BERLIN SIDEWALK » Potsdamer Platz

Potsdamer Platz – Readings in Yurts

Carsten — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:21:38 +0000

The Potsdamer Platz is famous for its events, movie premieres and festivities, but what I saw yesterday was a bit different, 3 big yurts were standing in the middle of the Sony Center, in front of the CineStar Event Cinema. Yurts are portable, bent wood-framed dwelling structure traditionally used by Turkic nomads in the steppes of Central Asia, so it was quite interesting and I wanted to know what’s going on there.

Two of the yurts were closed, the third one had a sign, “Info Yurt”. I went in and was told that the yurts are being used by 35 authors, reading chapters of their books in front of an audience of about 25 people, as part of an event called “Readings in Yurts”. After the reading, they could ask question about the book and the author, probably because there were a lot of students in the audience. I was also told that it was last day of this event but they will be back next year.

Postdamer Platz, Berlin Wall Memorial

Cowboys & Aliens German Premiere Berlin

Carsten — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 22:53:52 +0000

Today was another German premiere, Cowboys & Aliens, at CineStar Sony Center in Berlin. This time with director Jon Favreau, good old Harrison Ford, James Bond-Star Daniel Craig and the lovely Olivia Wilde.

The whole place was filled with people and all three actors (and the director) had a lot of fun signing autographs and taking photos with their fans. After that, they gave a couple of interviews to the different TV-Stations before they finally went in through the great cinema entrance.

Green Lantern German Premiere Berlin

Carsten — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:11:37 +0000

Today was the German premiere of Green Lantern at CineStar Sony Center in Berlin. The director Martin Campbell itself together with actors Ryan Reynolds and Peter Sarsgaard were part of today’s special guests. Thousands of fans have gathered, at the central forum of the Sony Center, to get an autograph or to take a picture of their beloved idol.

Berlinale 2011 – Hollywood in Berlin

Carsten — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:00:42 +0000

The City of Berlin has placed a 14 meters high and 53 meters wide Hollywood Sign in the middle of the Tiergarten between the Brandenburg Gate and the Potsdamer Platz.

The Holly- wait.. there is only one L? Oh boy, something went terribly wrong…

Just kidding, the Holywood Sign is a creation by the artist and filmmaker Ralf Schmerberg and part of a Climate Protection campaign, to plant 10.000 new trees all across the City.

So from now on, it’s “Welcome to HolyWood”.

Berlinale 2011 – Helena Bonham Carter

Carsten — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:14:46 +0000

Finally I had some time to visit this years Berlinale at Potsdamer Platz and lucky me got some shots of Helena Bonham Carter as she left the Hyatt Hotel near the Berlinale Palace to promote the new movie “The King’s Speech”.

Helena is well known for her role as Bellatrix Lestrange in Joan K Rowlings Harry Potter or on the Side of Johnny Depp as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd.

Coca Cola Christmas Truck Tour Berlin 2010

Carsten — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:36:15 +0000

From the Potsdamer Platz through the Friedrichstraße to the Brandenburg Gate, the Coca Cola Christmas Trucks were on a tour through Berlin once again. Like last year, it was the coldest day of the year (-13°C), only the heavy snowfall was missing.

Berlin’s Walk of Fame

Carsten — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 21:10:49 +0000

From now on, you don’t have to travel all the way to Hollywood to see some stars, because Berlin got his very own version of the Walk of Fame. The Boulevard der Stars (Boulevard of the Stars), located in the middle of the Potsdamer Platz is Berlin’s newest tourist attraction.

The boulevard features German celebrities such as Marlene Dietrich, Romy Schneider or Michael Ballhaus. The first 40 brass stars were embedded in the ground over the last few weeks, while organisers say up to 150 can be laid there.

Madame Tussauds Berlin

300 Years of Science

Carsten — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:20:14 +0000

A new exhibition has started last Friday in the Martin-Gropius-Bau, about 450m away from Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz.

This year, Berlin celebrates 200 years of the Humboldt University, 300 years of the Charité, 300 years since the first statute and first publication by the Academy of the Sciences and, one year later, 100 years of the Max Planck and Kaiser Wilhelm Society and the 350th birthday of the Berlin State Library.

The exhibition, called “WeltWissen – World Knowledge”, is the high point of the Berlin Year of Science. For the first time since the Reunification, the city as a whole takes a look from a united perspective at the history and present situation of its sciences.

125 Years of Automobiles Berlin

Berlinale 2010 Ticket Madness

Carsten — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:28:58 +0000

Seems like this years Berlinale is pretty popular, people standing in line for about one hour to get a ticket for their favorite movie or a chance to meet one of the many stars who came to Berlin to present their newest creations.

Coca Cola Christmas Truck Tour 2009

Carsten — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:22:21 +0000

Like every year, the Coca Cola Christmas Trucks were on a tour through every major city in Germany and the final parade was held in Berlin yesterday. Ten trucks with four stages and a snack bar to buy Bratwurst and Glühwein against the cold.

With -16°C (3.2°F) and heavy snowfall, it was the coldest day of the year. But that was not a real problem and thousands of people were following the parade on its way from the Kurfürstendamm, via the Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburger Tor to its final goal, the Rote Rathaus Berlin.