Berlin O philia

Berlin’s Currywurst sausage go Global

shooky — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:50:20 +0000

Berliners are known for their affection towards sausages. Especially for the Currywurst, the #1 fast food in the city. You must try this one at list once, and now you can even do that without traveling to Germany. Daniels Counter writes about Berlin Snack, a place in London where you can grab Currywursts, Bratwurst, Knackwurst [...]

Berlin Graffiti Project III

shooky — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:20:48 +0000

This is the third part of this project, and the last for the time being. But if you took nice shots of other graffiti and street art, and want to share them with us – please do. Although we did choose the best, finest looking, most intriguing and/or most interesting artworks from our point of view, [...]

Berlin Graffiti Project II

shooky — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:55:53 +0000

When the communist era was over and the Berlin Wall came down, the graffiti street art was already strongly embeded into Berlin’s culture. Though considered by some as pure vandalism, it continued to flourish and win the youngsters’ penchant. The monumental East Side Gallery was a way to preserve this special cultural entity, but it [...]

Berlin Graffiti Project

shooky — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:12:31 +0000

Part 1 of a 3-part project: the best pictures of graffiti and street art in Berlin. There must be tens of thousands of graffiti and graffiti-like works, scattered all over the city of Berlin. You can find them on walls, buildings, pavements, and ever cars. Some where made by famous artists, like the wonderful East Side [...]

Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Berlin

yonit — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:47:13 +0000

I have been to Berlin one day last Christmas, and I tell you, it’s beautiful. The city is crammed with Christmas markets, there are lots of Christmas activities, and of course, New Year’s Eve is celebrated with splendor. I didn’t have much time then, and sadly, didn’t have a camera with me, so for now all [...]

Jewish life in Berlin today

yonit — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:28:41 +0000

According to official German websites, the Jewish population in Germany has tripled in the past decade, especially thanks to a large wave of immigration from past Soviet countries, but is still only one fifth of what it used to be before the Second World War. The Jewish community (at least the registered one) in Berlin [...]

Neue Synagogue in Oranienburger Strasse

yonit — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:00:26 +0000

The synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse 28-30 was opened in 1866, then the largest synagogue in Germany, with 3,200 seats. Otto von Bismarck was present at its inauguration. It is located in what was back then a large Jewish district, and now is a very popular spot, crowded with pubs, cafes and restaurants. The synagogue was designed [...]

Jewish Museum Berlin

yonit — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:31:28 +0000

The Jewish Museum in Berlin is a very impressive museum. The building itself, designed by the famous American architect Daniel Libeskind, is something worth seeing. The permanent exhibition is interesting, some parts of it very impressive, even overwhelming. And as if that’s not enough, they also present excellent special (changing) exhibitions. The museum presents the history [...]

Some more Holocaust related memorials

yonit — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:03:06 +0000

The Missing House: A work by Christian Boltanski, from 1990, located on Grosse Hamburger Strasse, across the street from the Jewish School, not very far from the New Synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse. The missing building was destroyed in WW2. Some of its former residents were Jews. Boltanski constructed there “a memorial space dedicated to absence”. [...]

“Places of Remembrance” in the Bavarian Quarter

yonit — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:03:01 +0000

The memorial “Places of Remembrance”, created by the artist Renata Stih and the art historian Frieder Schnock, consists of 80 street signs, presenting anti-Jewish laws and regulations under Nazi rule. One side of each such sign shows a picture, the other a piece of anti-Jewish legislation. Here are some examples: The [...]

The Sachsenhausen concentration camp

yonit — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 18:19:14 +0000

The Sachsenhausen concentration camp is located some 35 kilometers from Berlin, in Oranienburg. You get there by taking the S1 from Berlin to Oranienburg central station, and from there taking bus line 804 directly to the place. The history of the camp as a functional concentration camp dates as early as 1933, although then it [...]

Fatherland – a novel

yonit — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:45:07 +0000

Fatherland, by Robert Harris, is, in my opinion, one of those rare examples of good fiction combining historical knowledge and philosophical insights. Basically, it is a detective novel, focusing on a murder investigation, taking place in Nazi Germany, around the time of Hitler’s 75th birthday celebrations. The “hero” (more of an anti-hero, actually) is a detective [...]