See Masterpieces By Monet, Matisse, Degas And Picasso In The First-Ever Exhibition Of This German Family’s Private Art Collection In Berlin

The Scharf Collection features French artworks from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as contemporary pieces from around the world.

“The Scharf Collection: Goya—Monet—Cézanne—Bonnard—Grosse” is on view at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Alte Nationalgalerie / David von Becker

Over four generations, one German family built a sprawling collection of European masterpieces. Now, those artworks are on public display for the first time.

Titled “The Scharf Collection: Goya—Monet—Cézanne—Bonnard—Grosse,” the exhibition is on view at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin through February 15, 2026. It spotlights about 150 artworks by renowned painters across three centuries, including old masters like Francisco Goya, Impressionists like Claude Monet, modernists like Pablo Picasso and contemporary artists like Germany’s Katharina Grosse.

No Title, Katharina Grosse, 2000 The Scharf Collection

“We go from Goya to Grosse,” said René Scharf, the current owner of the collection, at the exhibition’s opening, per the Associated Press’ Geir Moulson.

Scharf said he hopes visitors will draw connections between artworks from different time periods and genres—such as how Monet’s hazy blue Waterloo Bridge (1903) informs Grosse’s works, which were created a century later.

The exhibition begins with etchings by Goya, such as his series Disasters of War (1810-1820), according to Euronews’ Leticia Batista Cabanas. It continues through Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Finally, the show ends with modern and contemporary artworks, such as Daniel Richter’s We’ll Never Stop Living This Way (2009).

In addition to seeing renowned artworks in person, visitors will “dive deep into the historical developments” and “learn about the different personalities who have been collecting and preserving the collection,” Anette Hüsch, director of the Alte Nationalgalerie, tells Artnet’s Jo Lawson-Tancred.

Waterloo Bridge, Claude Monet, 1903 The Scharf Collection

The collection was started by Scharf’s great-grandfather, Otto Gerstenberg, who led a life insurance company in Berlin. Born in 1848, Gerstenberg began his art collection by acquiring prints by old masters like Albrecht Dürer, Goya and Rembrandt, according to the museum. Around 1900, he started collecting French impressionists like Monet and Edgar Degas. As his interests continued to expand, he acquired a large collection of art by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and some of these works are “a centerpiece of the show,” per the AP.

When Gerstenberg died in 1935, he had collected some 2,200 artworks. During World War II, some pieces were destroyed by air raids or looted by Russian soldiers, but his daughter, Margarethe Scharf, saved most of the collection. In 1961, the surviving artworks went to her sons, Walther and Dieter Scharf, who incorporated them into their own art collections.

Dieter developed an interest in Surrealists like Salvador Dalí, while Walther and his wife, Eve, maintained a focus on 19th-century French art, according to Artnet. The couple added more Impressionist paintings by Monet, Degas and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, along with works by Post-Impressionists like Paul Cézanne and Pierre Bonnard. Their son, René Scharf, is the current owner of the collection. René and his wife, Christiane, have since added contemporary paintings by artists such as Grosse, Richter and Sam Francis.

We'll Never Stop Living This Way, Daniel Richter, 2009 The Scharf Collection / Jens Ziehe / VG Bild-Kunst

The family has loaned individual pieces from the collection to museums, but many of the artworks in the exhibition have never been publicly displayed. As Scharf tells the AP, when the Alte Nationalgalerie first contacted him about showing the collection, “We asked ourselves, ‘What happens if we do nothing?’ Then maybe 30, 40 or 50 people per year will see the collection, and only a very small part of it, because we can’t hang everything at home.”

In the end, the family decided that the artworks should be displayed for anyone who wants to see them. “The collection deserves to be seen publicly,” he says.

“The Scharf Collection: Goya—Monet—Cézanne—Bonnard—Grosse” is on view at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin through February 15, 2026.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/author/sonja-anderson/

Travelore News: Berlin Airport Cancels All Departures On Monday Due To Strike

Germany's Verdi union called for a one-day strike of air security staff at Berlin airport on Monday as part of an ongoing wage dispute, prompting the airport to cancel all passenger departures that day.

The walkout is due to start at 3:30 a.m. local time (0130 GMT) on Monday and will end at midnight (2200 GMT), the union said.

Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has experienced some of its most disruptive strikes in decades this year as unions press for higher pay to offset the surging cost of living.

The planned action follows walkouts at four other German airports - Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart on Thursday and Friday when more than 700 departures were cancelled.

"Due to the warning strikes by security staff, no departures of passenger flights will be possible on Monday April 24," Berlin Brandenburg airport said in a statement, adding arrivals might also be affected.

The union has been negotiating with the BDLS aviation security association to push for pay increases for night, weekend and public holiday shifts.

Reporting by Madeline Chambers Editing by Mark Heinrich, Reuters

Gone In 9 Minutes: How Celtic Gold Heist Unfolded In Germany

BERLIN (AP) — Thieves who broke into a southern German museum and stole hundreds of ancient gold coins got in and out in nine minutes without raising the alarm, officials said Wednesday, in a further sign that the heist was the work of organized criminals.

Police have launched an international hunt for the thieves and their loot, consisting of 483 Celtic coins and a lump of unworked gold that were discovered during an archeological dig near the present-day town of Manching in 1999.

Guido Limmer, the deputy head of Bavaria’s State Criminal Police Office, described how at 1:17 a.m. (0017 GMT) on Tuesday cables were cut at a telecoms hub about one kilometer (less than a mile) from the Celtic and Roman Museum in Manching, knocking out communications networks in the region.

Security systems at the museum recorded that a door was pried open at 1:26 a.m. and then how the thieves left again at 1:35 a.m., Limmer said. It was in those nine minutes that the culprits must have smashed open a display cabinet and scooped out the treasure.

Limmer said there were “parallels” between the heist in Manching and the theft of priceless jewels in Dresden and a large gold coin in Berlin in recent years. Both have been blamed on a Berlin-based crime family.

“Whether there’s a link we can’t say,” he added. “Only this much: we are in touch with colleagues to investigate all possible angles.”

Bavaria’s minister of science and arts, Markus Blume, said evidence pointed to the work of professionals.

“It’s clear that you don’t simply march into a museum and take this treasure with you,” he told public broadcaster BR. “It’s highly secured and as such there’s a suspicion that we’re rather dealing with a case of organized crime.”

Officials acknowledged, however, that there was no guard at the museum overnight.

An alarm system was deemed to provide sufficient security, said Rupert Gebhard, who heads the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection in Munich.

Gebhard said the hoard was of great value both for the local community in Manching and for archaeologists across Europe.

The bowl-shaped coins, dating back to about 100 B.C., were made from Bohemian river gold and show how the Celtic settlement at Manching had links across Europe, he said.

Gebhard estimated the value of the treasure at about 1.6 million euros ($1.65 million).

“The archaeologists hope that the coins remain in their original state and reappear again at some point,” he said, adding that they are well documented and would be hard to sell.

“The worst option, the melting down, would mean a total loss for us,” he said, noting that the material value of the gold itself would only run to about 250,000 euros at current market prices.

Gebhard said the size of the trove suggested it might have been “the war chest of a tribal chief.” It was found inside a sack buried beneath building foundations, and was the biggest such discovery made during regular archaeological excavations in Germany in the 20th century.

Limmer, the deputy police chief, said Interpol and Europol have already been alerted to the coins’ theft and a 20-strong special investigations unit, codenamed ‘Oppidum’ after the Latin term for a Celtic settlement, has been established to track down the culprits.

Berlin is Back! Five Reasons to Visit the German Capital in 2022

. With new daily nonstop flights on United Airlines from Washington DC and Newark to Berlin, the new Humboldt Forum, a focus on Modernism and the city's legendary local vibe, Berlin is ready to again welcome North Americans. Certain COVID-19 protocols apply.

Here are five reasons why Berlin should be on your travel list for 2022:

1. Ease of Travel Starting on March 4, 2022, United will again be flying daily from Newark to Berlin on their Boeing 767-300 aircraft, followed by a new daily connection from Washington DC to Berlin, launching on May 6, 2022, using Boeing 767-400 equipment. The IAD-BER flight is the only U.S. service connecting the two capitals.

In Berlin, passengers are landing at Berlin's new BER airport Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt, a large, modern airport which started operation in October 2020. It is conveniently connected to the city by public transportation and to the German rail system, from underneath the main terminal.

2. New Landmark Building: The Humboldt Forum Europe's most significant cultural project is now open to the public. Located adjacent to Museum Island in Berlin's historic center, the Franco Stella-designed full-size reproduction of a former 16th century Hohenzollern palace, replicates three of the original baroque facades, with a minimalist fourth façade, a massive, covered courtyard and a state-of-the-art interior. The Humboldt Forum is Berlin's new top highlight and is designed as a unique venue for the dialogue between world cultures.

The Humboldt Forum features almost 323,000 square feet of exhibition space, including the Ethnological Museum, the Museum for Asian Art and the Berlin Global exhibition. Workshop spaces for cultural education, and the Lustgarten outdoor space are complemented by eventually seven restaurants ranging from bistro-style to gourmet dining. Some 1000 events per year will take place at the Humboldt Forum in the future, underscoring the institution's purpose of being a space for discourse and culture.

3. For Architecture Buffs: Spotlight on Modernism
From Schinkel to Foster, from romantic palaces and classical buildings to industrial heritage sites and the stunning contemporary structures of post-Wall Berlin, the city's architectural styles are diverse and noteworthy.

In 2022, Berlin will put a special focus on Modernism. Highlights include the Mies van der Rohe-designed New National Gallery, an iconic steel and glass landmark of modern architecture, which completed a six-year renovation in 2021, and features 20th-century masterpieces by various artists from Europe and North America.

Kicking off on September 30, 2022**, the Triennial of Modernism 2022 is a cooperation of the cities Berlin, Weimar and Dessau and will focus on the Bauhaus movement and modernist architecture. Starting with Berlin's UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Modernist Housing Estates, an extensive program of architectural tours, exhibitions, public events is planned throughout the city, designed to take an in-depth look at the architectural and social heritage of modernism.

4. Berlin for Foodies
In recent years, Berlin has become the place to be for young, creative chefs from around the world … and for those who want to sample a creative and diverse menu. Berlin's cuisine is influenced by culinary traditions from around the world, but also sees contemporary, lighter interpretations of traditional German cooking. The 23 Michelin star-rated restaurants – including the 3-star Rutz, CODA, a 2-star-rated dessert only restaurant and Cookies Cream, a vegetarian star-rated restaurant – offer refined culinary choices. Berlin is also the vegan/vegetarian capital of Europe, featuring the highest density of vegan/vegetarian options, as well as sustainable restaurants. Street food like the Turkish Döner and the traditional currywurst offer great mid-day or late nigh snacks, and food halls are a gathering place for Berliners and mainly feature local delicacies.
Seems overwhelming? There are several food tours which take visitors on culinary journeys and are well worth the (reasonable) cost.

5. Active and Independent: Exploration made Easy

Off on your own? The new subway line U5 now connects major cultural highlights. In operation since December 2021 with three stunning new metro stations, the extended U5 subway stops at Berlin's top sights, including Brandenburg Gate, City Hall, Unter den Linden, Alexanderplatz, and Museum Island.

The new U5 extension not only makes sightseeing even easier, but also leads visitors off the beaten path and discover the hidden gems along the way.

Exploration by bicycle had long been a popular way to see the city. Berlin is mainly flat and offers about 390 miles of bike paths, many of which are separated from the main traffic flow. Bike rentals are about Euro 12/day. For those preferring guided tours, there are many options, ranging from history, to tours along the trail of the Berlin Wall or food rides.

Information on travel to Berlin at http://www.visitberlin.com

Berlin Museum Centering On Germans Expelled After WWII Opens

BERLIN (AP) — Germany has opened a museum exploring the fate of millions of Germans forced to leave eastern and central Europe at the end of World War II, along with other forced displacements of the 20th and 21st centuries — a sensitive project that has taken years to realize.

The Documentation Center for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation, is opening more than 13 years after Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government gave the plan the go-ahead. Housed in a late-1920s building in downtown Berlin, it features some 700 exhibits over 1,500 square meters (16,000 square feet).

“This center was discussed at length and intensively, in Germany but also with our partners in Europe,” Merkel said in an address to the opening ceremony, welcoming the presence of the Polish, Czech and Hungarian ambassadors. “The discussions about this place really were not always easy, but they were important.”

Merkel said the new center, complete with a library, “fills a gap in our coming to terms with history.” Still, making the project reality was long viewed as “an impossible balancing act,” according to the center’s director, Gundula Bavendamm.

Controversies revolved around one central question, Bavendamm told reporters ahead of the opening: “How can the exodus and expulsion of Germans at the end of and after World War II be portrayed without raising the slightest doubt that this country is aware of its lasting responsibility for the German crimes of World War II and the murder of European Jews?”

The project centers on the millions of Germans who fled from advancing Soviet forces or were kicked out of parts of eastern and central Europe as Germany’s borders were moved westward after the war, “in the historical context” of Nazi crimes, said Bavendamm — the project’s third director.

“Without the Nazi policies of expulsion and annihilation, 14 million Germans wouldn’t have lost their homes as a result of flight and expulsion,” she added. “But that doesn’t change the fact that their expulsion by the Allies and the eastern and central European states in the aftermath of World War II was also an injustice.”

In its efforts to provide context, the exhibition explores “forced migration as a phenomenon of modern Europe,” including displacements during World War I, the arrival of Vietnamese “boat people” in West Germany in the 1970s, the fallout from the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1990s and the European migration crisis of recent years.

Exhibits include some 30 passports, including a German Jew’s passport stamped with the letter “J” in the Nazi era, a “Nansen passport” for stateless refugees from 1937 and a modern-day provisional refugee passport. There is the diary of a girl from East Prussia, a territory Germany lost at the end of the war, chronicling sexual violence.

There’s also a bicycle used by a Syrian refugee to cross the Russian-Norwegian border in 2016. And there are audio accounts by people recounting their arrival in Germany.

By GEIR MOULSON

Germany To Reinstate Border Controls Over Virus Variant

BERLIN (AP) — The German government decided Thursday to temporarily reinstate border controls along its southeastern frontier after designating the Czech Republic and parts of Austria as “mutation areas” due to their high number of variant coronavirus cases, German news agency dpa reported.

The temporary border controls and certain entry restrictions will start Sunday at midnight, dpa reported.

Travelers coming from certain areas of Austria or the Czech Republic will have to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test in order to enter Germany, a requirement that will present a hurdle for thousands of cross-border workers.

It was not clear for how long the border controls would last.

Bavaria Governor Markus Soeder, whose state borders both Austria and the Czech Republic, said earlier Thursday that if the federal government designated the Czech Republic and Austria’s Tyrol region as mutation areas, Bavaria would request permission to erect border posts where travelers who don’t present a negative COVID-19 test would be turned away.

Soeder said all the regions of Bavaria with high coronavirus infection rates, except for one, are located on the German-Czech border.
He praised measures taken by the Czech Republic to contain the spread of virus variants and criticized authorities in Tyrol, saying they appeared not to be taking the issue seriously.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and the governors of Germany’s 16 states agreed late Wednesday to extend the country’s current pandemic lockdown until at least March 7, in part due to fears over more contagious variants.

Schools and hairdressers will be able to open earlier, albeit with strict hygiene measures.

In a speech to Parliament on Thursday, Merkel defended her government’s decision to set a lower infection target for easing the lockdown further: a number of new weekly cases per 100,000 inhabitants below 35.

“The virus doesn’t follow dates, the virus follows infections numbers,” she told lawmakers.

Germany’s disease control agency said there were just over 64 cases per 100,000 inhabitants nationwide in the past week, down from over 200 before Christmas.

The Robert Koch Institute on Thursday added 10,237 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 666 deaths to Germany’s totals, bringing the country’s overall case count since the start of the pandemic to 2.31 million and the death toll to 63,635.

Europe To Revive International Night Train Links

BERLIN (AP) — Four European rail companies announced Tuesday they plan to boost the continent’s network of night train connections by reviving routes that were dropped several years ago for cost reasons. German rail company Deutsche Bahn and the main national train operators in France, Switzerland and Austria said the routes from Vienna to Paris, via Munich, and Zurich to Amsterdam, via Cologne, will be re-established starting next December. Further international connections from Vienna and Berlin to Brussels and Paris will be created in 2023, and a Zurich to Barcelona sleeper will begin rolling in 2024.

The move marks a change of direction for Deutsche Bahn, which successively shut down its night train service in recent years citing unsustainable costs and lack of demand due to cheaper and faster budget flights. That decision, which severed key European connections because of Germany’s central location in the continent’s rail network, was heavily criticized by fans of the sleeper service and by environmental groups who argue that train travel is more sustainable than flying. Austrian railways as well as operators in Scandinavia run what they say are profitable routes. “Night trains are the future of climate-friendly mobility in Europe,” said Leonore Gewessler, Austria’s transport minister.

Berlin Opens Long-Awaited 1.4-Mile Subway Extension

BERLIN (AP) — A long-awaited subway extension that tunnels under one of Berlin’s best-known boulevards and improves transport links from the German capital’s central railway station opened Friday. The 2.2-kilometer (1.4-mile) new section of the U5 line runs from its previous terminus at the Alexanderplatz, once communist East Berlin’s central square, to the Brandenburg Gate. There, it joins up with a short subway section opened in 2009 that runs to the central station; until now, the line had little practical use and was used sparsely and mainly by tourists. The new section tunnels under the Unter den Linden boulevard, where construction work has helped snarl traffic in recent years. There are three new stations, including stops at city hall and next to Berlin’s Museum Island complex, although the latter isn’t expected to open until next summer.

The opening of the subway extension was originally planned for 2017, but Berlin’s sandy soil complicated construction. Officials have put the cost at up to 540 million euros ($655 million). Plans to extend the U5, which connects the eastern suburbs with the city center and was one of only two East Berlin subway lines before German reunification, date back to the 1990s.

Berlin’s Much-Delayed New Airport To Open Oct. 31, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin’s much-delayed new airport has a new opening date: Oct. 31, 2020. That is nine years later than the date envisioned when construction started in 2006.

The new BER airport has defied all clichés of German efficiency: construction problems and technical delays saw the date pushed back repeatedly — most dramatically in 2012, when the opening was canceled just four weeks before it was supposed to happen.

The delays have left Berlin relying on two small, aging and increasingly crowded Cold War-era airports: Tegel, which served West Berlin, and Schoenefeld, just outside the city limits, which was communist East Berlin’s airport.

The operator had previously said that it aimed to open the new airport next October but had stopped short of committing itself to a specific date.

Airport boss Engelbert Luetke Daldrup said that the move to the new airport will be phased.

Flights to and from Tegel, the busier of the existing two airports, are scheduled to end on Nov. 8, 2020, but airlines will continue to use the existing Schoenefeld terminal, across the tarmac from the new airport, for some time.

“We still have 11 months of hard work in front of us,” Luetke Daldrup said. A test phase of systems at the airport will run from April to October, “then BER can be opened safely and reliably,” he added.

The 8 Best Coffee Shops In Berlin. The German Capital Has Officially Transformed Into A Coffee Mecca. #Coffee #Berlin #Germany

by ELIOT STEIN

Berliners are known for feasting on life's great pleasures, yet until recently, world-class coffee has been one vice that's been notoriously hard to find here. But in the last few years, a swell of chic caffeine chapels has sprouted up faster than you can say "cold-drip brew" and transformed the German capital into a legit, third-wave coffee mecca—wander around the trendy neighborhoods of Neukölln, Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg, or Mitte, and you'll find more specialty roasters than you can shake a syphon at. From Viennese-inspired coffeehouses to industrial caffeine haunts, here's our list of Berlin's very best coffee shops.

Courtesy The Barn Coffee Roasters

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The Barn Roastery

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The Barn which opened in 2010 in hopes of reestablishing a serious coffee culture in Berlin, serves some of the best espresso we’ve had in the city—or anywhere in Germany, for that matter. Beans come from places like Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Costa Rica; the espressos are bitter and bold; and the macchiatos, with their frothy fleur-de-lis, are as pretty as they are painstaking. Don’t expect to find sugar or milk easily here, though—these guys are purists.

Courtesy Bonanza Coffee Heroes

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Bonanza Coffee Heroes

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Located smack-dab in the middle of the elegant Oderberger Strasse in the Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood, just a few streets south of popular Mauerpark, Bonanza Coffee opened in 2006—a lifetime ago, in Berlin years—and has something of a religious following among third-wave coffee aficionados. The site-roasted beans have a fruity note to them, and that cherry flavor seeps into everything from the cortado to the flat white (said to be among Berlin’s very best), and double shots come standard with each espresso order. Whether you stop in for a goosebump-inducing jolt before scouring Mauerpark’s flea market or just to meet friends before a day out, you'll be struck with how intimate the small space feels.

Refugio Café

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At first glance, Refugio looks like so many other achingly hip Berlin coffee joints: comfy golden couches, dangling plants, and local art for sale. But what makes it so unique is the fact that it’s staffed entirely by newly arrived migrants and asylum seekers. In fact, what you see is just one of five floors where 40 refugees from Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Eritrea live and work as a large family. Weekly language courses, free exhibitions, great craft coffee, and a delicious Syrian brunch make this a local favorite.

Courtesy Hallesches Haus

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Hallesches Haus

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As you veer off the canal-lined Tempelofer Ufer and push past the dangling ivy sails and draped lights of outdoor tables, the interior of Hallesches Haus hits you like a hyper-curated design catalog. Raw brick walls, soaring ceilings, blooming succulents, wooden communal tables, and industrial chandeliers give this formerly vacant 1902 post office building a generous dose of cool and cozy. The result is a stunning multi-use cafe, event space, and kitschy-chic general store where you’ll want to drink, work on your laptop, or meet friends.

Bernd Brundert/Courtesy Cafe Einstein Stammhaus

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Café Einstein Stammhaus

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You may want to tuck in your shirt as you enter the tony Tiergarten neighborhood and into the Italian neoclassical villa that houses one of Europe’s great old coffeehouses. Inside, parquet floors, waiters in black and white suits, and marble-topped tables with leather banquettes make the Viennese-inspired cafe feel like a relic of pre-war Berlin. Film buffs may even recognize the place, as it’s where Tarantino shot the tense cafe scene in Inglourious Basterds.

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Prinzessinnengärten Café

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Nine years ago, a group of volunteers set out to transform a 60-year-old abandoned wasteland in the middle of Kreuzberg’s busy Moritzplatz into a green oasis. Today, these tranquil "princess gardens" produce more than 500 types of vegetables and hide a delightful organic cafe. Courses are offered in everything from composting to beekeeping here, but it’s the idyllic tree-shaded cafe that’s the main draw for those walking, biking, or otherwise passing by. Come here to sip a strong espresso or herbal mate while communing with nature.

Philipp Dera/Courtesy Five Elephant

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Five Elephant

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Sat on a leafy side street a block from Görlitzer Park in the oh-so-trendy Kreuzkölln ‘hood, Five Elephant helped pioneer the third-wave coffee trend in Berlin. Vintage maps sprawled across the white walls show the journey of the beans from countries like Brazil, Ethiopia, El Salvador, and Colombia to the minimal stool-studded cafe where they’re roasted onsite. Wooden tables, outdoor seating on Reichenberger Strasse, and an open-back kitchen make this one of our favorite places to start our day.

Courtesy Districkt Coffee

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Distrikt Coffee

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Cafes in Mitte can sometimes feel like they're catering to business clientele or tourists, but Distrikt is a locals-only gem, and its free Wi-Fi makes it a good place to catch up on emails and fuel up before exploring. If you like your espresso bitter, this is the place for you. The espresso beans come courtesy of Berlin’s Fjord Coffee Roasters and make their way into any number of frothy or straight black options, all served in elegant porcelain cups.

Source: https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/best-coffee-shops-in-berlin

5 Reasons To Visit Berlin In 2017.

New concert halls, museum opening, urban garden show and ease of travel with new nonstop flights are just some more reasons put Berlin on your 2017 travel list. “Been there, done that” is no concept for Berlin. This year, the city again offers new attractions, highlights, and an ever-expanding cultural scene that adds to the must-do experiences and warrants another, deeper visit in 2017. Berlin in Bloom: International Garden Show (IGA)  April 13 – October 15, 2017  Three seasons of urban green, floral displays and international landscape design will be presented at Berlin’s Marzahn-Hellersdorf district during the city’s first International Garden Show (IGA). Designed by renowned landscape architects, the IGA’s horticultural art will embrace a host of styles ranging from garden classics to innovative landscape design, including Gardens of the World, tropical hot-house displays, acres of perennials and annuals, a rose garden, and regional classics. The natural landscape of the local Wuhle river valley is incorporated in the design.  To complement the horticultural experience, IGA will feature a cable car above the exhibitions grounds, a new visitors’ center as well as an arena seating 5000. The packed calendar of some 2500+ special events includes nine park festivals, sport- and music events as well as educational programs. Accessible by public transportation. General information at www.iga-berlin-2017.de.  Gehry/Toyota-designed Pierre Boulez Hall to open at new Barenboim-Said Academy  March 4, 2017  The heart and public face of the recently opened Barenboim-Said Academy, Berlin’s newest concert hall is housed in the former storage building of the Staatsoper. The Frank Gehry and acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota-designed Pierre Boulez Saalprovides up to 682 spectators with extraordinary perspectives and an intimate music experience.  The brainchild of the general Music Director of the Berlin State Opera, Daniel Barenboim, and the Palestinian-American academic Edward W. Said, the fully accredited academy will serve as an intercultural space, where young musicians from Israel and Middle Eastern countries find common ground for making music and communication. The philosophy is a reflection of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which consists of young Israeli and Arab musicians, as well as the belief that musical education must be enriched by a deep knowledge of the humanities.  Leading international soloists and ensembles will regularly be guests at the Pierre Boulez Hall. It is also the home of the new Boulez Ensemble, recruited mostly from members of the Berlin Staatskapelle. Re-opening of the Staatsoper unter den Linden  October 3, 2017  Completing a seven-year, Euro 296 million renovation, Berlin’s famed Staatsoper unter den Linden concert hall is scheduled to reopen on October 3, 2017. A dedicated historic monument, the concert hall’s exterior appearance remains the same; however, structural, safety, and acoustic improvements throughout the building now elevate the venue to the ranks of internationally renowned opera houses. Built in 1743 in the Prussian classicist style, the Staatsoper has a long history of hosting significant musical premieres. General music director Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin Staatskapelle orchestra, renowned guest conductors and an ensemble of first-rate singers, promise performances of the highest musical quality.  The festive opening concert will be broadcast live on the adjacent Bebelplatz square.  Art Museum Barberini now open in Potsdam  January 23, 2017  Housed in a 1771 palace of Frederick the Great, Potsdam’s new Museum Barberini opens with two exhibitions that are distinguished by their connection to each other: Impressionism: The Art of Landscape, and Modern Art Classics: Liebermann, Munch, Nolde, Kandinsky.  Destroyed during the Second World War, the palace was reconstructed by the non-profit Museum Barberini groups with the support of the Hasso Plattner Foundation. In its 17 galleries, the Museum Barberini will feature changing collections ranging from Old Masters to works from the 21st century. The permanent collection’s focus will be on Impressionism, American modern art, art from the former East Germany, and painting after 1989. The building also houses a shop, a café & restaurant with outdoor seating, as well as an auditorium for readings, concerts and lectures. From Berlin, Potsdam can be reached by public transportation in 45 minutes.  Ease of Travel: Delta, airberlin, Air Canada Rouge offer new nonstop service to Berlin  It will get even easier and more convenient to get to Berlin from the USA and Canada with new nonstop service: In mid April, airberlin will increase its nonstop-service to Berlin to two flights daily from New York’s JFK, as well as increased service from Miami. Starting in May, the German airline will also be offering nonstop service from Los Angeles, as well as San Francisco.  Also in May, Delta will resume flights to Berlin with the launch of nonstop service between JFK and Tegel Airport.  Canadians can look forward to the new Air Canada Rouge nonstop flight from Toronto to Berlin, which will operate four times/week and launch on June 1, 2017. More information on travel to Berlin www.visitBerlin.com.

Berlin - Art Events, Openings Summer/Fall 2016.

Berlin - Art Events, Openings Summer/Fall 2016. A major force in Berlin’s cultural calendar, end-of-summer art showings underscore city’s significanc A major force in Berlin’s cultural calendar, end-of-summer art showings underscore city’s significance as a major player in the art world.  Since the fall of the Berlin wall, Berlin has found its place as a leading art destination. The city is known as a place where art is created and where world-class works are on display in the city’s museums and galleries. Some of summer/fall 2016 highlights are listed below ►9th Berlin biennale for Contemporary Art  until September 18, 2016 at various locations  Since its inception in 1998, the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art has become one of the art world’s premier cultural events. It brings together some of the most influential artists, thinkers, and personalities and presents a cross section of artworks by internationally renowned as well as emerging artists. Each edition of the Biennale features around 50 Berlin-based artists with the majority of them producing new works for the exhibition. The events explore artistic developments to present, the unseen and the unfamiliar at the core of Berlin’s inspiring atmosphere. The New York based collective DIS are the curatorial team of this year’s Biennale edition. The upcoming events will function as a platform for collaboration of different kinds, embracing contradiction, blurriness, and confusion. ►Dada Africa: Dialogue with the Foreign  August 5 – November 7, 2016  2016 marks the 100th anniversary of Dadaism and the Berlinische Galerie will throw a big party to celebrate the occasion. About 120 works from collections in Germany and abroad will be presented in five sections. Dadaist works engage in a direct dialogue with artifacts from Africa, Asia and Oceania. The show reveals how much the Dadaists looked to art beyond Europe in formulating their new aesthetic departures. DADA’s revolutionary attack on traditional notions of art and culture in the early 20th century laid the groundwork even then for new ways of seeing the Other. ►Long Night of Museums  August 27, 2016  Berlin’s popular Long Night of Museums is poised to again become an inspiring and fun late night event, when some 100 large and small museums, presenting established and new collections, open their doors from 6 pm Saturday evening until 2 am Sunday morning. Music, theater, and culinary events will enhance the permanent and temporary exhibitions and promise to make the nighttime museum visit a unique experience. Buy just one ticket and you get unlimited access to a special shuttle bus service and admission to all participating venues and events. ►5th Berlin Art Week  September 13-18, 2016, various locations  A key fall event, the Berlin Art Week is dedicated to contemporary art and combines exhibitions, art fairs, art awards, and an auxiliary program featuring talks, films, and tours. The Berlin Art Week provides new, surprising insights into private collections, project spaces, and the city’s sites of artistic production. Center pieces this year will again be the art fairs abc art berlin contemporary and Positions Berlin – Art Fair. ►European Month of Photography  October 1 – 31, 2016, various locations  Since 2004, the European Month of Photography has been taking place every two years in Berlin, presenting a wide range of exhibitions and events on historic and contemporary photography. The largest German festival for photography presents a collaboration of museums, cultural institutions, galleries, embassies, project spaces, as well as local photography schools. On the occasion of its 10th anniversary 2014, the EMOP Berlin had an impressive record to its name: 2 million visitors, 500 exhibitions by as many partner institutions, 30,000 photographic works shown, and 2,000 participating photographers. ►Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Hieroglyphics  September 23 – February 12, 2017 at Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum for Contemporary Art  Referring to his cityscape paintings, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, the German expressionist painter and one of the founders of the artists group “Die Brücke“, spoke of "hieroglyphs as signs of expression." Immediate ecstasy, Kirchner wrote, leads already in the preliminary sketch to "complete hieroglyphs." The variety of visual experience, "ecstasy," is reduced to abbreviations, to eloquent details such as hats, shoe tips, window frames, or bridge arches. With this focus, the upcoming exhibition directs attention toward 18 works by the artist in the museum's own collection, ranging from the early Seated Nude of the Dresden Brücke period, to Bathers on the Beach and dense works Meadow Flowers and Cat from the artist's late works. ►Feuerle Collection opens in former WWII bunker  October 2016  Collector Désiré Feuerle is planning to open a private museum in late 2016, to house his collection of international contemporary and Southeast Asian art, as well as Chinese design. Just like the well-known Boros Collection, the Feuerle Collection will be permanently be displayed in a former World War II telecommunications bunker, which has been refurbished by British architect John Pawson. The museum aims to provoke a dialogue between works of different cultures and eras. After a sneak preview during the 9th Berlin Biennale, the official grand opening of the Feuerle Collection will be celebrated in October 2016. More information on travel to Berlin www.visitBerlin.com.

Regent Berlin and Rolls-Royce Partner For Ultimate Luxury Package

It’s the ultimate luxury, a perfect combination of style, tradition and culture: The 5 star superior hotel Regent Berlin and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Berlin have teamed up to offer a package which leaves no wish unfulfilled.

Visionary engineering meets innovative technology with the launch of a superb new convertible: the Rolls-Royce Dawn by the traditional British luxury brand. The combination of technological freedom, extravagance and design guarantees breathtaking exuberant driving pleasure under the open skies. It only takes 20 seconds to open and close the roof which is activated with the press of a button, even whilst driving up to 50km/h.

For two days, guests of the Regent Berlin can get up close and personal with the Rolls-Royce Dawn. A choice of a sightseeing tour of the capital by day or a drive through the buzzing metropolis by night are available, driven either by a personal chauffeur or by yourself. The best place to start any excursion is from the Gendarmenmarkt, so hop in and indulge in a world of nobility and tradition.

And the pampering continues: Guests stay in one of the deluxe suites of the 5 star superior hotel Regent Berlin overlooking the Gendarmenmarkt and enjoy a romantic four-course candle-lit dinner at the two Michelin starred restaurant Fischers Fritz. Strengthened by the delicious à la carte breakfast the next morning, guests can embark on another unforgettable tour with the Rolls-Royce. In the afternoon, guests can retreat to Regent Berlin to enjoy the hotel‘s quintessentially English afternoon tea. Regent Berlin’s TeaMaster Gold invites guests to choose from 40 different kinds of tea as well as home-made ice tea. Also served are delicate sandwiches with classic fillings such as egg, cucumber and smoked salmon, freshly baked scones with Devon clotted cream and strawberry jam as well, and an assortment of fresh pastries.

The package includes: Two overnight stays in one of the elegant deluxe suites, the sumptuous à la carte breakfast at the restaurant, a four-course candle-lit dinner at the awarded gourmet restaurant Fischers Fritz, the use of the Rolls-Royce Dawn to drive yourself for two days or with a personal driver on request and including 300km, English afternoon tea at the Lobby Lounge or terrace of the hotel, a bottle of champagne upon arrival, complimentary access to the Regent Health Club and free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel.

Prices start from EUR 3,500.00 based on double occupancy, bookable preferably four weeks before arrival and up until 29th December 2016. Complimentary early check-in and late check-out on request and availability at point of booking. To book, please call reservations on +49 (0)30 2033 6666 or via e-mail to reservation.berlin@regenthotels.com.

The Regent Berlin is situated at the Gendarmenmarkt with a beautiful view of the Französischen Dom (French Cathedral) and the concert house. The boulevard Unter den Linden, the Brandenburg Gate and the popular Friedrichstraße with its exclusive boutiques are all just a stone's throw away. The very personalised service and luxurious design of the 195 rooms and suites make the 5 star superior hotel one of the most sought-after hotels with stars, leisure and business guests. With its modern meeting and conference facilities as well as its awarded gourmet restaurant Fischers Fritz, the Regent Berlin offers the right ambience for every occasion.

For further information, please visit www.regenthotels.com/berlin

Source: www.luxurytravelmagazine.com

Berlin Budget Vegan: 10 Places To Get Vegan Meals In Berlin for Less Than €10

In 2013, when we were last in Berlin, there were a couple of good places for a Berlin budget vegan food. Since then, the Berlin budget vegan scene has gone totally insane, in a good way.

There are signs for vegan food wherever you look and it would be a year’s work to try all the options available. As with any food scene that goes trenderiffic (curry wurst, I’m looking at you), bad apples are popping up everywhere, threatening to spoil the bunch.

We made it our mission to find the best vegan cheap eats in Berlin and taste them for you. We also scoured the streets for nearby alternatives, in case your chosen Berlin budget vegan restaurant is mysteriously closed when you get there.

(This happens all the time in Berlin! Plan ahead.)

From least expensive to most, here’s all the Berlin budget vegan food we tried, with honest opinions about each option.

Momos, Mitte

Vegan & Vegetarian
Fehrbelliner Str. 5, U Senefelderplatz

Photo via Momo.

This tiny lunch spot is hidden away on a residential street. It’s popular with office workers on their lunch break, so expect the tables to be busy if you go between noon and 1:30pm. Inspired by a trip they took to Nepal, Marc and Martin serve plates of small dumplings called momos. Veggie-friendly adventurers, our favourite kind of people!

The dumplings come in six flavours (2 veg, 4 vegan) with a choice of three dips and three plate sizes. The piping hot little pockets were tasty and filling; a medium plate of 14 momos made a terrific lunch.

Price for a vegan meal:
Plate of 14 fried momos with dip: €6.90

Did you know? If you like tall, fit German men with friendly smiles, you will want to visit Momo. Trust me.

Nearby: Cold-pressed juices, healthy shakes, and vegan salads are on offer at Daluma, Weinbergsweg 3.

Il Casolare, Kreuzberg

Vegan Options (if you ask), Serves Meat
Grimmstr. 30, Berlin, Kottbusser Brücke

If you have a hankering for a traditional Italian pizza, but the closest you can get to Italy is Berlin, then Il Casolare has your back. Il Casolare is staffed by exceptionally grumpy waitresses, who give the impression that speaking to customers is way below their pay grade. Fortunately, the food makes up for the unpleasantries. It’s not a vegan pizza place and you won’t find anything vegan on the menu, but just order one of their selection of veggie pizzas ohne käseand you’ll be transported straight to Italia with the first bite.

Il Casolare has two sister branches in Berlin. Il Ritrovo in Friedrichshain (Gabriel-Max-Str. 2) and I Due Forni in Prenzlauer Berg (Schönhauser Allee 12).

Price for a vegan meal:
Generous personal pizza: about €7

Did you know? Rumour has it that Quentin Tarantino eats at Il Casolare when he is in Berlin.

Nearby: Just across the river at Erkelenzdamm 49 is Viasko, which will break your budget, but will also fill your belly with vegan delights.

Sushi Cube, Kreuzberg

Vegan Options, Serves Fish
Zossener Str. 18, U Gneisenaustr.

Packed out pretty much every time I’ve been there, Sushi Cube won’t win any awards for swift service or relaxed dining. But, it does have an amazing selection of veggie and vegan sushis on the menu at a terrific price. We found it impossible to ask our busy waitress for a glass of water, let alone to find out if the tempura batter has eggs in it, so ask before you order. If it does, there are lots of options that don’t involve any batter at all.

Did you know? In summer, you can enjoy your sushi out on the sidewalk tables – oh so European.

Price for a vegan meal:
Two filling sushi rolls: around €8

Nearby: Planet Veganus is a small vegan bistro just around the corner on Schenkendorfstrasse 1.

Pêle-Mêle, Neukölln

Vegan
Innstr. 26, Geygerstr.

After failing to eat at Sfizy (randomly closed until some day in February) and Let it Be (doesn’t open until 4pm), I found myself at Pêle-Mêle, a homey little restaurant on a side street in Neukölln. What was going to be just a back-up plan turned into one of the best budget vegan meals I had in Berlin.

The veggie-burger is a homemade green spelt patty topped with fresh, crisp veggies on a sesame bun. And it was damn tasty. After lunch, I treated myself to a slice of hazelnut chocolate cake for dessert, which was iced with a caramel-like peanut butter topping. Yum.

Did you know?
Pêle-Mêle does an organic vegan gourmet brunch every Sunday from 10am to 3pm. This is a must-eat on my list for next time we’re in Berlin.

Price for a vegan meal:
Veggie burger: €6.50
Side of potato wedges: €2.50

Nearby:
The pizza at all-vegan Sfizy is supposed to be great. Next time we’re in Berlin, maybe I’ll have an update for you.

Tianfuzius, Schöneberg

Vegan & Vegetarian
10777 Berlin, U Viktoria-Luise-Platz

There was a time, about three months into our cycling trip through China, that I thought I would never be able to eat Chinese food again. That time has passed, so I was excited to find out about Tianfuzius, a vegetarian Chinese restaurant in upmarket Schöneberg. Tianfuzius is decked out to impress the well-to-do locals, with a modern, chic take on an ancient Chinese villa. You could easily spend €50 per person on a splash-out meal here.

But, just like the upscale vegetarian restaurants in China, the dim sum section of the menu offers affordable filling options on a budget. They have a range of dumplings including Xiao Long Bao, Bao Zi, and Jiao Zi for less than €5 a plate. While my order of Bao didn’t compare to the fluffy cloud-like buns of perfection that came from street vendors in remote villages in China, they were pretty good. At least I could be sure I wasn’t going to bite into a bun full of pig!

If you want to splurge, come and try the Mapo Tofu and Green Beans with Mountains of Chilis (my name for them) that we so fondly remember from our time in China.

Did you know? Tianfuzius also offers a lunch box special (Japanese Bento style) for less than €10.

Price for a vegan meal:
Soup plus an order of dumplings: €9

Nearby:
It’s a bit of a trek, but Chay Village on Eisenacher Str. 40 does veggie and vegan Vietnamese food and is the closest good option in the area.

Cat Tuong, Prenzlauerberg

Vegan
Kastanienallee 89, Schwedter Str.

Our meal at Cat Tuong was easily the best we had in Berlin. We were excited to have the chance to sample some Vietnamese delights without having to pick through our food for random bits of pork or tiny dried shrimp! The menu made us want to come back multiple times, because there was so much we wanted to try.

The crispy Banh Xeo pancake was as tasty as we remember from the market in Ha Noi and our main courses were rich and flavourful, while being completely different from each other. The best part about Cat Tuong’s meals is how they use thin slices of seitan and mushroom to recreate the delicate pieces of pork (or chicken or dog) so prevalent in Vietnamese cooking.

Price for a vegan meal:
One main dish: €9

Did you know?
Cat Tuong is a famous Vietnamese actress (but the word also means something like “Fortune”).

Nearby:
Fill up on vegan salads, wraps, and scrumptious fries at Fast Rabbit on Eberswalder Str. 1.

Bonus Listing: Vegan Grocery Store Veganz

Vegan
Locations in Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, and Prenzlauer Berg

As proof that Berlin has been possessed by vegan insanity (hooray), there is a chain of vegan grocery stores in the city. Yes, you heard that right. A CHAIN of VEGAN grocery stores. Anyway, they sell every vegan product you’ve ever heard of but can’t get in your town back home.

Gardein? Yup, with more varieties than we could ever find in Canada, where the stuff is made! Beyond Meat? You betcha? Veganaise? Yes, again with more different kinds than I knew existed. Plus, there are oodles of types of Europeanvegan cheese slices and yogurts which are actually good!

While there is a minor snobbery among Berlin’s vegan populace about vegan

 “products” (yes, yes, we should all eat raw beans and kale the whole time) for travellers with access to a kitchen, Veganz is tha bomb! Combine some of their non-meat products with a plate full of veggies from the Turkish market and you have a tasty, nutritious vegan meal for well under €10.

Want even more budget vegan

 Berlin?

There are about 476 (give or take) budget vegan places we didn’t get to try in

 Berlin, not to mention all the high-end vegan restaurants in Berlin.

Check out these blogs for even more Berlin budget vegan restaurants (plus some fancier ones for splurge nights):

13 FANTASTISCH Vegan Restaurants in Berlin Not To Miss
The 10 Best Places to Eat in Berlin for Vegetarians & Vegans
Berlin Vegan Guide

♥  Happy adventures (in vegan eating), Stephen & Jane

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