The Stuffed Polar Bear Knut

March 8, 2013

On December 5th, 2006, a polar bear named Knut was born at the Berlin Zoological Garden. He was the first polar bear who survived past infancy in more than 30 years. Quickly, he became a celebrity and was center of a mass media phenomenon all around the globe.

After he died at the age of four, on March 19th, 2011, he got stuffed and can now be seen in the foyer of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, free of charge, until May 5th 2013.

After that, he will be added to the scientific research collections of the Museum and will not be displayed in another exhibition before 2014.

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The Castle of Berlin and the Humboldt Box

July 18, 2011

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.

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Computer Games Museum Berlin

February 2, 2011

A new Museum just opened its doors in Berlin’s Karl-Marx-Allee, and it’s not one of those boring historical ones, the Computerspielemuseum or Computer Games Museum Berlin. Well, it’s about the history of gaming and it might be boring if you are not interested in Video Games… but if you are, it is really interesting and informative.

Our museum, which was opened in Berlin in 1997, was the world’s first permanent exhibition devoted to digital interactive entertainment culture. Since then, we have documented the development of the medium at over 30 national and international events.

You are invited on an entertaining expedition to meet the game players of the 21st century. Numerous rare original exhibits, playable classic games and assorted media productions help you exploring the world of “Homo Ludens Digitalis”.

Anyway, if you have a liking in video games and want to know more about the creation of the Comodore64 and the invention of Apple’s first personal computer, you should pay it a visit.

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Proto Anime Cut Exhibition Berlin

January 24, 2011


The Künstlerhaus Bethanien has a new exhibition, the Proto Anime Cut – Spaces and Visions in Japanese animation, with original drawings of the most important directors and illustrators of Japanese animated films.

The exhibition includes work by Hideaki Anno (director, Neon Genesis Evangelion), Haruhiko Higami (photographer), Koji Morimoto (director, Dimension Bomb), Hiromasa Ogura (art director), Mamoru Oshii (director, Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell, Innocence) and Takashi Watabe (layout).

A fascinating journey into the world of Japanese anime artists.

The exhibition was held until the 6th of March 2011 at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Kottbusser Str. 10 Berlin.

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Le Museum de Paris Bar

November 18, 2010

Three pieces of the Berlin Wall were placed in front of the famous Paris Bar in Berlin’s district Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.

The Paris Bar is a place where artists, writers, journalist and film stars typically congregate and where Iggy Pop once gave a Rolling Stone journalist a blitzed interview that ended with him rolling around on the sidewalk out front. The French bistro has been a local favorite since it cheered up the postwar years in dismal bombed-out Berlin.

The pieces, each 3,60 meters high and 1,20 meters wide, were designed by the owner himself, of course, the owner of the Paris Bar, not the Berlin Wall.

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Also Heroes Have Bad Days…

June 2, 2010

A Superman you’ve never seen before, his face rammed into the ground, blood drops all over the place… the text behind him on the wall reads “also Heroes have bad Days…“.

The sculpture by the German artist Marcus Wittmers in front of the Jewish Museum Berlin is part of the current exhibition “Heroes, Freaks and Superrabbis: The Jewish Dimension of the Comic.

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One Day in Halle

April 14, 2010

Halle (Saale) is a small town in the eastern part of Germany, it is not only the birthplace of the famous composer Händel (engl. George Frideric Handel), also the famous Halloren Chocolate Factory / Museum is located in this town.

Halle is the largest city in the German State of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale (literally Halle on the Saale river, and in some historic references simply Saale after the river) in order to distinguish it from Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia. The current official name of the city is Halle (Saale).

The Halloren Chocolate Factory is the oldest producing chocolate factory in Germany. Its origins date back to the founding of a gingerbread bakery in 1804. The main product of Germany’s oldest chocolate factory is the “Original Halloren Kugel”, small chocolate balls filled with creams in different flavors.

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The Currywurst Museum Berlin

October 9, 2009

Berlin got a new museum, a museum about a sausage, one of the most famous of Germany’s sausages, the Currywurst.

A journey through time, from the invention by Herta Heuwer in 1949 to the opening of the Deutsches Currywurst Museum in 2009, the museum concept pursues the idea of an interactive experience centre staging multiple facets and featuring many stations where knowledge is communicated in a playful manner.

The museum is located near the Friedrichstraße and the Checkpoint Charlie.

Update: Deutsches Currywurst Museum Berlin is permanently closed since December 21st 2018.

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