Picture Quiz #4: National Guard
The one Berlin building seen best in wet weather due to its open skylight through which the rain can fall and make patterns on the ground: the former palace guardhouse. Do you know what it’s called nowadays?
Author: finn ballard
Movie Recommendation: The Cakemaker
I heartily recommend the 2017 Berlin-Jerusalem co-production ‘The Cakemaker’ (Ophir Raul Grazier). Without wanting to give away too much, it’s a sensuous powerful love story beyond homosexuality and heterosexuality, beyond national, ethnic and religious borders, which is simply captivating. With amazing performances by Sarah Adler, Tim Kalkhof and my favourite, Zohar Strauss (also seen in Read more about Movie Recommendation: The Cakemaker[…]
Picture Quiz #3: Christmas Edition
Who knows what the new chocolate sculpture at the amazing Rausch store (formerly Fassbender & Rausch store: you’ve definitely been there with me if you’ve done the All-In tour) is of?
Introducing: Karlrobert Kreiten
This month, let’s meet Karlrobert Kreiten, a German-born pianist who held Dutch citizenship. Considered one of the most promising young musicians in Europe in the 1930s, Kreiten made his radio debut at the age of eleven, and would go on to study in Vienna and at the Stern Conservatory (today incorporated into the Berlin University Read more about Introducing: Karlrobert Kreiten[…]
Picture Quiz #2: Holocaust Memorial
Who knows the full name of this Holocaust monument in Berlin Mitte?
Book Recommendation: Stasiland
If you’ve taken a Cold War tour with me, you’ll already have heard this recommendation, but it’s worth repeating that Anna Funder’s ‘Stasiland’ is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the complex and recent history of espionage, mistrust and betrayal in this city. Funder, an Australian journalist based in Berlin and Leipzig in the mid-90s, Read more about Book Recommendation: Stasiland[…]
Picture Quiz #1: Thanksgiving Edition
Good morning from Berlin! Today’s history mystery: by whom was a famous speech given from this building in 1963? Highlight the blank space below to see the answer! And Happy Thanksgiving to my readers in the US! John F Kennedy gave his “ich bin ein Berliner” speech here.
Introducing: Hans Litten
This month’s hero is the lawyer Hans Litten, who represented political dissenters during the Nazi dictatorship. In 1931, Litten subpoeanaed Adolf Hitler as a witness in a trial of a group of right-wing thugs. For three hours, Litten rigorously questioned Hitler on the legality of the National Socialist Party and on its violent practices, leaving Read more about Introducing: Hans Litten[…]
Lady Ampelmann
Former East Germany’s famous Ampelmann (pedestrian traffic lights figure) can be seen in its feminine counterpart in Dresden!
Book Recommendation: Travellers in the Third Reich
This month’s book is the lengthy but utterly gripping “Travellers in the Third Reich” (2017) by Julia Boyd, a chronicle of experiences of visitors (including Charlie Chaplin and Lloyd George) to Nazi Germany. This marvellous read speaks for itself – I’ll say little more than that those of you who have travelled to Berlin to Read more about Book Recommendation: Travellers in the Third Reich[…]