The "Wow factor"

Yes, it's that time of the year again. And in Europe that can mean only one thing: as much christmas lighting as possible.

From Lyon to Madrid to Berlin, the race is on amongst European cities to consume as much yuletide electricity as possible. Berlin's contribution: an elaborate project to light up every tree on it's main drag Unter den Linden.

Add to this the traditional christmas markets (Berlin's most glitzy, Gendarmenmarkt, is pictured right) and you've got some serious electricity bills for the month of December. The environment can be thankful for small graces however: unseasonably warm weather is keeping heating costs low. al

Chic? Mais oui!

Another week goes by, another design exhibition 'goes down' in Europe. This week in Saint Etienne, south-eastern France. Big whoop, you say.

So what sets this one apart? Well, it was recently started by design students - a refreshing tonic in these times of corporate-sponsored design events - and it's almost exclusively French (which means the english-language press material is incredibly obscure - check out the official website for a giggle).

The main exhibition of the 12 day event is "Cohabitations", commissioned by French designer Matali Crasset, which looks at new ways of conducting modern living and social interaction. Ironic then that the site of the exhibition, the Cité du Design, should itself be a former ammunitions manufacturing plant.

With the Design Biennale only taking place for the fourth time, most contributors to the exhibitions are still French. However Berlin designers, V+W, are turning heads with their clothes-swapping, friend-making "Relationchip" project aswell - showing that, sometimes, it's worth going along to these design events after all. al

Make some noise: St Martin's Day

The sound of thumping bass booming through the streets of Berlin is hardly a new phenomenon. But when it's accompanied by a brass band and kids with lanterns, you have to start asking questions. And so it was that I stumbled upon St Martin's Day.... or rather, it bumped into me.

Little known in the english-speaking world, St Martin's Day is the celebration of the Roman Catholic saint, Martin of Tours (316AD - 397AD). Mainly recognised in the Catholic regions of Belgium, Holland, Austria and Germany, the festival takes place on the evening of the 11th of November and involves parades of schoolchildren through the streets, who sing songs (with musical accompaniment) and move from door to door collecting treats.

It's popularity in traditionally Protestant areas of Germany remains a bit of a mystery however. Perhaps as a type of 'euro-halloween'? al

It's back! The big freeze is on again.

One week ago on the streets of Prenzlauer Berg coffee drinkers were lazing about in the late autumn sun, talking of an "Indischer Sommer". At 23 degrees Celsius, it was the warmest 26th October in Berlin's history.

But now in November, the locals are nowhere to be seen - sub-zero temperatures have frightened everyone inside and even the sun has decided to not come out this weekend. For the next few months the forecast looks good for indoorsy-types: Meterologists say that a warm October means a cold winter. al

Time for a new champion.

Whilst Bayern München struggles to find form this season, a team from Germany's north continues to make headlines: Werder Bremen.

At the end of round eight, Bremen are on top of the Bundesliga (Bayern is currently fourth) and are showing themselves to be a competitive force in the Champions League, managing to hold last season's European Champions, Barcelona, to a 1-1 draw last week.

Bremen's Trainer Thomas Schaaf remains realistic however. At a press conference on Thursday he told the press his main intention was "to be on top of the Bundesliga in round 34". al

Street beautification ...

...or just cheap thrills?

"Assisted restorations" - arguably, there's no better place in the world for them than in Berlin. Old decaying buildings in the middle of a city desperate to rebuild itself. And private contributions for public building projects are no-doubt also very welcome at Berlin's liberal-minded (and very broke) local council.

But one has to ask whether the billboard currently hiding the restoration work on the former Royal Library of Friedrich Wilhelm III really fits with the building's learned image. Also debatable is whether the scantily-clad ladies are at all sensibly dressed to survive a Berlin winter! al

Still a divided nation?

A report out this week has shown that a large divide between the new German states and the rest of the nation still exists, 16 years after reunification.

The annual report, produced as part of Germany's "Day of Unity" celebrations next week, was meant to show how far the united Germany has come. Instead, the report shows that despite 250 billion Euros of investment for the East, unemployment remains high and economic growth is almost non-existant.

Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD), the Federal Minister for Transport, Building and Urban Development, stated that it will take another 15 to 20 years before the former East German states develop their own economic momentum. al

Wowi still on top.

Klaus Wowereit's SPD party emerged winners from Sunday's state elections in Berlin. But with only 30.4% of the election going to the returning Mayor's party, all the talk is about a coalition....again.

Doubt remains as to whether Wowereit will select his former coalition partner, PDS/Die Linke - who returned worse than expected results at this year's elections - or whether he might choose the ever popular Greens.

Two other questions are also hanging in the air from this year's campaign. Firstly, how is it that 41% of the Berlin population did not bother to vote? Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, how did Berlin's political parties manage to spend 3.6 Million Euros just on advertising posters? al

Lovely party...but where's the sausage?

This weekend marked the opening of the world's largest wine festival, the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt, in the German town of Bad Dürkheim. Consistently attracting over 600,000 guests each year, the festival is a popular and proud tradition in Germany's wine-growing Rhine valley region.

From it's beginnings in the 15th century, the festival attracted not only winegrowers but also tradesman and farmers from the region who were keen to sell their wares. The unique name (Wurstmarkt translates to "sausage market") originated in the 1800's due to the enormous amount of sausage consumption during the annual festival.

These days the fairground rides are undoubtedly a major attraction. However the copious amount of wine on offer, either drunk with lemonade or mineral water (and always in 500 millilitre doses!), remains the focus. Particularly popular are the Frühschoppen sessions: allowing those to either continue a long night of drinking or start the drinking early - the wine tents open at breakfast time. al

Airport BBI: A turbulent ride.

Work started today on a multi-billion Euro project for Berlin, the development of Airport Schönefeld into Berlin-Brandenburg International (BBI).

But aside from the mayor, who ceremoniously dug the first sod of earth today, everyone seems pretty unhappy about the new airport. From "environmentally-conscious" locals who are worried about losing their sleep, to low-cost airlines who fear that they won't be able to afford to land at the new centralised airport, opinion on the ground seems muted. Many locals believe that one of the city's other more centrally-located airports, Tempelhof or Tegel, should have taken over the main airport role.

It's taken 14 years for the new airport to get off the ground, but with the decision now official, here's hoping that the construction can progress a little faster than usual Berlin standards. Currently the project is scheduled to finish in 2011. al

The Kofferbombers

It is fast turning into the month of defused bomb attempts. In addition to the foiled bombing attempts on UK airports at the start of August, it has this week been revealed that Germany also narrowly escaped its own terrorist attack on 31 July. A group of persons dubbed as the Kofferbombers (suitcase bombers) are reported to have hidden propane bombs in suitcases on two german regional trains.
The coordinated attacks were due to take place concurrently on two separate trains travelling between regional centres near to the French border. In the German press, experts have dismissed the bombs as being amateur in their construction - and have therefore ruled out any link to large terrorist organisations.

Nevertheless, since the start of the month a number of arrests have been made in connection with the foiled attacks and security has been noticeably tightened at German train stations. In Berlin this week a man was prosecuted for police deception. He was holding a bag and making ticking noises and is reported to have joked with railway security that "there's one in here". al

Berlin in London

After two weeks away in England, the author was struck by the many differences between London and Berlin. Whilst Londoners read of more bomb scares and the dropping of Beckham at 7am on the tube, Berlin continues to get up at 10am and then consider going to work on its bike - after a trip to the baker ofcourse! Needless to say the London capital wins hands down for tailored suits too.

However it's good to see that a bit of Berlin is rubbing off on London. Never known for its particularly alternative street scene (Camden aside ofcourse), London is now flocking to Shoreditch, an area north of Liverpool St station. Populated by perpetual students and young professionals (who still wish that they were!), Shoreditch even has its own local street artist.

Out of office - London calling

To catch up on some well-needed rest after a busy last few weeks, Euroblog’s editor has departed to London for two weeks.

As can be seen from the above photo however, holiday relaxation is not the easiest thing to come by on the London Underground. Infact, getting inside the carriages in London's U-Bahn is a job in itself. al

The long thirst

Berlin's yuppies and their love of swimming has been documented on this page before - but now it seems that frustrated workers want a chance to enjoy a cool off at the end of their day too.

With warm, humid weather being the daily norm in Berlin for almost a month now, last Thursday saw over 70 000 locals throw in the towel and go swimming in Berlin's lakes, pools and rivers (eight times more than this time last year). Many of those who can take days off work are doing so, whilst those stuck at work often miss out - old-fashioned laws regulating opening hours mean that most of Berlin's public swimming facilities have to close at 7pm.

Whilst many local council members agree that a change to the law should be relatively simple, spokespeople for lifesaver and security staff unions complain that if opening hours are extended they won't be allowed their (statutorily-regulated ofcourse) eleven-hour rest period between shifts. Meanwhile, the city sweats on the outcome - literally. al
Photo: "Bötzowsee", author's own collection.

"The love is back" - Loveparade 2006

After a two year absence, the world's most famous electronic music festival came back in style on the weekend, attracting 1.2 Million guests to the 'party mile' in Berlin's Tiergarten.

With the "The Love is Back" slogan plastered on t-shirts, buildings and billboards all over the city - this year's Loveparade no doubt benefited from a commercially savvy approach to it's organisation. After being abandoned by the Berlin city council in 2003, the project was privately financed this year by Germany's gym-king, Rainer Schaller, the owner of McFit Fitness.

According to ravers, Saturday's parade had a bit of a different feel to it - not least because the Loveparade's initial founder, Dr Motte, was absent from this year's line-up. Nevertheless, to bemused outsiders, the festival remains largely the same - grinding techno music with too much bass, wierd and wonderful costumes and thousands of overly-tanned bodies from the McFitness generation. al

Time for something new

With the football world cup finally over, Berliners are slowly getting back to what they do best - looking cool in crazy locations. Without doubt, this weekend's hottest destination was Badeschiff, a luxurious swimming pool that floats in the Spree River.

Since 2004, the converted barge (Badeschiff means 'bathing ship' in German) has been a magnet for Berlin's scenesters - its mixture of lectures, arthouse films and dj's managing to keep the young crowd entertained even when the sun isn't shining.

Arguably, another reason for the pool's success is that it finally allows people to do what they have always wanted: have a cooling swim in the tempting, yet heavily polluted, Spree River. alA super-cool local practices the Berlin art of "seeing and being seen".

The other round ball game

A Berlin Cricket Club player trains on with a smile as the German football team drives past in the team bus. Photo: al

Without question all eyes are focussed on this afternoon's Argentina vs Germany football game at the olympic stadium in Berlin. However, a cricket ball's throw away from the venue, Berlin's cricketers will be slogging it out just as fiercely at one of the olympic stadium's outer sports fields.

Although records indicate that it was played earlier, cricket was first officially organised and played in Berlin after the second world war by the occupying British soldiers. Since then, what used to be the military section of Berlin's olympic sports complex has been specially reserved for the capital's small band of cricketers.

Over the years Berlin's cricket league has developed into a six team affair with places for the national championship always hotly contested at the end of the season. Nationally the game is gathering momentum too. A German team is set to play in the European Cricket Division 2 Championships in Scotland in August in preparation for next year's 'other' World Cup - the Cricket World Cup taking place in the Caribbean. al

Germans flying the flag

It has been a long time coming but it seems that the World Cup has finally given Germans the courage they need to proudly fly their flag.

With Germany successful in the opening round - each day more and more Germans are investing in a flag for their balconies or car. Germany's larger migrant groups have also been very prevalent in their displaying of the German flag.

But it hasn't always been like that. Since its official adoption in post second world war Germany, the German flag's public showing has often been an issue - mainly due to its strong association with Germany's right-wing extremist groups. It's no surprise then that, in order to show impartiality, Berlin's police and council have opted to remain flagless throughout the Cup - a stance that has been harshly criticised in the Berlin media and from various sides of parliament.

The first instance of the current flag being used dates back to the turn of the last century, in the Weimar Republic. Since then it has only been banned once - ironically, by the National Socialists in 1933. al

Germany to ban public smoking?

Whether watching football or meeting with friends, having a smoke in German restaurants and bars is commonplace and has always been accepted as a person's personal right. Until now.

A group bill has been put forward by Bundestag MP Lothar Binding (SPD) calling for an end to smoking in all public areas without exception from 1 January 2007. The MPs supporting the bill, who come from both sides of german politics, are confident of a result when the vote is put to the general assembly of the Bundestag in the coming weeks.

Elsewhere in Europe general public smoking bans are becoming increasingly more prevalent. Extensive bans already exist in Ireland, Norway and Sweden. In England, Westminster is currently also discussing a public smoking ban. In Germany, gastronomy and hotel unions remain concerned that a general ban on smoking will reduce their trade. Initial investigations, done in Ireland, have shown otherwise however. A report from the World Health Organisation actually showed Irish gastronomy profits increased as a result of the ban. Guests had more money to spend on alcohol, so the report claimed. al

No ticket? No worries.

With thousands of german and international football fans missing out on tickets for their desired matches, Berlin has been quick to provide the public with a variety of other viewing options. Most unique amongst the viewing areas is the area in front of the German parliament building (Reichstag) where each game is televised on big screens inside a scale-model of Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

The 40,000 square metre area allows over 10,000 supporters to view the game at any one time and, as befitting a real football stadium complex, the surrounding area also includes football pitches and football skills training sessions, allowing fans to get active themselves. Ironically, prior to the football world cup, it had always been forbidden for the public to play football in this area in front of the parliament.

This author gave the faux-stadium a test-run today in person for the Australia vs Japan match, televised from Kaiserslautern. The Australian side was victorious 3-1, their first victory ever in a football world cup. al

World Cup starts, Berliners disinterested

A report from the University of Hohenheim (nr Stuttgart) released today, showed Berlin to be Germany's most unenthusiastic World Cup host-city. Nationwide interest levels remain high however, with 82% of German citizens in favour of the competition, which starts today in Munich.

Of those Berliners asked, only 70% said they were in favour of the World Cup in Berlin, many citizens citing hooliganism and the expected high costs for the city as their major complaints.
Berliners also expressed disinterest in the festival and concert programme during the games.

Despite this mood from the locals, 250,000 football fans took part in the official opening of the much anticipated Fanmile on 'Straße des 17. Juni' in central Berlin on Wednesday. The long boulevarde linking the Brandenburg Gate with the Siegessäule (in the former West Berlin) will be shut for the duration of the competition. Five large screens have been installed - including one covering the Brandenburg gate (pictured below). Each game of the 33 day competition will be televised there, for those fans who missed out on a ticket. al

Karneval der Kulturen (Carnival of Cultures)

Another weekend in Berlin, another street festival.

This Pentecost long weekend, it was the colourful 'Karneval der Kulturen' which attracted over 800,000 spectators out on to the streets of Berlin's multicultural district of Kreuzberg.

The four-day festival - now in it's 11th year - seeks to showcase the breadth of Berlin's resident international community and always concludes with a popular three and a half kilometre street parade on Sunday afternoon where floats attempt to outdo each other for loudness and boldness.

As is traditional, of the 70 floats taking part in this year's parade the most eye-catching floats were those with the ever-popular "pounding latin-american music/elaborate headwear/salsa dancers" mix....even if the dancers differed a little in their confidence levels!! al

Hysteria at the Hauptbahnhof.

There has been only one theme in the Berlin press this last week - the Hauptbahnhof Amokläufer (or 'main railway station maniac' in English).

After seven years of planning, last weekend's opening of Berlin's new main railway station was meant to be a symbol of progression for the new capital. However the events of friday evening - due to the behaviour of a drunken 16 year old Berlin youth running through the celebrating crowds stabbing people at random - are bound to be remembered for another reason. Or so the press would have us believe.

No less than 25 reports have appeared in the Berlin print and television media following the stabbings. At the very worst, some of these reports may have acted in contempt of the running court process, by televising an apology to victims from the alleged party's solicitor. At the very least, most reports have been characterised by elaborate hypotheses - be it on the likelihood of people contracting HIV from the attack (an early victim was confirmed as HIV+) or by making sweeping assumptions on Berlin's supposed inability to cope with terrorist attacks.

With the Football World Cup less than ten days away, let's hope that Berlin's media can retain it's professionalism infront of it's international audience. Or at least just curb it's fascination with youth violence for a month. al

DESIGNMAI International Design Exhibition

Despite wet weather dampening the party, Berlin's DESIGNMAI international design exhibition once again attracted design-conscious locals and international experts to the capital in their droves.

Following Berlin's recognition by UNESCO as a 'City of Design', the theme of this year's exhibition was 'design and the urban landscape'. 80 different designers displayed their ideas at the central design hall at Gleisdreieck in Kreuzberg, many designers hoping that their ideas would be commissioned for projects in and around Berlin.Other exhibitions around town gave less established designers a chance to show their cheekier side. One notable example was the Ping Pong Door from Tobias Fränzel, on display at the DESIGNMAI youngsters exhibition. al

Berlin Hbf: A big glass elephant?

The train station formally known as Lehrter Bahnhof is almost ready to be unveiled as Berlin's new main railway station just in time for, you guessed it, the World Cup.

Following its opening celebrations on May 26th, Berlin Hauptbahnhof is boasting to cater for over 300,000 S-Bahn and regional train guests a day. Nevertheless, the absence of any major tourist infrastructure surrounding the new station may annoy international tourists.

The new station is in Tiergarten, strategically located between the former East and West Berlin centres. Despite it's central position, Tiergarten is currently home to mainly diplomats and politicians - it's hotel and hostel options almost negligible when compared to the area surrounding Berlin's previous main station, Zoologischer Garten. al

Berlin's new May day festival a success.

This year's 1st of May festival was a celebration of all that is exciting in Berlin - excluding the fists. For years the 1st of May protests moved through Kreuzberg 36 in Berlin bringing violent confrontations with police and shopowners.

Now, after just three years in the making the Kreuzberger Myfest stands firmly in the way of the protests (literally), whilst at the same time celebrating the many facets of Berlin life. This year's festival included 19 stages of music and dancing throughout the day in the Oranienplatz and Mariannenplatz areas.

As can be seen below, many protesters were forced to stay peaceful and join the celebrations instead - as much as the attitude levels allowed it ofcourse! al

Berlin: "Can we have some more?"

Berlin's Mayor, Klaus Wowereit (SPD), has been part of a court process in the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe over the last few days in an effort to receive a special emergency grant from the federal government. The problem: Berlin's 60 billion Euro debt that shows no sign of decreasing.

Wowereit has attempted to show that despite conscious efforts at saving, Berlin is struggling to become the 'financial centre of Germany'. Representatives from other states, such as the Ministerpräsident of Saxony Georg Milbradt (CDU), have been critical in their appraisal of Berlin's saving efforts however. An opinion supported by many Berliners - who are constantly confronted with new elaborate street beautification schemes taking place across the capital.

Fear exists amongst the more prosperous states that they may be further required to assist Berlin financially - something they have already been required to do for many years following the reunification of Germany in 1990. al

Sürücü court case fires up German and Turkish media

There has been extensive coverage in the German media over the last few weeks of the case of Ayhan Sürücü - a turkish-german convicted of the honour-killing of his sister, Hatun, in Berlin last year. The punishment handed down from the Berlin Landesgericht today - a period of imprisonment of nine and a half years - has been particularly heavily criticised.

Berlin's morning paper the Berliner Morgenpost has printed controversial photos of other family members celebrating the reduced sentence, whilst Germany's most widely-respected national paper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine, has also weighed in to the argument by featuring a front-page article quoting Berlin Senator, Körting, as saying that "the Sürücü family should leave Germany, if they themselves have any sense of honour ".

Meanwhile, on the other side of Europe, Turkey's most influential newspaper, Hürriyet, was of the belief that such an intrafamilial honour-killing would have been far more severely punished had it been tried in Turkey - following new regulations introduced there late last year.

The integration of turkish immigrants into german culture has been a not unproblematic one for the german state since the 1960's, when many turkish families immigrated to Germany as part of 'guestworker' programmes. Currently, approximately 2.2 million turkish citizens call Germany home. al

Berlin's half-marathon gets Spring up and running

Accompanied by temperatures of 17 degrees and bright sunshine, 150,000 spectators crammed some of Berlin's most famous streets on Sunday to watch over 20,000 athletes take part in the German capital's half-marathon. First athlete across the line was Kenya's Paul Kosgei in 59 minutes and 7 seconds, the second fastest time ever.

Meanwhile, in the nearby states of Saxony and Brandenburg, wet Spring weather has led to state-wide flood-warnings and evacuations. Despite very prevalent news coverage in the German media, early prognoses suggest that water levels on the River Elbe will not reach those attained by the major floods of Dresden and surrounding areas in 2002. al

Angry german doctors take to the streets

Another in Germany's public sector strikes hit the Berlin streets last Friday - this time angry doctors from across the nation gathering to express their dissatisfaction with the introduction of increased bureaucracy in the medical sector.
Police estimates state that 30,000 doctors gathered in front of the Berlin Town Hall to demand a rethink of medical regulations being introduced by Chancellor Merkel's government. The regulations, currently being discussed in Germany's Bundesrat, increase medical reporting and other paperwork requirements for doctors to an unacceptable level, according to spokesmen for the group.
The protest on Friday was the official start of a week-long protest starting today. Throughout Germany, thousands of practices remain closed. al

Berlin lagging in its World Cup preparations

With less than 90 days to go until the Football World Cup kicks off in Germany, the capital is showing signs of strain in its preparations.

The city's most ambitious World Cup project is the decorating of the 368 metre high Berliner Fernsehturm (TV Tower). The tower's spherical observation deck is due to be covered in 8000 square metres of pink and silver film in order to make it look like a giant football. But with the project originally due to be finished for New Year's Eve, Deutsche Telekom - the main sponsor of the project - now hopes that the project will be finished 'at the latest by the start of the World Cup' in June.

Concerns have also been expressed in the city's printed press with regards to Berlin's capacity to cope with a World Cup terrorist attack or similar disaster. A disaster simulation last Saturday unfortunately did little to alay such concerns. The triple disaster simulation occurred in three places around the city and included a stadium collapse, a gas explosion and a poisonous gas attack. In most instances emergency services took over 30 minutes to arrive. In one case a fire service vehicle from Poland was the first to get to the scene. al

Germany top medal count at Turin 2006.

Germany’s athletes returned to a heroes welcome this week, following their record-breaking 29 medals at last month’s Winter Olympics. Thanks mainly to the success of the nation’s champion bobsleders and biathletes, Germany attained 11 gold medals in Turin, two more than USA and Austria (2nd and 3rd respectively).

Whilst the success of Germany’s bobsleders was expected by many, the success of Michael Greis and Sven Fischer in the Biathlon events was a surprise to the nation’s press – the unique sport of shooting and crosscountry skiing being traditionally dominated by the Scandinavians.

Around Europe some nation’s Olympic campaigns continue despite the games being officially over. In Austria, backlash is still being felt following the police raid on the Austrian headquarters in Turin – a new anti-doping law is being planned by the Austrian government for this year. And in Sweden the nation’s victorious men’s ice hockey team has been threatened with removal of the gold medal following a breach of the IOC Rules with regards to sponsorship. al

End of an era: DDR government building finally removed.

Following last month's ruling from the German Bundestag, work on removal of the former East German Parliament building the 'Palast der Republik' in Berlin is now underway.

The Palast, which previously housed the DDR's Volkskammer and cultural event venues, is due to be completely levelled by Easter 2007.














It will be replaced by a re-worked model of the old Berliner Stadtschloss (city castle) which originally stood on the site - but was destroyed by the Soviets in 1950.

Protests about the removal of the Palast have been frequent in Berlin in the last six months, with many Berliners believing that the money being spent on pulling down the Palast could be better used elsewhere.

André Leslie
Photo: Author's own collection.

Germany's highest court deems Anti-Terrorism law 'unconstitutional'

Germany's new 'Luftsicherheitsgesetz' (try to say that in one breath!) had threatened to authorise the German government to shoot down civilian passenger planes that were suspected of being used by terrorists as airborne weapons.

In a reaction to the September 11 attacks and a similar event in the Frankfurt banking district in 2003, the law authorised the use of a pre-emptive military 'Abschuss' in order to avoid an attack on civilians on the ground.

However in November of last year, a pilot and four other business people (regular civilian airline users themselves) applied to Germany's Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe for the law to be deemed unconstitional.

The decision handed down on Wednesday of last week from the Erste Senat des Bundesverfassungsgerichts deemed the law to be a breach of Artikel 1 (right to human dignity) and Artikel 2 (right to life). al

Berlinale - Berlin's International Film Festival

What’s it all about?
56th International Filmfestival of Berlin – about 350 Films screened around town in 10 days in about 40 cinemas. (An organisational nightmare!!)
One serious competition where 26 internationally selected films compete for a golden or silver bear. Gay and lesbian filmmakers compete for the Berlin Teddy.

Glitzy?
The red carpet is out, limousines are rolling are around and there is a high quotient of American speaking stars – always a sign of success for any german project. The films themselves are mute - with films looking at meaty issues - from Guantanamo Bay to coping with life in a former war zone.

Any Australian representation?
“Candy” (with Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush) – talks of a young couple (not Geoffrey!) who use heroin to intensify their intimate experiences with each other. The couple, as you would expect, spiral downwards as they become increasingly immersed in their addiction. A happy picture of Oz for the international public – but of course we wish it well.

An alternative festival (with a similar sounding name) always pops up at times like this... anything on offer?
The alternative Berlinale - Tromanale.
Running in a squatter-occupied building in the middle of town called Tacheles.
- Accepts any film that you send to it.
- includes “Getting rid of your anger” sessions, where you can throw your most annoying electrical appliance off the top level of the building!
Check it out at www.tromanale.de

'Til next week,
A.

Lange Nacht der Museen - 28th January 2006

Hamburger Hauptbahnhof
Exhibition of Joseph Beuys

Parts of this exhibition left me feeling pretty confused.
After looking at this installation for some time I was asked to move on by a gallery attendant who politely informed me that I had been trying to artistically interpret one of the gallery's air-conditioners for the last few minutes.

Euroblog.tk opens to muted acclaim

With the official opening of yet another travelblog today in Berlin, Germany the english speaking world lets out a collective groan. Owner and editor of www.euroblog.tk, André Leslie, promised however that, "This time things will be different. With the money we've saved by registering this new website in Tajikistan, we've been able to fork out plenty of greenbacks towards a considerable staff of editors and reporters". Mr Leslie's attempt to use 'cool' youth slang in the launch of his new website won't be enough to convince all visitors to his site though. Research from a recent poll of American internet users shows that quality is what the new e-public demands ...."