Return to main Berlin What's on page: click here
What's on in Berlin - Archives
Thursday, February 11th 2010
11- 21 February 2010. The 60th edition of the Berlin festival opened with the showing of Apart Together by Wang Quan’an, the Chinese director already well known to Berlin audiences for winning the 2007 Golden Bear award with his film Tuya’s Marriage. The festival is one of the city’s most important cultural events and one the major international film festivals. About 400 films are shown each year in the various sections, with nearly 300,000 tickets sold. The main sections are the international films in Competition, the independent and art films in Panorama, films for the young in Generation, the best German films in Perspektive Deutsches Kino, experimental films in Forum, shorts in Berlinale Shorts and to round off, Retrospectives and Homage. An integral part of the festival is the European film trade fair. One of the most eagerly awaited events this year is the showing of the newly restored and now uncut classic Metropolis by Fritz Lang. About 30 minutes of it were cut from the original, and were thought lost until last year when a complete version was discovered in a private collection in Buenos Aires. The silent movie, which was premiered in Berlin 83 years ago, is the first film to be awarded World Heritage status by UNESCO. more
Faces of India - People on camera
Tuesday, November 3rd 2009
3 November 2009 - 28 February 2010. In the early 1980s German technician and photographic enthusiast Helmut Schilke travelled to the Indian subcontinent. His experiences there fascinated him and he was to return again and again for longer periods of time, always armed with his camera. This exhibition of 80 photographs by Schilke offers a glimpse into a highly colourful world of sacred rivers and mountain mystics in the Himalayan homeland of the Dalai Lama. Tues-Fri 09.00-17.30, Sat&Sun: 10.00-18.00. more
Sunday, November 15th 2009
15 November 2009 - 31 January 2010. This production by the Children's Ensemble is loosely adapted from the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen and is aimed at a younger audience. The magical world of the Snow Queen has been set in more modern surroundings, and the story revolves around Leyla who must free her friend Kay from the Snow Queen's spell. While the show is ably accompanied by music and stunning visuals, it should be noted that a basic knowledge of the German language is required to fully appreciate the production. Tickets available from the box office on +49 30 2326 2326 or via the website: www.friedrichstadtpalast.de more
Cranach and Renaissance Art under the Hohenzollern
Saturday, October 31st 2009
31 October 2009 - 24 January 2010. Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) was a German renaissance painter best known for his portraits and mythological nudes. As court painter to the Electors of Saxony, Cranach painted many German princes and later became a friend and enthusiastic follower of Martin Luther. This exhibition explores the art and culture of the Renaissance in Berlin, focusing in particular on Cranach and the countless artworks commissioned from him at the time by the Hohenzollern, a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. Charlottenburg Palace today is the largest Hohenzollern residence in Berlin and was originally built by Elector Frederick III as a summer residence for his wife Sophie Charlotte in 1699. Wed-Mon: 10.00-17.00 Thurs: 10.00-20.00 (Closed: Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve) more
Monday, November 23rd 2009
23 November - 31 December 2009. Berlin's famous Christmas markets, set in the squares and and streets of the city centre, have something for everyone. Breitscheidplatz market takes place in the area around the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the western district of downtown Berlin close to the main shopping street, the Kurfürstendamm. Traditional hand-crafted toys and jewellery can be bought at the markets near the opera house along the Unter den Linden boulevard. The market in Alexanderplatz with its merry-go-rounds caters for young children, while the Gendarmenmarkt exhibits the work of painters, sculptors and carpenters. Each market is heavy with the nostalgic and festive scent of hot Glühwein wine and roasted almonds. more
Carl Gustav Carus: Nature and Ideas
Friday, October 9th 2009
9 October 2009 - 10 January 2010. Carl Gustav Carus (1789-1869) was a multi-talented individual, at once a physician and painter, a philosopher and scientist, who socialised and collaborated with other luminaries of German Romanticism: Alexander von Humboldt, Goethe and Caspar David Friedrich. This exhibition at the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) acknowledges the unique role he played in bridging the rarely-crossed gap between art and science; indeed Carus himself believed art to be the 'pinnacle of science'. Alongside works by contemporaries Friedrich and Johan Christian Dahl, 200 paintings by Carus himself are on show. His writings, medical instruments and accumulated natural history specimens can also be viewed. more
Thursday, October 1st 2009
1 Oct-20 Dec 2009. At the heart of the city's cultural life for over five decades, the Berliner Festspiele festival showcases contemporary music, ballet and theatre, and includes JazzFest Berlin, MaerzMusik, Theatertreffen, musikfest berlin, international literature festival berlin and spielzeit’europa. This year's festival commemorates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with the theme: 'The Giants Arrive - A Fairytale for Berlin'. The Martin-Gropius-Bau is also showing exhibitions of archaeology, cultural history, contemporary art and photography. more
Thursday, September 17th 2009
17 Sept 2009 - 3 Jan 2010. To celebrate the bicentennial of British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882), 2009 has been nominated internationally as 'Year of Darwin'. This comprehensive exhibition illustrates the life and work of Darwin who established the modern evolutionary theory with his work 'On the Origin of Species'. Recognising his enormous contribution to science, the exhibition includes specimens collected by Darwin during his five year voyage on HMS Beagle. With over 30 million geological, mineralogical, palaeontological and zoological objects, the Museum für Naturkunde holds one of the world's most important natural history collections. Tues-Fri 09.30-17.00, Sat-Sun 10.00-18.00 more
Friday, July 10th 2009
10 July 2009 - 07 March 2010. In honour of the Sandman's 50th birthday, the Film Museum Potsdam is celebrating the children's legend and television star with an extensive exhibition. 50 years ago, when East Germany got wind of West Germany's plan to devise a television character of this nature, they immediately invented their own who made his debut eight days before his rival. Each night since then, all German children have viewed the Sandman as he reads them bedtime stories and blows a bag of 'dream sand' over them. After reunification in 1990, the East German Sandman was selected by tv bosses to be the 'pan-German Sandman'. The show is divided into three parts including the character's world, experiments and dreamland. Daily 10.00-18.00 more
The Photographs of Herlinde Koelbl (1976 - 2009)
Friday, July 17th 2009
17 July - 1 November 2009. A photographic exhibition of Herlinde Koelbl's works from 1976–2009 is currently on show in Berlin's Martin Gropius Bau. Koelbl is famous for her photographs of people - she was once asked why she didn't photograph mountains or landscapes to which she replied: 'People are unpredictable'. She began her career 30 years ago and quickly developed her own style. This is Koelbl's first comprehensive exhibition in her native Germany and due to the diversity of her assorted portraits this show definitely is unpredictable. Wed-Mon 10.00-20.00, Closed Tuesday. more