#73

What might the surprise package Bear – pardon, – Berlin contain today? Let´s find out together!

Our first save the date concerns this weekend already. On Friday and Saturday (05 and 06) the vivid neighbourhood of Akazienstraße turns into an even more colourful forest of pumpkins, food trucks and carousels for the kids. Those, who haven´t experienced Schöneberg Pumpkin Festival, can´t truly arrive in autumn. Ancient Schöneberg saying.

So, what else? Well, we´ve never visited KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art in Neukölln yet. How could we miss this?! When the days are grey and wet, the exhibition floors of the former brewery buildings lure us in with their fascinating contemporary works of art. But it won´t get boring when the autumn weather shows its sunny, golden side, either: how about a public tour about architecture and history of the building complex? The next one in English is on 06 November. If you speak a little German, you could also sign up for the next German tour on 26 October.

Or would you rather drop off the kids for KINDL Rallye on Saturday, 12, and visit Babette´s Garden, enjoying an exquisite draft-beer, while the kids are getting tired letting off steam during this cultural treasure hunt? Unfortunately, no English dates have been announced yet.

Speaking of children: an absolute must-do these autumn holidays at the end of October is a visit of Deutsches Historisches Museum (eng.: German Historic Museum) in the Pei building on Museum Island. The interactive children´s exhibition “Dive into the Picture – Time Travel for Kids” lets young visitors discover the life of people in 16th century by bringing one of the Augsburg pictures of the months to life. It also gives a first feeling for restoration work on old paintings in a playful way. It is meant for everyone between six and twelve years (free entrance for all under the age of 18), but it is also exciting for the rest of the family. (© photo: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Foto: David von Becker)

If you care about the creation of art, the 5th comic marathon 24-Stunden-Comic am Wannsee at Literarisches Colloquium Berlin could be your place to be. On Saturday, 19, 8 pm, we are allowed to look over the shoulders of 50 international comic authors and painters and experience how in 24 hours idea, text and pictures for no less than 24 pages of comic literature are being born. The answer to every question of this event seems to be 24 – not 42.

Looking at Berlin´s map from our perspective, Wannsee is just a stone-throw away from lake Grunewaldsee, our next destination. Grunewald Hunting Lodge with its almost 500 years of history is Berlin´s oldest castle building. The works of their Cranach collection convey an impressive image of courtly life during the renaissance era. They are complemented by paintings of other German and Dutch painters of the 16th century as well as portraits of Brandenburg-Prussian rulers from the 16th to the 19th century. And of course, a hunting lodge needs a hunting exhibition, too. No need for hunting your coffee at the romantic café, though.

It is easily possible that some vegetarians will find the idea of a hunting exhibition scary enough to get their Halloween dose – the very endangered pets will think likewise, as we have learnt. Our very tasty cats and dogs cannot accompany us on our next trip, by the way. Those of us who didn´t get frightened at Grunewald Hunting Lodge could get their horror kick at the annual horror nights at Filmpark Babelsberg. From 11 October until 09 November the lovely amusement park for families turns into one of Dante´s circles of hell. An absolute must for horror fans (over 16)!

The cold seasons do have their advantages, too. For example, the theatres aren´t on summer break anymore. Yes! If you haven´t seen “Slippery Slope”, Maxim Gorki Theatre´s musical production, which is known beyond Berlin´s borders, yet: this is the moment! On 12 October we are once again allowed to learn that entertainment, high culture and social discourse don´t contradict themselves in any way. This is what the jury of prestigious Theatertreffen 2022 might have thought when inviting this production for the festival. And don´t worry about not understanding the actors: the show carries English surtitles – as always at Gorki Theatre. 

So, the surprise package Berlin has once again presented us with some fabulous impressions – and hunger. So, home we go! May we say: see you in a bit?