On a sunny day, you can see performing artists all over the city, and it doesn’t take much to draw the attention of surrounding passersby and tourists. For example, just a paddling pool and some soap water.
Tag - Mitte
The Stadtschloss, in English the Berlin City Palace, was a royal palace in the centre of Berlin. It was the principal residence of the Hohenzollern Kings of Prussia from 1701 to 1918 (the German Emperors from 1871 to 1918) and a museum following the fall of the German Empire in 1918.
Damaged by Allied bombing in World War II, although possible to repair at great expense, the palace was demolished in 1950 by the GDR authorities, despite West German protests. Following the reunification of Germany, it was decided to rebuild the Stadtschloss.
The new Castle will be named Humboldt Forum and will be rebuilt as a replica of the former Baroque building. In the meantime a big blue box, called HumboldtBox, will cover the empty space right beside the Berlin Cathedral. If you want to know more about the whole project, just visit the exhibition on the first floor, or if you just want to relax, the restaurant on the fifth floor provides you a 360° panoramic view over Berlin.
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:
The record-breaking German/American classical violinist and recording artist David Garrett got his very own wax figure today at Madame Tussauds Berlin.
The measuring in London took hours, as the portrayal should be exact: from every single hair over teeth and the last point of toe every detail was originally replicated. The musician of North American and German descent also gave his own jewelry and worn dresses to the wax figure. Even the pose was chosen by himself.
David himself revealed his wax figure today at 7pm, sadly without giving us a little concert.
Madame Tussauds, founded by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud, displaying waxworks of historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars and famous murderers has now grown to become a major tourist attraction around the world with branches in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Berlin, Blackpool, Dubai, Hamburg, Hollywood, Hong Kong, Hot Springs, AR, Las Vegas, Moscow, New York City, Shanghai, Vienna and Washington, D.C.
Madame Tussauds Berlin is your chance to experience the real glamour and elegance of Berlin and the World of celebrity. You will find a total of 82 figures featuring predominantly historical dignitaries, cultural icons and A-list celebrities.
Meet and interact with the people that shaped German history and culture and learn about their achievements through hands-on exhibits and immersive sets.
The legendary tourist attraction Art House Tacheles was closed last month after serving as a home for many artists from around the world for more than 20 years and I went there to take a couple of pictures before the whole thing will be demolished in the near future.
The Kunsthaus Tacheles was an art center and nightclub that was opened in East Berlin after the Berlin Wall came down in the spring of 1990. Tacheles is a large (9000 square meter) building on Oranienburger Straße in the district known as Mitte. The exterior of the building was damaged from shelling in World War II, and much of the damage was never repaired. Huge, colorful graffiti-style murals are painted on the exterior walls, and modern art sculptures are featured inside.
The Kunsthaus was formerly a department store in the Jewish quarter (Scheunenviertel) of Berlin, next to the synagogue, it was originally called Friedrichsstadtpassagen. After serving as a Nazi prison, the building was taken over by artists, who called it “Tacheles”, Yiddish for “straight talking.”
Last year, I mentioned that Berlin’s Siegessäule (Victory Column) is under construction. Now, the scaffold was removed and the golden Statue of Victoria again shines in all her glory in the middle of the Great Star.
During the refurbishment works, about 1200 gram of gold leaf were put on the bronze sculpture of Victoria, which is 8.3 meters high and weighs about 35 tons. If you want to pay her a visit, you have to climb 285 steps upstairs to reach the observation platform on top of the monument. There is no elevator but your effort will be rewarded with a great view on Berlin Tiergarten.
The Sealife Berlin got a new area, the Jellyfish Discovery. I was invited to the opening ceremony yesterday and I think I got some amazing shots of all these slimy tiny creatures.
Unlike most other marine creatures, and despite their stunning beauty and great variety, jellyfish are rarely given the attention they deserve. Now you can marvel at their infinite colours, graceful motion and ghost-like forms in a spellbinding spectacle that reveals their mysterious lives and world in a totally new light.
So yesterday was Earth Hour, a world wide event organized by WWF. Hundreds of cities in 131 countries around the globe switched off their lights for one hour, from 8:30 pm till 9:30 pm, 26 March 2011.
Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change.
In Berlin, the Brandenburger Tor, the Rote Rathaus as well as the Fernsehturm and many other public buildings turned off their lights during this hour. Hundreds of candles were build up in front of the Brandenburger Tor to form the words “Energiewende Jetzt” which means something like, “change your energy sources now” or “change to clean energy now”.
I got another invitation from Madame Tussauds Berlin to take some pictures of their newest attraction, the Blue Man Group. After Lady Gaga and Freddy Mercury, this is my third article from Berlin’s House of Wax.
Founded in 1988 the Blue Man Group have numerous albums, stage shows around the world, and have reached iconic status, all without saying a word.
You can visit the three Blue Men, Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton at Madame Tussauds Berlin till May 2011, after that, they will travel back to their home location, Las Vegas.