Sachsenhausen Memorial

Read on for some great insider recommendations for free and low budget events and activities in Berlin.

1. For a great start in the new year and in the new week, we have our Free Dinner Party again, tonight! There´s going to be delicious food and friendly travellers to hang out with. It´s free of charge, so don´t hesitate.  If your staying at the hostel meet up with us at 7pm in the lounge for another great evening of fun in Berlin!
2. Find out more about the Berlin Wall at the Berlin Wall Documentation Centre! It´s free of charge and within walking distance from our hostel. Opening hours- daily from 10am till 5 pm.
3. Go to the German Historical Museum, to see the exhibition: Strangers? Pictures of the other in Germany and France since 1871.
The image of the stranger always was part of the self-definition of nations and helpful to delimit to the external. The exhibition traces images of the other in the respective self-definitions of France and Germany against the background of the globalization. (daily 10a.m-6p.m.)
Location: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Unter den Linden 2, 10117 Berlin (Mitte)
Opening hours: daily 10.00-18.00
4. Pay a visit to the Sachsenhausen Memorial. Check here for adress and directions! Entry is FREE! But if you want to have a guided tour you pay a small amount of money.
5. White Trash Fast Food (number 9 at the back of our Flyer!)! Go here to eat great burgers and check out great rock´n´roll music. this friday Live: The Mokkers (garage/berlin), damage 6€.

6.Ooh it´s terribly cold in Berlin this week. So why not warm up a little at a sauna or a turkish bathing house.
There is a nice hamam in kreuzberg, klick here for a link. It´s for women only!
For a nice sauna closeby you could go to the olivin wellness sauna, at the schönhauser allee just around the corner from our hostel!
7.Organic Market on Kollwitzplatz, on thursday´s and saturdays!
On a late Saturday morning you should go to where the locals go – the farmer´s market on Kollwitzplatz – 200 Meters from EastSeven. Fresh organic vegetables, varieties of sausages and a lot more of savoir vivre. By your food of the season there, go back to the hostel and prepare it in our fancy self catering kitchen.
8. Sunday Fleamarket day in Berlin. Go to the Mauerpark Fleamarket, not far from the EastSeven Berlin Hostel. It´s one of the biggest fleamarkets, and really exciting. There is a live open air karaoke show.
9. Ping Pong Bar, DR. Pong. Nice for some action, drinking beer and playing table tennis. It´s fun. There is no entrance fee, and this cool bar is within walkin distance from our hostel. (number 5 at the back of our flyer)
10. Go on a Free Walking Tour. There are pick ups every day from our hostel at 12.45. 5hrs of sightseeing lead by our passionate and more than wonderful guides. The tour works on a pay what you think it’s worth basis so it’s always within your budget. Sights include Checkpoint Charlie, the Reichstag, The Wall, Brandenburger Tor, Bunker site and many more besides

For more information and insider recommendations, please ask our staff and check our online staff-recommendations! Hope to see you soon in Berlin!

Badeschiff Berlin

The EastSeven Berlin Hostel created a top 10 of amazing activities in Berlin

If you are visiting Berlin this summer you might be interested to read some cool insider tips. Of course you should visit the major sights like Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, East Side Gallery, etc etc. To do this you can go on a Brewers walking tour, wich covers up all these important sights.
Beyond that we like to present to you our top ten of favourite activities this summer in Berlin. Check it out.

1. The Berlin Festival (7-8 August)
The first music festival to take place on the former central airport Tempelhof. Some of the bands that are playing here: Deichkind · Peter Doherty · Jarvis Cocker · José González · Dendemann · The Rifles · Saint Etienne · Zoot Woman · Digitalism (DJ Set) · Peaches (DJ Set) · The Thermals · Junior Boys · Whirlpool Productions’ Disco Club Soundclash · Kilians · WhoMadeWho · These New Puritans · Dear Reader · Bodi Bill · Bonaparte · Riton · D.I.M. · Aeroplane · Oneida · Micachu And The Shapes · Health · Telepathe · Cajuan · Errors · 1000 Robota · Frankmusik · Crystal Antlers · Humanzi · I Might Be Wrong · Berlin Battery u. a.

2. NEUE NATIONALGALERIE: PICTURE DREAMS

The Pietzsch Collection ranks as one of the internationally most significant collections of Surrealist art, with principle works by André Breton, Salvador Dalí, Paul Delvaux, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró, André Masson and Yves Tanguy, as well as numerous works by other artists more broadly connected to the Surrealist movement.

A second important core aspect to the collection lies in works by the Abstract Expressionists in America, whose art movement rose directly from the roots of Surrealism to flourish in the New York of the nineteen-fifties. Works by important figures who have since become legends in their own right, such as Jackson Pollock, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman are all represented in the collection together with works by the great Mexicans Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.
3. 20 JAHRE MAUERFALL: ZEITREISEN – PRENZLAUER BERG 1979-1989-1999

The exhibition presents works from internationally prominent artists who concern themselves with the changes to the architectural and urban structure of Berlin.

Where: Streets and Squares around Prenzlauer Berg

Mon, 22.06.2009 till Sun, 06.09.2009
4. SANDSATION 2009. 7. INT. SANDSKULPTURENFESTIVAL BERLIN / 2. USF WORLD SOLO CHAMPIONSHIP

On June 8th, Berlin’s biggest and without doubt most beautiful “sand pit” is going to open its gates for the sixth time at the Berliner Hauptbahnhof.
5. 13. INTERNATIONAL BERLIN BEER FESTIVAL
From the 7th till the 9th of august the Karl Marx Allee turns in to the longest beer garden worldwide. the traditional beer mile in the centre of Berlin is going to have “ beer land Belgium offers the very best “ as its motto.

6. EASTSEVEN COOKS A DELICIOUS MEAL : FREE PASTA FOR ALL OUR GUESTS!

Every Monday the EastSeven Berlin Hostel cooks for her guests. The food is simple, but good (and for free), the atmosphere is friendly and the night still young…
Here is how it works:
Every Monday:
Free vegetarian Meal
Starts: 19h00
• Sign up at the reception till Monday 15h00
• Meet us in the lounge at 19h00
• You´re welcome to help us
• Feel free to bring your own extra ingredients
• We sell drinks at the reception

7. LE CORBUSIER  ART AND ARCHITECTURE (EXHIBITION)

Le Corbusier (1887–1965) is considered to be one of the most significant architects of the 20th century. His work continues to exert a considerable influence on architecture and town planning to this day. This exhibition includes original paintings, sculptures, numerous original pieces of furniture, original drawings and plans, first editions of Le Corbusier’s books plus numerous small objects from the architect’s private collection, which he used for purposes of inspiration, orientation and demonstration.

Wednesday to Monday from 10am –20pm
Entrance 8,- EUR ( 6,-EUR reduced)
combined with Bauhaus exhibition 15,- EUR ( 11,-EUR reduced)

8. BADESCHIFF

Go for a swim!! The Badeschiff in Berlin is the most extraordinairy swimming pool in Europe. It is drifting on the river spree!
9. MONTAGSBAR AT TEMPORäRE KUNSTHALLE

In theory, each artist of the Artists-in-Berlin Program of the DAAD will be responsible for one Monday evening (from July 13 to August 31). In practice, there will be overlaps and collaborations with other Berlin-based artists and guest appearances. We will let ourselves be surprised by the artists’ DJ performances and styles of music. And if the weather is nice, there will be a outside on the terrace along the canel!
10. FLEAMARKET

Sunday is fleamarket day. Close to the hostel (500 m)you find the Arkonaplatz Fleamarket and the famous Mauerpark fleamarket. You don´t want to buy something – no problem you first of all go there to see all kind of urban subjects with hangover and even sober ones. Berliners go there – you should as well.

You can also check out our online Staff-recommendations. See you soon in Berlin!!!

Reichstag

How to spend a day in Berlin? EastSeven Berlin Hostel made a top 20 of popular sights.

Down below you find an overview of  some of the most beautiful and amazing sights in Berlin.  If you´re not sure jet how to spend your day in Berlin, just check out the top 20, with our recommendations on some of the coolest buildings, museums and parks Berlin has to offer! Some of the attractions are even for FREE!!!

For an in-depth look at all of these sights, and many more besides, join the Brewers Best of Berlin Day Tour. Brewers Berlin also offers a free sight seeing tour, which covers most of these sights. Tours also begin at our wonderful hostel.

OUR TOP 20:

1. TV Tower – Built in 1969 as a symbol of East German socialism, this 368m tower, the largest structure in Germany, even has its own revolving café/restaurant. A trip to the top also offered a rare chance for East Germans to see what life on the other side of The Wall was really like.
2. Reichstag – The German parliament building, re-opened in 1999 after the government and most of the ministries moved from Bonn to Berlin. British architect Lord Norman Foster redesigned this place, complete with a huge glass dome with public access, so you can watch the politicians at work.
3. Brandenburg Gate – Every 10, 20 and 50 cent German Euro coin is minted with a picture of this big city gate on its reverse side. Stranded in a lonely no-mans land between 1961 and 89 thanks to the East German government, no other structure in Berlin better symbolises the temporary division of the city.
4. Berliner Dom – Perhaps the most over-decorated protestant church in the world and once home to the Nazi partys Reich church. Bombed out during WW II, the Berlin Cathedral was restored to its current glory in 1993 – complete with a whopping great 7,200-pipe pipe organ.
5. Jewish museum – German-Jewish relations have had their bad times, and surprisingly, although the exhibition names wouldnt give it away, their good times. Daniel Libeskind, the architect behind New Yorks Ground Zero memorial, designed this Museum.
6. Museum Island – Surrounded on all sides by the River Spree, Museum Island is literally an island with museums on it, isnt that clever? It is not only home to some of the citys top class museums such as the Altes Museum and the Pergamon Museum, but also the Berliner Dom and the tranquil Lustgarten.
7. Lustgarten – Dont be confused by the name, Berlins naked people are running around the citys 500acre Tiergarten just down the road. The Lustgarten started its life as a cabbage patch for the nearby city palace, later used as a military parade ground, now a grass garden.
8. Holocaust Memorial – Berlins ultra-controversial memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe, 2,711 concrete blocks jutting off at offensive and suffocating angles. Co-incidentally only a stones throw away from the site of Adolf Hitlers former underground lair, the Führerbunker.
9. Potsdamer Platz – This was the glitzy centre of Germanys debauched 1920s metropolis, and the site Europes first traffic light system. Smashed into rubble during WW II, its now home to Europes fastest elevator and a mass of steel and glass buildings said to represent the future of Berlin.
10. Topography of Terror – Back in 1987 a group of students excavated, with little more than their bare hands, the cellars of Berlins former Gestapo and SS headquarters. The Topography of Terror is the fruit of their labour, an open-air exhibition documenting what happens when a totalitarian regime tortures its people to death for fun.
11. Checkpoint Charlie – Berlins most famous crossing point between East and West and a lasting symbol of the citys fragile Cold War relations. Commemorated today by an ersatz replica of the original American checkpoint and two historically inaccurate pictures of Soviet and American soldiers.
12. Gendarmenmarkt – Touted by many guidebooks as the prettiest square in Berlin, Gendarmenmarkt is famous for its two churches – one Protestant, one Catholic – each built opposite each other by the opposing religion. Not often that happens.
13. DDR Museum – Using the paraphernalia of shopping, fashion and family life Berlins DDR museum attempts to introduce visitors to what for millions of East Germans was once everyday life. Play Hausfrau in an authentic DDR kitchen and living room, or experience first-hand what it was like to be spied on.
14. Tacheles – One-time department store then SS headquarters in the heart of Berlins former Jewish quarter, the Tacheles was taken over by squatters in 91. Behind the buildings bombed out façade is a wealth of art studios, two cinemas, 3 bars, a beach bar, a café and a newly opened bourgeois restaurant.
15. Hackescher Markt – Hackescher Markt was once home to booming businesses during the Industrial Revolution. Its now famous not only for its attractive station, but as a jumping off point to the nearby Hackescher Höfe complex.
16. Karl Marx Allee - Rent a bike at the reception and explore this sweeping communist boulevard where the GDR Government used to proudly present their weapons of mass destruction at their May Day parades.
17. Raw Temple – An alternative entertainment hub including an indoor skate hall, a former Nazi hide-out used now for freestyle rock climbing, an open air cinema and regular live music.
18. Volkspark Friedrichshain – A beautiful park, excellent for jogging or having a picnic. In the middle youll find Friedrichshains highest hill, which provides a 78-metre high view over Berlins flat terrain. The hill was actually man-made to cover up a destroyed anti-aircraft bunker from World War II, as well as several tonnes of bombed out rubble.
19. Stasi Headquarters – Take the U5 subway at Alexanderplatz to Magdalenenstrasse and visit the former headquarters of the Stasi – East Germanys cruel and meticulous secret police – in Normannenstr. The building has been transformed into a museum and you can walk through the preserved offices of some of the GDRs most powerful men. A disturbing look at Berlins very recent past.
20. Schloss Charlottenburg – If you are interested in Prussian architecture and history but dont have time to travel to Potsdam, then Schloss Charlottenburg is the perfect inner-city alternative. This outstanding palace and its surrounding gardens are not only visually stunning, but will also give you a detailed insight into the lifestyle of the Prussian emperors.