere 10m from the border, inside Nepal. I had to call a number in India which meant that a difference of 10m made me pay an international calling rate – which was seven times the normal rate. But there were no telephones on the Indian side of the village so I had no other option but to pay.

“The spring break of my junior year at university a friend and I were coming back from a bout of ruinous debauchery across the border in Canada, the generally more lax version of the US. We were correct in this assumption, but the culture shock we experienced on the way back home was encumbered by an uncalled for level of security. After we answered the usual questions, we were met with a long pause.

I made the call and took out my wallet to pay only to be told that the shop only accepts the Nepali currency and not the Indian one. I had not expected this to be an issue 10m from the border but it apparently was. The only solution was to go to a money changer whose shop was right next to the telephone booth and exchange the currencies at a very unfavourable rate.

As he unzipped my suitcase and began shuffling through its contents, I said to my friend with raised intonation: ‘I hope he’s having a good look at all my dirty underwear.’ Although he must have heard, he continued unabashedly looking at what was indeed a suitcase mostly filled with undergarments (I was packing light), he looked up, ‘I’m just going to get to the point ladies, do either of you have bricks of heroin in this motor vehicle?’ God Bless America.”

The Himalayas are majestic and breathtakingly beautiful, but these small things make life so much worse while travelling through the Himalayas. Thankfully, I did not have to face any such issues

Tathagata Sarkar, Indian citizen

‘I’m going to need you to open up your trunk for me,’ the meaty officer told us. In the rearview mirror I could see the back of his reddened neck squeezing out over the collar of his blue shirt as he walked with selfimportant swagger to the trunk. He asked some more vague questions about what we were doing during our time spent in Canada. ‘No, the only food we brought back is this apple. No, we didn’t buy anything worth over $1,000 while we were there.’

Lily Cichanowicz, US citizen

Berlin Logs

A VERY BERLIN GUIDE TO

OKTOBERFEST By Alice Higgins

t’s that special time of year again where friends and family have an annual get together; an event that all ages can dress up for; a place where dancing on the table feels just as good as, if not better than, dancing on the ceiling. And eating and drinking to your heart’s content is quite frankly, obligatory.

On 19 September, the Bavarians will open their arms to the world once again as they host the world’s largest beer festival for the 182nd time. The only question is, how are you getting there? Berlin’s location is normally indisputably great, but at times like these, you can’t help but feel a little far north.

While many northern Germans are quite against and even revolted by the idea of Oktoberfest, I have to say I’m with the Bavarians on this one. Why wouldn’t you want to dress up in traditional costume along with the rest of the city plus its thousands of thirsty visitors and party with family, friends and strangers in a tent filled with brass band music from morning till midnight? I guess there’s no hiding my inner Brit after all. If you’re on the fence, get bloody well off it! Oktoberfest is 100% worth it and something you should witness at least once in your life. However, I am certainly not denying that it sure can burn a hole in your pocket and in your liver. To remedy this sad fact, I have something closer to hand for all those not jumping on an eight hour bus to make the annual beer pilgrimage.

OKTOBERFEST IM LOEWENBRAU AM GENDARMENMARKT From 18 September - 4 October you can celebrate with a litre of Loewenbraeu Oktoberfestbier in hand. It’s the perfect feierabend location especially on Fridays and Saturdays with live music from 17.00.

OKTOBERFEST AM EASTGATE Still relatively fresh on the scene, the new tent on the block is here for the 4th time and opens from 25 September - 4 October. Free entry and 1000 seats make it worth a visit if you’ve never been to Marzahn.

OKTOBERFEST AM ALEXANDERPLATZ Clink glasses at Alex in the very centre of Berlin from 25 September - 11 October. You’ll be drinking Paulaner beer with live music and all the Bavarian food specialities you could dream of.

Art & Culture

OKTOBERFEST BERLIN 2015 IN DER MALZFABRIK In the south of Berlin, you can soak up the atmosphere in what was once a Malzfabrik (malthouse) over the period of one weekend and one weekend only. Don’t miss out, and book tickets now for the 2 or 3 October at the presale price of 10€. My final words of wisdom? Sip and slurp up all the Bavarian you can…here’s some survival vocab to get you started: O’zapft is: Literally ‘It is tapped,’ signals the start of Oktoberfest on the Saturday at 12 o’clock as the first barrel of beer is tapped open. Prost! Wiesn: The original Oktoberfest is held at Theresienwiese in Munich, meaning field or meadow of Therese, hence the unbearably long term has been shortened to Wiesn by the locals. If only Germans

could do this with more of their words… Hendl: There are already multiple words for chicken in the German language, but here’s another one! Hendl is the traditional roast chicken which is extremely popular on the Wiesn. Dirndl: While the men traditionally wear Lederhosen, the girls dress in a Dirndl. Typically a white blouse covered with a colourful checked dress on top, they are not for the faint hearted! Ein Prosit der Gemuetlichkeit: Possibly the most important words of the Wiesn. These will be sung over and over until you will sing them in your sleep. When you hear these words, hold your beer high and ‘cheers’ everyone and anyone in sight. Then drink to the cosiness! Remember, where there’s a Wiesn, there’s a way!

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Art & Culture

HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS:

SOUNDS FROM AN EXPERIMENTAL ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN By Greg Reason

year old Berliner Hans-Joachim Roedelius works at a frenzied pace, leaving a trail of some 200-odd releases behind him and many new ones already in the works. Over four days in September, Haus der Kulturen der Welt dove into this rich catalogue of work to present Lifelines, a career retrospective and celebration of the pioneering musician’s artistic legacy. Glass display cases enabled visitors to follow Roedelius’ life from his school days and early career as an actor through to his successes with the highly influential duo Cluster, experiments in commercial music with Harmonia, collaborations with Brian Eno and countless others through to the present day. Family photos, press clippings, promotional material and selections from Roedelius’ personal archive gave an interesting glimpse into his life away from the pianos and synthesizers. Installations, a collection of tour posters and boxes of vinyl and CDs at the gallery store, rounded out the exploration into the ephemera surrounding Roedelius’ career, but the obvious centre point of Lifelines was the veritable smorgasbord of musical performances on offer. The man himself appeared

with no fewer than eight different ensembles and performed a brief piano solo on the first night. It was fascinating to see and hear him adapt to so many different collaborators with many different styles; to watch the ebb and flow of creativity and inspiration in real-time with one of electronic music’s most influential figures. The first night’s concert began with a performance by Choir der Kulturen der Welt and three synth players, delivering a reinterpretation of a cantata written in 1730 by Johann Christian Roedelius. The musical bloodline runs back quite some time it seems! Hans-Joachim sat listening from his piano stool, swaying in time with the music but not contributing. When the performance was complete, he let out a swift, beautiful flow of notes from the piano before stepping up to the microphone to speak briefly about the event. The solo piano performance that followed was one of the highlights of the entire event: sublime, gorgeous and emotional. A succession of collaborators then appeared. The first was keyboardist Arnold Kasar, who allowed Roedelius to return to the microphone to recite some of his poetry as Kasar played the piano. Hearing the two of them alternate offered

Art & Culture

an insightful glimpse into the different tonalities available on a single instrument when performed by different people. Beneath Kasar’s fingertips the piano was crisp and clear, while Roedelius summoned a softer, more mellow tone from the same set of keys. Keyboardist Tim Story and cellist Lukas Lauermann were next to join him, and delivered a beautiful, melancholy set with charming background visuals by an uncelebrated character standing off to the other side of the stage. Indeed, the visuals were fantastic for the duration of the event, curated to provide the perfect foil to the sounds emanating from the stage. Story and Lauermann gave way to Christopher Chaplin, son of the famous actor Charlie. The music he and Roedelius generated was space-age electronic sounds, drifting off towards the Cluster oeuvre. The evening was rounded out by further electronic exploration from Roedelius and Stefan Schneider, complete with gesturing from Schneider that seemed as much a part of his performance as the curious sounds coming from his array of boxes and patch leads. Qluster’s performance on Saturday night was the absolute highlight of the entire Lifelines program. The third incarnation

of the project that has been Kluster, Cluster and Qluster, the trio moved around a densely packed mountain of keyboards and electronic equipment to deliver an astonishingly beautiful set. The performances from Astronauta Pinguim (complete with live oil-lamp projections) and Elektronische Staubband were good tool, but were perhaps unfairly dwarfed by Qluster’s absolute perfection. The group didn’t stop once, seamlessly drifting from piece to piece in a haze of cloudy electronics and gentle piano: it was immaculate. The Sunday night began with a rather out of place assortment of acoustic pop from Lloyd Cole, who explained that he was unable to come up with a full set of electronic music and had brought his guitar to fill in the gaps. The audience seemed pleased with this and offered rousing applause to each of his numbers; although the two electronic pieces he performed with Roedelius were considerably more engaging. The final event was a set by Roedelius and Christoph Mueller, which was more strident and 80’s flavoured than the prior electronic sets. It was a fine conclusion to a very pleasing event indeed.

Art & Culture

The Fabulous, Multi-Talented

ART CURATOR AT FALLING FICTIONS By Sasha Munyon Prince

rt curators are the hidden superheroes of the art world. We all know the artists, perhaps have heard of the wealthy collectors, and of course know of the exquisite spaces that are the museums, but who organizes the show? Who creates the flow of an exhibition? Unless you are a member of the art world or educated in it, it is possible to coast through a museum, floating on the dreams that are conjured by the art being shown, never having an inkling about who it was that brought this show to you, who organized it, who is that person who is subtly directing the course of your dreams?

The curators Amy E. Brown, Alejandro Alonso Diaz and Rosie Snaith in their exhibition Falling Fictions at me Collectors Room Berlin

The up and coming art curators who designed the current show, ‘Falling Fictions,’ at the me Collectors Room were able to multitask superbly. From choosing a theme about which they knew very little about, to commissioning a text about such show, to organizing the art in a way that transformed pieces that could seem mundane, into symbols of life and imagination, to each of them composing a short but creative essay on the exhibition. They infused the works from the Olbricht Collection with a life

perhaps not before recognized. These three talented students, who are just completing their Masters in Art Curating, designed a show that oozes creativity and storytelling. In this spacious but small exhibit, viewers can expand their consciousness, connecting to themselves with guidance from the show. The me Collectors Room in Berlin Mitte, together with the Olbricht Foundation and in collaboration with the Metropolitan University and the Whitechapel Gallery, supports students who are at the close of their Masters degrees in Art Curating by inviting them to curate a show as part of their final project. This is the fourth time the Olbricht Foundation has supported young curators in such an endeavor. ‘Falling Fictions’ opened on 16 September and will run through to the 15 November. This year there were three students chosen to collaborate: Rosie Snaith, Alejandro Alonso Diaz and Amy E. Brown. They chose the theme of Metafiction to apply to the show. The guest curators have been travelling between London and Berlin for the past year designing the show. They were chosen from

Art & Culture

Claire Fontaine, Passe-Partout, 2008 ÂŠ Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, New York

they chose Francesco because of his writing style â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they were able to provide Francesco with only a small amount of information. At the time he was in Mexico, and so incorporated a Mexican myth of the cosmos that says it has 13 heavens and nine underworlds into the commissioned text. He imagined an object falling through time, or through the gallery space, through the heavens and underworlds, until it finally comes to rest on the earth, or the gallery floor. The resulting text is called The Voice of the Room; it gives the gallery a voice and creates a narrative told by the room and the art within it. The text is available at the exhibition. Armed with the story by Francesco, the Mexican myth of the cosmos and their imagination, the curators then prepared to create the exhibition. When they finally came to Berlin, they were able to select the pieces from the Olbricht Collection and arranged them accordingly. The show guides spectators through their own creations of the cosmos, and what it means to descend through the layers of existence. It is a masterful blend of creative guidance, allowing viewers to imagine their own experience in the context of the show. The text describes a violent descent through the heavens. The gallery is transformed from a static space into a whirling universe; at the moment that it should be peaceful is when it becomes the most violent. There are themes of humor and sex interwoven throughout. Included is a box that contained the information for Francesco sent by the curators, however, ironically, the box was lost in the mail, and hence never arrived to Francesco, and after three months, was delivered back to Rosie Snaith, a manifestation of reality in the midst of fiction; not all stories end as we expect. Cigarette butts refer to the middle point of the heavens and similar to the sculpture of people half-submerged in earth, which is actually chocolate; these serve as the ground level. Children are shown through a cemetery in the piece Death and the Children; the viewer is drawn violently to the earth.

their class, Curating the Contemporary, to design this year. The show was imagined by the three curators before they were allowed to see the art provided by the Olbricht Foundation. By exploring their own interests, they worked on a theme, and after a few months, came to Berlin, viewed the collection and completed their concept for the show. They commissioned a text from artist and writer Francesco Pedraglio in order to give a loose story to the exhibition. Around the theme of metafiction, the students sought to unite a blend of fact and fiction in a presentation that blurs the lines between invented story and reality. Francesco specializes in writing stories based on rumors he has heard. Since the three curators were, at the time, working with limited information on the art for which they were to design an exhibition,

The show teeters along the line between reality and fiction. It demands concentration from the viewer in order to understand the theme without which it would appear to be simply a random collection of bizarre art. With careful study however, one discovers that, just like life, we are making our own stories; combinations of reality and the tales constructed in our heads. At the end of the show is a collection of photographs that seem to be mundane family pictures. One could wonder why these photos are displayed. However, upon closer inspection, one realizes that each of the photographs is comprised of the same people, clothed in different costumes therefore filling different familial positions. Reality tilts as the borders of veracity blur. Falling Fictions, 16 September- 15 November 2015 me Collectors Room Berlin Auguststrasse 68, 10117 Berlin Opening hours: Tues-Sun 12-18:00

Berlin Logs

An Ode to Berlinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Weird Sexual Past:

BERLIN BURLESQUE FESTIVAL By Robert Lewis Arenella / Photos Douglas Prince

Berlin Logs

When someone says “Burlesque,” you probably have a pretty clear image already set in your mind. It may be a euphemism for stripping to those with a fetish for all things from the 1920, or those kinky events held in the back room of an university bar that only the art students and sluttly goth kids would attend. Neither one of these images are wrong, really. They just don’t do the weirdness and majesty of the craft justice, and that’s exactly what makes the Third International Berlin Burlesque Festival a must see event. The first night of the festival was held at the Heimathafen on Karl-Marx-Strasse. From the u-bahn station, the street looks like a nondescript Berlin block and hardly the place to hold a flamboyant fete. Despite this unpromising location, just turning into the courtyard and entering the venue was a visual overload. Like any crowd in Berlin, the mass of people clamoring for tickets was a mix of hipsters, middle aged couples, and the die-hards. However, Burlesque hardcores are not your usual die-hards; they take it to a new level. Heavily tattooed men saunter around the reception hall in full colonial safari gear talking to slender men cross-dressing as women, who are in turn in drag, wearing elegant three piece suits and pantomime make up. Women, both members of the audience and the performance, are beautifully dressed in period pieces complete with corset and coiffed impeccably, traipsing between the tables by the stage with bottles of champagne. These Burlesquers have a love of the art similar to those that flock to Rocky Horror Picture Show performances; one formed by banding together around a sexually liberal passion not quickly understood by outsiders, but they are happy to share all that is great about it with anyone who is curious. And what they have to show is amazing. First, drinks are cheap. Sponsors Asbach and Weihwasser established bars that showcased their brands, and while this contributor is usually of the firm belief that brandy should be regulated to cooking and the back of your grandmother’s liquor cabinet, “The Big Buck” is a surprisingly tasty and effective cocktail that will have you harking to do the Charleston. Secondly, who doesn’t like to see some T & A, even a little P? For once, you can celebrate your voyeuristic side in some of Berlin’s most famed theatres accompanied with musical and sartorial pomp that rivals Broadway rather than in a club that smells like a 15 year old’s sock drawer. All jokes aside, this Burlesque Festival does rival New York’s famed theater district. The venues transport you back to cabaret’s heyday, the costumes are bolder and larger than life (and quick to come off), witty comedy provided by the emcees has the crowd in stitches and the dancing and singing are done masterfully (shout out to Champagne Mademoiselle and her Berlin re-imagining of the Sinatra classic “New York, New York”). Not to mention Broadway has been drowning in 20 year old plays like The Lion King and Fiddler on the Roof, so can’t even compare to the originality provided at this event. In one night, you can see people erotically display routines inspired by classic films, world heritages, and eras past. The much hyped “Odd” and “Even” nights even featured fire breathers, pole dancers, and aerialists! We can only hope that this year flies by so we can be lucky enough to see this extremely talented international troupe do their thing in 2016.

Art & Culture

THE BRANDT BRAUER FRICK ENSEMBLE FEAT Beaver Sheppard & The Free Electric Singers at Silent Green Kulturquartier By Niklas Kossow

ometimes when you go to a gig you know that by attending you’re becoming part of a special moment. Many things can contribute to this—a certain line-up, an unusual location, a particular occasion. Among those moments were surely the concerts by The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble feat. Beaver Sheppard and The Free Electric Singers at Silent Green Kulturquartier on 9th and 10th September. They created an experience that, in many ways, could be described as being representative of what so many people love about

Image © Max Parovsky.

Berlin. To be fair, a band has to be special if it can afford a title that fills an entire line of text. The latest project put together by Brandt Brauer Frick (BBF) definitely ticks that box. Bringing together elements of classical instrumentation and Jazz into a club music format, they have become famous all over the world. Then developing this concept further, in 2010 they formed The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble, a 10-person instrumental group. For the September gigs BBF added Beaver Sheppard,

Art & Culture

Image © Niklas Kossow.

a Canadian Singer based in Montreal to the ensemble. Together with The Free Electric Singers the group brought a whopping 15 people on stage to create a more than special sounds experience. The Berlin gigs were only the second and third of their kind, after an initial concert at Kölner Philharmonie. The different instruments combined by the ensemble reminded the audience of what electronic music is about: bringing together different lines of music and a beat to form a new and often inspiring sound

experience. Beaver Sheppard’s soaring falsetto transformed the beats of the BBF ensemble into something more enduring and made it get under your skin. The fact that he lay asleep or left the stage when he wasn’t featured in the tracks pointed to the temporary nature of the alliance, creating in turn something that would stick in listeners’ ears for a while. What made the concert truly special, however, was its setting at Silent Green Kulturquartier. The former crematory has been only recently converted into a venue after the restoration of its cupola hall. The acoustics of the old building contributed considerably to the success of the evenings, encouraging the sounds of the grand piano and cello to resonate on the high walls. Even though a former crematory might leave an eerie feeling for some, the brick walls surrounding a small courtyard invited guests to reminisce about older times. The gig reminded me of a conversation between two English friends of mine a long time ago. He (an electronic music enthusiast) was trying to explain her (a cellist and classical music fan) what was so great about electro, and gave her his headphones, instructing her to pay attention to each individual musical line and how carefully they were mixed together. My classical-music friend took note, tried to think about electronic music in a different way, but ultimately remained unconvinced. Today I am sure that one of the few occasions that could have reconciled the musical tastes of my two friends was Silent Green Kulturquartier experience. Both would likely have been talking about the event for a long time, but another thing is also for sure: they would have gone home to England talking about Berlin: a truly inspiring place playing host to some of the most unique venues for electronic music projects in the entire world. And for those saddened because they missed out on the evenings, an upcoming recording of the gigs might offer some reconciliation—but only some. Where the recording may capture the unique sounds to some degree, it is simply not possible to completely convey that special feeling of the night at Silent Green.

Berlin Logs

VOGUE’S NIGHT OUT Photo Series by Paris Quinn Vogue FNO started at Bikini Berlin and worked its way down Tauentzienestraße to KaDeWe and finished at Quartier 160 in Stadtmitte. Starting at 18:00, all shops opened their doors playing techno (this is Berlin after all) and offering free champagne, coffee, treats and, of course, fashion advice. Experts lined the storefronts of Bikini Berlin, offering little presentations with tables set up displaying new goods and products. Often, the first 100 guests received little treats courtesy of the store: tote bag, hair products, clothing stain remover--you name it. At KaDeWe, there was a step-and-repeat where the designers and pseudo-celebrities could get their picture taken. Many brands,

including Jimmy Choo, allowed guests to design their very own custom pair of shoes (whatever colors, textures, fabrics they fancied) and other brands offered similar service with limited edition handbags and jewelry. A lot of brands had sales, while others just showcased their new Fall/ Winter lines. DJ’s were set up on every floor, and many designers like Stella McCartney offered custom bars where you could get a glass of champagne while having a personal shopper assist you. Such was the case at Quartier 160 next to Galleries Lafayette, which had the same setup, though a little more casual, including, naturally, a handful of women carrying small dogs as they shopped--it’s fashion, darling.

Berlin Logs

Fashion & Style

Photo Series by Paris

Night Life

MULTISENSORY DREAMSCAPES AT BERLIN ATONAL By Greg Reason It would be difficult to imagine a more perfect venue for the reinvigorated Berlin Atonal than Kraftwerk Berlin located in a cavernous former power station in Mitte. The organizers made use of seemingly every nook and cranny in the building, placing art installations, speakers and screens. Smoke machines ran rampant throughout the venue, fog blending with kicked-up dust to produce a thick haze through which searching beams of light coalesced into solid forms. It was a dark, beautiful dreamworld—the perfect atmosphere in which to present music that strays toward the “unfriendly” side of the spectrum. A narrow staircase led down to the flashing and buzzing of “Susurrus Lights, Aggregate IV” by Laytbeuis. Microphones collected noise from the area and fed into the installation, any sounds in the vicinity generating a spontaneous response from the clustered fluorescent lights. In moments of silence, the space was pitch black until a cough or footstep induced another burst of white light from the piece. Several of these flashes in a row gave one long enough to spot the door leading through to the lowceilinged basement and near impenetrable darkness. The singular light positioned near the door was routinely blocked by people attempting to exit the room, which led to a lot of cautious outstretched arms and slow movements as the crowd shuffled over to the tiny enclaves which housed Pierre Bastien’s

“Mecanology in 4 Rooms”. The strange machines clicked and whirred in symphony, the combined effect becoming a creepy toyshop soundtrack that reverberated between the concrete walls. The sound joined with that of the other installations to create a shifting sonic atmosphere that was as much a haze for the ears as the smoke, dust and darkness was for the eyes. A twisting staircase led up to the impressive turbine hall with its massive concrete pillars and clusters of metal piping. It was like being on the set of a science fiction epic, a feeling heightened by glowing red light coming up from the pits that ran along the right-hand side of the room. The left was conveniently home to a bar while on the far wall of the main space a gigantic screen hung above a comparatively small stage. When I first got upstairs, cello and laptop duo WSR were in full flight: layers of looped cello swimming around a series of guitar pedals while metallic beats echoed about the enormous room. Bitstream were less about atmosphere and more about energy, and while their set was not as experimental as many of the other acts, their clean, buoyant techno got a large percentage of the audience up and dancing. To complete the scene, white beams of light pierced the red haze of the room, making a nightclub out of the vast industrial outpost. The A/V set from COH and Frank was the event I was

most looking forward to: Ivan’s crisp, tight electronics went down a treat and Tina Frank’s mind-bending visual accompaniment made me glad for my chair. Blocks of bright colour spun outwards in waves, corresponding to and enhancing the music. The set was so fantastic and the sound so well-balanced that it probably raised my expectations a little too high for Lustmord’s brooding A/V show. While I enjoy his albums, the live version did not engage me as I hoped it would, and the thick, congested midrange of the mix drowned out any details in his ominous, rumbling music. Exploring the venue further: a small room off of the middle of the staircase held a wide, purpose-built screen to present three pieces by Rainer Kohlberger. A solid crowd of attendees gathered staring at the

hypnotic showers of light. Washes of static moved slowly across the screen before shifting to quick pulses of colour that broke up a blinding pure white. The work seemed to invite viewers into a trance state, and even attempting to keep your eyes in focus while facing the screen became a difficult task. Undoubtedly one of the most unique and satisfying festival experiences I’ve ever witnessed, Berlin Atonal makes it very easy to understand why people hold it in such reverence. Everything from the venue and art pieces to the lighting and music combines and culminates in multi-sensory stimulation, transporting you into an alternate reality for the duration of your stay.

Images: Justyna Dolecińska // BERLINSKO

Night Life

BERLIN ATONAL: A SONIC OVERVIEW By Justyna Dolecińska // BERLINSKO

Berlin Atonal is one of those festivals in which the line-up doesn’t tell you much when they first announce it, but that inspires you to explore the sounds beforehand. It’s really about indulging in the music. You might not know the artist beforehand, but their performances will leave you speechless. Forget socializing with your friends, instead you’ll be trying to get the most out of the sound coming out of the speakers. The crowd, the location, and of course the visual effects and music experience make the five days of this festival truly special.

The Crowd The two main types of people in attendance are techno veterans and hipsters, black-clad festival-goers the likes of whom you might expect to encounter queuing at Berghain. Everything is pretty consistent in terms of aesthetics: minimal, dark, but a bit extravagant too.

The Location Kraftwerk Berlin is the perfect setting for an event like this: surrounding sounds and flashing lights mesh well with an industrial interior. Apart from the main venue (main stage & stage null), there are other places to entertain oneself: Ohm, Globus, Tresor and a dusty garden with food trucks (not to mention Späti right next to U-Bahnhof Heinrich-Heine-Strasse).

The Music/The Artists “Experiment” is the keyword best used to describe what is really going on at Kraftwerk. The festival’s name “Atonal” also aptly speaks to the scope of music experience provided within. Wednesday (19.08) was kick-off day and the festival opened with a concert

by Chor der Kulturen der Welt on the main stage, on which later on played acts like Max Loderbauer, Jacek Sienkiewicz, Alessandro Cortini with Lawrence English debuting a joint collaboration “Immediate Horizon”— on Saturday Cortini had a much better eclectic solo performance. Thursday, Paul Jebanasem presented his great new work “Continuum”, featuring visual projections by Dutch artist Tarik Barri. The same day Varg surprised the crowd with his special project “Ivory Towers”, a composition involving electronics, vocals, bass guitar and string synthesizers. The much-anticipated concert of Shackleton saw the premier of his new “Powerplant” project. Raw, edgy, providing a new outlook on music improvisation that generated mixed reviews. To some, the premiere was sloppy, messy and over-hyped. Peder Mannerfelt proved that if an artist really wants to go beyond their limits, Atonal is the place to do so. Off the main venues, great entertainment was assured by the likes of Tapes, Shifted, Sigha, DJ TLR, and Abdulla Rashim with the “Lundin Oil” project—though it was probably too hot at Tresor to truly enjoy the music.

The Experience What makes Atonal so amazing is that the audience is continually challenged to rethink the music and listen with the entire body as the event organizers aim “to give shape to the void”. With noise so brilliantly engineered, there’s no better place to truly appreciate the darkest sounds than Berlin Atonal. We’re already looking forward to the 2016 edition.

Night Life

BERLIN, GET YA HEAD-NOD ON By Eileen Carelock We roll up on Gretchen on Obentrautstraße near 2:00am. Small disjointed clusters of people are loitering outside an otherwise unassuming building next to a Bio Markt. Perhaps I’ve grown to expect my clubs to have a certain presence, whether located in industrial cellars or decommissioned power stations. The fact that there is no queue at the door has me thrown off as well. After checking in with the cashier for entry and neon wristbands, we push through a heavy curtain and into the club itself. Not too large but not too small, high ceilings help keep the room from feeling too narrow. Projector screens hang along the walls displaying trippy geometric visualizations in correspondence with the music, and the DJ is set up on a stage across the dance floor near the far end of the long room. All in all the dimensions of the space effect a slightly discordant yet not unpleasant close-but-cavernous appeal. A number of pillars flirt the line between gaudiness and grandeur, the undecided quality somehow evoking an aesthetic thumbs-up until you realize that, unfortunately, closer to the bar they become real obstacles. Couches abound, which is usually a troubling sign—if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time clubbing, it’s to avoid any cushion-based furniture in dimly lit spaces. Not that I have much choice; all the seats are taken up by rowdy guys raising drinks and bumping fists. Indeed, the crowd is particularly interesting if only because it’s so different—you don’t realize how acclimated you’ve become to particular scene until suddenly you’re in a different one. I guess I’m used to the more diverse and integrated dance floors of Friedrichshain technoclubs, whereas here the room is mostly male, I’d guess young, mid-twenties, a lot of button-down shirts and backward caps. Female presence, on the other hand, is minimal though not nonexistent. There are some advantages that come with that. For instance, the near-ghost town of the ladies’ room offers a generous half-dozen stalls, adorned with uplifting love-life and live-love messages, for which there is never a queue. However, the mirror is consistently occupied with makeupreappliers, a sight you certainly won’t see at clubs like Berghain. But then that’s the point of coming out to Gretchen, to sample a little something different. Tonight’s program consists of a lot of Trap/Dubstep

punctuated by borderline-Hip Hop and almostDonk moments. The sound system is okay—heavy emphasis on okay. The frequencies give some pleasant vibrations and body buzzes, but I never really feel in danger of being destroyed by the bass. I am not awed by the pressure. The sound system feels … safe. And for a genre of music predicated on intensity, urgency, drop and boom, it’s weird to observe the hits from behind the auditory equivalent of a guardrail. Still party momentum is happily sustained, myself included. We hang back behind the thick of the dance floor, getting our head-nod on, maybe a little foot-tap here, a little ass-shake there. Not too much is the key. The danger with Trap and its steppy ilk is that they inspire you to move, they tempt you into it, and at the same time they repeatedly set you up for failure when you try to anticipate the builds and the drops. You don’t want to be the guy who goes for the big dramatic yeah and misses. We’ve all been there, and it’s painful for everyone. Probably the most interesting part of the night is when maybe a dozen people bearing little round printed signs from Abriss Techno infiltrate the party, swallowed up immediately by the crowd so that only the signs can be seen above the throng bouncing energetically to the bass, sayings like “ficken”, “dicke titten”, “so not munich”, and of course “refugees welcome”. The last one—you’ve got to hand it to Berlin, even on a seemingly bro-tastic Trap clubnight in Kreuzberg, the message is here—Refugees Welcome. Berlin, get ya head-nod on.

Dating

Perfect Date Ideas In Berlin By Camille Darroux

o you just secured your next Tinder date and now want to woo them properly? Or maybe you finally found the courage to ask out your supermarket crush out. Don’t go Googling best date ideas just yet. Close that Yelp tab on your laptop, because we got you covered! Here are five fun date ideas for five of Berlin’s hottest neighborhoods. Yes, we did forget Marzahn—get over it!

MITTE DUDU | Torstraße 134 It’s true, DUDU is hardly a well-kept secret anymore, but did you know their lunch menu is the best deal you can get? For less than 8€ you’ll have a starter plus main course not to mention you will be able to indulge in the restaurant’s heavenly food—to be fair, you should end your date right here and head straight to their place.

PRENZLAUER BERG Got yourself a Prenzlauer Berg hottie? First off, make sure they’re not bringing their kids to tag along. To be honest, the only thing you should be doing in this neighborhood is having brunch. And guess what? There are so many options! Blumencafé | Schönhauser Allee 127 If you want to come across as a cutie, bring them to Blumencafé because the waiter there is hilarious, which will prevent any first-date awkwardness. Also, they have tons of plants and actual birds flying around, so what’s not to like? Nalu Diner | Dunckerstraße 80A Another option would be Nalu Diner—they serve a mean mimosa and delicious comfort food. Eispatisserie Hokey Pokey | Stargarder Straße 73 And once you’re done, take them around the corner

to Hokey Pokey and watch your date moan in delight while indulging in these delicious scoops of ice cream. You’re welcome!

KREUZBERG Ahhh, Kreuzberg. Rule number one would be: don’t have your date meet you at Kotti—it’s hardly the most glamorous place to be standing waiting for someone. Instead, just be really old fashioned and pick them up. Or ask them to pick you up if you’re the one who calls this wonderfully eccentric part of Berlin your home. Mercosy | Dresdener Straße 11 Start with dinner at Mercosy, an awesome Korean food joint located off the beaten path. Service here is top notch, food has winning portion sizes, and it’s just casual enough for a first date. Fahimi Bar | Skalitzer Straße 133 After dinner, head on over to Fahimi Bar for some delicious cocktails. This hidden gem will be a perfect touch, especially if your date isn’t familiar with Berlin. And if they are, they will be impressed that you’re in the know when it comes to the ins and outs of the city’s cocktail bars, because this place is a classic.

NEUKÖLLN A resident of Neukölln is hard to please, but if you’re the one who is lucky enough to live there, here’s your chance to properly dazzle your date. Honestly, there are so many cool places to choose my best suggestion would be to take a stroll along Weserstraße and turn it into a pub crawl—only way cooler. Start off at TiER for the best cocktails, then make a stop at Späti International for an impromptu mini bottle of Jägermeister. There’s also a bar right next to TiER which has amazing 1€ Mexikaner, so be sure to pay them a visit too. After that, jaunt over to Geist im Glas on

Lenaustraße for more drinks, and make sure you drink a Wegbier while heading there.

WEDDING First of all, note that Wedding is underrated and has been for a long long time now. But there’s still plenty opportunity to impress. Grüntaler9 Meet your date for Friday night dinner at Grüntaler9, a performance space that hosts a weekly supper club every Friday. Here you’ll experience an amazing vegetarian or vegan meal for about 4€ and drink cheap beer while either just meeting cool peeps or watching a concert or performance. Wrap up your night at Fos Bar or at one of the other cute places you’ll find on this street.

CHARLOTTENBURG If you’re about to meet up with a posh Charlottenburg babe, don’t sweat it and just do as we say.

C/O Berlin Meet them at Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten, casually mention the fact you’ve seen Christiane F. (or go out of your way and say you’ve read the book to score extra cleverness-points from the start), and then head to C/O Berlin. This exhibition space reopened after relocating to Charlottenburg’s Amerika-Haus so there’s a good chance your date won’t have seen the new location yet. Take a look at the photography exhibitions that are happening, give their museum shop a visit and maybe buy your date a cute postcard if you’re feeling generous. Next try and think of a clever review of the shows you just saw while you’re walking towards Kurfürstendamm and then head straight to the retail/ gastronomy/hotel complex Bikini Berlin. Find the right elevator—good luck with that—and visit rooftop venue Monkey Bar for a cocktail. Pro tip: all the food on the menu is overpriced except from the sweet potato fries. Do order them! What happens next is up to you but know that there’s a hotel attached to the bar #justsaying.

Startup

BUYING BULK: ORIGINAL UNVERPACKT FIGHTS BACK AGAINST By Rhonda Winter

riginal Unverpackt (Original and Unpackaged) is a zero-packaging grocery store that opened in Kreuzberg last year. Most of the food, everything from oatmeal to olive oil, is dispensed in bulk, and patrons are encouraged to bring their own containers--though if you forget to bring your own, bottles and jars are available for purchase on site. Many of the products are organic or local, regionally produced--and you can even find locally-brewed booze in bulk. This innovative store appears to be a huge success, bustling with customers and doing brisk business. The senseless glut of packaging in this country, as well as the prevalence of so many cookie-cutter discount grocery chains, can be disheartening. Germany is progressive in a number of ways, but not when

it comes to embracing more bulk food options, independent worker-owned cooperatives, or making concentrated efforts to reduce excessive waste, despite what the hyperadvanced recycling might lead you to believe. On a number of occasions I have been given so much unnecessary grief from restaurants when I try to bring in my own reusable containers for takeaway food or attempt to use a travel cup when purchasing coffee. Twice I was even told (incorrectly) that such a practice was illegal. This kind of narrow-minded thinking seems very odd and continues to baffle me. Hopefully, the success of a more sustainable model for buying food will inspire many more shops like it, as well as a change of attitude. A crowdsourcing campaign helped founders

Startup

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This project is there to send a signal to the food industry that different ways of operating are possible. And we as customers finally are able to buy things the way we really want to.

Sara Wolf and Milena Glimbovski to create this zero-waste shop to provide better options for conscious consumers. They explained part of their vision and motivation for this project last year to the Epoch Times bit.ly/1qcFW98 “When out shopping we find a lot of super colorful items with super colorful packaging. What we tend to forget is that this packaging is only waste at the end of the day. 16 million tons of packaging end up as waste every year in Germany alone. We need a shopping revolution. We need to move away from wasteful single-use packaging, and instead make zero-waste and unpackaged food available for everyone. This project is there to send a signal to the food industry that different ways of operating are possible. And we as customers finally are able to buy things the way we really want to. We believe that the current way of shopping is not sustainable.” Though this waste-free concept is a new and much needed in Germany, the idea behind Original Unverpackt is not really so new. For decades, many grocery stores in North America and elsewhere have included large bulk grocery sections, especially at food co-ops and worker-owned cooperatives. And until the last century, most of our food was available with minimal or no packaging, especially not plastic or Styrofoam. In the meantime, if you do not live near Kreuzberg, you can still get in on reducedwaste shopping by buying regionallygrown food at your local farmers’ market. Your choices will be helping to support a stronger local economy, as well as keeping unnecessary toxic trash out of landfills. Original Unverpackt address: Wiener Straße 16,10999 Berlin Open Monday-Saturday10am-7pm

Food

Time for Thai: An Exotic Treat in Wilmersdorf By Michael Hornsby Spring has been in the air in Berlin, and with it the promise of picnics and parties. Weekends wake up as the weather warms and the day’s stretch out, and places like Wilmersdorf in the West of the city take on a new life. There, in Preussen Park, you’ll find a seriously authentic street food scene, which has very little to do with the more artisanal offerings in the hipper parts of town. This Berlin park turns into a mini Bangkok, with dozens of stalls selling authentic Thai cooking for a few Euros per portion. I last checked it out during what must have been one of the last such gatherings of the autumn, when the number of stalls was apparently much lower than the midsummer peak. As long as the sun comes out, many of the same vendors will be back there on upcoming Saturdays and Sundays. It is a very uncontrived scene. The park somehow became a meeting point for members of Berlin’s sizeable Thai community about 20 years ago, despite there not being a lot of Thai residents in the immediate neighbourhood. Most of the people I asked seemed to have travelled from Berlin’s outlying districts. One lady had come from Leipzig, some 200km south of here.

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The park became a meeting point for members of Berlin’s sizeable Thai community about 20 years ago

They hawk their wares with shouts of ‘Lecker Lecker!’ and ‘Mango Lassi Bitteschön!’, their heavily accented German dispelling any notion that the Turks and Vietnamese could have a monopoly on multiculturalism here. Middle-aged German men hang out behind many of the stalls, usually there to supporting their wives’ micro imbisses. I chatted to one, Peter, over a plate of delicious Green Curry, full of plump, round Thai Eggplants and their smaller namesakes, which are strikingly bitter. He said that the food his wife and her friends served there wasn’t adapted for Western tastes as it is in most Thai restaurants. Certainly, the Papaya Salad being mashed together in a wooden pestle and mortar nearby had doses of fish sauce and fresh crabs you tend not to find in the average Asian place. Elsewhere tiny shrimps were packed together into golden brown fritters, heads, tails, shells and all. Children giggled and gawked at plates of fried crickets at an otherwise lonely stall. But that is not to say that Preussen Park is only for the adventurous. More familiar dishes like Pad Thai, Phao Gad, Red and Green Curries, and spicy soups are all available, and often more intensely flavoured than you typically find in Europe. Another German spouse, Alfred, told us that his wife had suffered two strokes in recent years, and had difficulty walking as a result. Here she could sit comfortably and fry up chicken skewers and battered prawns, and pour home-made sweet chili sauce over fish boulettes with Thai basil. It brings in a bit of extra cash, he said, and it is good for her recovery to keep busy. Unlicensed, unofficial and unorganised, the park has been subject to predictable official consternation. A 2008 article mentions uniformed inspectors entering the park, and sanitation workers complaining about the mess left behind by customers. While some sort of legal wrangling appears to be ongoing, several traders said that the informal market-picnic does have the support of some local politicians. As a group, they tend to pay special attention to litter disposal and keep any disruption to neighbours at a minimum - not that anyone seemed to mind. But then, how could they?

Food

GETTING A SLICE OF THE VEGAN PIZZA ACTION By Bonny Herington

ow when you tell someone you’re a vegan the usual reaction goes something like this… eyes begin to squint, jaws drop slightly, and that tiresome question is once again verbalised: “So what exactly do you eat?” However, in Berlin the response is surprisingly refreshing: shoulders are shrugged, a semi-enthusiastic “cool” is murmured and conversation naturally flows onto the next topic. Berlin is a haven for vegans (and vegetarians), offering everything under the sun from a vegan supermarket to a vegan pizzeria, as well as a dozen cafes providing delicious Sunday brunches that can kick any hangover. Most spectacular is the fact that you can go pretty much anywhere (barring the odd traditional place) and find a vegan option. In other cities this is unheard of, unless you want to be stuck with spaghetti pomodoro once again, or pay triple price to go to some overlychic place which can only be described as “screaming vegan” with its multi-coloured walls and walnut decorations. In no way am I suggesting that veganism hasn’t become something of a trend in Berlin. Of course, like everything else, it has been marketed and cornered into a “yummy mummy” niche. Despite of this, there is a genuine respect and sincerity towards veganism that does not exist in other places on the globe.

Owing to its roots in Berlin’s squat culture, veganism has become an integral part of twenty-first century lifestyle in Berlin. Even if you’re adamant that vegan food is not for you, Berlin is the place to give it a try. A visit to the pizzeria Sfizy Veg should not be missed. Tucked away on Treptower Straße, just off Sonnenallee, this little restaurant not only offers pizzas with vegan cheese (arguably the most missed element of a non-vegan diet), but also offers an option to receive any veganmeat topping imaginable, including pepperoni, sardines and mincemeat! The décor resembles that of a junk shop with stuff strewn everywhere, but the atmosphere is incredibly friendly and relaxed. With pizzas ranging from 7–10€ (the same as nonvegan), the place is not only affordable but also offers exquisite food. Make sure to book a table, as the place is often packed out owing to its now-renowned reputation. Vegan or non-, this place should definitely be top on your bucket list. Get your slice of Berlin culture. Sfizy Veg, Treptower Straße 95, Neukölln +49 1573 7541073

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A FAT VEGAN’S GUIDE TO BERLIN By Katharina Scholz When I first moved to Berlin I thought that I’d finally arrived at the altar of indulgence: 24 hour access to kebab and pizza, smoking in any bar or club and dancing the night away without ever having to join a gym. Two years later, I quit smoking, joined a gym and became vegan. My hedonistic soul, close to leaving my mortal body for good, leads me

on a chase through Berlin’s well stuffed vegan underbelly. What I found were gorgeous treats well worth any (even omnivorous) appetite: Any good day should start with a proper breakfast. And as we all know, breakfast is what you can get away with, in this case: Dessert. Nestled in the heart of Friedrichshain, the French cafe Ohlala brands itself as a

Food

Dessert Restaurant. It’s the place vegans that love tiny, delicate pastries go to die of gluttony. We are talking vegan raspberry macaroons, vegan pavlova and now that the cold autumn days are here: Spiced Pumpkin Latte! Ohlala also sells one of the most decadent desserts ever, a Trésor; vegan cream laced around a centre of Viennese nougat filled with liquid caramel and hazelnuts. Do I need to say more?

any decent vegan foodie in Berlin. From the Berlin Bastard BBQ Burger on Mondays, to Thursday’s Dönerstag, Chaostheorie offers a wide selection of savoury treats to satisfy that vegan-meat-craving on top of serving strong and delicious cocktails. The Saturday event, vegan Weisswurstfrühstück featuring pretzels, vegan Weisswurst and beer could convert even the most die-hard Bavarian to veganism.

The sweet teeth of Berlin’s vegans also find a scrummy resting place in the fluffy donuts produced by Brammibal’s Donuts. After a (for no good reason) failed Kickstarter in June 2015, Brammibal’s now sells its donuts at different spots all over town. They sell out so fast at their points of sale that the safest way to ensure you’ll be in fat vegan heaven is to order them online via Facebook for delivery or pick up. The autumn line features flavours like pumpkin cream cheese, spéculoos or rosewater cardamom pistachio. The flavours are lush but delicate and you can see the craftsmanship and love with which the donuts are made in every piece.

One of the major things that makes people go “I could never be vegan” is pizza. No vegan can tell me they really love that piece of bread with some tomato sauce and bits of wilted veggies slapped on. That’s not called pizza, that’s called lying to yourself. If you ever find yourself in Friedrichshain, late night to early morning hours (we’re talking 4am here) surrounded by non-vegan friends and all you want is pizza, Zeus Pide and Pizza is your saviour. Zeus offers the normal Simon-Dach-area pizza with meat as well as a decent choice of vegan pizza and pide. They are made with fake meat and melty vegan cheese that will leave you satisfied and happy. You know, pizza-happy!

With summer gone for good, we are left with nothing but memories of easy ice cream days. While most vendors of frozen fun close their parlours in early autumn, the Kontor Eismanufaktur in Prenzlauer Berg is still open and supplies Berliners with vegan ice cream far beyond the usual sorbet option. As seasoned ice cream fans have suffered through flavour options including Sauerkraut or German Angst (not even sure if I made these up) in Berlin, the Kontor sells creative flavours without ever being insufferable. Laphroaig-chocolate, Reese’s pieces or pomegranate stand side by side with strawberry or vanilla. One of the amazing things Kontor offers is a vegan version of a beloved German traditional called Spaghettieis. Vanilla ice shaped into spaghetti, covered with strawberry sauce and white chocolate shavings to give it the appearance of a plate of Italian noodles. On top of that, Kontor also stocks Brammibal’s Donuts.

It feels like Berlin is currently a most vibrant metropolis for vegan treats. Being vegan has never been so easy, honestly. Go and try it!

Just around the corner from Kontor in Prenzlauer Berg resides Berlin’s only vegan cocktail bar, Chaostheorie. The slogan for this alternative eatery is #fettundbetrunken, which should of course be the mantra of

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The sweet teeth of Berlin’s vegans also find a scrummy resting place in the fluffy donuts produced by Brammibal’s Donuts.

Tips

KEEPING BERLIN POOR & SEXY: How you can avoid contributing to gentrification, because caring is sexy. By Lily Cichanowicz How often do you hear people commenting about how cheap it is to live in Berlin? Can you recall which kinds of people are saying this? In my experience— and I am certainly guilty of doing it myself—it’s said by predominantly white ‘expats’—a term that in itself deserves its own article. Often they even lean in and lower their voices, making these comments as if it’s still some kind of secret. Meanwhile, another conversation is growing in frequency: it’s about the fact that costs of living are actually rising rapidly. The culprits of gentrification vary from city to city. In New York, for instance, it is usually when young white people of middle to upper class backgrounds move into neighborhoods, usually multi-ethnic and non-white, due to the lower costs of rent. In Berlin, the main subjects of this trend are ‘expats,’ predominantly white adults coming from other developed countries. They may be students, young professionals, prospective startup entrepreneurs, or investors in Berlin’s many rapidly developing industries—including real estate development. At least on the surface, these groups are characterized as ‘yuppies,’ or people who have relative wealth, education, and ethnic privilege to move where they please. Those who are negatively impacted by gentrification also vary by city but they are almost always the socially vulnerable who find refuge in the low costs of living that exist in certain areas of the city. In Berlin those who might face disadvantage include the elderly, the poor, and immigrants who have fled from unstable conditions in their own countries, this fact undermining the level of free will they exercised in the decision to come here. Gentrification, or the flow of these more well-off groups into areas that were previously places of solace for the disadvantaged, tends to manifest itself in rising costs of living, pushing out local businesses owned by minorities for businesses either run by or catering to the newly-founded wealthy white population, higher rent, lower availability of space, and silencing of voices of the socially disadvantaged within the community. And in Berlin in particular, it often results in ousting altogether these groups to the margins of the city where crime is higher, standards of living are lower, and access to goods and services is more difficult to come by. Gentrification is a complicated issue because no single person is completely responsible for it, and many of these ‘expats’ in question are contributing to it due to their own class struggles and efforts to pursue their

Tips

passions. Nevertheless, it is important for those who are unintentionally contributing to gentrification to examine the ways that they can best mitigate its disastrous effects. Here are a few tips about how this can be done here in Berlin: 1. Examine yourself. Consider who you are and what your physical presence might represent in your current environment. Be honest with yourself. This might be the hardest part, but sometimes we have to get a little uncomfortable in order to do the right thing. Remember, it isn’t you alone who is contributing to this trend. You probably have your own valid reasons for living in a place where the rent is cheaper as well. This doesn’t mean, however, that you aren’t still better off in this city based on your identity, possibly at the expense of the immigrant who might have lived in your flat before you came along willing to pay higher rent. 2. Educate yourself: Learn the history of your neighborhood. Become aware of the demographics of its population and who might have historically lived and worked here. Do you know who might be some of the most marginalized members of your community and what their demographic characteristics are? There is plenty of information about this stuff available on the internet, in any of Berlin’s museums or other historical institutions, or from simply engaging in conversation with neighbors and shop owners who have been living here for a while. Further, educate yourself on policy responses to gentrification like the recent establishment of a rent cap, and how well social services are doing at aiding those who have been negatively affected by gentrification. Know your rights as a tenant and worker as well as the rights of those in your community. To do this, it might also help to learn German so you have some linguistic common ground. 3. Engage in the community. Once you’ve educated yourself about the neighborhood you are living in, you will have a better sense of its needs. Is this a space that is welcoming to immigrants and refugees?

Is there a climate of racism and intolerance in people’s attitudes and comments about the presence of minorities or otherwise socially disadvantaged? Remember, to the best of your ability, follow the lead of existing community members. Practice your listening skills and really be open to their voices, and making sure not only that you are taking heed of them but that you are also facilitating their being heard by others. Get active: demonstrate, donate, and volunteer in your neighborhood. 4. Make conscious purchase decisions. Do the places you like to eat or shop at also contribute to gentrification? Assess whether these are welcoming spaces, conducive to diversity. Do these services cater to you particularly more than to others in your community? Are there at least some things on the menus of the restaurants where you like to eat that are affordable to someone of lower income? Support local businesses and services that are owned by members of the community that might be at risk of suffering from gentrification. 5. Speak up. Lastly, it is important to be willing to have these conversations with other expats. Whether it’s your startup coworker or your flat mate who is complaining about the large Turkish family living in the two bedroom flat next-door being too noisy, or about the fear of crime that is brought in with the influx of refugees and homeless in this city--speak up! Be willing to have conversations that call these mindsets into question. Doing so can really have an impact. Trying to contextualize the existence of marginalized groups in certain spaces can change the way more privileged groups view them and can help cultivate more compassionate attitudes. Costs of living in Berlin have risen substantially in the last five years. The issue of gentrification is not going anywhere anytime soon, unfortunately. The demographics of Berlin are changing rapidly, and as members of this city, it is our responsibility to do our part to keep Berlin a place that is accessible to all. Let’s keep Berlin poor and sexy: caring is sexy.

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