discover germany | issue 1 | february 2013

Issue 1 | February 2013

PLUSA GUIDE TO GERMAN

DESIGNER GOODS

CONTEMPORARY GERMANARTISTS STRIKE GOLD

A NEW INDUSTRIALREVOLUTION IN EUROPE

FRANKA POTENTE– Bit by the TV Bug

VISIT BERLIN– A Capital in Step with the Times

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Issue 1 | February 2013 | 3

20 14

COVER FEATURE6 Franka Potente

Franka Potente shot to fame as flame-hairedLola in Tom Tykwer’s thriller Run Lola Run, andafter further critically acclaimed roles in Germanfilms, she made a smooth transition to Holly-wood. Known for her role in the Bourne film se-ries and for starring alongside Johnny Depp inBlow, she can now be seen on the small screen inthe second season of US horror series AmericanHorror Story.

SPECIAL THEME20 Berlin

Steeped in its evocative history and the rapidchanges that have taken place over the past twodecades, Berlin today exerts its own particularfascination.More than twenty years after the fallof the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Ger-many, the capital projects itself as a young, dy-namic and cosmopolitan city at the heart of Eu-rope which is constantly reinventing itself.

REGULARS & COLUMNS10 Dedicated to Design

For our very first issue, we have spotted some

truly quirky and innovative design items – allmade in Germany.

12 Fashion FindsTake a cue from these chic and eclectic Germanfashion brands and spice up your winterwardrobe.

28 Hotel of the MonthThe Steigenberger Hotel Group allows you to enjoya fully catered hotel stay in fresh andmodern set-tings.The group's Berlin hotel is a true gem in theupscale commercial heart of the city.

32 Restaurant of the MonthBe taken aback by mouth-watering Europeandishes and an atmosphere out of the ordinary, inthe renowned SAGE Restaurant.

36 Attraction of the MonthIf you are looking to add more personality anddepth to your next visit to a big city, then theBröhan State Museum in Berlin should be at thetop of your must-see list.

41 BusinessKey note, columns, news stories and features onGerman companies and business development.

48 CultureFeatures, updates and news on German cultureand lifestyle.

ContentsFEBRUARY 2013

Discover Germany | Contents

16

BULTHAUP epitomises the ultimate luxuryin modern kitchen design.

Since 2009,WALTER KNOLL has been available to the Londonclientele with a showroom displaying living and office furniture.

4 | Issue 1 | February 2013

Dear Reader,

It is with great pleasure that I presentthis debut issue of Discover Germany.Our idea is to provide a unique Eng-lish-language showcase for Brand Ger-many. We hope the magazine will ap-peal to all those who have a relationshipwith or a connection to Germany – be itthrough family, business, tourism, mi-gration or investment.

In our first issue, we would like to introduce our readers to themultifaceted capital of Germany, which is also one of the toptourist destinations within Europe. While Berlin’s history iswithout a doubt of great interest to many travellers who wouldlike to learn more about the former divided city, it is also knownas a modern and multicultural hub for art, design, fashion andculture.

Learn more about what East Berlin has to offer visitors, interms of both ironic nostalgia and trendsetting hotspots, andthen join us on a tour of Berlin's beautiful and bustling water-ways. We have also chosen the best hotel, restaurant and at-traction in the capital.

Turn to our culture pages for an in-depth look at the biggestGerman names on the current art market. In our business sec-tion, we introduce our new law columnist, Gregor Kleinknechtof Klein Solicitors, who will be addressing both practical andcomplex issues that face German individuals moving to the UKor German companies setting up in business in the UK.

As you have surely already noticed, the striking lady featured onthe cover of our first issue is none other than German actressFranka Potente – a household name in Germany who has man-aged to make the transition to Hollywood – and who has re-cently been bitten by theTV bug. In our interview she opens upabout her role in the hit US horror series American Horror Story,as well as her versatile career so far.

We hope you enjoy the very first issue of Discover Germany.

ThomasWintherEditor

Discover Germany

Issue 1, February 2013

Published 25.01.2013

ISSN 2051-7718

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Discover Germany | Cover Feature | Franka Potente

Are you a fan of the horror genre in general?

Do I like horrormovies? I do, yeah. I've donetwo before: Creep and Anatomy. But the firstthing that comes to my mind when I watchAmerican Horror Story is, for some reason,not horror. I don't knowwhat youwould callthat - like in the way that Rosemary's Baby isnot horror.What is that called? Creepy andsuspenseful. I do like that.

Since we haven't seen the second season ofAmerican Horror Story yet, do you get toact with Jessica Lange, and do you enjoythese moments?

Most of my scenes are with Jessica andJames Cromwell, which was, of course, agreat joy. It's interesting for a younger or

middle-aged actor - I'm not a springchicken either - to see these actors thatsustain, that never cease to amaze an audi-ence. Jessica just won an Emmy for it. Ikept saying to my husband, "I'm going totake my acting lessons", when I went towork. So you can really just sit back andwatch what they do. And there's a greatcomfort in working with people that arereally about the work and very responsible.They're like rocks.

And what really scares you in real life?Since you like psychological thrillers, issomething else as scary as that in real life?

I used to be awfully scared of flying.

Really?

Yeah. It's a luxury now - as I'm amom now.You realize that certain fears you have justkind of nurtured over the years, like ahobby or something. And I can't - I don'thave time to be scared anymore on theplane. But I'm afraid of loss, and I'm afraidof death and having to deal with it.

You've been in both Copper and AmericanHorror Story recently. Has the TV bug bityou, and how much do you enjoy theprocess?

Well, the first season of Copper is done now.But we got picked up for a second one, sothat's exciting. It's interesting to know thatyou have this long journey ahead of youwhere you tell a story, and Copper is very"ensemble-y". And you also don't know

Franka Potente– Bit by the TV bugFranka Potente shot to fame as flame-haired Lola in Tom Tykwer’s thriller Run Lola Run, and after further criticallyacclaimed roles in German films, she made a smooth transition to Hollywood. Known for her role in the Bournefilm series and for starring alongside Johnny Depp in Blow, she can now be seen on the small screen in thesecond season of US horror series American Horror Story (American Horror Story: Asylum), as well as BBCAmerica drama Copper. Here, Potente opens up about fear, motherhood and her versatile career.

TEXT: PHIL THOMPSON / THE INTERVIEW PEOPLE | PHOTO: HELGA ESTEB / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM


Discover Germany | Cover Feature | Franka Potente

what next week's script is going to bring foryou. I like to work that way.You have a lotof time to develop a story and see what theother people are doing, and stuff like that.And TV is very well done in America. It'sliked by the audience - and liked by actors.It really seems to be the place to go rightnow.

You have built a pretty amazing career foryourself.You are still active in Germany, ofcourse.You are doing stuff for movies.You area writer.You are on these amazingTV shows.Howmuch of that is planning, gauging yourcareer and where you want to go, and howmuch of it is, perhaps, luck? How does thatwork?

Imagine a big buffet, and you just ate, like,maybe something savory, and then youthink, "This looks good. I want to try this".It's a little bit like that, which is a very lux-urious situation.The acting is always there,and I really care for it, but I just don't like tobe bored.There have sometimes been timegaps that were unforeseeable, and I justlike to keep the creative energy flowing.And writing has always been somethingthat was interesting to me. It's more like acounterpoint. It's such a lonely job. It's soquiet, versus 80 people or something onset, being loud and hectic. And I like both.

They kind of seem to complement eachother.

How has motherhood changed you andchanged your attitude to work?

I'm someone who can separate things verywell. Work is work, and family and privatelife is private life. Everything,when it's new,is difficult, of course.And it was for me too,especially when something enters your lifethat is very, very important and new andtakes a lot of energy and heart. And youpretty much use the same sources that youdo in acting. But so far, knock on wood,everything has gone well. I think your pri-orities shift a little bit. Like if I had to bethere for my child, then I would run and bethere; I wouldn't run towards the trailer ormovie set. But I think that's normal.

You described your career as a buffet. So ifthere is a plate with such a critically ac-claimed show as American Horror Storywith 17 Emmy nominations on it, does ithelp to choose that plate over other things?

What definitely helped was watching thefirst season. There's nothing better thanworking on something that you are a fan of,that you really like. And we were reallylooking forward to season two. So that's

kind of cool. I remember it was the samesituation when I worked on The Shield, an-other TV show, a couple of years ago; I wasa total fan. It feels like Christmas.You get tomeet the characters, and it's just exciting.It's always really, really nice. Because wework on a lot of things that you wouldn'totherwise necessarily see - you knowwhatI mean?There are a lot of different reasonswhy you work, so yeah, it was a no-brainer.

What do you like most about the first seasonof American Horror Story? Did it reallyscare you, and do you believe that this sec-ond season is scarier than the first one?

What I liked about the first season - and Ilike it also about the second - first of all, isthe opening titles. How creepy are they?And that's awesome. I mean even after fiveepisodes, I'm still, like (squirming), to thismusic. It makes me really uncomfortable.It's very simple, and that's awesome. Sothat opens up everything. And I like thefeel of it.To me, it is kind of like a nightmareor something. It taps into something that'svery adult, very - I don't know. It's likewhat nightmares are made of, the dark-ness, the grossness. Right?

Absolutely.

It's hard to describe. And I think that sea-son one had that, and I think season twodefinitely has it as well. I don't know if it'sscarier. I think it's different. It's not lessscary. I'm really just like the audience. Ionly know my two episodes, and the rest,I'm also just watching. But so far I'm prettysatisfied. It has not let me down.

How old is your child, and at what age doyou think you'd let him or her watch Amer-ican Horror Story?

She's not even two, so… (laughs) I don'tknow. I only remember, when I was seven,I saw King Kong, the black-and-white ver-sion. And I could not sleep for a couple ofdays. So I think…

So six or seven?

(laughs) Might give it a try.Who knows?

David Chisum, Franka Potente and Jessica Lange in American Horror Story. Photo: FX Networks

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Discover Germany | Design | Dedicated to Design

‘Mustache is the new black’ greeting cards are de-lightfully refreshing. A surprising and amusing type ofgreeting for many occasions. App. £3.20 for fivecards. www.stellavie.com

If you have been looking for that perfectly geared anddistinct bicycle, look no further; with My Own Bikeyou are completely in charge of designing your indi-vidual luxury cycle. Prices start at around £714.00.www.myownbike.de

The handmade glass lamp ‘lumière de rêve’ by Stu-dio Oink is a beautiful modern version of a chandelier.It creates a lovely warm light and you can choose be-tween six different cord colours. App. £118.00.selekkt.com

These delicious chocolate bars by Lapp & Fao arepresented as diaries based on the designers’ adven-turous travels. The high-quality chocolate is hand-made and based on traditional recipes. No artificialcolours, flavours or preservatives. App. £4.70.www.lappandfao.com

Dedicated to Design...For our very first issue, we have spotted some truly quirky and innovative design items – all made in Germany.They are a testament to how creativity, functionality and fun can easily go hand in hand. We hope you feel asinspired as we do by these cool German design novelties.

BY JULIE GULDBRANDSEN | EMAIL: [email protected]

The mathematically inspired little side table by The Fundamental Group comprises 256 cubes of solid Euro-pean oak arranged in a hexagonal field. Available in oiled oak with solid brass legs (H 35cm x W 60cm x D60cm). £528.00. www.thefundamentalshop.com

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Discover Germany | Design | Fashion Finds

Berlin-based fashion designer Issever Bahri createssophisticated collections using luxurious and contrast-ing materials, as embodied in this chic outfit. High-waistleather wrap skirt, app. £ 552.00. Cropped mohairjumper, app. £260.00. Crocheted leather clutch, app.£584.00. www.isseverbahri.com

Fashion FindsCold-weather fashion certainly does not have tobe lacklustre. Take a cue from these chic andeclectic German fashion brands and spice upyour winter wardrobe.

BY JULIE GULDBRANDSEN

EMAIL: [email protected]

By combining a beautiful silk skirt witha tailored wool jumper you will exudeexclusiveness. The leather shoulderyokes of the top give it a bit of edge.Silk pencil skirt, app. £320.00.Cropped jumper, app. £454.00.www.isseverbahri.com


Discover Germany | Design | Fashion Finds

Knitwearis a winter

essential butit’s also a great

transitional style. The gorgeous light blue colour will addzest to your favourite skinnies and give you a taste ofspring. App. £199.00.www.lalaberlin-onlineshop.de/en

Glam trousers, like thesecool leather leggings withzips, are an essential partypiece, but absolutely legitduring the day too. Theperfect accompaniment tooversized shirts and knitsalike. App. £435.www.cesttout.de

All women need a beautiful clutch. This one in roseperch leather is a beautiful and versatile model – thereis a hidden long strap inside, and it can be folded outand used as a shoulder bag. App. £216.00.www.mygretchen.com

This red kufiya-print and slightlytransparent silk

shirt by Lala Berlinis a cool choice for both day and night. App. £203.00.www.lalaberlin-onlineshop.de/en


Discover Germany | Design | Made in Germany


Historically, design gained importance inGermany with the rise of the industrial rev-olution andmass production. In 1859,Ger-man carpenter Michael Thonet created theiconic coffee shop chair, which consisted ofsix individual wooden parts held togetherby a few screws.The design was simple butingenious.The easy-to-assemble chair wasa cornerstone of modern industrial furni-ture design.

Only a few years later, in 1919, the famousBauhaus art academy opened its doors inthe German town Weimar. Modern archi-tecture, design and art were explored ascoherent parameters. The founder of theBauhaus, architectWalter Gropius, initiatedthe development of the avant-garde andclassic modernist style.Together with Ger-man-born architect Ludwig Mies van derRohe and French colleague Le Corbusier,he changed the perception and the cre-ation of modern design for generations tocome. Clarity and simplicity were the in-spirational key features, and the motto was“less is more”, as van der Rohe famouslysaid. German Bauhaus design conqueredliving rooms and offices all over the worldwith iconic creations such as the Wassilychair byMarcel Breuer, the Barcelona rangeby van der Rohe, and the famous WG 24lamp by Wilhelm Wagenfeld and Karl J.Jucker.

All these inspiring German masterpiecescan be found at Chaplins in London, thelargest independent modern furniture and

Made in Germany– A Londoner’s guide to German designer goods

When it comes to German design, the words Made in Germany are often associated withefficiency and performance rather than sleek silhouettes and elegance. Discover Germany takesa closer look at German interior design to discover what lies behind this preconception andreveals where you can get your hands on some German design goods in London.

TEXT: TINA AWTANI | PHOTOS: PRESS IMAGES

BULTHAUP

Bulthaup’s b1, b2 and b3 systems have won countlessdesign awards all over the globe. Material authenticity,the aim for perfection and a system-orientated approachare the key ingredients for the holistic kitchen-livingspace concept.

The Kitchen People Ltd.37 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 1PPwww.bulthaup.com


contemporary living showroom in Europe,boasting 180 international designer brands.The trade showrooms and interior designservices are located in the Chelsea Har-bour Design Centre, whereas the retailpremises are located just at the edge ofNorth West London. Dennis Barclay, salesmanager at Chaplins, explains why Lon-doners love German design objects: “It’sdue to the simplistic style, attention to de-tail and wide choice of finishes available inthe collections.”But there is more to it, aseco-friendly production turned out to be awinning factor for the Germans.“A lot ofour customers like the fact that the Germancompanies try to use sustainable materialswhere possible and adopt environmentallyfriendly manufacturing processes.Also, theprocess from manufacture to the end cus-tomer is a smooth one with very few prob-lems in terms of fitting, plus all German

products come with some sort of guaranteeso they represent long-term value,”Barclaysays. He also points out the importance ofutilising space, which is highly limited inCentral London: “Functionality and hiddenstorage seem to be part of a growing trendwith customers trying to eliminate clutterfrom their lives.”

Another London hotspot for modern de-signer furniture is Aram in London’s vi-brant Covent Garden area. Established in1946, Aram features four floors of interna-tional designer goods and objects for eventhe most discerning customer. Aramproudly holds the worldwide licence forthe complete Eileen Gray furniture range.She was not actually German, but todayevery single item of her renowned designsis carefully manufactured, stamped andnumbered in a German workshop under

supervision of Aram Design Ltd. At Aram,you find theWG 24 lamp and the Barcelonachair alongside a large variety of the mosticonic design items.

Today, German product design may be de-scribed as sustainable and functional witha clean aesthetic. German furniture manu-facturers such as Hülsta with its prime la-bel Rolf Benz, Brühl & Sippold, Interlübke,Walter Knoll and outdoor furniture expertDedon are just a few examples of innova-tive design teamed with classic timeless-ness and a high level of engineering.

When it comes to kitchens, the Germans re-ally hit themark.Head down to Bulthaup inMayfair and check out the award-winningb1, b2 and b3 systems symbolising the ulti-mate in design, style and functionality. ABulthaup kitchen is considered the epitome

BRÜHL & SIPPOLD

Brühl & Sippold’s creations feature contemporary design and a young product range to fit into any living room (even the smaller ones). Clean lines and fresh colours, award-winning environmental awareness and clear-cut, defined forms define their signature look. The new easy pieces product range is another award-worthy design by the Ger-man upholstery manufacturer. Brühl & Sippold is available at Chaplins.




WG24 lamp by Wilhelm Wagenfeldand Karl J. Jucker, available at Aram.Photo: Tecnolumen

DEDON

When professional Bayern Munich footballer Bobby Dekeyser was hospitalised for injury in1990, he decided to turn his back on a promising career in sports and became an entrepre-neur in the outdoor furniture business. Dedon invented the woven synthetic fibre outdoor fur-niture and has won numerous design awards for its creations ever since. Dedon continuouslyproduces innovative items such as the award-winning iconic Orbit XXL rotating island or thehanging basket Nestrest. Dedon is available at Chaplins.

WALTER KNOLL

When Wilhelm Knoll startedcreating leather seats in 1865,he wouldn’t have dreamedabout becoming one of themost iconic furniture manu-facturers in Germany. Hisgrandson Hans Knoll founded“Knoll International” in 1938(which is a different entity).Since 2009, Walter Knoll isavailable to the London clien-tele with a showroom display-ing living and office furniture.

Markus Benz, CEO of Walter Knoll, described the Jaan Living range (Design:EOOS) with the words: “Nonchalance de luxe. Armchair, armchair récamièreand upholstered bench naturally gather around the sofa. The extensions to theJaan Living range create expansive living landscapes. With spacious seat ele-ments on a delicate framework – the hallmark of the award-winning range.”Walter Knoll, 42 Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6EA, United Kingdomwww.walterknoll.de



BOSCH

This year Bosch scooped the“Which? Best Home ApplianceBrand” award in the UK for thesecond year in a row. Bosch brandmanager Rosalinda Buttice washonoured to receive the award as“a testament to Bosch’s continu-ous innovation and endeavour todesign and produce outstandingappliances”. The new Winning Lineproduct range features appealingdesign combined with energy effi-ciency, sustainability and innova-tion. Available at www.currys.co.uk

VILLEROY & BOCH

267 Merton Road, London, SW18 5JSwww.villeroy-boch.com

Siemens Built-In Stove and Induction Hob,red dot award: product design 2012,Photo: red dot

GIRA

Gira takes intelligent home technology to a new height. With Gira’s technology you can manage your home ap-pliances even from far away with your mobile. Use your iPhone to switch off the coffee machine, open the frontdoor with a fingerprint or adapt your lighting systems to the daylight. Energy efficiency is key, and Gira will makesure that no energy will be lost or wasted in your home. Any new building equipped with a KNX/EIB system cannow be controlled via Gira, the brand for a truly futuristic and energy-efficient lifestyle. (Below left)Gira’s UK Account Manager: Muir Baxter, 507 O Central, 83 Crampton Street, London, SE17 3BU,Tel. +44(0)7738 232 816, www.gira.com

LEONARDO

With 150 years of history, the family-run businessGlaskoch invented the label Leonardo. The Ger-man market leader in gift and glass items is a primeexample of contemporary and colourful design.Leonardo products, such as the new Wave range,are widely available all over the globe. One of theLondon stockists is Debenhams.

POGGENPOHL

Founded in 1892, Poggenpohl is the oldest kitchen brand in the world. The company set industry standards withthe introduction of white lacquer furniture, ergonomic worktop heights and the kitchen island. Poggenpohl de-scribes its kitchen design as “a unique combination of visionary thinking, unique aesthetics, precise engineeringmixed with traditional craftsmanship and lifetime quality”. Visit the showroom in Finchley Road to take a look atthe sleek Porsche kitchen which is defined by passion, performance, purism and precision. (Above right)Poggenpohl, 477-481 Finchley Road, London, NW3 6HS

KÖNIG KITCHENS

Visit the UK's biggest German kitchen outlet in Wimbledon. High-gloss, matt orclassic kitchens are fitted with state-of-the-art appliances from suppliers such asFranke, Miele, Neff or Siemens. 19 High Street, Wimbledon, SW19 5EG,www.konigkitchens.com

Koziol Coffee Maker, red dotaward: product design2012, available atJohn Lewis

Every year prestigious design awards, such as the iF product design award orthe International Design Excellence Awards, are presented to honour new prod-uct designs. One of the most coveted international trophies is the German reddot award for design. In 2012, more than 4,500 entries from 58 nations com-peted for 62 “red dot award: product design 2012” awards. The red dot is in-ternationally acknowledged as a symbol for excellent long-term design quality.

Fissler luno wok, red dotaward: product design 2012available at Selfridges


of modern luxury. Close contender Poggen-pohl, which teamed up with car manufac-turer Porsche to create a kitchen range thatis second to none in terms of minimalisticdesign, opened a gorgeous showroom inHampstead. And if you are looking for amore economical solution, why not visitKönig Kitchens in Wimbledon, the UK’slargest German kitchen outlet.

No designer kitchen is complete withoutelegant appliances and accessories, a mar-ket strongly dominated by German sup-pliers. Bosch, Miele, Neff and Siemensproducts are appreciated worldwide, andall of them have one thing in common:they are environmentally friendly and en-ergy efficient while still offering great de-sign features. Intelligent homes are the newtrend, so ideally all appliances are bestmanaged with the help of high-tech brandGira. Talk to Gira’s UK representative tofind out how a house can be equipped witha brain and reduce power consumptionwith intelligent building technology. Oncethe appliances are managed and dinner isready, the stage is all set for glorious de-signer tableware. For a huge range of amaz-ing designs visit the Villeroy & Boch ce-ramics store inWimbledon.Villeroy & Bochhave been manufacturing award-winningbathroom and wellness products as well astableware for over 260 years. The newMariefleur tableware range sets the moodfor spring, while the NewWave Caffè Lon-

MIELE

Visit the Miele Gallery in Marylebone to discover thesleek design of its award-winning appliances. TheGallery features an impressive range of products fromcooker hoods to wine coolers. All interactive appli-ances can be experienced by customers with an ex-pert always on hand. London in particular is a regionwhere customers are becoming more and more healthconscious and that is reflected in the Miele productrange. Amy Carter, home economist at the MieleGallery, explains: “Combination Steam ovens are thebiggest growth area for Miele in terms of cooking.Steam cooking is an increasingly popular choice withour customers wanting to achieve a healthier way ofliving and cooking.” Miele Gallery, 15-19 CavendishPlace, London, W1G 0QE, www.miele.co.uk

don white coffee cup is perfectly made forthe design savvy Londoner.

Last but not least, we would like to presentyou happy design made in Germany. Haveyou ever met Pico Bello, the table dustpanand brush in form of a Scottish terrier? Doyou know the Herbie brothers herb chop-per or Fred the frog measuring tape? Allthese little characters are designed to makethe world a happier place.With 85 years ofconstant innovation, Koziol, the“happinessfactory”, has been rewarded with the mostprestigious design awards. The companyfollows a strict happiness policy and states:“Koziol invents and creates design objectsthat make our world more attractive. Thatcapture imaginations and inspire happi-ness.” Koziol products are widely availableall over London: you will find them at Sel-fridges, Heals and many other stores.

So have you developed a taste for Germandesigner goods?Then go ahead and get yourdesired design item and do it the Germanway with an electric bike from the Smartshowroom in Brentford. Beat the conges-tion charge and commute in style with thisfast, convenient and eco-friendly e-bike.

In conclusion, German design really is allabout efficiency and performance, butmanufacturers add large elements of style,sustainability and eco-friendliness to theirsuccess recipe.

SMART

The Smart e-bike features extraordinary design, inno-vative smartphone integration, a carbon belt drive, highperformance and energy efficiency. Winner of variousindustry awards, it makes a stylish, eco-friendly andcongestion charge-free commuter vehicle for CentralLondon. Smart, Great West Road, Brentford, Middle-sex, TW8 9AH, www.smart.com

LAMY

Dating back to 1930, Lamy has been creating iconicpens ever since. However, the creation of the Lamy2000 in 1966 was a design milestone for the company.Today the award-winning new LAMY Scala “is the writ-ing instrument for all those who are enthusiastic aboutmodern high-quality technology and don’t mind show-ing their passion for the beautiful things in life”. (Lamy)Scala 2012, Pen Heaven, 184 Cricklewood Lane, Lon-don NW2 2DX, www.penheaven.co.uk


Variety is guaranteed, but you can alsotravel to the German capital for rest and re-laxation. In Berlin, a fast-paced metropolisand relaxing rest areas in nature are not farapart. Whether in Tiergarten, TempelhoferFreiheit, Görlitzer Park or Grunewald –every district has its green oasis, which im-proves the quality of living and allows vis-itors to take a short break.

City of unlimited possibilities

Since reunification the former “walled city”of Berlin has developed into a popular

travel destination. Guests are not only in-terested in the history and culture of thecity, but also in the lifestyle of its inhabi-tants. In 2011, the tourismmetropolis Berlinhas set a historical record: for the first timethe magical mark of 22 million overnightsper year was exceeded. In this way, Berlinwas able to further strengthen its positionas top third destination in Europe, afterLondon and Paris.

But exactly what is it that actually makesBerlin so attractive? It is the diversity, the

Capital in Stepwith the TimesSteeped in its evocative history and the rapid changes that have taken placeover the past two decades, Berlin today exerts its own particular fascination.More than twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification ofGermany, the capital projects itself as a young, dynamic and cosmopolitan

city at the heart of Europe which is constantly reinventing itself.

TEXT: VISITBERLIN / BERLIN TOURISMUS & KONGRESS GMBH | PHOTOS: PRESS.VISITBERLIN.DESpecial Theme

Berlin

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Discover Germany | Special Theme | Berlin

contrasts and the sheer inexhaustible po-tential of this capital city to consistently firethe enthusiasm of visitors from all over theworld. People are excited by the mixture ofhistory and zeitgeist, the broad spectrum ofart, culture, music, entertainment andshopping facilities.The modern hotel land-scape, the diversity of its cuisine and itsoutstanding cost-effectiveness in compar-ison to other destinations in Europe alsoadd to the specialcharm that ischaracteristic ofthe metropolis onthe Spree. Berlin’sflourishing cre-ative scene, to-gether with a hipmusic and clubculture, likewisecontributes to theunm i s t a k ab l emagnetism of thelifestyle metropo-

lis with a population of around 3.5 mil-lion.

Attractive offerings in terms of artand culture

Whether it is the art of the old masters,present-day paintings or avant-garde de-sign of tomorrow, a classical opera,musicalor hip hop concert, sophisticated theatreor the variety shows with their chequered

repertoire – witharound 1,500 eventsevery day, Berlin’scultural calendarfeatures an assort-ment that leavesnothing to be de-sired.

With their historicart collections, un-usual architectureand new exhibitionconcepts, some 180

museums cannot fail to make a visit to thecapital an unforgettable experience. At theheart of Berlin’s art landscape is the Mu-seum Island, encompassing five buildingsin the historic city centre. Since the NeuesMuseum was reopened in October 2009, itis the first time in 70 years that all the mu-seums in the ensemble, unique in the worldand a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site since1999, are accessible to the public. In addi-tion to the PergamonAltar and the famousbust of Nefertiti, valuable art treasures cov-ering around 6,000 years of the history ofmankind are on view.

Nevertheless, over the last few years Berlinhas also succeeded in making a worldwidename for itself as a location for contempo-rary art in the shape of high-quality exhi-bitions at the Hamburger Bahnhof, in theNew National Gallery or at Martin-Gropius-Bau. In addition, the regional As-sociation of Berlin Galleries currentlycounts some 440 galleries in the art me-

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tropolis. Furthermore, around 200 non-commercial showrooms and off spaces,which regularly show new exhibitions, haveto be added.

Lovers of classical music will find some-thing to their liking not only at the Staat-soper Unter but also at the Deutsche Operand the Komische Oper.The German cap-ital is the only metropolitan area in theworld that is able to boast three operahouses. Eight large symphony orchestras –one of which is the world-renowned BerlinPhilharmonic under the direction of Sir Si-mon Rattle – likewise offer first-class mu-sical enjoyment. One hundred and fiftytheatre stages, both large and small, playspirited avant-garde pieces as well as ma-jor classics and ensure a wide diversity ofentertainment options encompassing allgenres.Amulti-faceted and chequered can-vas of entertainment is also on offer forvisitors to Berlin in the big music houses, indazzling revue theatres like the Friedrich-stadtpalast, in vaudeville shows like in thefamous Wintergarten or in numeroussmaller cabaret and comedy shows.

Creative metropolis and capital cityof trends

As a UNESCO “City of Design“ and thefirst German city to figure in the world-wide network of “Creative Cities“, Berlin iswell to the fore in the architecture, art andfashion sectors. It is here in the hip ’scene’

metropolis that tomorrow’s trends are born.Over the last few years Berlin has estab-lished itself as a centre of modern design.The capital inspires and offers space forunusual ideas, innovative concepts and un-conventional life scripts of each and everykind. Attracted by this dynamism and thesense of creative euphoria, numerous in-ternational artists and designers come toBerlin looking to gain inspiration from itslively atmosphere and to expand their cre-ative potential and give vent to all its di-versity. The annual DMY Design Festivalshowcases new trends.

The City of Creativity has also developedinto a centre for young and avant-gardefashion.As in other areas of design, a wealthof ideas, individuality and quality are the or-der of the day here too.Numerous interna-tional exhibitions like the Bread&Butter orthe Berlin Fashion Week offer visitors the

opportunity to become familiar with thelatest trends on the fashion scene.

Neither are the shopping facilities in Berlinany less varied than the fashion. It’s allthere – from chic to trendy, from eleganthaute couture right through to casual urbanand street wear. The four big shoppingcomplexes – Kurfürstendamm, PotsdamerPlatz, Friedrichstrasse andAlexanderplatz –as well as numerous big shopping centresalong with smaller trend shops in the’scene’ districts of Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg,Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain beckon, en-

ticing the visitor with their enormous rangeof goods and their liberal opening times.

With its pulsating nightlife and unusual lo-cations, the party metropolis weaves a spellthat captivates everyone. Berliners and in-ternational tourists can experience thesound of the capital in the hip bars anddiscotheques of the city, where peopledance and party right through to the smallhours.

FACTSThe regularly updated, all-inclusive pricesoffered by visitBerlin enable visitors toembark on a particularly cost-effectivevoyage of discovery within this excitingmetropolis – once, twice, over and overagain! You can book these offers by visitingwww.visitBerlin.com or by telephoning(+49) 030 – 25 00 25.

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In 1910, the acclaimed art historian KarlScheffler wrote his most famous lines aboutBerlin, describing it as“a city that never is,but is always in the process of becoming”.

One hundred yearslater, this is still true.After the fall of thewall, an immensebuilding programmetriggered Berlin’smetamorphosis intoa hypermodern me-tropolis. Naturally,the transformationaffected the former

GDR parts of Berlin the most. Nowhereelse in Germany were (and partly still are)the rents as low as in East Berlin. Andnowhere else in Germany do we find an

equal vibe of avant-garde international ur-ban culture. The openness, curiosity andinnovative spirit is reminiscent of theGolden Twenties, Berlin’s legendary butbrief-blossoming period,when artists, writ-ers and musicians from all over the worldflocked to the city. So now is the time to goexplore the new/old East Berlin.

From reds to riches: Berlin-Mitte

When a Berliner speaks of Berlin-Mitte, heis usually not referring to the larger districtMitte (German for middle), but to thesmaller historic core of the city. In thenineties, this was the heart of a young and

Going East in BerlinIn 2006, Berlin’s ever-so-popular mayor, Klaus Wowereit, won his election campaign with the slogan: Berlin: poorbut sexy. Six years later, the city has a wealth on offer which is hard to match. Cheap rents and low living costshave attracted a young, creative crowd who are transforming Germany’s capital into one of Europe’s culturalhotspots.

TEXT: CORDELIA MAKARTSEV

The converted bunker in Berlin-Mitte exhibits artwork from the Boros Collection. Photo: NOSHELeft: Christian and Karen Boros. Photo: Wolfgang Stahr



creative art scene.Today,Mitte is one of themost expensive parts of Berlin and includessignificant touristic sites like the MuseumIsland, Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Lin-den and Potsdamer Platz.

Here, in 2003, Christian and Karen Borosfound the perfect location for their con-temporary art collection - a 3000-square-metre cement bunker, originally built as aNazi bomb shelter. Before it was discoveredby the couple, the building went through acolourful history, from being a Cuban ba-nana warehouse in the GDR era (the so-called ‘banana bunker’) to one of theworld’s toughest techno clubs after the fallof the Iron Curtain.

Today, the 80 renovated,windowless rooms,where the bullet holes in the walls can stillbe seen, house the second exhibition ofChristian and Karen Boros’s private collec-tion. It features a mix of international andyoung German art since 1990.The focus ofthe collection lies on the clash of differentmedia like video art, photography, sculptureand paintings. In the huge bare rooms ofthe bunker, sound is very cleverly used toprovide an extraordinary sensory experi-ence. The artists were given free rein to in-stall their works, although implementingthe six-metre tree, a work of the Chineseartist Ai Weiwei, caused a few headaches.

“The exhibits of our collection originated inBerlin. They belong to this city and herethey should be on display,” Karen Boros ex-plains.

Berlin-Mitte is not only a touristic hotspot,it is also known for its excellent restaurants.Kolja Kleeberg, one of Germany’s mostpopular TV chefs, opened his place calledVAU on Jägerstraße, just around the cornerfrom the Gendarmenmarkt.He serves clas-sic French cuisine combined with regionalproducts and individual creations from theMichelin-starred kitchen.Themodern, styl-ish interior of the restaurant was designedby Meinhard von Gerkan, the architect ofthe new Berlin Hauptbahnhof (CentralRailway Station).

Prenzlauer Berg:Trendsetter in design, fashion and food

Gourmets who prefer a home-cooked din-ner head for the farmers’ market on Koll-witzplatz in the Prenzlauer Berg district.The market is said to be one of Berlin’s bestfoodie heavens and a regular meeting pointfor the chattering classes. Organic fruit andvegetables,meat, fish, cheese and bread aresold by hand-picked vendors. For the starv-ing visitors numerous food-to-go stalls of-fer French mussels with prosecco or the fa-mous Berliner currywurst.With stalls sellingeverything from olive oils, handmade jam

and honey to arts and crafts from aroundthe world, this is the perfect place to pick upunique presents for friends and family.

Prenzlauer Berg was one of the first areas tobe gentrified after German reunification.Once firmly in the hands of students andartists, Prenzlberg, as the Berliners call it, hasnow the reputation of being inhabited byyoung,well-off families and creative peoplefrom different countries.Karen Riefflin, free-lance writer for TV serials and Prenzlbergresident, explains why:“I just love the vividatmosphere here. Step out of your door andyou will definitely encounter new ideas anddifferent languages.” Especially the areaaround Kastanienallee boasts numerouscute little cafes, fashion boutiques and gal-leries. Small but trendy design shops offer awitty, offbeat mix of fashion, accessories andfurniture.At the O3 Berlin, local artists anddesigners rent space in order to presenttheir work.Only self-designed products areon sale,which aremostly handmade or pro-duced in small series.

If you have had enough of bustling marketsand are looking for some peace and quiet,Germany’s biggest synagogue is waiting tobe discovered on Rykestraße.Or pay a visitto the old Jewish cemetery at SchönhauserAllee where famous people from the Jew-ish community, like the painter Max Lieber-mann, found their last home.

On a sunny, warm Sunday afternoonBerlin’s belovedMauerpark flea market is amust-see for vintage lovers, and karaokeenthusiasts. The area, once the site of theBerlinWall and the associated ‘death strip’,is now attracting a colourful crowd of bar-gain hunters, families, students and yuppiesalike.You can buy everything from cutlery,silverware, DDR memorabilia, antiquebooks and vinyl. But do not miss thekaraoke session in the amphitheatre, theso-called ‘bear pit’, in the afternoon - notnecessarily featuring impressive singing tal-ent, but instead lots of fun and good com-munity spirit.

Top left: Farmers’ market on Kollwitzplatz

Top right: Kastanienallee

Left below: Synagogue on Rykestraße

Right below: Mauerpark

Photos: Andreas Schmidt, tic



Interested in learning more about the wall?A short stroll fromMauerpark further downBernauer Straße is the GedenkstätteBerliner Mauer (BerlinWall Memorial) andthe associated Visitor Centre, which offerexcellent insight into the development ofthe border fortifications betweenWest andEast Berlin.The 1.4-kilometre stretch of theBerlinWall with the preserved grounds be-hind it can be viewed from an originalwatchtower.

A journey through time:Experience everyday life in the GDR

If you want to delve deeper into real lifeunder socialism, the DDR Museum is theplace for you. Claiming to be one of themost interactive museums in the world, itwas nominated for the European Museumof theYear Award 2008. This is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to slip into the role ofa Stasi agent and witness how it felt to lis-ten in on bugged neighbours. The au-thentic living room invites visitors to sitdown and watch original GDR TV. And

the museum guard will not tell you off ifyou give into your nosiness and rummagethrough the drawers of the wall unit. Ahighlight of the exhibition is the Trabant –the small, noisy and smelly GDR-pro-duced car which looks like a giant biscuittin. Have a seat and go on a simulatedride through the run-down streets of oldeastern Berlin.

For more adventurous drivers there is a realTrabant experience available.Trabi Safari of-fers self-drive tours through Berlin. After ashort introduction, you will sit behind thewheel of an original East Germany Trabiand follow the lead vehicle, taking in thesights of the city on your way. Your guideprovides youwith historical facts and amaz-ing stories via radio.

Berliners call this slightly weird, ironic nos-talgia for the absurdities of life in the oldEast Germany ‘Ostalgie’. Clothes, furni-ture and even the food from the old EastGermany are in vogue these days. Restau-rants like the ‘Osseria’ spoil their guestswith home-cooked ‘Senfeier’ (boiled eggsin mustard sauce) or ‘Schmorgurken’ (cu-cumber stew). After dinner, you can havesweet dreams under Honecker’s watchfuleyes in the ‘Ostel’, which claims to be themost authentic GDR design hostel inBerlin. “No decadent western frivolity:honest bunk beds and a communal bath-room, all in the spirit of collectivism”is theslogan for their most simple rooms, the Pi-oneer Camp. If your “spirit of collectivism”is underdeveloped, you can also stay in asingle or double bedroom.

BERLIN-MITTE

Sammlung Boros/The Boros CollectionBunker, Reinhardtstr. 20The collection can only be visited in groupsof up to 12 people. The tours take place fromThursday to Sunday and cost 10 €/person.There are tours available in English. Visitors willhave to make an advance appointment on thewebsite www.sammlung-boros.de. It is advisableto book early as the bunker is very popular.

Restaurant VAUJägerstraße 54/55, www.vau-berlin.de

PRENZLAUER BERG

Farmers’ Market on KollwitzplatzSaturday 8am-6pm

O3 BerlinOderbergerstrasse 3, www.o3-berlin.de

Mauerpark Flea MarketBernauer Straße 63-64Open: Sundays 10am-6pm

Karaokewww.bearpitkaraoke.com

Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer (Berlin WallMemorial)Bernauer Straße 111/119Open all year round Monday-Sunday,8am-10pmwww.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de

Visitor CentreApril-October, Tuesday-Sunday, 9.30am-7pmNovember-March, Tuesday-Sunday,9.30am-6pm

LIFE IN THE GDR

DDR Museumwww.ddr-museum.deKarl-Liebknecht-Str. 1, Mon-Sun, 10am-8pm, Sat10am-10pm, Admission fee: 5.50 €

Trabi SafariZimmerstr. 97/ Wilhelmstr.,www.trabi-safari.deEnglish guides available upon prior request

OsseriaLanghansstraße 103, www.osseria.de

OstelWriezener Karree 5, www.ostel.eu

Top: The authentic living room at the DDR Mu-seum invites visitors to sit down and watchoriginal GDR TV.

Right: A highlight of the museum’s exhibition –the Trabant. Have a seat and go on a simu-lated ride through the run-down streets of oldeastern Berlin.

Below: DDR Museum entrance


Berlin is both a green and a blue capital,graced with dozens of parks, crisscrossed bywinding rivers, surrounded by curving lakesreminiscent of Scandinavia and Scotland.Its many waterways are awash withsculling, puffing, tacking traffic for threeseasons a year. Luxurious Stern und Kreiss-chiffahrt tour ships ply between 80 landingpoints from the Berlin cathedral to Potsdamand Köpenick. BVG public ferries scootacross the Havel and Kleiner Müggelsee.Bright white sailing boats skim over theWannsee. Heavy coal barges chug alongthe Hohenzollernkanal intoWesthafen.

In the nineteenth century – for the mostpart because of the neoclassical architecture

of Schinkel and Stüler – Berlin dubbed itselfAthens on the Spree. A century laterWalther Rathenau – industrial tycoon, din-ner jacket philosopher andWeimar foreignminister – celebrated the modern city’sgrowth with the words, “TheAthens of theSpree is dead and a Chicago on the Spreeis emerging in its place.”

Back then the Landwehrkanal, a six-mile-long urban canal which runs through thecity’s heart and parallel to the Spree, was apopular spot for dumping both rubbish andcorpses. Murder victims were often foundfloating in its murky waters, most notableamong them the Communist activist RosaLuxemburg whose body was dropped

through the ice in January 1919. Today in-stead of corpses, the clean waters aboundwith dinghies and inflatable rafts. Families,friends and lovers drift alongside the Paul-Linke-Ufer, enjoying the breeze, pullingashore to picnic, order pizzas or restocktheir cool boxes. Balconies along the canaloften double as boathouses for canoes andwindsurf boards.

Of all the vessels afloat on Berlin’s riversand lakes, none is more peculiar than theFloß. These motorised rafts potter acrosslakes or tuck under great weeping willowsfor swimming or birthday parties. Coupleshave been married in their flimsy woodencabins, and on warm weekend afternoons

Berlin’s LittleVenice(s)Little Venice – or Tiefwerder – is a Berlin secret. The one-time fishing village among the Havel reed beds liestwenty minute’s drive – and a century’s time travel – west of the Brandenburg Gate. All summer water laps at thefoot of overgrown lawns in this leafy enclave of 19th-century ‘settlers’ houses’ and weekend cottages. Sundaygardeners snooze beneath their open newspapers. Pike breed in the shallows. It’s a place of remarkable quietwhere almost no work seems to get done – apart from the dipping of paddles in the cool waters.

TEXT: RORY MACLEAN



Berlin’s clubbers often fall off the dancefloors and on to their decks, catching up onsleep in the sunshine.

But for me the loveliest waterways are in theTiefwerder. At the end of a sleepy lane offHeerstrasse, ‘Canadier’ canoes and kayakscan be rented from the friendly folks at DerBootladen. One casts off from their dock toidle along the narrow canals, gliding be-

tween lily pad beds and flotillas of ducks.For a little excitement (and to increase theheart rate) one can paddle out onto theHavel to vie with vast barges ploughingthrough the Pichelssee channel. Beyond itslighthouses, the river opens into a lake dot-ted with sailing boats and other pleasurecraft. Here broad, earthen footpaths winddown to the shore fromwhich bathers stepinto favourite coves. It’s a fine place to pull

ashore and catch the sun on the slopingcrescents of sand.Across the surface bob theheads of dozens of swimmers framed bythe brilliant green of the trees.

Come winter almost all of Berlin’s riversand lakes become skating rinks, and mostweekends the whole city seems to pull onits thermal long johns, lace thermoses ofhot chocolate with rum and glide acrossthe glassy surfaces. On the GroßerGlienicke See, near Potsdam and once partof the West Berlin/East Germany border,the local ice anglers’club pretends to catchfish while indulging their real enthusiasmfor mulled Glühwein.

Given the city’s history of division, it’s nosurprise that Berlin also boasts an easternLittle Venice. Twenty minutes east of theBrandenburg Gate, at the edge of theMüggelsee, a second Klein-Venedig istucked away near Rahnsdorf S-Bahn sta-tion. But whether east or west, there are fewbetter places in all of northern Europe to letthe days drift away than on Berlin’s water-ways.

RORY MACLEAN

Rory MacLean has known three Berlins:West Berlin, where he made movies withDavid Bowie; East Berlin, where heresearched his first best-selling bookStalin's Nose; and the unified capital wherehe lives and works today. His nine award-winning books have challenged andinvigorated travel writing, and – accordingto the late John Fowles – are among worksthat “marvellously explain why literature stilllives”. His tenth book, a history of Berlin, willbe published worldwide by Weidenfeld &Nicolson in late 2013.

Main image: Little Venice. Photo: © Christian Duschinger,Dreamstime.com

Right (clockwise): Tiefwerder. Photo: Wikimedia Commons,Lienhard Schulz; Houseboats on the Flutgraben of theLandwehrkanal at the Unterschleuse (Tiergarten, Berlin).Photo: Wikipedia; Berlin from the river Spree and theLandwehrkanal. Photo: Reederei Bruno Winkler


Berlin offers visitors an endless number ofdiverse sights and experiences, and it hascaught the hearts of many, leaving visitorsmesmerised with its historic and moderncultural sights and its uniquely dynamicurban landscape.The city has something foreveryone, but the key to a pleasant visitthat leaves a longing for more is to stay atthe right hotel, and this is where Steigen-berger Hotel in Berlin distinguishes itself.Sleep, rise and shine, and dine in an envi-ronment of luxury tailored to your needs.Schulze explains that what visitors appre-ciate the most about the Berlin hotel is that“it stands out as a warm and friendly host

with unrivalled focus on quality, the hall-mark of all Steigenberger hotels”.

Business as well as pleasureat the heart of the cityWhilst many hotels focus on a certain clien-tele, Steigenberger Hotel Berlin has man-aged not to limit itself, instead emphasisingthe experience as a whole so as to cater toall kinds of visitors, rather than solely hav-ing business visitors or private tourists.Thetrick lies in the hotel's ability to specialise incatering to individual needs and in itsmeticulous planning,which enables its staffto look after all its guests.

The hotel's doors are always open to allguests, regardless of the purpose of their

Everything you want inBusiness or pleasure? There is no need to choose. The SteigenbergerHotel Group allows you to enjoy a fully catered hotel stay in fresh andmodern settings, with all your needs attended to. The group's Berlinhotel is a true gem in the upscale commercial heart of the city, and itsstaff is eternally dedicated to ensuring that all of the hotel's guestshave the best of times. Overseeing all this to ensure that the hotelalways offers its guests a top-quality experience is hotel directorTorsten K. Schulze, whose extensive career as an hotelier ensures thathis hotel is always the prime spot for those visiting Berlin.

TEXT: THERESE WALLIN | PHOTOS: STEIGENBERGER HOTELS AND RESORTS

Hotelof the Month

Hotel Director Torsten K. Schulze


visit. This has earned the hotel the reputa-tion of being a place of quality, style anddedicated service.This warm welcome at aprime location only a stone’s throw awayfrom the upscale shops and trendy cafes ofKurfürstendamm and the departmentstores of Tauentzienstraße is truly excep-tional.

Employer and employees worktogether to ensure guest satisfaction

One of the exceptional features of the ho-tel is its ability to operate beyond the tradi-tional concept associated with the industry.The Steigenberger Hotel Group knows that

one of the keys to success is to have happyemployees. “In order to reach andmaintainour high level of service we, as an employer,are investing in our employees. Our guests

would not be satisfied with our services ifour employees were not enthusiastic. Wehave succeeded in combining our guests’needs with the needs of our employees. In

one prime location


Discover Germany | Hotel of the Month | Steigenberger Hotel Group

both instances, it is all about perceptionand recognition,”says Schulze.

Environment at theheart of daily running

“As a hotel, we are very aware of the factthat all our actions have an impact on theenvironment. When I took the position asdirector of the Steigenberger Hotel inBerlin, I saw it as a personal mission andduty to ensure that we took responsibilityand action towards helping the environ-ment,” says Schulze, ensuring that qualityand profit are not achieved to the detri-ment of the environment.

The hotel’s focus on being an environmen-tally friendly establishment has paid off.“The hotel has been recognised as beingenvironmentally friendly and has even wonan award for this. This reflects our effortsand the fact that we have more than justgood ideas. We have implemented our vi-sion,” says Schulze.

Service and dining

Guests at the Steigenberger Hotel in Berlincan expect first-class service with attention

to all their needs. ”We strive to fulfil ourguests' every need. As such we have 24-hour room service, supported by a laidbackapproach focused on excellence,” saysSchulze. The hotel also has a restaurant,run by top chef Bernd Winkler, who en-sures that guests can enjoy traditional foodwith a modern twist.

The hotel takes pride in offering a modernand fresh stay and was recently renovatedin order to provide visitors with free Wi-Fiinternet access, tea and coffee in the rooms,and wonderfully comfortable beds thatguarantee you a good night's sleep and willgive you the rest you need to take on thetreats that Berlin has to offer. Book a stay atthe Steigenberger Hotel Berlin to give yourvisit to this unique city the style and com-fort it deserves.

www.steigenberger.com/en/berlin

The hotel takes pride in offering modern and fresh accommodation and was recently renovated in order to provide visitors with thebest stay possible.

17a Princes Road, Richmond Upon Thames Surrey, TW10 6DQ, UK

T: +44 (0)20 8332 9966 E: [email protected]

Gietlstrasse 4, 81541 Munich, GermanyT: +49 (0)89 5421 2974 E: [email protected]

www.3s-ad.com

Award-winning architectural practice, dedicated to producing considerate and imaginative high quality buildings and interior design.

We provide a full range of architectural design services with an innovative approach. We undertake commercial, public and residential projects in the UK, Germany and abroad.

architects and designers

ward-winning architectural practice, dedicated to A ng architectural practice, dedicated to e dedicated to ward-winning architectural practice, dedicated to Aproducing considerate and imaginative high quality buildings and interior design.

e provide a full range of architectural design Wservices with an innovative approach. Wundertake commercial, public and residential projects in the UK, Germany and abroad.

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architects and designersrchitects and designerssigners

17a Princes Road, Richmond Upon S

: +44 (0)20 8332 9966 E: [email protected]

Gietlstrasse 4, 81541 Munich, Germany: +49 (0)89 5421 2974 E: [email protected]

Thames chmond Upon TW10 6DQ, UK,Surrey

32 9966 E: [email protected]

541 Munich, Germany421 2974 E: [email protected]


Since its opening in2009, SAGE Restauranthas established a reputa-tion for fabulous food,with a varied menu thatincludes classics likeWiener schnitzel andmeaty steaks. While thefood is always at thecentre of attention,

guests can expect a splendid location on thebanks of the river Spree and an atmos-phere that applies to all the senses. “Therestaurant is chic, but feels rock 'n' roll,”booker and media contact Timo Hoppartsays.

A chic restaurant on the riverbank

Located on the banks of the river Spree inBerlin-Kreuzberg, the restaurant attracts

SAGE Restaurant– A journey into European classics in an extraordinary setting

Next time you are in Berlin, stop by the renowned SAGE Restaurant. Be taken aback by mouth-wateringEuropean dishes and an atmosphere out of the ordinary, in which guests can experience a little piece of

the Mediterranean in the urban beach area.

TEXT: ANNE LINE KAXRUD | PHOTOS: SAGE RESTAURANT

Restaurantof the Month


business people and families alike to a foodexperience out of the ordinary.The restau-rant is located in an old silk factory, andwhile many of the original features from theenormous brick building are still intact, ithas also been given urban solutions, mak-ing it an interesting mix of old and new.

A quick search online confirms the im-pression that this is a place worth exploringin the German capital, with numerousfavourable reviews from guests from everycorner of the world. One guest notes thatthe restaurant “rockets into my top fivedining experiences”, while others hail therestaurant’s “fabulous drinks in a trendyhappening place”.

European classics at their best

The restaurant itself describes its offeringsas upscale and creative, with something onoffer for every taste.The menu is largely in-fluenced by European classics, and it ishardly a surprise that theWiener schnitzelis a favourite year after year. “We can alsotempt with fillet steaks, great pastas andpizzas, as well as some vegetarian dishes,”Hoppart says. For the more adventurousguests, it is worth checking out the oak-smoked salmon, or variations of pumpkinand poached fillet of veal with pretzeldumplings. However, as with most goodrestaurants, the menu changes often sothere may be other delicious dishes on theplates next week.

Berlin is renowned for its coolness, and thecompetition for customers is fierce. SAGERestaurant has, however, proved that it isone to watch, and it was recently noted asone of 50 restaurants in TeNeues’s guideCool Restaurants Top of the World. Theranking is based on an unmistakable blendof culinary artistry, atmosphere and fur-nishings, the finest of ingredients andmethods of preparation, as well as an ab-solutely extraordinary level of service.Thus,SAGE Restaurant has proved to be the per-fect combination of extraordinary food andan atmosphere to relish.

Bring out the bikinis and shorts

The restaurant offers suitable settings foreveryone, whether you fancy a single cock-tail in the bar or private dining in the more

Discover Germany | Restaurant of the Month | SAGE Restaurant

formal white room. Come in thesummer and the restaurant has itsown private beach for sun-hungryguests. Bring along bikinis andshorts and indulge in a Mediter-ranean experience with sand andpalm trees while sipping on freshcocktails and tucking into barbequedmeat and vegetables. “The restau-rant has a relaxed feel to it, and theowner himself welcomes guests inflip-flops at the entrance if he is inthe right mood,”Hoppart says.

Bring out the dancing shoes

It will probably not come as a sur-prise that the restaurant is linked tothe city’s nightlife as the owners also

run the famous SAGE Club, located in anunderground railway station.The place is aperfect spot for those who would like to letloose on the dance floor. “We are stronglyconnected to the nightlife scene, and youwill feel this in every corner of the restau-rant as well,”Hoppart notes.“We all lovethe freedom of art and music in Berlin, andin addition to the restaurant and the club,we have hosted numerous events, includ-ing open-air concerts for the Fête de laMusique and the festival on the Museum-sinsel.”

www.sage-restaurant.de


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Discover Germany | Attraction of the Month | The Bröhan Museum



Themuseum is located byBerlin’s biggest andmostfamous palace, Charlot-tenburg Palace, only fif-teen minutes away from

the most urban area of thecapital core. Since 1983, vis-

itors have been attracted to themuseum because of its special por-

trayal of functionalist art and design from thelate 19th century, focusing especially onFrench and German art deco and art nou-veau, the result of technology, geometry andmodern art.

Within the walls of theneoclassical build-ing, the museumrepresents vari-ous aspects ofthe finest dec-orative pieces

from its time, with everything from furni-ture and paintings to glassware,metal wareand ceramics. The collections are dividedinto two main areas, crafts and fine arts,and each of the three floors in the museumhas its own category. “Having a mix ofeverything has turned out to be our trade-mark,” says the museum’s publicist,Corinna Päpke.“Although we have a realthread following all the pieces, they remainvaried at the same time.”

Colours, abstracts and Jugendstil

The ground floor focuses on interior designand is made up of several different rooms,each room with characteristic furnitureforming different styles from the turn ofthe century up to the thirties. Each room isa mix of decorative art, paintings, sculptureand furniture, where each form of artisticexpression bears a weight of its own.

The first floor is a picture gallery, with pic-tures and paintings in typical functional-ist style, with bright colours and abstract

domination. Since December 1998,the museum has been able to pres-ent parts of its rich collection ofpaintings, drawings and pastelsin a picture gallery within newlyacquired show rooms. To offerthe best possible experience forvisitors, each room is designedwith a different ambience.

Apart from the two rooms that arededicated to the Belgian art nouveau

The BröhanMuseum– A journey through art history at its finest

If you are looking to add more personality and depth than what your Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino cup canoffer you to your next visit to a big city, then the Bröhan State Museum in Berlin should be at the top of yourmust-see list.

TEXT: ADELINA IBISHI | PHOTOS: THE BRÖHAN MUSEUM

Attractionof the Month

Opposite page from left to right:Karl Hagemeister, Poppy Field, 1875,

gouache on board;

Walter Leistikow, Grunewaldsee orSchlachtensee, c. 1900, oil on canvas;

Right:

Vase with moth, Emile Gallé, Nancy,c. 1898, glass;

Vase with poppies, Daum Frères & Cie,Nancy, c. 1897, glass

Above: Hans Baluschek, Families can make coffeehere, 1895, gouache on cardboard



artist Henry van de Velde and the Vi-enna Secession artist Josef Hoff-mann, the third floor is a spa-cious hall used for specialexhibitions, lectures andcultural events cho-sen by experts tomake sure that theygo in style with therest of the museum.

Plans for 2013

“We work hard tofind those exactartists and pieceswe think will com-plement the mu-seum,” Päpke says.The museum hasapproximately threeexhibitions everyyear and can alreadyreveal some of theirplans for 2013. Avant-garde, focusing on Jewishceramicists in Germany, willbe open from February toMay,and Porcelain, from theKönigliche Porzellan-Manu-faktur Berlin, from Septemberto December. “We are very ex-cited about the new year, and Ithink people will find the ex-hibitions very interesting,”Päpke says.

The museum shines light onthe philosophy and art style“Jugendstil”, which means“youth style” in German andwas named after the magazineJugend which helped developand front the movement whenit began. The museum followsthe principle of the presenta-tion of art pieces as chamberensembles, and the collectionsillustrate different artistic ex-pressions.

National pride

The museum was founded bythe art collector Karl Bröhan,who dedicated his life to ex-ploring and making finds

within modern art, his favourite genre. Hisfinished collection was officially estab-

lished in 1973, but he continued addingto it until he died in 2000. Because of

the cultural tribute Bröhan madeto Germany, the Bröhan Mu-seum is seen as one of thecountry’s greatest nationalprides. To make the visitorsas happy as possible, themuseum offers free entranceonce every month and spe-cial programmes for families,children and pupils.

Fun for the entire family

Getting to the museum iseasy as all forms of publictransport pass by frequently.Although going to a mu-seum like this might seemmore appealing for thosewith a special interest in arthistory, the staff at BröhanMuseum encourage every-one to come and take a look;they guarantee that there issomething on offer foreveryone, no matter whatage.

The entry fee is dependenton age and what type of visityou are looking for, but nor-mal entry is 6€ for adults andfree for children under 18.The museum also offersguided tours by profession-ally trained staff and groupvisits, with reduced packageprices.

www.broehan-museum.de

Above: Danseuse au bracelet,Agathon Léonard, Paris, c. 1900, bronze

Right: The Bröhan Museum

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Discover Germany | Business | Key Note

International trade is vital for future eco-nomic growth. Therefore, we need to en-courage further market liberalisation so thatwe can all do more business with eachother. The creation of the single Europeanmarket over the last twenty years has beenan unparalleled success story, and, as Eu-ropeans, we need to build on this. The fo-cus needs to lie on opening upmarkets, es-pecially for services where more still needsto be done.

Looking at the UK,we find that the countryexports slightly more to the US than Ger-many. Nevertheless, Germany is its largesttrading partner, because Germany has ex-ported more to the UK than the other wayround for many decades. To some extent,this is a sign of the strength of the Germaneconomy – in particular in fields such as en-gineering and the automotive sector. Thereare, however,many opportunities for Britishcompanies to do business in Germanywhich, for various reasons, often go un-tapped, and theGerman-British Chamber ofIndustry & Commerce would like to en-courage UK businesses to take a closer lookat the continent’s largest economy. Inde-pendent of the worrying rhetoric of someBritish politicians, the economic future ofthe UK is, and always will be, closely inter-twined with Europe. Of course, the BRICcountries offer huge potential, but this is of-ten better exploited by larger companies,which are generally better able to bear therisks of operating in more uncertain envi-ronments.The success ofmany SMEs,whichform the engine of the economy, especiallyin terms of employment,will generally resultfrom entering markets closer to home.

IT services, life sciences, professional serv-ices as well as the creative industries are justa few examples of fields where British com-panies will be able to compete successfullyin the German market. Of course, enteringamature market takes time and needs care-ful preparation.The German-British Cham-

ber of Industry & Commerce, together withits network of member firms, is ready tohelp and support any company in its en-deavours: feel free to contact us.

grossbritannien.ahk.de/en

Germany continues to be a hugelyimportant market for British companiesTEXT: ULRICH HOPPE, DIRECTOR GENERAL AT GERMAN-BRITISH CHAMBER OF INDUSTRY & COMMERCE

Ulrich Hoppe, Director General at German-British Chamber of Industry & Commerce


Discover Germany | Business | Feature



At a press conference in 2012, Tajani, ECCommissioner in charge of Industry andEntrepreneurship, outlined his approach totackling the major problems confrontingthe European Union:

“Winston Churchill said: The pessimist seesdifficulty in every opportunity. The optimistsees the opportunity in every difficulty. I am anoptimist.Today's economic crisis and othersocietal issues are formidable challenges.They should also be seen as the opportu-nity for a positive change, as the chance toattract new demand for goods and serv-ices and to create more jobs.”

Industry is in decline through market un-certainty, lack of demand and financingproblems, but nevertheless remains a dom-inant element in the EU economy, currentlyproviding 75% of EU exports and 16% ofoverall EU GDP. Tajani is convinced thatthis can increase to 20% of GDP by 2020through a rebuilding of confidence and acorresponding influx of new investment tostrengthen industrial growth and perform-ance. This is fundamental to European re-generation because industry is recognised

as a crucial driver of productivity, innova-tion, research and job creation; for example,each new job in the manufacturing sectorproduces a corresponding one in services.

Strategy for Growth

The EC’s flagship initiative InnovationUnion details its plans to provide, by 2020,“more jobs, improved lives, better society”through action on employment, innova-tion, education, social inclusion and cli-mate/energy. From 2014 to 2020 this will beimplemented by the new EU programmefor research and innovation,Horizon 2020,which has a proposed budget of €80 billionthat some MEPs are vehemently arguingshould be increased.

Fundamental to Horizon 2020 is the pro-motion and development of Key EnablingTechnologies, a sector in which Europe isalready a leading player and which the ECenvisages in the vanguard of the new in-dustrial revolution. The global market forthese technologies is predicted to growfrom its present €646 billion to over €1 tril-lion by 2015, representing an increase ofover 54% or more than 8% of the EU’s

A New IndustrialRevolution in Europe

In early 2013, the European countries will meet again to try to reach aconsensus on the European Union budget for 2014-2020, following a failedsummit in November 2012. European Commission Vice President AntonioTajani is one of those arguing strongly that this budget should help fund anew industrial revolution involving innovative technologies to power theEU out of the economic slump. Here we examine the EC’s strategy forreversing the industrial decline and see how, in Germany’s capital city,innovative organizations and individuals are already showing the wayforward.

TEXT: STEPHEN CLEMENTS | PHOTOS: EUROPEAN COMMISSION



GDP. A concomitant rise in high-qualityjobs is also anticipated so that in nano-technology industries alone EU jobs arepredicted to increase from 160,000 in 2008to 400,000 by 2015. The six categories ofKETs are:

- Micro- and nanoelectronics- Advanced materials- Industrial biotechnology- Photonics- Nanotechnology- Advanced manufacturing systems

Recognizing Individual Excellence

The 2012 joint European Institute of Inno-vation and Technology and Academic En-terprise Awards bolstered these policy ob-jectives of the EU, giving top honours tostart-ups and spin-outs, rewarding entre-preneurship in the new sectors. Amongstthose receiving plaudits were:

- Naked Energy, developers of solarthermal technologies

- EVO Electric for their breakthroughin electric car technologies

- Endomagnetics, creators of anultrasensitive medical-use probeutilizing nanotechnology

- Trifense, an intelligent network

security company that usesself-learning technology to automati-cally detect potential cyber attacks

Trifense, which began as an innovative re-search project at theTechnical University ofBerlin, is a notable example of the newbreed of spin-out companies. Commercialsupport and business acumenwere allied toacademic expertise, and forTrifense’s man-aging director and co-founder, PatrickDuessel, this was vital for the developmentof their highly complex product. Indeed,the TU Berlin has a dedicated Centre forEntrepreneurship which has created an an-nual average of thirty-three start-up com-panies over the last four years, all foundedby students and researchers.

The German capital region Berlin-Branden-burg has attained a pivotal role in the pro-motion of economy and science, innovationmanagement, research and technological de-velopment that create a regional, nationaland international impact.Commercial infra-structure for this is provided by awide rangeof initiatives and state institutions, such asthe Investment Bank Berlin, the BerlinChamber of Commerce and Berlin PartnerGmbH, all under the aegis of an IndustrialMaster Plan for 2010-2020. Supervised by

the Berlin Senate, with its marketing cam-paign motto “Be Berlin”, the plan aims toboost inward investment and business start-ups, reinforcing the industrial expansion thathas been evident ever since the immensestructural transformation in the 1990s.

Of course, venture capital and other privatesector investment have played a substantialrole too in Berlin’s resurgence. There aremajor capital projects like the new €3 billioninternational airport, but in addition, thecity is experiencing an influx of small tech-nology companies along with global nameslike Twitter, Mozilla and Google, whichhave recently established themselves in thecapital. Google moreover has pledged €1million to the Factory, a huge campus-styleoffice complex in the central district.This isa development by Berlin angel and seed fi-nancing firm JMES Investments with part-ners s+p Real Estate and is due for com-pletion in early 2013. Designed to be a hubfor clusters of technology start-ups and as-sociated enterprises, the building will alsocontain leisure facilities such as a gym,sauna, art gallery, and, constructed on thesite of the old Oswald Brewery, it will evenhave a beer garden.

This exemplary project is being perceived asemblematic of the opportunities for changeand growth represented by innovative newtechnologies and entrepreneurship. So toothen, the city of Berlin, by creating new de-mand for its products and services and in-creasing investor confidence in its indus-tries, is clearly showing howCommissionerTajani’s new industrial revolution in Eu-rope may in reality be achieved.

For more information, please contact:

Berlin Chamber of Commerce, www.ihk-berlin.de

Start-up support, www.berlin-partner.de

British Chamber of Commerce in Germany,

www.bccg.de

European Commission Directorate General

Enterprise and Industry,

www.ec.europa.eu/enterprise

European Institute of Innovation and Technology,

www.eit.europa.eu

European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani

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Discover Germany introduces its newlaw columnist, German Rechtsanwaltand English solicitor, and the founderand managing director of London-based Klein Solicitors, Gregor Klein-knecht LLM MCIArb.

Whether the topic is setting up in businessin the UK or moving from Germany to theUK for the first time, there are numerous le-gal issues, both practical and complex, thatneed to be understood to make the rightdecisions for a successful future.While theGerman and English legal systems arenowadays both influenced by common Eu-ropean rules and regulations, there remainfundamental differences, both in approachand substance, as Gregor Kleinknechtpoints out.

In his upcoming columns, Kleinknecht willdelve into these topics, answering ques-tions such as “When people move to theUK, what happens to the validity of a willthat youmay havemade in Germany?”and“Do you need a new will for property ac-quired in the UK?”, as well as examiningthe issue of acquiring property through acompany as opposed to buying or sellingthe actual house – previously a popular wayof avoiding stamp duty land tax, but a taxloophole that has recently been all butclosed.

Klein Solicitors consists of (from L-R)Gregor Kleinknecht (Managing Director),Petra Williams-Lescht (Trainee Solicitor),Janet Klin (Rechtsreferendarin)and Anna O'Connell (Solicitor) (not pictured).

Setting up in Businessor Moving to the UK?Find out how English law affects you with our practical new columnTEXT: NIA KAJASTIE | PHOTOS: SANNA HALMEKOSKI AND THOMAS ERSKIN


Discover Germany | Business | Profile

Kleinknecht will also be able to shed lighton cultural differences between the twocountries when it comes to practical legalissues. “For example, something that al-ways astonishes German clients is thelength of English law contracts. If you buya company here, it is not unusual that thecontract and supporting documentation isseveral hundred pages long,”Kleinknechtlaughs.“This goes back to the fact that inGermany you will have recourse to thecompany and commercial codes and otherlegislation to fill gaps in the contract,whereas here if it’s not in the contract, itdoesn’t apply; everything has to be cov-ered in much more detail. So that’s one ex-ample of a cultural difference that peopleneed to overcome.”

London calling

Gregor Kleinknecht initially studied un-dergraduate law at universities in Cologne,Geneva and Freiburg, before coming toLondon to do his master’s degree at LSE.Having completed part of his legal trainingat a large city law firm in London, he thendecided to build his career here.

“I very much enjoyed London, the cosmo-politan side of it, and obviously if you are in-terested in international legal practice, in-ternational commerce and internationaltrade, then London is still probably the lead-ing place in the world to come to andwork.”

With this in mind, Kleinknecht stayed onafter qualifying as a lawyer in Germany andthen as an English solicitor. He initiallyworked in commercial litigation on com-plex high-value international cases. Afterfour years he joined another city firm,which had a large international network,including offices across Germany and incentral and eastern Europe.

“They were specifically looking for some-body who combined the civil and commonlaw backgrounds to take the role of bridg-ing the gap between civil law jurisdictions,the offices in Germany and eastern Europe,with the English common law practice, thushelping with the integration of the waylawyers worked across these offices. I con-tinued to work in commercial litigation andincreasingly developed an expertise in ar-

bitration, which is effectively resolving dis-putes outside of the state court system andthrough the appointment of arbitrators.The interesting thing about that is that it isvery conducive for resolving internationaldisputes because it takes the parties awayfrom the court system of any particularcountry and gives them the ability to re-solve their differences by reference to an in-ternationally recognised procedure.”

In 2002, Kleinknecht moved on again, thistime to an American law firm to help es-tablish a dispute resolution practice for theirnew London office.

“I really enjoyed my time there because wewere effectively starting up a new business,but also because I had the opportunity toexpand my practice into intellectual prop-erty law.

“When I left that firm by the end of 2006, Itook a step back to have a look at the optionsfor developingmy legal career further,whichgave birth to the idea of setting up a new lawfirm from scratch.All of my clients were verysupportive of the idea because they wouldcontinue to get the same level of expertisebut combined with a more personal serviceand at a more reasonable cost.”

A small firm in a big city

In February 2007, Gregor Kleinknecht setup Klein Solicitors, a dynamic and inde-pendent legal boutique located in Mayfairin the West End of London. He has notlooked back since and says that the only re-gret he has is not to have done it earlier.The practice undertakes both transactionaland dispute resolution work, working witha diverse UK and international client baseand covering a wide range of industry sec-tors. In addition to a lot of high-profile lit-igation work, the boutique firm has built anextensive practice working on intellectualproperty cases, and art and cultural her-itage law,which is unusual for a small prac-tice of four lawyers.

“In the litigation field, for example,we havejust done a banking case, a jurisdictionaldispute about a $1.2 billion claim,which wewon in the Commercial Court and again inthe Court of Appeal against one of the top

law firms in the city; it’s illustrative of theway we work,”Kleinknecht says.

“Then there’s also the transactional side tothe practice; it’s linked predominantly tothe fact that I am German, and while Ger-man businesses and individuals are not ourbiggest client base, they certainly play arole. We are listed with the German Em-bassy and the German-British Chamber ofCommerce as providing English law adviceto German clients, and we deal a lot withsetting up German companies for doingbusiness in the UK.

“And companies of course have people, sothere has always been a private client sideto the practice as well. Something that’sbeen very topical is, for example, prenuptialagreements because they have tradition-ally been given very different effect in Ger-many and the UK, although this has re-cently begun to change.”

The size of the firm offers another addedbenefit for their continental Europeanclients, who are used to dealing withsmaller law firms back at home.“It’s moreaccessible and cost-effective. That’s why, Iguess, we do well with continental Euro-pean clients,”Kleinknecht adds.

www.kleinsolicitors.com

Gregor Kleinknecht LLM MCIArb is a GermanRechtsanwalt and English solicitor, and the founderand managing director of Klein Solicitors,a successful independent boutique law firm inMayfair in the West End of London (Klein Solicitors,42 Brook Street, London W1K 5DB,E-mail: [email protected],www.kleinsolicitors.com).

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Discover Germany | Culture | German Artists Strike Gold

Startling world artist records were set atthe post-war and contemporary art auc-tions in London late last year.

A painting by the renowned German artistGerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (809-4)from 1994, was sold for the astonishingsum of over £21 million,which also markeda new record price for the work of any liv-ing artist. While Richter takes the prize asthe heavyweight champion of the contem-porary art market, there is currently a re-markably strong auction presence of otherreputable German talents such as AnselmKiefer andMartin Kippenberger.This obvi-ously reflects a strong interest in Germanart, but what are these artists all about andwhy are they so coveted?

Martin Kippenberger – frontman of a ‘badboy’generation of younger German artistswho rose to fame in the wake of the Ger-man neo-expressionists – is another top-price-attracting artist. His self-portraitUn-titled recently sold for £3.2 million.

Kippenberger and his fellows’ provocativeand jocular actions gave rise to the termJungeWilde (wild young ones).The informalgroup, which included Albert Oehlen, an-other artist strongly represented at the auc-tions, became almost as notorious for theirpublic hard-drinking party spirit as for theirwork. Besides his controversial public per-sona, Kippenberger is recognised for hisprolific and stylistically varied output whichrefuses classification. Working in multiple

media, such as painting, sculpture and in-stallation, he borrowed from everywhereand brought styles and processes into con-versation with each other in an attempt todeconstruct them. In this way he was pok-ing fun at the art world and himself as anartist. Initially, this critical assessment wasvery much aimed at the neo-expressionists,who were very much in vogue in Germanyin the 1970s and 80s. Oehlen and Kippen-berger were basically reacting to the un-compromising seriousness of the very‘painterly’and romantic neo-expressionistswho seemed to have a very confident beliefin the emancipating power of art. Interest-ingly, both of these informal movements,which seem to be in critical dialogue witheach other, are at the forefront of the con-temporary art market today.

Since the decline of expressionism in the1920s, aspects of it have been practiced andrevived profusely. By the 1970s GeorgBaselitz and Anselm Kiefer were amongsome of the most prominent artists to leadthe revival of expressionist painting. At atime whenminimalism, conceptualism anddematerialisation took centre stage in theart world, there was a “perceived death ofpainting”. As ringleader of the loose-knitgroup that came to be known as the NeueWilde (new wild ones), Baselitz brought re-newed interest to painting with his veryexpressionistic figurative imagery mixedwith abstraction. The Neue Wilde were in-spired by early expressionist artists, suchas Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Edvard

Munch, and a range of other earlier styles,such as action painting and Picasso’s quasi-abstract figurations. In Germany, this returnseems to have been connected with a widersocietal interest in coming to terms with thecountry’s past. Both Kiefer and Baselitzdrew heavily on history and myth in theirwork, particularly tabooed German iconsand clichés, as part of a narrative that ad-dressed the implications of the SecondWorldWar for modern German culture andthinking.TheNeueWilde felt that there hadbeen a loss of connection to history and as-pired to reconstruct “meaning and realityvia storytelling in images”, as historianFredric Jameson put it.

Both Baselitz and Kiefer are among theartists exceedingly sought after at auction,and they have both had major shows atprestigious galleries in London lately –something that usually boosts an artist’sauction value.

Gerhard Richter's career started with morepop-arty paintings in the 1960s. Like Sig-mar Polke, another much desired artist,Richter was altering the course of Americanpop art, though it was informed by themood of post-war Germany, and it was alot darker, more existentially orientated.Richter's oeuvre is difficult to pin downand classify: it has gone through diversephases. However, a significant threadthrough his varied career is a delicate ten-sion between abstraction and figuration.He became critically acclaimed for his hall-

Contemporary GermanArtists Strike GoldTEXT: JULIE GULDBRANDSEN


mark blurred photo-based paintings suchas October 17, 1977, but it is now his ab-stractions, which appear throughout hisoeuvre, that take home the top prices, par-ticularly the ones he created in the 90s.Like theNeue and JungeWilde, Richter em-braced and developed figurative painting,and abstraction has always been a key ele-ment to him as well.

The record-setting Richter painting men-tioned earlier was from the collection ofmusician Eric Clapton.He originally boughtthe painting for £2 million in 2001, earninghim approximately 25% return each yearfor 11 years. The question on everyone’slips now is: Can the contemporary art mar-ket keep climbing or will it hit a roof, as hasbeen the case everywhere else? Most ex-

perts emphasise that the wealth of the su-per-rich will secure a continued upwardcurve, but it will be for the top end of themarket.

Richter, the most expensive living artist, isindisputably a great artist, and his record-setting work, which was described by theauction house Sotheby’s as a "masterpieceof calculated chaos", is an amazing piece. Isit worth its price? The art market has de-cided that it is; what you think might be awhole other story.

Left:Sigmar Polke, Nierenform, 1969,Dispersion on fabric, 90 x 75 cm.

Below: "Dolores",1986, Oil on canvas, 162 x 130 cm© 2013 Georg Baselitz

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2


Electronic music pioneersKraftwerk perform in London

PHOTO: KRAFTWERK (MOMA 2012); PHOTO + WORLDWIDE 2012 COPYRIGHT: PETER BOETTCHER / KRAFTWERK

Revolutionary German electronic music actand project Kraftwerk is playing eight liveperformances inTateModern’sTurbine Hallbetween 6-14 February.These will be theirfirst performances in London since 2004.The performances, titled KRAFTWERK -THE CATALOGUE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, explorethe group’s sonic and visual experiments inchronological order and include eight clas-sic pieces from across their distinguishedrepertoire with spectacular 3D visualisa-tions and effects.

Combining sound and images, the per-formances showcase nearly 40 years of mu-sical and technical innovation, includingnew improvisations, 3D projections andanimation. Starting with Autobahn, eachnight covers one of Kraftwerk’s studioalbums in full, appearing in order of their

release - Autobahn (1974), Radio-Activity(1975), Trans Europe Express (1977), TheMan-Machine (1978), Computer World(1981), Techno Pop (1986), The Mix (1991)and Tour de France (2003) - alongside addi-tional compositions from their back cata-logue.

The Kraftwerk project was created by RalfHütter and Florian Schneider in 1970 attheir electronic Kling Klang Studio in Düs-seldorf, Germany. They quickly achievedinternational recognition and praise fortheir electro“sound paintings”and musicalexperimentation with tapes and synthesiz-ers.

With their visions of the future they createdthe soundtrack for the digital age. Theircompositions, using innovative looping

techniques and computerised rhythms,have had a lasting effect on a range of mu-sic genres all around the world.Their use ofrobotics and other technical innovations inlive performance illustrates Kraftwerk’s be-lief in the respective contributions of bothman and machine in creating art.

“As a former power station,Tate Modern’sTurbine Hall is an ideal venue forKraftwerk’s explorations of technology, en-ergy and rhythm. Bringing together music,video and performance, these events will betrue gesamtkunstwerk – a total work ofart,” says Chris Dercon, director of TateModern.

www.tate.org.uk/kraftwerk

Bavarian Beerhouse -est. 2004- is the UK’s only German Restaurant & Bar

chain, offering an authentic German experience with a variety of freshly tapped

ice cold beers served in huge Stein glasses, accompanied by hearty Bavarian

food and it’s ‘Oompah-Tainment’ atmosphere in its two London locations. Table

service is provided by charming waitresses and waiters in traditional Bavarian

‘Dirndl’ & Lederhosen dresses. Football fans enjoying German Bundesliga shown

on big screens.

Furthermore, Bavarian Beerhouse brought the world’s biggest beer festival

Oktoberfest to London. Since it’s start ‘04 these live music entertainment

parties have been established as the UK’s Number One Oktoberfest Events,

serving thousands of beer-loving customers and even the British Army each

year in September & October.

Authentic. Original. Unique. Prost!

Bavarian Beerhouse “Tower Hill”

The Arches, 9 Crutched FriarsLondon, EC3N 2AU

Bavarian Beerhouse“ Old Street”

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Bavarian Beerhouse -est. 2004- is the UK’s only German Restaurant & Bar

Arsenal is set to face Bayern Munich in thelast 16 of the UEFA Champions League,and the Gunners will have quite the chal-lenge on their hands when the Germangreat visits the Emirates for the first of twolegs.

With eight Bundesliga championships inthe last twelve years, and winning theChampions League in 2001, Bayern Mu-nich definitely has the more impressivepedigree of the two teams.Arsenal still sits

on two Premier League trophies since theturn of the millennium and has yet to liftthe Champions League trophy.

The game will be a big one for Arsenal cen-tre back Per Mertesacker and striker LukasPodolski. The Gunners duo will face theirteammates from the German national teamin Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, at-tacking midfielder Thomas Müller and, ofcourse, full back Phillipp Lahm, who cap-tains both Bayern Munich and Germany.

Podolski, who has a past with Bayern Mu-nich, playing 71 games over three seasonsfor the Bavarians from 2006 to 2009, expectsa tight game at the Emirates. He wasquoted telling UEFA.com that Bayern has“a very good team with big players”, butthe German striker still feels confident ofArsenal’s chance to grab a win.“There aretwo matches, one at home, one away. Bothteams have the chance to win,” he toldUEFA.com.

Podolski and Mertesacker toface their countrymenGerman duo Lukas Podolski and Per Mertesacker will go head to head with their teammates from the Germannational team when Arsenal hosts Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium on 19 February.

TEXT: MAGNUS NYGREN SYVERSEN | PHOTO: ALLAN BETH, DREAMSTIME.COM


Discover Germany | Culture | Sport

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