Berlin from below - Emerald Incentives

46 WHAT TO SEE
Wild Biopolis Berlin
Berlin’s Alexanderplatz square is a breeding territory
for peregrine falcons, while bats have made their home
in the city’s waterworks. Whether it is sounders of wild
boar in front gardens, foxes on building sites or bee hives
buzzing on the roofs of central Berlin, the German capital
truly deserves the title of Biopolis. In cooperation with
nature photographer Florian Möllers, the Museum für
Naturkunde presents the special exhibition “Biopolis
– Wild Berlin”, showing the wild side of the capital and
merging the notions of biodiversity and metropolis.
Museum für Naturkunde (Natural History
Museum) F-2, Invalidenstr. 43.QOpen 09:30 - 18:00,
Sat, Sun 10:00 - 18:00. Closed Mon. Admission €6/€3.50.
Bauhaus Archiv D-4, Klingelhöferstr. 14, Tiergarten,
MNollendorfplatz, tel. (+49)30 254 00 20, www.
bauhaus.de. Sick of centuries of decorative design, a group
of young architects in Dessau under Walter Gropius started
the Bauhaus movement, believing firmly that by bringing
design (and foremostly the architecture and furnishing of
homes) back to the basics would improve life. The group was
joined by big names such as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky,
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and was influenced by Piet
Mondriaan and Marc Chagall. Bauhaus’ top years were in the
late 1920s. Soon after, Nazi politics put an end to the liberties
of the group, which was branded ‘culturally bolshevistic’ and
it was forced to move to Berlin. Many members emigrated to
the USA before the war broke out, and work was continued
there. This museum holds a large room with examples of
Bauhaus interiors, models of buildings and a collection of
original furniture, including Marcel Breuer’s famous 1926
steel tube chair. Bauhaus’ influence on everyday design is
immense - after a visit here, you’ll start noticing it everywhere.
QOpen 10:00 - 17:00. Closed Tue. Admission Wed-Fri €6/3,
Sat-Mon €7/4 (including audio guide in German, English,
French, Italian or Spanish).
Berlinische Galerie G-4, Alte Jakobstr. 124-128,
Kreuzberg, MHallesches Tor, tel. (+49)30 78 90
26 00, www.berlinischegalerie.de. This museum for
modern art, photography, architecture, and artist archives
concentrates 120 years worth of creativity forged in Berlin.
Artists represent the Secession, Expressionist, Dada, New
Objectivity movements, and those representing divided
Berlin. Giants of German art include Heinrich Zille, Otto Dix,
George Grosz, Hannah Höch and Wolf Vostell. A much-needed
addition to the museum scene. QOpen 10:00 - 18:00. Closed
Tue. Admission €6/3. Every 1st Monday of the month: €2.
Bröhan Museum B-3, Schloßstr. 1a, Charlottenburg,
MSophie-Charlotte-Pl., tel. (+49)30 32 69 06 00, www.
broehan-museum.de. A stellar collection of art deco, art
nouveau, and art and craft design awakens post-modern
sensibilities, blunted by so much IKEA and minimalism, to
craftsmanship, whimsy and indulgent beauty. In addition to
the permanent collection (spanning 1889-1939) of porcelain,
lamps, vases, and furnishings, are paintings, including those by
Peter Behrens and Bruno Paul, as well as special exhibitions.
QOpen 10:00 - 18:00. Closed Mon. Admission €5/4.
Dalí - The Exhibition at Potsdamer Platz F-4,
Leipziger Platz 7, MPotsdamer Platz, tel. (+49) 18 05 10
33 23, www.daliberlin.de. The master of surreal, Salvador
Dalí, left a rich heritage of amazing artworks when he went to
molten-watch land himself, and now over 450 exhibits can be
viewed at this permanent exhibition near Postdamer Platz. See
true genius and craftsmanship in the many paintings, sketches,
books, films, objects, and documents that are on show here.
QOpen 12:00 - 20:00, Sun 10:00 - 20:00. Admission €11/9.
DDR Museum G-3, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 1, Mitte, tel.
+49 30 847 12 37 30, www.ddr-museum.de. Rather than
concentrating on the Wall, state terror and other dark aspects
of the East German regime, the DDR Museum presents a
glimpse of daily life under totalitarianism. A wide selection
of DDR-era objects is on display in several themed areas,
including media, fashion, education, work, family, house life
and shopping. It’s a hands-on museum, and you can hang on
the couch, feel the clothes and sit in a Trabant to feel what
your life would have been like had you been born on this
side of the Wall. Find the museum down the steps beside
the DomAquarée building, near Liebknechtbrücke bridge.
QOpen 10:00 - 20:00, Sat 10:00 - 22:00. Admission €6/4.
Guided tours available if booked at least a few hours ahead.
Berlin In Your Pocket berlin.inyourpocket.com
Deutsche Guggenheim F-3, Unter den Linden 13-15,
Mitte, MFranzösische Str., tel. (+49)30 202 09 30,
www.deutsche-guggenheim-berlin.de. Distancing itself
as far as possible from the conservative financial image,
Deutsche Bank in a unique joint venture with the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Foundation hosts world renowned contemporary
artists in solo shows in this exhibition space designed by
Richard Gluckman. Four annual art exhibitions span classic
modernism to contemporary works. QOpen 10:00 - 20:00,
Thu 10:00 - 22:00. Admission €4/3, free Mon. Free guided
tours at 18:00.
Deutsches Currywurst Museum Berlin F-4,
Schützenstr 70, MStadtmitte, tel. +49 30 88
71 86 47, info@currywurstmuseum.com, www.
currywurstmuseum.com. According to the myth,
currywurst is Berlin’s very own fast-food creation. A
spicy sausage snack that first became popular in the
late 1940s, these days currywurst can be found at train
stations and street corners all across the city. This quirky
and fascinating museum explains the colourful history of
this culinary creation in both English and German. It also
has a neat shop for all your sausage accessories - and
there’s delicious currywurst available inside, of course!
QOpen 10:00 - 22:00. Last admission 20:00. Regular
opening hours may change in case of special events.
Admission €11/8,50.
Deutsches Historisches Museum F-3, Unter den
Linden 2, Mitte, MHackescher Markt, tel. (+49)30 20
30 40, www.dhm.de. Who’d have thought to look for a
Prussian war chest in this early 18th-century building sitting
pretty-in-pink by the Spree? This former arsenal houses the
German History Museum, with its dazzling extension designed
by architect I.M. Pei. QOpen 10:00 - 18:00, Fri 10:00 - 21:00.
Admission €5.
Gemäldegalerie E-4, Matthäikirchpl. 8,
Tiergarten, MPotsdamer Pl., tel. (+49)30 266
29 51, www.museen-berlin.de. Berlin’s largest
art museum has 72 rooms full of works spanning
the 13th to 18th centuries. German masters include
Dürer, Cranach the Elder, and Holbein. The Italian
works of Botticelli, Titian, Raphael and others are
from the 13th to 16th century, those of the Dutch
from the 15th and 16th centuries. The Rembrandt
collection, one of the world’s largest, has 16 works.
QOpen 10:00 - 18:00, Thu 10:00 - 22:00. Closed
Mon. Admission €8/€4.
German Technology Museum (Deutsches
Technikmuseum) F-4, Trebbiner Str. 9, MGleisdreieck,
tel. (+49)30 90 25 40, www.dtmb.de. Unmistakably
recognisable by the Douglas C-47 plane suspended above
the aeronautics building, this is a huge complex set in
and around an old freight station rail depot, with technical
exhibitions and a park with a Dutch windmill and a brewery.
The Spectrum science centre is closed for renovations in
2012. QOpen 09:00 - 17:30, Sat, Sun 10:00 - 18:00. Closed
Mon. Admission €4.50/2.50.
Hamburger Bahnhof E-2, Invalidenstr. 50-51,
Tiergarten, MLehrter Bahnhof, tel. (+49)30 39 78 34
12, www.hamburgerbahnhof.de. If trains still stopped
in this converted station, now a modern art museum, it
surely would have more visitors. But those curious about
the expressiveness of a sculpture made of animal tallow
(Joseph Beuys) or urban dwellers fixated by bars of neon
lighting (Dan Flavin) should make the effort to get here.
Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp are the other familiar
berlin.inyourpocket.com
28|1|2012
WHAT TO SEE
The ticket sale starts on December 23rd at all main
ticket offices and online at: museumsportal-berlin.de
lange-nacht-der-museen.de
stars of this post-1960s collection. QOpen 10:00 - 18:00,
Sat 11:00 - 20:00, Sun 11:00 - 18:00. Closed Mon.
Admission €8/4.
Jewish Museum F-4, Lindenstr. 9-14, Kreuzberg,
MHallesches Tor, tel. (+49)30 25 99 33 00, www.
jmberlin.de. The famous zinc-plated fortress designed by
Daniel Libeskind contains a moving perspective on the many
ways in which German life and Jewish history are intricately
interwoven. The interior contains dark ‘voids’ for contemplation,
but the exhibits cover much more than the Holocaust chapter
of Jewish history in Germany. All texts are also in English.
QOpen 10:00 - 20:00, Mon 10:00 - 22:00. Admission €5/2.50,
changing exhibitions €4/2; combined ticket €7/3.50.
Kennedy Museum F-3, Pariser Platz 4a, Mitte, MUnter
den Linden, tel. (+49)30 20 65 35 70, www.thekennedys.
de. On 26 June 1963, US President John F. Kennedy visited
Berlin. He peered over the Wall at Brandenburger Tor, and,
impressed after looking totalitarianism in the eyes, scribbled
some last-minute amendments to his famous speech.
This note with the phonetically spelled words Ish bin ein
Bearliener is now on display, together with the suitcase
he held when he was shot in Texas a few months later, and
hundreds of photos documenting the Kennedy family’s
history. QOpen 10:00 - 18:00. Admission €7/3,50.
Märkisches Museum (City Museum) G-3, Am
Köllnischen Park 5, MMärkisches Museum, tel. (+49)30
24 00 21 62, www.stadtmuseum.de. Berlin’s city museum
is set in an impressive purpose-built complex emulating local
architectural styles and donned with a brick tower. Inside, Berlin’s
cultural history with exhibitions about diverse aspects of life in
the city is displayed in 50 rooms. QOpen 10:00 - 18:00, Wed
12:00 - 20:00. Closed Mon. Admission €4/2, Wed free.
December 2011 - January 2012
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