Each year the Jewish cultural festival presents a diverse potpourri of theatrical performances, readings, discussions, exhibitions, church services, and concerts featuring outstanding performers from around the world. This year’s theme is „Shalom Berlin“. Please find the program here.
When? November 7 - November 17, 2019 Where? Synagoge Rykestraße, Renaussance Theater, Jüdisches Gemeindehaus Fasanenstraße and more Admission: depends on the venue
In Berlin, you can find history on every corner. On the Museum Island you can feel the 19th century of the imperial era, at Alexanderplatz you can take yourself back to the time of the GDR and at the Brandenburg Gate, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the German reunification come alive. Throughout the city, bullet holes in buildings and Stolpersteine on the sidewalks remind us of the atrocities of World War II. Even in times of social distancing and lockdowns, these online resources help you to experience the past of Germany’s capital.
The Berlin History App was developed by the City Museum Berlin and offers various participatory tools to discover Berlin’s fascinating historical heritage. It serves as a virtual museum by letting you browse through before-and-after-images, old maps, videos, audio-tours, interviews as well as the special online exhibition “Berlin 1945”… you can easily spend hours on this app!
Berlin 1928 und heute / Berlin aus der Luft 1953 und heute:
Two of Berlin’s daily newspapers, the Tagesspiegel and the Berliner Morgenpost, have developed two interactive maps that let you discover what the city used to look like in 1928 and 1953. Looking back almost 100 years, many parts of Berlin looked entirely different and can hardly be recognized nowadays. Also in 1953, areas that are now home to and high-towering skyscrapers and lively neighborhoods lay completely barren marked by the war just years before. Take the virtual tour and be amazed by how much the city has changed!
Pastvu is an online photo database of historical photographs from around the world. For Berlin alone, there are thousands of photos from the last centuries to discover – all marked on a map with the exact location and sorted by color and era. You want to see how the Berlin Palace looked like 100 years ago or which buildings used to stand at Checkpoint Charlie? With Pastvu you can take a little trip back in time and not only check out what important Berlin monuments looked like in the past but also what everyday life on the streets felt like.
Deutsches Historisches Museum:
Germany’s national history museum, the Deutsches Historisches Museum, has digitized many of its exhibitions – completely free and accessible to all. Browse through some of the museum’s recent exhibitions, such as “Koloniale Geschichte(n)” about Germany’s colonies or “Facing Beethoven“ about portraits of one of Germany’s most famous musicians.
Berlin Science Week is a 10-day international festival. Based in Berlin, Science Week is the global platform for dialogue and collaboration between science and society to inspire a deeper understanding of the world. Some topics are future of digital identity, medicine or work, food security, the relationship between humans and machines, the politics of inequality, art and science, or climate change economics. This and more will be discussed in over 130 events across the city.
When? November 1 - November 10, 2019
Where? At participating institutions all over Berlin, Central hub is the Museum für Naturkunde, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin.
Admission:free
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Going Local Berlin – is an unconventional travel guide. 700 personal tips for Berlins 12 boroughs. The app includes personal Berlin tips for „Hidden Places“; „Must-Sees“ and „Food & Drink“ as well as annual event highlights. |   |
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BVG FahrInfo Plus – is a free app that covers all public transportation in Berlin and helps you to easily navigate your way through the city. | |
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The Berlin Wall – is an interactive map that shows the exact location of the Wall. Photos, audio clips and texts about the respective site are stored at historically important locations between Brandenburger Tor and Potsdamer Platz. | |
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Splitwise – is a free tool to track bills and other shared expenses, so that everyone gets paid back. Perfect for friends travelling together. |
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Happycow – is a worldwide restaurant finder for vegetarian and vegan restaurants. | |
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Komoot – Hike &Bike GPS Maps- is an app that provides you with offline maps, turn-by-turn navigation and recommendations on hikes, cycling routes and mountain bike trails. | |
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Street Art Berlin – displays 25 walls to help you discover giant paintings, wonderful cut-outs and lovely stencils. This guide will take you right to the hotspots of the Berlin Street Art. | |
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Berlin History Guide – is an interactive city guide directed by the GPS in your smartphone. | |
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Kamino – is the perfect app for those of you who love to walk and explore the city without public transport. It offers walking tours created by travel experts and locals – stops for shopping and enjoying yummy food is guaranteed. | |
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DB navigator App – is a convenient app by Deutsche Bahn (the German railway service) that makes plannung your weekend get-aways a little easier.
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The Jewish Cemetery in Berlin-Weißensee was set up in 1880 by Berlin’s Jewish community. It covers around 42 hectars and thereby is the biggest Jewish cemetery in Europe that is still in good condition. Since the 1970’s it is under preservation orders.
If you have a sunny afternoon to spare this is a nice place for taking a walk (it can also be very pretty during the winter months, provided that there is snow). Although you obvisouly will be wandering a graveyard, I wouldn’t classify this as a very sad place; you are rather hit by a mystical and even kind of joyful (if you can call a graveyard joyful) tranquility. Big trees portrude from the grounds and create an enchanted atmosphere for the cemetery’s visitors.
Where? Herbert-Baum-Straße 45, 13088 Berlin Weißensee
Opening Hours: Monday-Thursday 7:30am - 5pm, Friday 7:30am - 2:30pm, Sunday 8am-4pm, closed on Saturdays and Jewish public holidays.
Watch the trailer for the documentary about the cemetery here.
Berlin is not only great, because of its bustling city center, but there are also numerous scenic day trip options, many only a short S-Bahn journey away.
What about starting your exploration of Berlin’s surrounding area at the royal grounds of Schloss Glienicke, for example? Standing on the castle’s premises, you might feel a bit as if you were transported into an Italian movie set. And not without reason – in 1823, when Prince Carl von Preußen returned from his trip to Italy, he was fascinated by the Italian culture and architecture and therefore fulfilled his dream of an Italian replica of the buildings that he had seen in Italy. The castle with its mediterranean character became his summer home. What remains today is the castle, a „casino“, an orangerie, a big lion fountain and the royal garden.
Once you’re done strolling around the royal premises and you still feel like walking, you can take the path close by that leads you along the Havel up to the Pfaueninsel and the Wannsee. For some food and refreshments, you might like to take a little pit stop at the restaurant „Wirtshaus Moorlake“ which is situated along the way.
Where? Schloss Glienicke, Königstraße 36, 14109 Berlin (you can take the S-Bahn to "Wannsee" and then continue with the bus 316 for a 12 minute ride to "Schloss Glienicke"). Opening Hours: The premises can be visited all year round. If you also like to see the inside of the castle, opening hours are as follows: January - February: Closed March: Open Saturday-Sunday, 10am-4pm April - October: Open Tuesday - Sunday 10am-5:30pm November - December: Open Saturday-Sunday, 10am-4pm Admission: 6€ (5€ reduced) for the castle
The Museumsinsel (Museum Island) right at Hackescher Markt in Berlin Mitte is the perfect place for all museum enthusiasts visiting Berlin (or for those who simply want to cram as many museums into one day as possible, whatever floats your boat). The first addition to the island was the Altes Museum in 1830. Soon thereafter more and more museums were added to the island. Today, it encompasses six buildings (Altes Museum (Old Museum), Neues Museum (New Museum), Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), Bode Museum, Pergamonmuseum, and the James-Simon-Galerie), with art that displays six thousand years of history, ranging from the Ancient Egyptians to European art of the 19th century. Due to its incredible number of famous collections, as well as its unique architecture, the Museumsinsel was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1999. Partially because of this, combined with the need for restoration of the museum buildings after the Second World War, the island has been in the process of being reconstructed since the turn of the century. While the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Bode Museum, and the Neues Museum have already been through the process, the Pergamonmuseum is currently being renovated, though visitors can still access parts of the museum in the meantime.
If you’re really into museums, and your legs don’t hurt yet after hours of exploring and admiring everything the island has to offer, you can find many more museums close to it such as the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German historical museum), the Designpanoptikum (small, unique museum for industrial objects), or the Hanfmuseum (Hemp museum).
Additionally, next to hosting museums, this little island and its surrounding area are a popular meeting place for people when the weather is nice . So after a long, fun, art-filled day, you can walk across the bridge leading from the island and sit in Monbijoupark right by the Spree, listen to the street musicians that frequent this popular spot, or go to one of the several bars along the river to have a drink (or just buy a Späti beer) and people-watch.
Where? Bodestr. 3, 10178 Berlin (S Hackescher Markt, U Klosterstraße) Opening Hours: Monday: closed Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: 10AM – 6PM Thursday: 10AM – 8PM Admission: free with your Museum Pass!
One of our favorite spots in Berlin is Tempelhofer Feld, a former airport that has been transformed into a green recreational area, where Berliners come together to do sports, have a picnic, go for a walk or enjoy amazing sunsets. Additionally, it provides space for up to 7000 migrants and has become one of Germany’s largest refugee camps.
As winter is approaching, obviously, it is too chilly to lie in the grass, but this doesn’t mean that the Feld should be ignored during the winter months. Here are some activities that are definitely winterproof.
1) As long as the Feld is not fully covered in snow, you can still do sports: go for a run (there are special markings on the ground for runners and skaters to train), play basketball, soccer or table tennis.
2) Fly a kite (winds can get quite strong).
3) Speaking of wind: be adventurous and book a kiteboarding lesson.
4) Put on a warm hat, rent a longboard and head down the former airport’s runway (straight into the sunset).
5) …whilst on the topic: dress warmly and watch the suns
et.
6) Enjoy wildlife: Tempelhofer Feld is quite the bird sanctuary and 2 nature reservation areas have been created to help wildlife.
6) Book a guided tour and explore the area’s rich history: Tempelhof Airport is one of only two Nazi-built buildings to survive in Berlin (the second is Olympiastadion).
7) Get informed about the Feld’s refugee camp.
Where? Main entrance Tempelhofer Damm/S,U-Bahn Tempelhof, side entrance Tempelhofer Damm/U-Bahn Paradestraße; main entrance Clumbiadamm/Lilienthalstraße, side entrance Columbiadamm/Golßenstraße; main entrance Oderstraße/Herrfurthstraße, 5 more side entrances at Oderstraße Opening Hours: January and December: 7:30am - 5pm February and November: 7am - 6pm March: 6am - 7pm April and September: 6am - 8:30pm May and August: 6am - 9:30pm June and July: 6am - 10:30pm October: 7am - 7pm [After closing hours the park can be exited via revolving doors at the main entrances].