Tag: Berlin
Celebrating the Fall of the Berlin Wall: One Man’s Experience of a Family Divided
The site of the former Berlin Wall, one foot in the East and one in the West.
“Berlin is not Germany. It’s a very important sentence. Berlin was always something special.”
Christian Tanzler would know. Although he’s a spokesperson for Visit Berlin, Tanzler isn’t just a media mercenary hired to promote the city, which this year celebrates 30 years since the fall of the infamous Berlin Wall. He’s one of the many whose family was torn apart by those cruel miles of concrete erected in the 60s. But even during those darkest days, Tanzler says, Berlin’s denizens on both sides of the wall harboured a rebellious, irrepressible spark.
The Topography of Terror Museum. At ground level, you see a remnant of the former wall. Below are former Gestapo cells.
Berlin Comes to Ol’ Blighty
For one week only, Londoners can travel to Berlin for the cost of an Overground ticket.
No, this isn’t one of those crazy flight deals on a “bargain” airline that makes its money back by charging for oxygen, seatbelts and toilet paper sold by the square inch.
Rather, there’s a new pop-up shop on Bethnal Green Road in Shoreditch showcasing nifty gifts and high-octane bottled libations made in Berlin. The store is open through Sunday, October 11, 2015…not-so-coincidentally coinciding with London’s “Cocktail Week.”
“We wanted to create a place where you can feel the spirit of Berlin,” explains Burkhard Kieker, CEO of VisitBerlin, who is heading up this European pop-up promotional tour for Germany’s capital. The tour began in Stockholm on 21 September and will up sticks next for Vienna, followed by Amsterdam and Paris.
Kieker attributes Berlin’s appeal to “the three T’s: talent, technology and tolerance. This is our recipe for success.”
So what happens when the best of Berlin—a city renowned for its liberality and creativity–meets achingly hip East London? Here some highlights from today’s grand opening.