Summer Berlin

Summer is on its way and we already had a lot of nice sunny days in Berlin this year!
As we would like to inform you an all the things you could and should do and see in Berlin,
now it feels like the right time to start presenting some really cool swimming pools, parks
and other open air activities.
Here is our hot time summer in the city TOP 5:
1. Cool down at the Badeschiff
this is our absolute favorite outdoor swimmingpool in Berlin! Here all the hipsters go, and
you should go there too. The Badeschiff is something unique, you won´t find anywhere
else in Europe. It is a former cargo ship turned into a swimming pool. The ship lies on the
river Spree, so while swimming you are really floating on the Spree. It is a cool meeting
point, cause not only you can swim here, there is also a bar und a beach-like sunning
area. At night there are also very often parties and dj`s.
It is also an oasis for personal welbeing, you can book massages and yoga too.
Here is the link to their website for further information and directions; Das Badeschiff Berlin

2. Park Tiergarten
this is the park where you should go to when the city gets too hot. After visiting all major
sights in the city centre you can easily walk from Brandenburg Gate to this big innercity
oasis! This park has a lot of big old trees, so there is plenty of shade, all the locals go here
for a picnic or to do some sport excersises. You might also witness a class of art students
trying to catch the beautiful sceneries the parc offers.
Since it is such a big park you can also take a bike and cylce your way through it!
3. Open Air Cinema
the open air cinema season has started again!!It is such a joy to watch a film outside in the open air. You can bring your own picnic-basket and drinks.
One of my favorits is the one at volkspark Friedrischhain. When you are here you totally
forget that you are in the big metropolis Berlin.
Make sure to be there on time, there might be quite a que!
Here is a link to the website: open air cinema berlin

4. Summer time is ice cream time
you can find ice cream shops on almost every corner in Prenzlauer berg.
Some of our favorites are: kleine eiszeit, kauf dich glücklich and cuffaro.

5. Go to Kreuzberg!
The gorgeous Viktoriapark is fantastic for a late afternoon walk. From the plateau you
have a fantastic view over kreuzberg. A lot of people come here to relax and chat with
friends over a beer. After checking out the park you can try the delecious vegetarian food at
the Seerose restaurant. You will find a lot of nice bars over at Bergmannstrasse. Enjoy a
hot summer night in Kreuzberg!

for an affordable place to sleep in Berlin check out the EastSeven Hostel in Prenzlauer Berg. Hope to see you all soon!

Berlin Wall Documentation Centre

The EastSeven Berlin Hostel listed up some cool and interesting activities in Berlin!

We want to keep our guests informed about what is cool and cheap to see and do in Berlin. Some of our favorite low cost activities & events in Berlin are listed down below. In case you want to have more tips and recommendations just book a hostel in Berlin @ EastSeven and ask our knowledgeable staff.

1. Berlin Wall documentation center
this documentation center, completely free of charge, is located at the Bernauer Strasse.
It is really closeby our hostel, it is approximately a 10 minute walk. You can ask us at the reception for directions.
At this documentation center they have  a Tower you can climb up, you should have a look, because  from above you have a clearer view over the Berlin wall (small piece maintained) and the death stripe.
Learn more about Berlins History by paying a visit to this informative museum.

2. Kulturbrauerei
This huge complex of night-time hangouts originally housed Berlins Schultheiss brewery for more than 150 years. By night the Culture Brewery turns into a popular meeting point for determined drinkers, eager to explore the buildings wealth of bars, clubs, cafes and restaurants, or just hang out in the huge courtyard.
3. Dr. pong
the table tennis bar in Berlin. don´t think it is a sports bar  because it ain´t. A lot of youngsters meet here to get together! There is nothing more fun than playing table tennis with over 20 people at once! Beside that there are dj´s playing great electronic music! It is a great hangout!
4.  You enjoy drinking a glass of fine wine? Go to the Weinerei!
great cozy place, it´s mainly students you will find here. getting together to drink really
great wine and philosophize in a relaxed living room-feel atmosphere.
The concept of the Weinerei is quite unique. You ´buy´ a glass, for one euro, and then you
can fill and refill it as often as you like. Also there are little snacks the accompany the
wine. when you leave you can pay whatever you think it was worth.
Don´t go here too late, when the wine is out, it’s over and out!!
Location: Fehrbelliner Straße 57
5. White Trash Fast Food
This is  a famous and legendary rock club. The name already implies it; they also have a fast food restaurant.
Serving the most delicious burgers & fries I have ever had. I can recommend their vegetarian burgers too!
What else to expect at the White Trash, great live music & a great Rock´N´Roll atmosphere!!

6. Organic Market @ Kollwitzplatz
This is how you can spend your Saturday like all the locals living in Prenzlauer Berg. Strawling over the market, buying some things to eat, drinking some coffee or even champagne. At this market, everything is possible! You can even buy clothes and jewelry here, also there are often musicians standing at the ends of the market, playing their songs!! Always a great atmosphere here!!
7.Mauerpark Fleamarket
if you are staying over the weekend you absolutely can´t miss out on the Mauerpark
fleamarket. Held every Sunday from 7 till 16 it is the place where hip & young Berlin and
Berlin-visitors get together. Not only looking for bargains, also it is a social happening where
friends meet over a bratwurst, or watching one of the many spontaneous concerts from
musicians coming from all over the globe.

8.THE BERLIN-HOHENSCHöNHAUSEN STASI MEMORIAL OLD STASI PRISON
The site of the main remand prison for people detained by the former East German Ministry of State Security (MfS), or ‘Stasi’, has been a Memorial since 1994. Since the vast majority of the buildings, equipment and furniture and fittings have survived intact, the Memorial provides a very authentic picture of prison conditions in the GDR and gives another view of the divided Berlin.
Tours of the prison are usually led by former inmates, who provide first-hand details on prison conditions and the interrogation methods employed by the GDR’s Ministry of State Security (MfS).
It is only possible to view the extensive prison complex on a official guided tour as Visitors require detailed guidance in order to understand the various sections of the prison.
Public tours every Saturday and Sunday, every hour from 10am to 4pm in various languages, but better call ahead to ask at what time it is in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Danish or Norwegian…
Phone Visitor’s Service: Phone: +49 – (0)30 – 98 60 82-30
Admission:
Regular fee 5,00 Euro, concessions*) 2,50 Euro, Students 1,00 Euro
*) university students, senior citizens, handicapped persons, Berlincard-holder
How to get there:
Take the Metro U2 from the Hostel and go 2 Stops to Alexanderplatz. From here you take the Tram M5 to the stop “Freienwalder Strasse”. The Memorial is then about a 10 minute walk down Freienwalder Strasse in Genslerstraße 66.

9.  SACHSENHAUSEN MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM

When visiting Berlin, you should visit some historical sites aswell. for instance the sachsenhausen concentration camp. It’ s not going to be a fun trip, but you will learn so much more about the terrible second world war and its victims.
Opening Hours
15 March until 14 October: daily 8:30 – 18.00
15 October until 14 March: daily 8:30 – 16:30
Entry is for free.

10. Viktoriapark Kreuzberg
Viktoriapark is one of Berlin’s oldest and prettiest parks and offers a great view from the top of Kreuzberg. Have a delicious and cheap vegetarian lunch at Seerose (Mehringdamm 47) and then have a coffee or some ice cream at one of the plenty cafes in Bergmannstraße. Kreuzberg/Viktoriapark @ U-Mehringdamm.

Have fun exploring Berlin without spending too much money!! Hope to welcome you soon!!!

ITB Berlin

Staying in Berlin during this time? Then pay a visit to the ITB Travel Trade Show.
At the ITB you will find information on everything that has to do with traveling. You name it they have got it. From information on  accommodation in Berlin or elsewhere to tour operators, from popular destinations to new booking-systems.
The promoters at the ITB will show you how travelers can make the most out of their vacation. It offers visitors to tour the world in only a couple of hours. If you don´t have any holiday plans yet, visit the trade show and plan your perfect holiday here and now.
Why pay a visit to the ITB? There are hundreds of reasons for visiting this world leading travel show, really! For instance it provides unique opportunities to benefit from the outstanding leading think tank of global tourism and of course it can provide you with business ideas or individual holiday plans!
The ITB is the place to be for trade-visitors. It offers a terrific opportunity for business people to meet business partners and to do business as well. This is the time and the place to learn about new trends, explore new concepts and cooperation possibilities. See how other business partners present their businesses, and get inspired!
But beside this, the ITB gives the visitor an unique chance to explore and discover the world within a couple of hours. How good is that! It will help you prepare your holiday in a perfect way!
The ITB has more than 170000 visitors, including 108000 trade visitors and over 10000 exhibitors from 180 different countries! Exhibitor sales of about 6 billion Euros and an exhibitor satisfaction rate of 92 percent are evidence enough that supply and demand meet at the right place. ITB is the leading B2B Platform of all tourism industry offers.
At the ITB there is a separated hall reserved solely for the following subcategories of traveling:  Youth travel, Ecotourism, Adventure travel, economy accommodation and travel for disabled people.

Now you can imagine how big this trade show is! There is so much to see and learn. Luckily the exhibition area is clearly structured, divided into geographical aspects and market segments. The Messe Berlin is a well experienced exhibition ground, and therefore everything is organized in a professional way. But if you want to prepare yourself before going, maybe you want to check out a map of the exhibition ground, and also find more detailed information on the ITB 2012 just have a look at their website: KLICK HERE.
Other things you will find at the ITB are for instance: Training and Employment in Tourism, wellness, Travel technology, culture tourism and wellness.

Opening hours for Trade Visitors daily from 10am till 6pm. A one day pass costs 36€, but if oyu buy the day pass online in advance you will save a little money, it presell it costs 30€.
We wish you a lot of fun at the ITB! If you need help with how to get there just come ask us at the EastSeven Berlin Hostel reception!!

Here is a top 10 of great events and parties for this weekend!

Events in Berlin

1. Finest Friday at Berghain/Panorama Bar

Party starts at midnight, open end! Where? At Berlins coolest CLUB:  Berghain

You ll find Berghain at the following address. 70 Am Wriezener Bahnhof; Friedrichshain; 10243 Berlin
For tonight´s party the damage is  8 Euro.

Here we will present to you the line up:
Panormabar – Finest Friday
Floating Points (Eglo), Red D & San Soda (We play house), Steven Tang (Emphasis), Prosumer (Ostgut Ton)

2. Saturday the 25th of February, party time at PANKE CLUB
HOT SOURCE @ Panke together with Fil video installation
with Sneaky, Benski, Tres & Rokin

Come join us for our joyful reunion throwdown.

Full Source Force in effect!

Cheeky Berlin residents Sneaky and Benski are joined by Hot Source OG members Tres and Rokin who are flying in from Barcelona and Cologne. Both will be armed with their tastiest selections du jour! and all 4 primed for deep dancefloor devastation!

So…..what’s on the menu for the evening?…….Simply, no holds barred, life affirming music for your mind and body. Nu-Skool to Old-Skool.

“Hot Source joins the preverbial dots with impeccable style”
Marge Simpson

AND……….. you can even wig out to the sounds (ninja style) in the backroom with Glow in the dark table tennis!

Doors open: 23.30
Location: Panke, Gerichtstraße 23, Wedding, 13347 Berlin

(Text: Panke Club)
3. Saturday the 25th of February: RECYCLE – Berlin’s finest Drum’n'Bass: HOSPITAL

@ Gretchen Club

The party starts at 23.30, you find Gretchen Club here: Obentrautstr. 19-21, Kreuzberg

BOX1
Netsky (Hospital/BE), Logistics (Hospital/UK), Nu:Tone (Hospital/UK), N’Dee (Recycle/D), MC Mace (Recycle/D)
White MC (Recycle/D)
BOX2
“Sunny Side Up” with André Langenfeld (D)

4. Exhibition @ C/O Berlin–> Ron Galella . Paparazzo Extraordinaire

Last call, exhibition is till 26 February 2012

“If someone says ‘no photos!’ then I try not to take any more. However, before he says that I take as many as I can. That’s the game”. Ron Galella

A paparazzo hunt is cunning, harsh and frequently ends painfully. In the worst case bloodily—including broken jaws and lost teeth. For Ron Galella and his undercover activities, no effort or risk was too great. He proceeded like a detective in order to catch the celebrities in the right moment, patient, persistent, shifty. Whether it was Jacqueline Kennedy, Marlon Brando, Greta Garbo, Andy Warhol, Sean Penn, Robert Redford, Muhammad Ali, Madonna, Mick Jagger or Audrey Hepburn—he managed to get them all in front of his lens. His pictures are snapshots rather than portraits. Spontaneous, not staged, and as a result extremely authentic.

On the occasion of the Berlinale, C/O Berlin will show approximately 140 black/white photographs by Ron Galella.

(text: C/O Berlin)

5. Exhibition @ KW Institute for Contemporary Art

“YOU KILLED ME FIRST The Cinema of Transgression  19.02. – 09.04.2012″
Auguststraße 69
D-10117 Berlin

Karen Finley, Tessa Hughes-Freeland, Richard Kern, Lung Leg, Lydia Lunch, Kembra Pfahler, Casandra Stark, Tommy Turner, David Wojnarowicz, Nick Zedd

There will be blood, shame, pain and ecstasy, the likes of which no one has yet imagined.
Nick Zedd

Nightmarish scenarios of violence, dramatic states of mind, and perverse sexual abysses – the films of the Cinema of Transgression that were consciously aimed at shock, provocation, and confrontation, bear witness to an extraordinary radicality. In the 1980s a group of filmmakers from the Lower East Side in New York went on a collision course with the conventions of American society. Transcending all moral or aesthetic boundaries, the low budget films reveal social hardship met with sociopolitical indifference. Sometimes shot with stolen camera equipment, the films contain strident analyses of life in the Lower East Side defined by criminality, brutality, drugs, AIDS, sex, and excess.

Even though the movement has remained largely unknown, the Cinema of Transgression has been a significant influence for later generations of artists.

YOU KILLED ME FIRST at KW Institute of Contemporary Art in Berlin is the first exhibition on the Cinema of Transgression.

Entry only over 18 years

(Text: KW Institute of Contemporary Art)

6. Go out for Dinner, there is a fantastic Vegan Food Restaurant closeby our cozy Hostel in Berlin

It is called KOPPS and is located at the Linienstrasse 94, 10115 Berlin
They serve typical German dishes, but everything is vegan!

7.Berlin Wall documentation center

The Berlin Wall Memorial is the central memorial site of German division, located in the middle of the capital. Situated at the historic site on Bernauer Strasse, it will eventually extend along 1.4 kilometers of the former border strip. The memorial contains the last piece of Berlin Wall with the preserved grounds behind it and is thus able to convey an impression of how the border fortifications developed until the end of the 1980s. The events that took place here together with the preserved historical remnants and traces of border obstacles on display help to make the history of Germany’s division comprehensible to visitors.

(Text: http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/)

8. Dance the night away at the Bassy Club

There is Live music and afterwards there are dj´s! Expect great oldies rock´n´roll ,

wild music from before 1969!

Great thing, this club is just around the corner, at Schönhasuer allee 176A.

9.  Go eat breakfast at Cafe Entweder Oder

it is located within walking distance from EastSeven, at th Oderberger Strasse. The serve great breakfast, lunch and dinner too.

10.  Clueless of what to do during the day? Go on a walking tour!!

The Brewer´s Walking tour arranges pick ups from our hostel twice a day, EVERY day.

So just ask us at the reception and we will give you additional information.

Berlin

Here is our personal Top 5 of things to do in Berlin at the Weekend!

1. Berlinale Festival!

This year it is already the 62nd edition of the Berlinale international Filmfestival. The Festival starts on Wednesday the 9th of February and will go for 10 days.
In these 10 days their will be 395 new films broadcasted, all of this films are world premiers!! And of course a lot of filmstars will visit the German capitol!!

To view the festival programm klick here
For more detailed information klick here.

2.Klubnacht – Blueprinted Berlin at Berghain/Panorama Bar  //Saturday the 11th of February//

The most legendary club in Berlin. Go here for a good night of clubbing!!

Line-up /
Berghain – Blueprinted Berlin
23:59 h – 05:00 h DVS1
05:00 h – 06:00 h O/V/R (live)(Ruskin & Regis)
06:00 h – 09:00 h James Ruskin
09:00 h – 12:00 h Sigha
12:00 h – End Marcel Dettmann

Panorama Bar
23:59 h – 04:00 h Clé
04:00 h – 05:00 h Blondes LIVE
05:00 h – 09:00 h Bok Bok vs Jam City
09:00 h – 12:00 h Thomas Schumacher

Sonntags
12:00 h – 15:00 h Mano Le Tough
15:00 h – 18:30 h Ed Davenport
18:30 h – 22:00 h Oliver Deutschmann
22:00 h – 01:00 h Magda
01:00 h – End Nick Höppner

3. Berlin Underworlds!!! Descend with us …

Tour 1 Galerie

Experience the history of Berlin from an unconventional perspective! Since 1997, the Berlin Underworlds Association has been offering regular tours into some of the most important underground structures in the city. Although the majority of our tours are in or near the Gesundbrunnen station in the north of Berlin, we also offer tours in several other subterranean complexes that are otherwise not publicly accessible.

http://berliner-unterwelten.de

4. Live Music at Bassy Cowboy Club
On Saturday the 17th of February The Mokkers + The Purcells (Garage, Rock’n'Roll, Rockabilly, Postpunk)
DJ (club): Johnny No (50s & 60s mashed potatoes, rockin’ soul, garage-beat, rock’n'roll, rockin’ blues)
DJ (lounge): Mohair Sam (wild rock’n'roll, pounding blues, obscure garage, southern soul, new orleans r’n'b)

The Mokkers sind eine All-Girl-Band aus Berlin. Seit ihrer Gründung im Jahre 2007 spielen sie sich beeinflusst vom Sound der 60er Jahre von der Garage hinauf in die Herzen dieser Stadt. Doch nicht nur Garage, sondern auch andere Genres wie Rockabilly, Blues und Postpunk inspirieren die vier Mädchen. Handgemacht, tanzbar, charmant.

The Purcells:
Going into pop 60’s, psychedelic direction lead by inspired melodies, The Purcells deliver powerful rock’n’roll on any of their appearance and laid down on the vinyl, 9 of their gems, as a Mini-Album dealing with love issues, smell of females, generation gaps, wet dreams, romanticism, hard times, guess games and wonder cats kingdom.

5. Visit the Neue Nationalgalerie
Following Exhibition is on from now till- Late 1. Quarter 2013
Divided Heaven.
1945 – 1968. The Collection. Neue Nationalgalerie

After ‘Modern Times. The Collection 1900-1945′, the second instalment in the showing of the National Gallery’s collection of 20th-century art will go on display in November 2011.

Germany’s ‘economic miracle’ and the building of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Crisis and Vietnam War, Sputnik and Apollo, Kennedy and Mao-stark contrasts, entrenched positions and clear fronts mark the eventful years between 1945 and 1968. Fine art from this period was significantly influenced by the atmosphere of the ‘Cold War’ and the political ideologies connected with it. In art, two major paths essentially separated East and West, the figurative and abstraction. The West held aloft the open structure of abstract or ‘informal’ art as a symbol of freedom. And it was certainly no coincidence that the pop art that followed it arose in the major capitals of the West, where the phenomena of mass production and a rising tide of consumer culture were everywhere to be seen. In the Eastern Block, by contrast, socialist realism became the prevailing trend and a defining basis for all developments in the art that came after it. In all of this, the individual became the point by which all things were measured, artists made the ‘human condition’ the core focus of their work.

Under the title ‘Divided Heaven’ (echoing the novel by Christa Wolf), the New National Gallery introduces us to the key figures from this epoch. In its focus, however, the exhibition deliberately looks beyond barriers, geopolitical and artistic, and concentrates instead on universal artistic ideas, held by both camps at once. At the heart of ‘Divided Heaven’ stand the international disparities: the juxtaposition of styles and art forms, the contemporaneity of the non-contemporaneous.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Sparkassen Finanzgruppe..

 
Enjoy your visit to Berlin! Love from the youth hostel in Berlin, EastSeven!!!

© Vibek Raj Maurya

 Transmediale 2012 in Berlin, from 31/1 till 5/2. When everything fails;

Incompatibility is the condition arising when things are not working together. Given the current worldwide proclamations of crisis, be they political, financial, technological or environmental, it may seem as if incompatible elements and situations are everywhere, that everything is failing. Ironically, it is the supposedly ever-more compatible media-scape, where everything connects, that render such crises instantly visible. This raises the question if connective media and all-present data collection are even complicit in the production of crisis itself? Where do incompatibilities arise and how are they integrated in a world-order built on the paradox that it is predicated on convergence, but is in fact also constantly leading to divergence?

These are among the difficult questions we aim to tackle at transmediale 2012. With the theme in/compatible, the festival probes the productive and destructive sides of incompatibility as a fundamental condition of cultural production. To be in/compatible means to refuse a quick return to business as usual. It means to instead dare an investment in the unusual: aesthetic, ambiguous and nervous expressions of politics and technology that are contingent with the dark sides of network culture.

The too old and the too new are two sides of the same coin: nothing ever works perfectly.

Since years we have heard about the coming “promised land” of convergent technology, culture and economy as proclaimed by new media entrepreneurs, neo-liberal economists and development experts. Instead of a smooth operation, it is increasingly clear that processes of convergence bring about new tensions in everyday life,economy, politics and technology. Tensions and states of crisis are not contradictory to convergence which is instead a process that should be understood as dependent on the production of the incompatible.

“The media age proceeds in jerks, just like Turing’s paper strip,” Friedrich Kittler wrote, and in this he could just as well have been talking about technological development in general where the production of incompatibilities is central to having any development at all.

The simultaneous monumental failure and global ubiquity of technology seems to move us beyond the polarity of utopia and dystopia. Instead we are entering the blurred environments of the unadapted, monstrous and “uncorporated”. The increasingly unclear tension-states between open and closed, freedom and control, idealistic and commercial are giving rise to a new kind of “techno-cultural uneasy”. The in/compatible in this context is a singular moment of transversal reflection. Artists, hackers and tinkerers engage the imperfect nature of technology. They give it a cultural shape, developing a modular reflexivity that responds to the ever-changing social and economical terrains of the networked world.

transmediale 2012 is an in/compatible being, moving not necessarily forward.

More than a failed operation, incompatibilities lie at the heart of the governance of the inherent differences in network culture. This means that the incompatible is not the outside of networks but it is an internal and constant state of disruption which is necessary in order to enable the “open” state of a never completed system. Capitalism evolves according to the principle of “creative destruction”, as Joseph Schumpeter once formulated it. Allowing for incompatibility is central to the capitalist logic of always being “open to business”, the constant integration of new areas of production. But this does not necessarily mean that incompatibility always leads to co-optation. The in/compatible moment produces a gap in capitalist production, a temporary moment of stasis which may be used to reflect on where we are going, if anywhere at all, and on what conditions.

As an in/compatible being, transmediale 2012 highlights projects and cultural phenomena that saviour this stop in the incessant flow of things and posits it as a moment of tension that allows for a redefinition of our initial terms of engagement. The in/compatible being is one that moves with the particular rhythms of this tension, but not necessarily forward. Contrary to the fear of the incompatible, so prevalent in the age of cloud-computing, the festival raises the question of what happens when incompatibility is brought to the fore rather than hidden away in the dark underbelly of digital culture?

image: Photos of e-waste found on Flickr (2009) by Vibek Raj Maurya
© Vibek Raj Maurya

Text: Transmediale.de
Klick here to view the Programm

If you are planning on visiting the Transmediale and still looking for accommodation in Berlin, don´t look any further! We are a nice and clean hostel in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg and we offer a 10% discount for Transmediale Visitors.  In order to get the discount all you need to do is make a booking through our website and at check in mention the code word TRANSMEDIALE!  We are looking forward to welcome you!!

@ EastSeven Lounge

Happy new year to all our friends from all over the world!
A lot of great parties and exhibitions are awaiting us in Berlin in 2012.
We have listed up some of the finest upcoming events. Read on and plan your trip to Berlin!

• The Long Night of the Museums, on January 28th.

On almost 400 square kilometres – between Glienicke Palace, the Museum at the
Waterplant Friedrichshagen and the Museum of Local History Reinickendorf – more
than 100 museums and cultural institutions are giving access to their exhibitions,
collections and art objects throughout the night, enriched by a variety of events.
There will also be concerts, readings, theatricals and much more.

• Transmediale 12. – media art festival,  from January 31st till February 5th

@ haus der kulturen der welt

transmediale is preparing to get in/compatible in 2012. The theme in/compatible probes the artistic imagination that is developed in a network culture where everything seems to connect, but not all fits in or works together. Under this festival theme we will present a diverse international programme: a two-day thematic symposium, a curated exhibition, an extensive video programme and a performance series which includes the legendary Joshua Light Show. Another highlight is the launch of a new project platform, the reSource for transmedial culture, which will present itself through an experimental programme of workshops, open discussions and performative interventions. The occasion of the 25th anniversary of transmediale will be marked by special screenings and panel discussions. On top of all this, we are partnering up with CTM for a festival Vorspiel consisting of partner events spread all over the city in the weekend immediately preceding our opening.

(Text: Transmediale.de)

• Berlinale- 62nd International film festival, from February the 9th till February the 19th

Berlin: an exciting, cosmopolitan cultural hub that never ceases to attract artists from around the world. A diverse cultural scene, a critical public and an audience of film-lovers characterise the city. In the middle of it all, the Berlinale: a great cultural event and one of the most important dates for the international film industry. Around 300,000 sold tickets, more than 19,000 professional visitors from 115 countries, including 4,000 journalists: art, glamour, parties and business are all inseparably linked at the Berlinale.

(text: berlinale.de)

• Exhibition from Ryoji Ikeda @ Hamburger Bahnhof, from January the 28th till April the 9th

Japanese composer and visual artist Ryoji Ikeda has conceived an exhibition for the
Hamburger Bahnhof that, for the first time, compositionally unites the two symmetrical
halls on the upper level of the museum’s east and west wings. The exhibition’s title “db”
(abbr. for decibel) refers to this symmetry while simultaneously indicating the
complementary relationship between the two exhibition spaces.
Ikeda has designed the white room and the black room as counterparts, not only physically
(brightness, color), but also conceptually and perceptually. The project is a composition in
which time and space are shaped through the most minimal use of sound, light and visual
elements. It is the artist’s first solo exhibition in Germany.
Since the mid-1990s, Ryoji Ikeda (born 1966, lives in Paris) has been among the foremost
international composers and artists in the realm of cutting-edge digital technologies and
their integration into visual and acoustic presentations. His works are based on
spatiotemporal compositions in which the musical and visual material is reduced to a
minimum: sine waves, sound pulses, pixels of light and numerical data. He investigates
sound, time and space on the basis of mathematical methods and transforms them in his
concerts and installations into an intense experience for the audience.
The exhibition “db” by Ryoji Ikeda is the latest project in the “Works of Music by Visual
Artists” series, which Freunde Guter Musik Berlin has presented in collaboration with the
Nationalgalerie Berlin since 1999 and, since 2002, also with MaerzMusik, the
contemporary music festival of the Berliner Festspiele.
A project by Freunde Guter Musik Berlin e.V. in collaboration with Nationalgalerie im
Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin and MaerzMusik 2012 |
Berliner Festspiele.
Made possible by funding from Ernst Schering Foundation and
Hauptstadtkulturfonds. With thanks to Gallery Koyanagi, Tokyo.
(Text: HamburgerBahnhof.de)
of cours also a lot of partying in the new year!! you can start for instance this Friday at

• Horstkrzbrg, on January the 6th.

What´s on:

Zeitgeist Sessions feat Kingdom & C.R.S.T at Horst Krzbrg

24 – 7:00H
Horst Krzbrg: Tempelhofer Ufer 1; Kreuzberg; 10961 Berlin

Kingdom, C.R.S.T., Martin Lewis, Mene Axelrod, Ill_K
Zeitgeist Sessions takes its winter refuge at Horst Krzbrg!
For the twelfth day edition we have Kingdom (Night Slugs/Fade to Mind) and C.R.S.T.
(Well Rounded/Ten Thousand Yen) joining us.
As for Kingdom: Night Slugs biggest protégé du jour just entered the XLR8R list for track
of the year twice. After having opened a second branch with the Fade to Mind Sublabel
and the Dreama EP just being released, the stateside resident will be eager to play his
amalgam of R&B, HipHop and Contemporary Dance out on this fine Kirsch Audio
soundsystem Horst provides. Not to mention this is his first impact on Berlin…

http://soundcloud.com/kkingdomm/floetry-say-yes-kingdom-remix

And as for C.R.S.T.: Comming all the way over from the shores of Cardiff/Wales the
DJ-Collective consisting of Chesus, Raj-Clart, St. Rowdy and Tony Blitz will showcase
some of that inspiration that inhabits their productions on Well Rounded or Doc Daneeka’s
Ten Thousand Yen imprint. None other than Zed Bias warmly recommended their DJ-sets
spiced with lots of Future Garage for the new year to come!

http://soundcloud.com/c-r-s-t/c-r-s-t-promo-teaser

They will be accompanied by upcoming artist Martin Lewis who will give you his definition
of bassmusic with a set of own productions and remixes as a late christmas present. Be
curious about his hybrid of Ghetto Funk, Dubstep and House. And check his little teaser
here:

http://soundcloud.com/martinlewis

Mene Axelrod and Biggerdubz’ Ill_K of Impulse/In Beat We Trust fame complete this line
up, taking you on a musical trip through the depths of the subfrequency styles.
Season’s Greetings from Zeitgeist Sessions!

• This thursday, great live music at the White Trash Fast Food!

Caboume (garage- fromberlin!)

Starts at 8pm. Also go here for fantastic fast food!!

• there is a really swingy band plaing at the Bassy Club, this Saturday, January the 7th

Cowboy Club, just around the corner from the EastSeven Hostel!!
The band is called Django Lassi and they play gipsy swing music! check it out!
10pm

• Exhibition Muslims´ Worlds @ Museum Dahlem,

From mid November 2011, the Department of the Islamic Orient will unveil its new
permanent exhibition in newly renovated rooms purposefully allotted to its collection.
Ethnographic collections from Islamic societies can now go on public display for the
first time since the museum’s opening in 1970, when it was called the Museum für
Völkerkunde.
Spread over a total of 850 square metres in four exhibition rooms, ‘Muslims’ Worlds’
takes a look at various topics that continue to play an important role in the way
Muslims perceive themselves and others. Architectural structures, such as the richly
decorated wall of a guest house from Afghanistan, serve as the living embodiment of
various topics, for instance the gender-specific use of space and the convention, now
hotly debated, whereby women are consigned to the private sphere and men to the
public.
Magnificent artefacts from Turkestan, now Central Asia, go some way to answering
questions as to what material cultural artefacts are able to tell us of the identity of the
countries they originate from and what significance historical collections have for
these societies now. The complex diversity of the Islamic religion, its orthodox and
mystical aspects, as well as the phenomena of everyday religious practice are
illustrated through a range of objects taken from various Muslim sources.
All areas of the exhibition include interactive media that give visitors the chance to
experience more on the diverse topics and the social debates surrounding them. (text: http://www.smb.museum.de)

Check our weekly Berlin Hostel Blog to read about events and parties in Berlin!

fun in Berlin!

We have made you a selection of the coolest parties in town! Here is the TOP 10 of New Years Eve Parties in Berlin, by your  hostel in Berlin!

1. Party at ICON. Icon goes 2011/2012

It is the last party of the year, and unfortunately also the last party ever for ICON Club.

It´s one of the most popular clubs in Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg.

On New Years Eve the party will be HUGE!

Headliner D.I.M., AND Sexinvaders, Marvin Suggs, Pat Ferry, Phonomat, Andre Langenfeld, The Henrik Maneuver.
2. Sylvester – Les Kitschenettes – live! (60s French Beat/F) @ Bassy Cowboy Club
DJs:
The Mytch (60s Wyldestyle: Garage, Freakbeat, Soul)
Mr. Garage Records (60′s Garage, Psychedelic, Soul)
Mystic N. (Shakin’ R&B, 60′s Garage, Frantic Soul & Rock’n'Roll)
Johnny No (50s & 60s Rockin’ Soul, Garage-Beat, Rockin’ Blues)

Eine Mademoiselle und fünf Messieurs aus der Normandie erwecken auf geniale Weise Sound und Spirit der französischen 60′s zum Leben. Mit Leichtigkeit und sicherem Gespür führen sie uns zurück in die Ära von Nino Ferrer, Brigitte Bardot, Serge Gainsbourg, Ronnie Bird und all der anderen. Den ganzen Saal zum Tanzen zu bringen ist dabei gewiss das oberste Gebot. Daher sind Les Kitschenette’s die ideale Band für Soundflat Records brandneue DJ-Single-Serie.
Party starts at 21h

www.myspace.com/leskitschenettes

3. Sylvestersause at KAFFEE BURGER

Rupert’s Kitchen Orchestra & DJs Sammy D. and Cruz (Happy-Dance-Faves all over times)
Entrance: 10 Euro

4. Pop Explosion @ Magnet Club

3 Floors, different dj´s, great atmosphere!

Party starts at 22h.

Damage: 15€

5.  Go to the Mauerpark to watch the fireworks

Around 11pm, head to the Mauerpark. A lot of people gather together here, with booz and fireworks, to celebrate new year.

6. New Years Eve 2012 Alternative Berlin Anti Pubcrawl

Spend your New Years Eve at some of Berlin´s most unique bars and at one of the most amazing clubs on the Berlin club circuit. 3 floors underneath the city join the 24 hour party people on the Alternative Berlin New Years Eve 2012 Anti pubcrawl !
Highlights:

An incredible club 3 floors underneath the city with a labrynith of rooms and entertainment

Free Beer , wine , shots & sekt

3 Awesome bars , 1 amazing club & Fireworks at midnight !

We visit 4 unique bars/clubs and recieve FREE BEER & WINE at our first bar, FREE SHOTS (Vodka, Jäger and Tequila) at all bars.

Fireworks at midnight (FREE BOTTLE OF SEKT) and guest list entry to an amazing club 3 floors underneath the city in a massive party location.

You will need to take an elevator 3 floors below the city into a subterranean world with thousands of Berlin party people where your NYE experience takes off.  This venue is seriously huge catering for a wide variety of musical tastes. Electronic music in one room , disco house / Hip hop in another , Live rock , funk , soul in another. You might want to entertain yourself with some Black light ping pong , watch live painting, chill out in the labryinth of hidden rooms, watch a cult movie or try the obstacle course with a drink in hand. Special light and sound installations have also been prepared for this incredible party which we are proud to bring our New Years Anti pub crawl guests.

Prior to this we hit up 3 very cool rock , indie , 60-70´s-80´s , Goth rock ,alternative bars each with a special character about them. We visit the fireworks at midnight where you recieve a FREE bottle of Sekt (German Champagne) before hitting the club.

We want you to get the most bang for your buck so we are keeping our price very fair and reasonable for this event. Don´t get ripped off this year or waste your time looking for the best parties leave it us to make your Berlin New Years one to remember !

Meeting point @ EastSeven Belrin Hostel or at the YESTERDAY bar-

7. Big New Years PArty at the VOLKSBUEHNE

dressCode Chic legance Hollywood in the twenties.

Various DJ`s, Various Floors.

Party starts at 21:00.

8. Fuck me now, love me later @ Arenaclub

Line Up: Krause Duo (Freude am Tanzen) Florian Meindl (Flash) Exercise One (Mobilee) Channel X (Stil vor Talent / Bar25) Adam Port (KeineMusik / Souvenir) Till von Sein (Suol) Jake The Rapper (Bar25) Niko Schwind (Stil vor Talent) Rampa (KeineMusik) Umami LIVE (Burlesque Musique) Asem Shama (Highgrade) Red & Ron (Fuck Me Now & Love Me Later) Retro (Playplus / Wasted Unicorns) Sascha Funke (Kompakt / Bpitch Control) Justus Köhnke LIVE (Kompakt) Andres Bucci (Cynosure Recordings) Terranova (Null Recordings) Eric D. Clark (More Music) Hans Nieswandt (Ware / Mute) Sid Le Rock LIVE (Shitkatapult) Daniele Papini (Sleep is Commercial) DeWalta (Cynosure Recordings) The Mole (Cynosure Recordings) Topper (Sleep is Commercial) Andrea Ferlin (Sleep is Commercial) Hubble LIVE (Sleep is Commercial) Akiko Kiyama LIVE (Sleep is Commercial) Francesco Assenza (Sleep is Commercial) Gek (Sleep is Commercial) Peter Invasion (Riotvan) Tricus & Vitéz (Logo Records)

9. HAPPY NEW MÖBELRÜCKEN @ GRETCHEN CLUB

Channel X
Niko Schwind
Andre Crom
der E-Kreisel
Cinthie
Fresh Meat
Toni Haupt & Saxophone
Jan Rudolph
Bone
Pitt
A3000
Leon Licht
Daniel Archut
Hüftschwinger

Party starts at 22:00

10. New Years Eve 2011 @ TRESOR

Live: Octave One (Tresor/ Detroit)
Mike Huckaby (Deep Transportation/ Detroit)
Oliver Deutschmann (Vidab/ Berlin)
Franklin de Costa (Conaisseur/ Berlin)
Irie Electric (Tresor/ Berlin)
Djoker Daan (Tresor/ Berlin)
Daffy (Tresor/ Berlin)

TRESOR:     Cari Lekebusch (Drumcode/ SE)
Gary Beck (Bek Audio/ UK)
Joel Mull (Drumcode/ SE)
Mike Dehnert (Fachwerk/ Berlin)
Pär Grindvik (Stockholm LTD/ SE)
Suzi Wong (Tresor/ Berlin)
Marcel Heese (Tresor/ Berlin)

+4BAR:     Handmade & Hintergrundrauschen (Tresor/ Berlin)
We love Wax Special:
Norman Methner (We love Wax, Cookies/ Berlin)
Jochen Voller (We love Wax/ Berlin)
Kyros (We love Wax/ Berlin)

For all the parties make sure to get tickets in advance or let us help you to check if there are still tickets available!

Lucia ChristmasMarket

No idea yet, what to do and see in Berlin around Christmas time? Read on, we will give you some great ideas!

Christmas time in Berlin, is the darkest time in the year, but it´s always a beautiful time with a lot of lights everywhere brightening up the night time .

On the 24th of Berlin almost everything is closed! Even most of the restaurant-keepers close their restaurants to stay at home with their families and celebrate Christmas.

As we don´t want to see our guest hungry or bored we asked our cook Sophia to prepare a Christmas Dinner for all the guest staying at the  EastSeven Hostel in Berlin.

On the 24th of December all Museums are closed BUT on the 25th and the 26th they are open regularly!

A lot of Restaurants are also closed on the 25th and the 26th. Here are three Restaurants that are open, and we recommend them! Better to be sure and make a reservation!

1. Schusterjunge

This traditional German Restaurant will be open on the 25th and on the 26th.

2. Schneeweisschen & Rosenrot

This modern german restaurant willa also be open on the 25th and the 26th. They have a special Christmas menu. Please check their website!

3. Schwarzwaldstuben

is a really popular german restaurant, make sure to reserve in advance!

Will be open on the 26th!

For directions and help with making a reservation, please come to the reception.

For groceries we can suggest the Fresh´n´Friends at the Kastanienallee ( 5 minute walk from here).

They will be open on the 24th till 4pm, on the 25th and 26th  from 10am till midnight.

Then there are also a couple of clubs closeby the hostel that will be open during the Christmas periode.

Check out Kaffee Burger! This is a great local club. It´s always full, great place to dance to indie, rock, electro music.

Then there is the  Bassy Cowboy Club, also open during Christmas.  Expect rock´n´roll and live music!! It is also really closeby the EastSeven Belrin Hostel.

Enjoy Christmas time in Berlin!!

Lucia WM (c) Jochen Loch

If you are coming to Berlin in December you should definitely visit one of the many Christmas Markets.

Because Berlin has a lot of Christmas Markets to choose from, we have made a selection of some of the nicest and coziest markets in town. For further advice don´t hesitate, just come ask us at the reception!!

1. Lucia Christmas Market

The Lucia Christmas Market takes places at the courtyard of the Kulturbrauerei, a former brewery. It is really closeby the Hostel in Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg.With its picturesque setting, this market offers a very charming and romantic atmosphere. Named after Lucia, the Nordic goddess of light, the market is dedicated to the Scandinavian countries.
Highlights:
* bungee trampoline, merry-go-round for children and adults
* “Coat-Open-Air-Heater“ and “Swedenfire“ artworks
* Santa visits the market daily between 5 and 6 pm
* cultural program/ show daily at 8 pm, admission free
* every Saturday and Sunday between 4 and 6 pm
Kid-Family-Program at Alte Kantine (indoor), admission free

21.11.2011 - 22.12.2011
Kulturbrauerei, Knaackstraße 97, 10435, Prenzlauer Berg
from Monday to Friday from 15.00 to 22.00
Saturday & Sanday from 13.00 to 22.00
2. Family-friendly Christmas market with daily cultural program: Christmas market at Kollwitzplatz

This small and traditional organic market offers a lot of different products, from organic handwork to organic food products. It really is a family market, where you will see the locals shopping for Christmas with their kids, there is also a carousel and a playground closeby!
28.11; 05.12; 12.12; 19.12.2011
Ökomarkt Kollwitzplatz, Kollwitzplatz
10435, Prenzlauer Berg
from 12.00 to 19.00
Organic Christmas market, Sundays only
3. Organic Christmas Market

Another organic Christmas Market is located also not very far from EastSeven Hostel. Wonderful ecologically produced, fair trade gifts are on sale in the pleasant atmosphere of the market on all four Advent weekends. Well-known environmental protection organisations present their nature-protection projects. Creature comforts are also provided: all delicacies are organic and with every cup of mulled wine consumed, a tree is planted in the tropics – which helps climate protection. Here “think global, act local“ is put into practice quite deliciously. (text: berlingoesgreen.de)
27.11; 28.11; 04.12; 05.12; 11.12; 12.12; 18.12; 19.12.2011
Sophienstraße, Mitte
Saturday from 11.00 to 21.00
Sunday from 11.00 to 19.00
 4. Christmas Market at the Opernpalais

A nostalgic Christmas market takes place between the Staatsoper and Opernpalais. Craftspeople, confectioners, almond and chestnut roasters, and candle and lantern makers offer their wares in more than 200 wooden booths. There is also a crib with real animals and a wooden horse carousel. The much loved Christmas market on the boulevard Unter den Linden twinkles and shines. The illuminated Palais and the Staatsoper Berlin provide the nostalgic Christmas market with an appropriate backdrop. A coachman also invites you to take a pre-Christmas carriage drive through Berlin’s “old centre”. You can enjoy the historical atmosphere at the market and on a carriage ride against a unique backdrop. On 24th December Christmas market at the Opernpalais is closed. (text: visitberlin.de)
22.11.2011 – 26.12.2011
Opernpalais, Unter den Linden 5, 10117 Berlin, Mitte
from Monday to Thursday from 12.00 to 21.30
Friday to Saturday from 11.00 to 22.30
Sunday from 11.00 to 21.30
24.12: closed
25.12; 26.12: from 11.30 to 21.00
5. Christmas Market at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche
Every year during Advent it smells of roasted almonds, hot cocoa and mulled wine around the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Because that’s when more than 170 craft and Christmas market stands are set up around the historical church in the centre of City West. Christmas fairy lights surround the elaborately decorated Breitscheidplatz. The right present for everyone – no empty promise here. You’ll find everything here, from Christmas decorations and ornaments to toys and delicate accessories. And refreshments are also taken care of: the range extends from cocoa, mulled wine and punch, plus glazed fruit up to grilled sausages. More than two million visitors enjoy the Christmas atmosphere around the 20 metre high Christmas tree every year.  (text: visitberlin.de)

22.11.2011 – 30.12.2011
from Sunday to Thursday
from 11.00 to 21.00
Friday & Saturday
from 11.00 to 22.00
6. Winter World at Potsdamer Platz Christmas market:

Lots of lights, handicrafts, music and delicacies ensure a reflective atmosphere at the Christmas Market at Potsdamer Platz. Alongside the handicrafts market along Alte Potsdamer Straße and an ice rink, the Winter World also offers fast fun on the largest mobile toboggan run in Europe, which is 12 metres high and 70 metres long. And anyone still looking for more sporting activity after the toboggans can skate on the 500 square metre open air rink. Finally, the nearly ten metre high Clock Tower from the Ore Mountains is always there too. (text: visitberlin.de)

22.11.2011 – 26.12.2011
daily from 10.00 to 22.00
Advent Saturdays : from 10.00 to 24.00
24.12. from 10.00 to 16.00
Potsdamer Platz, 10785 , Tiergarten
7. Christmas Market at the Schloss Charlottenburg

This Christmas Market is Large and  very romantic.  It offers craft work, culinary delights, a music program and children’s activities in front of the illuminated castle . Perfect to combine a visit to the Schloss with visiting the Christmas Market. Best time to stop by is when it is dark!

22.11.2011 - 26.12.2011

Platz vor dem Schloss Charlottenburg, Charlottenburg

from Monday to Thursday from 14.00 to 22.00

from Friday to Sunday from 12.00 to 22.00

24.12: closed

8. Spandau Christmas market

Probably the most famous Christmas Market in Berlin, it is also Berlin´s biggest Christmas Market! Although it is a bit further away you can easily reach this market by taking the s-Bahn from Berlin Alexanderplatz to Spandau!

As a special highlight there is a crib with real animals!

24.11.2011 - 23.12.2011
Altstadt Spandau, 13597, Spandau
Friday from 11.00 to 21.00
Saturday from 11.00 to 22.00
Sunday & Monday from 11.00 to 20.00

9. Berlin Christmas Tide Market

Arts and crafts, upmarket snacks and food, traditional roundabouts for children and many more attractions!
Close to Berlins main sights, so perfect to combine a visit to this market with a day of sightseeing!

22.11.2011 – 26.12.2011
Platz vor dem Roten Rathaus (Berliner Rathaus), 10178, Mitte,
from Monday to Thursday from 11.00 to 21.00
Friday to Suturday from 11.00 to 22.00
Sunday: from 11.00 to 21.00
24.12: closed
25.12; 26.12: from 11.00 to 22.00

10. Christmas market at Winterfeldtplatz

This traditional Christmas Market is located in Schöneberg. It offers a diversified show programm. Its famous for its good arts and crafts.
28.11; 05.12; 12.12; 19.12.2011
Winterfeldtplatz, Winterfeldtplatz  10785, Schöneberg,
from 11.00 to 19.00

Enjoy wintertime in Berlin!!!