1 - Lange Nacht der Museen

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Berlin turnS 775
Excavations from one of Berlin’s oldest churches at Petriplatz, photograph: Claudia Maria Melisch
Forever Young
This autumn Berlin is celebrating its 775th. Not
much in comparison to places like Augsburg, Trier
or Cologne – but nonetheless! Founded at a key trade
connection at a good crossing over the Spree river
– today’s Mühlendamm bridge – Berlin has been
drawing people in from all over the world for eight
hundred years: traders and craftsmen, monks and
adventurers, refugees, the unemployed and the
simply curious. All of these people make the city
into the modern metropolis that today’s Berliners –
wherever they might have come from – are so proud
of. This is going to be celebrated with a big party on
the 28th October! As twilight falls, French fire-poe-
ts »Carabosse« will showcase the city’s historic
centre and street theatre group »Titanick« will create
a world full of wonders, oddities and surprises.
A comprehensive programme of tours and events
will focus on architectural monuments and familiarise
visitors with medieval craftsmanship, art and music.
Three open air exhibitions dedicated to the jubilee
will be opened on the Long Night of the Museums.
tHe MiDDle AgeS Are AMongSt uS
No-one expects Berlin to have authentic medieval
flair, yet there is an amazing amount to discover if
you have a guide to show you where. For the jubilee
you are invited to take a fascinating journey through
Grunerstraße today lies 2m over the medieval Handelsstraße, photograph: Sergej Horovitz
time at the authentic birthplaces of the city. The
Middle Ages were not nearly so dark and dreary as
they are often depicted. It was a period of invention
and adventure – merchants from far away settled in
Berlin, traders brought wares from across the
world, builders and craftsmen came to the newly
founded town. Excavations in recent years have uncovered
many articles from the Middle Ages: everyday
items, graves, foundations of houses, churches
and schools. Eight exhibition towers, placed around
the Mühlendamm and along the Grunerstraße and
Gertraudenstraße, have displays on the period of
the foundation of Berlin and Cölln. The exhibition project
»Traces of the Middle Ages«, which also features
500 location markers around the medieval town centre,
assembles pieces of a puzzle made up excavation
sites, historical sources and preserved documents
to form the most complete and animated
picture possible of the twin towns in the medieval
period. A comprehensive programme of tours and
events focuses on architectural monuments and
seeks to familiarise visitors with medieval craftsmanship,
art and music (see also Klosterruine, p. 116).
get to KnoW Berlin
Berlin’s growth, dymanism and vitality have for centuries
been founded on the impulse of migration
and cultural exchange. As part of the open-air exhi-
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