It’s sad – very sad – but it is like it is: last Sunday David Bowie past away.
Berlin and Bowie had a rather special relationship. One could probably say that the city had at least changed, if not saved him – and that he had also somehow shaped and maybe even saved the city.
> Berlin 101 > David Bowie and Berlin
It’s the time of the year, when the turn of the year won’t get much closer. So I finally wrapped up some info page about things that might be worth knowing about New Year’s Eve in Berlin. But please don’t expect too much – it’s just some basic rants about Berlin New Year’s Eve traditions and rituals: What do people do on New Year’s Eve? What do they eat? How do they behave? etc…
Berlin 101 > New Year’s Eve / New Year’s Day
Frohes Neues Jahr! Guten Rutsch!! Happy New Year!!!
Yes, we also had some serious November rain – but also sunshine, blue skies, stormy weather – and the first snow. There was basically something of everything.
If you look at the average temperature for Germany, this November was the warmest for the past 130 years – even though temperatures dropped in the second half of the month and the first snow even made it to Berlin. And there was also a 30% ‘bonus’ of sunshine, compared to the average November. In Berlin however we had 4% less sunshine than on an average November. For most people November is probably always too dark and grey anyways.
With over 60 liters per square meter this November was more than 30% more rainy, than an average Berlin November. And if you ask me: I could have skipped last Sunday’s evening rain easily. That was just a bit too much.
Now jet’s see what December will bring along. Usually the temperatures should drop a bit further towards the 0°C mark. And if the rainfall continues at the November scale, we should have lots of snow – sooner or later.
In yesterday’s article ” 3 best Berlin Christmas markets – and our favourite deals to visit on a budget ” the online edition of the Mirror (mirror.co.uk) got something totally wrong. How is this even possible? Let’s have a look in the Mirror:
Sorry, but the Harz region is not even close to Berlin. According to reliable sources, the Harz region is about 300km west / south-west of Berlin and it takes a good three hour ride by car to get there!
This leaves me speechless. But it goes on:
First of all: yes, Goslar is actually located in the Harz region – but with a population of over 40.000 it can hardly be called a village. Or can it? Anyways. After my honest opinion at least neither Magdeburg (population > 200.000) nor Leipzig (population > 500.000) can be called ‘Village’. Or am I missing something? Do you have villages with airports and universities in the UK? But nevertheless: both cities (villages?!) are approximately half way between Berlin and the Harz region – none of them closer than 100km to Goslar.
Then the article feature three photos. The first one seems to actually show the Leipzig Christmas Market. The other two are – interesting – at least when you look at them within the surrounding context: both showing Berlin Christmas Markets, but with confusing headlines: the picture headlined “Berlin, Magdeburg” shows the Christmas Market at Berlin’s Alexanderplatz – you can clearly see the Berlin TV Tower in the back. The other photo, headlined “Berlin, Goslar” shows the Christmas Market at Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz – the Memorial Church can be seen in the background.
So – what did we learn today? All four cities Leipzig, Magdeburg, Goslar and Berlin do have beautiful Christmas Markets. And so do some Villages within the Harz Mountains. Merry Christmas!
Feel free to read the original article over here:
See also:
Berlin tourism seems to be an ever increasing business. As the number of tourists is still increasing, the number of hotels is also. At the moment Berlin has already over 500 hotels, providing over 136.000 beds to tired travelers. That is a relatively high number – at least according to media reports in 2012 Berlin had already some 30.000 more Hotel beds than New York City.
For the next couple of years another 15.000 hotels beds can be added to that number. The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) mentions another 31 hotels to be built in the near future.
But the boom in hotel business is does not have a positive effect on all hotels. Smaller, often older houses are facing difficult times since large hotels chains are building massive hotels, beeing able to offer lower rates, basically ‘next door’. Competition is high, even though one should thing there would be a slice of the pie for everybody.
On the other hand, the rather small and ‘old’ Hotel President just had to close down in September some 10 – 20 minute walk further down the road. The reasons remain unclear – but charging around 170 Euro per night the Hotel was comparably expensive. And with ‘only’ 180 rooms rather small. Next door another Motel One hotel had just opened – about twice the size, charging half the price. And where prices are low, competition is high.
See also: “Schon 800 Hotels – und 31 sind noch geplant” (tagesspiegel.de)
From time to time I enjoy reading what others have to say about Berlin – especially when it’s CNN and especially when the headline reads “Insider Guide: Best of Berlin”. Then I really want to know, what others are recommending, what to do and what to see when visiting Berlin – and what masses of readers are probably reading.
And then, confronted with an article claiming to offer tips on ‘Best of Berlin’ I also like to check the facts, the details, the recommendations. And sometimes I actually do find minor mistakes. Sometimes a name is misspelled, but sometime things are just wrong. And sometimes the whole article is just questionable, like the list of ‘10 things you can do in Berlin’ I recently had a deeper look at I recently enjoyed reading and commenting.
I know, everybody makes mistakes – but when you claim to ‘know where to look’ you should probably be extra careful about what you’re actually writing. I anyways just have to stare at those mistakes anyways – And since some mistakes are rather cute, or at least ‘interesting’, I’d like to share them with you.
A minor mistake can be found in the recommendations for food. Yes, Currywurst is a big thing in Berlin – and Konnopke’s Imbiss is probably one of the best known places in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg to get one. But even though the food is really fast food, you should at least take your time to fully spell the name “Konnopke” – not “Knopke” – otherwise your readers might be a bit confused when the search engine tries to suggest the correct name. Anyways.
Yes, the Mulackstrasse does offer a variety of different small shops and fashion boutiques. But where again is it located?
Mitte’s Schönenviertel (it means “beautiful quarter”)
I’m awfully sorry to say, but while Berlin probably actually does have some “beautiful quarters”, the quarter that Mulackstrasse is situated in is officially named “Scheunenviertel“. This may or may not look and sound similar to “Schönenviertel” – it has does however have a completely different meaning: “Scheune” means “barn” – in medieval Berlin the “Scheunenviertel” was the ‘Barn Quarter’. See also: Berlin Sightseeing > Scheunenviertel.
The Pergamon is definitely a museum to visit – no doubt about that. The only problem one should probably mention is that large parts of the museum are currently closed. Since September the museum has been under renovation and will probably still be for the next four to five years. If everything goes well, the museum should re-open in 2019.
Enough nit-picking for now. Please feel free to check out CNN’s “Insider Guide: Best of Berlin” yourself. Have a nice stay!
Berlin autumn weather can be difficult, to say the least. For a couple of days the sun might shine, blue skies, no cloud anywhere. And then again it’s like this: the Berlin cloud stays for days and days and the it rains and it’s windy and cold.
Berlin Weather in October – blue skies are rare to find – Zionskirche, Berlin Mitte – Photo: T.Bortels
The beginning of October actually had some nice days. I already hoped we would have a ‘Golden October’ – which would probably translate to Indian Summer. But now the Cloud is back – and the weather forecast does not look pretty at all. On the news they said that there might be some holes in the clouds on the weekend – but I wouldn’t bet on it.
The temperatures are still rather moderate. Only occasionally the temperature drops below 0°C during the night – which would be 32° Fahrenheit. During the day the temperature is somewhere between 5°C and 10°C (40°F – 50°F) but adding rain and wind it does actually feel slightly colder.
But whenever the sun is actually shining, it can be very nice outside. The smell of autumn is back: the combination of coal heating and wet leafs rotting on the ground is the Berlin smell I love. For me it is somehow the beginning of The Berlin Year. Winter is around the corner, but not quite here yet.
So if you are planning to visit Berlin in the coming days, you should probably bring some waterproof clothing with you – and an umbrella could also be a good idea.
This is again a rather typical Berlin story: Berlin now has two light festivals.
Berlin Radio Tower Funkturm in blue – Festival of Lightslights-festival – Photo: T.Bortels
Introduced 15 years ago, the ‘original’ Festival of Lights became a huge success. October and November used to be ‘difficult’ for Berlin’s tourism business. But now every year over half a million additional overnight stays bring money to the city in times, when the streets of Berlin used to be rather abandoned.
For an outsider (like me) the development of the light festival situation seems to have some similarities to the development of the art fairs that are held in September. Once success takes control, side projects pop up – and become successful themselves. So besides the Festival of Lights there is now also the festival Berlin leuchtet / Berlin shines.
But is there any difference for the audience? Not really. You will just have to check two schedules, two maps and two festival homepage if you want to find your way through illuminated Berlin in October.
See also: