Grand Opening of Apple’s Flagship Store in Berlin

May 3, 2013

Apple’s new flagship store opened its doors today in Berlin, at Kurfuerstendamm 26, which was once the first true movie theaters in the city, opened in 1913 under the name Filmbühne Wien, or Union Palast.

The Store, which is one of 406 Apple stores worldwide, 81 in Europe, is the biggest Apple store in the European region with 5000 m² sales area on 2 floors including a cinema and a briefing room.

According to Apple, about 200 employees from 20 different nations are working in that store, speaking 18 different languages. 40 Tables are showing off Apple’s products, they were made out of oak-wood from German forests and the interior and exterior walls are made of 100-year-old muschelkalk.

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25th European Kendo Championships in Berlin

April 15, 2013

After 15 years, the European Kendo Championships were back in Berlin. About 300 competitors from 30 European countries participated in this years championships from April 12th till April 14th 2013. For all of you who don’t know about Kendo, it’s that japanese sport where you try to smash your opponent’s head with a wooden stick.

Well in fact, the wooden stick is a bamboo swords called “Shinai” and it’s not only the head, but a couple of point scoring targets on the upper half of the body, which must be hit with an accurate strike or thrust. Continuation of awareness must be present and shown throughout the execution of the strike and the fighter must be mentally and physically ready to attack again.

Three referees, holding a red and a white flag, are present during every match, two of them must agree for a point to be awarded.

The winners of this years championships are Italy (Men) and Germany (Women), Congratulations!

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Pictoplasma Berlin

April 13, 2013


Pictoplasma is the world’s leading festival of contemporary character culture and it’s taking place in Berlin right now with numerous exhibitions, conferences and screenings at over 23 project spaces, galleries and art venues throughout the city.

I found some time to visit one of those project spaces today, the PLATOON KUNSTHALLE, an art gallery constructed of 34 standard shipping containers. Inside, visitors had the opportunity to be creative, whether during a Mochimochi Monster Knitting live workshop or with chalk lying all around the place.

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Earth Hour 2013 Berlin

March 25, 2013

Earth Hour 2013 took place on Saturday, March 23-2013 in over 7000 cities, towns and municipalities in more than 150 countries and territories around the globe and again this year, Berlin was one of those cities.

Exact at 8:30pm, the Brandenburger Tor went black for a whole hour and during this hour Singer-Songwriter Ashley Hicklin performed his song “City Lights” unplugged and a neon sign, showing the slogan “Ja zur Energiewende!” was illuminated by a group of WWF Members riding bicycles.

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David Hasselhoff to save the Wall

March 18, 2013

A lot is happening in Berlin right now, the famous East Side Gallery, one of Berlin’s historical Landmarks, painted by many international artists, faces partial demolition.

Thousands of protesters have gathered during the last days, at the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall, to protest against a planned construction project, to remove small parts of the wall to make way for a luxury block of flats on the former GDR death strip.

On Sunday, March 17-2013, David Hasselhoff came back to Berlin, to support the protest, driving alongside the wall in a yellow van mounted with speakers while singing “Looking for Freedom”, the same song he sang at the 1989 New Year’s Party in Berlin, shortly after the wall dividing East and West Germany was torn down.

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Hideo Kojima Autograph Session in Berlin

February 24, 2013

Hideo Kojima, creator of the famous Metal Gear Video Game Series, visited Berlin yesterday, February 23rd, for an autograph session, which was part of a promotion campaign for his newest work: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

Hundreds waited in line to get their copy signed by one of the most influential and innovative video game directors and writers in the industry. The art director of the Metal Gear Series Yoji Shinkawa was also present.

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Coca Cola Christmas Truck Tour 2012

December 12, 2012


The Coca Cola Christmas Trucks were in town, and it was, kind of a disappointment (compared to the years 2009 and 2010). In fact, it was only one truck, placed on a, what I call, a carnival and not a Christmas market, between a Ferris wheel and a roller coaster. But after they completely skipped the last year, it was at least something.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Launch Party Berlin

November 13, 2012


Activison-Blizzard invited me to the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Launch Party in Berlin, and because I’m a fan of the Call of Duty franchise since they released their first title back in 2003, I was excited to play and test the newest installment of the series.

Adam Rosas, the Lead Cinematics Animator and Motion Capture Director was there to talk with the guests and to sign all the bought copies of the game after the sale started at 0.00 GMT+1.

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775 Years of Berlin Celebration

October 29, 2012


The City of Berlin celebrated its 775th Anniversary yesterday on Sunday, 28th and it was… not what I expected. Everything started with a fire installation by the world-renowned French fire poets Compagnie Carabosse in front of the Berlin City Hall and after that, the spectacle began…

Inspired by medieval visions of afterlife, the Titanick Theatre Collective had set up 13 individual situations and scenes, an adequate description of how the observer feels when they enter into this dream world, between the Neptun Fountain and the Television Tower.

It was weird but interesting and entertaining, it felt like they combined the Anniversary and Halloween into one single celebration, with success.

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Maifeld Polo Cup Berlin

August 13, 2012

Polo is back in Berlin. The Finals of the German Polo High Goal Championship were held last weekend (11./12. August) on Berlin’s historical Maifeld (Mayfield) with national and international world-class players.

The Maifeld is a huge 112,000 square meters (28 acres) lawn and was created back in 1936 for gymnastic demonstrations, specifically annual May Day celebrations by Hitler’s government. During the 1936 summer Olympics, the field was used for the very first Olympic Polo event in Germany.

Since then, Polo is a famous sport in Germany and this year, eight teams sponsored by well-known companies like Tom Tailor, Land Rover or Samsung fought for the golden cup and the title “Best Polo Team in Germany”.

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