Light Message for Peace – 150 Years Germany – Japan

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the relationship between Germany and Japan, light was used to project the word “Peace” in languages from around the world on Berlin’s most representative landmark, the Brandenburg Gate. One program, 2 different Parts, with orchestral music and an amazing art-light-show, enchanted hundreds of visitors for about 30 minutes.

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60 years Federal Police Birthday Party

Berlin, Pariser Platz, 27°C, a small helicopter is hovering above the Brandenburg Gate, suddenly a group of GSG9 Special Forces is jumping out of the helicopter, attached with a parachute and a smoke flare gun. Thousand of tourists waiting for them to land in the middle of the Pariser Platz right in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

The Berlin Federal Police celebrated its 60th Anniversary yesterday on August 20th 2011, with a big street festival and the GSG9 paratroopers as a special event.

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Classic Open Air 2011 at Gendarmenmarkt

Since 1992 every summer the Gendarmenmarkt in the heart of Berlin turns into a great concert arena and yesterday was the last day of this years event. This summer was the 20th anniversary of the Classic Open Air Festival and it ended with a special concert, the soundtracks of the James Bond Series performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London.

Dominique Horwitz will accompany you on a musical voyage though almost half a century of Bond movie history, under direction of the American conductor Carl Davis, London’s world-renowned Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the British singer Mary Carawe.

The whole place was filled with music and people enjoyed the concert sitting in the warm evening sun, drinking a beer, eating an ice cream, even without buying a ticket.

Oh and I tried to record it with my DSLR, check it out:

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Freddie Mercury Wax Figure at Madame Tussauds Berlin

Freddie Mercury is in town and for the next 3 month, you can meet him at Madame Tussauds Berlin, right beside Peter Maffay, Madonna and Bono.

Freddie Mercury was a British musician, best known as the lead vocalist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen. The wax figure, which was created in 1989 for the cabinet in London, before he died in 1991, was moved to Berlin to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band and the 65th birthday of Freddy Mercury himself.

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The Berlin Domino Wall – Thousand Pieces of Art

As I mentioned yesterday, today was Berlin’s 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Many World leaders and dignitaries were invited.

Chancellor Merkel said some Words in front of the Brandenburg Gate, she herself grew up in East Germany and was one of thousands to cross into the West on Nov, 9, 1989 – “Today marks a truly happy moment of the German and the European history,” She said. “Twenty years ago the door to freedom opened up and a seemingly invincible wall that divided a people and an entire continent suddenly became permeable. For me, it was one of the happiest moments of my life.”

The Main Event was a symbolic Fall of the Wall in form of 1,000 dominoes to symbolize fall of the communist regimes and iron curtain in Eastern Europe. The first stone was pushed by the former Polish politician Lech Wałęsa.

The 1,000 Stones, 2,5m high, all hand-painted, were lined a 1,6km long portion of the route once occupied by the wall. I took a couple of pictures from some very interesting Stones.

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East Side Gallery, walking alongside the Berlin Wall

Tomorrow is a big day, the City of Berlin will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

For that reason, the big East Side Gallery was repaired and repainted. The Berlin Wall East Side Gallery is a 1.3km-long section of the wall near the center of Berlin. Approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world cover this memorial for freedom and make it the largest open air gallery in the world.

The Gallery tells with its pictures the story of Berlin and Germany’s history. Many artists were invited to repaint their pictures which were created about twenty years ago. The paintings and the wall were in an extremely deteriorated condition through weather, air pollution, vandalistic collectors, and simply time.

The East Side Gallery is located near the Ostbahnhof.

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Twix is now called Raider, again

Due to their 30th anniversary, Mars Inc has created a special Edition of your beloved chocolate bars.

Twix was called Raider back in 1967 in many countries of Europe until the name was changed to Twix (1991) with an enormous advert campaign and a catchy claim called “Raider heißt jetzt Twix, … sonst ändert sich nix”  (“Raider is now called Twix, nothing else changes”).

Now Raider is back, but you can only buy it from a vendor on a subway station for a short time.

Model Railway Exhibition at Berlin’s Ostbahnhof

The Modellbahnverband in Deutschland e.V. ( German Model Railway Society ) staged an exhibition, to celebrate his 15th anniversary.

It was fascinating to see those little trains driving through a really beautiful created world of snow, woods and mountains. A journey through the Alps, the United States, Germany and even a time travel to Berlin after the Second World War.

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A Giant’s Tale, Riesen in Berlin – Day 1

A giant’s tale, narrated by Royal de Luxe,

during the next 3 days, the City of Berlin will be the stage for a “giant” open-air theatre spectacle.

“She’s here at last! Sleepy and confused, the Little Giantess opened her eyes this morning alongside her ocean-going boat in front of the Rotes Rathaus to see many sets of eyes staring at her.”

The fairy tale for Berlin begins, the story about losing and finding relatives was only written for Berlin by Jean Luc Courcoult, related to the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Today the Little Giantess will investigate the surrounding area of the Rotes Rathaus, from the Bebelplatz as far as the Gendarmenmarkt and the Lustgarten with wide-eyed curiosity.

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