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CULTURE

Being Berlin’s culture monkey

Braving a chaotic, frustrated crowd of 20,000 people, Ben Knight spends his Saturday evening as a bus guide during Berlin's first ever Long Night of Opera and Theatre.

Being Berlin’s culture monkey
Photo: DPA

“Three theatres I couldn’t get into, and now I can’t even get on this bus,” one woman ranted, having unsuccessfully attempted to see a 15-minute puppet version of the Norse myth Edda in the tiny Schaubude theatre. There was an edge of despair in her voice. “This whole evening has been one big frustration.”

“I’m very sorry about that,” replied Manhard my bus driver, preserving admirable equanimity, “But there’s nothing I can do. It’s a safety matter. If I can’t see out of the side of the bus someone might get killed.”

After a stoic stand-off, it was left to her husband to mutter some conciliation, and the disgruntled couple stepped out.

“There’ll be another bus in ten minutes!” I called out after her, knowing it would be just as full. It was about 8:30 pm, and the much-vaunted Long Night of Opera and Theatre was in its busiest phase. Crowds were gathering outside nearly every tiny venue in the city, and specially-requisitioned public buses were dumping new audiences on the kerbs outside each one.

An hour and a half earlier, the first raging masses had piled into the Staatsoper on Bebelplatz, the central hub of the unwinding chaos. It quickly became clear that a large portion of the estimated 20,000 people taking part in tonight’s theatrical free-for-all had had the same idea: catch the half-hour version of The Magic Flute before dipping into the unknown hinterland of Berlin’s theatre scene. That’s where I came in, clutching a microphone and wearing a snazzy black t-shirt with the frivolous word “Infoooooooooos” printed on it, manning one of the buses.

For one night last weekend, fifty of Berlin’s theatres opened their doors to anyone with a €15 ticket. Theoretically, anyone could go and see anything anywhere. Almost all the theatres put on shortened versions of their standard programmes. The larger theatres gamely gave up a night’s takings while the smaller theatres, sensing an invaluable opportunity, went to town, offering a myriad of off-beat shows, foyer entertainments, live music, and sometimes soup. But it was apparently a bit too successful.

They told us it might get chaotic at the brief induction a couple of days earlier.

“We don’t really know what’s going to happen,” said the benign old Reinhard Ellmer of Kulturprojekte Berlin, the organisation charged with getting this cultural orgy on the road. He was almost proud of his uncertainty. “This is biggest event of its kind ever attempted in the world. They’ve done them in Stuttgart and Hamburg, but those are much smaller,” he said referring disdainfully to other Long Nights elsewhere.

He was addressing the fifty or so people – predominately students and the unemployed – who had signed up to accompany a bus on one of the seven routes around Berlin. I got Bus 4 on Route 4, a circuit of Prenzlauer Berg taking in nine famous and less famous theatres, beginning and ending at Bebelplatz, where four venues were located.

We all received an info pack containing maps and programmes of our theatres, plus the jaunty t-shirt. Knowledge of Berlin’s cultural landscape seemed to be a plus rather than a requirement, but we did get a daunting brief: “Try to keep them in a good mood,” Ellmer said, before sending us on our way.

Manhard and I made six rounds of Prenzlauer Berg, each 45 minutes with a 10 minute, transit union-enforced coffee break between them. As traffic thinned towards the end of the night, Manhard contrived to make his breaks longer and longer.

He was cheerfully cynical about the whole enterprise: “I knew it would be chaos, you know. I’d never do this as a spectator. What’s the point? By the end of the night, you’ve gone round to all these funny little ‘performance’ joints and you’ve got no idea what you saw.”

He said the word ‘performance’ in English, and infused it with scorn. Even Berlin bus-drivers know wanky artsy jargon when they hear it.

Despite the stress, a festival atmosphere started to develop on the bus. By the second run, I had understood my role – I was meant to be a holiday entertainer, a Club 18-30 mood-maker, a kind of bus MC of merriment. Berlin’s culture monkey, as it were.

I chatted cheerily to the passengers, wishing the ones alighting good luck in the ever-extending queues, and asking the ones that entered what they’d seen and if it was any good. By and by, I even started enjoying myself.

I was only prevented from starting a sing-along by the fear of lowering the tone of a supposedly highbrow evening of culture. A breezy rendition of Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach” probably wouldn’t go over very well if you’ve just consumed an Israeli-Palestinian-German modern dance “exploring the differences between national and private shame and disgrace” at Dock 11 on Kastanienallee.

It soon became clear that the key to navigating the evening was going Zen. The passengers having the best nights were the ones that had serenely abandoned their carefully worked out programmes, and let the buses take them on a surprise journey.

“It’s really good for the small theatres,” one woman told me, “but for us, we’re really just getting a tour of the venues, so you have an idea where to go on another night.” Another woman, who wandered forlornly over to us on one of Manhard’s breaks, was less gracious: “More like Long Night of the Bus Rides. It was much better in Stuttgart.”

But that was in the initial madness. After 10 pm, the crowds had got the hang of it, and began dispensing themselves more evenly throughout the city. And the theatres did their bit, too. Actors began performing in the streets outside the Galli Theater in Mitte and there seemed to be a consensus to have a good time. Many venues hosted after-show parties.

In the morning, as the video screens were being dismantled and the theatre programmes strewn across Bebelplatz gathered up, the organisers were claiming it had all been a great success – regardless of what Manhard thought.

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STUDYING IN GERMANY

What’s it like to study abroad in Berlin?

Picking the right city to study abroad in Germany can be a tricky decision, and there are numerous factors to consider. Freya Jones shares her experience of doing a year abroad in the capital and explains why Berlin could also be the right choice for you.

What's it like to study abroad in Berlin?

Five months after moving to Berlin for my year abroad (a compulsory part of my German degree from the UK) the German capital is certainly a destination I’d recommend. 

Although it’s less “traditionally German” than many other corners of the country, and simultaneously more comparable to the blanket big city experience worldwide, Berlin’s unique history and culture make it a great place to explore – and unsurprisingly very popular with international students. 

Like all capitals, it has its pros and cons, so here’s what stood out to me during my experience so far.

Arrival

You’ve probably heard horror stories about the Berlin housing market, and from experience I can say they’re largely true. Finding an apartment here before moving to the city is notoriously difficult, and more expensive than in other parts of Germany. 

What you should bear in mind, however, is that unlike other German cities, Berlin doesn’t impose fines if you’re unable to secure a registration appointment within two weeks of arrival (three months if you already have a visa). This makes searching for a good WG, Studentenwerk, or other rental far easier post-arrival if your first stop is a homestay or somewhere else temporary. 

Blocks of rental flats in Berlin.

Blocks of rental flats in Berlin. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Monika Skolimowska

Despite a recent wave of strikes and construction work, transport links in Berlin are still very strong. If you’re enrolled as a student during your year abroad, you’ll be entitled to a discounted pass for city transport, including a number of tram, bus and train options that run all the way to the city’s outskirts and even into Brandenburg (Zone C).

What’s more, direct trains from Berlin’s BER Airport make it more accessible than more remote locations in Germany when you arrive equipped with a year’s worth of luggage.

English

My German tutors in the UK were slightly concerned when I chose Berlin, because they didn’t think I’d have much opportunity to practise my German. Looking back, this worry wasn’t without cause, and if your primary goal is German language improvement, it may be worth considering somewhere more rural or less international. 

Unlike small towns I’ve visited elsewhere in Germany, where many people speak little to no English, it’s everywhere in Berlin. Because the international population is so large, new friends from any country are likely to speak it by default.

However, this can obviously be mitigated by signing up for German-only university classes, as I’ve done as an exchange student at Humboldt University, or finding a German language job. And on the flip side, if you’re here to study a discipline other than German, the ubiquity of English in Berlin has you covered.

READ ALSO: The top German cities for international students in 2024

Cultural Experiences

Unsurprisingly, Berlin offers no end of unique cultural experiences. For new arrivals, there’s plenty to fill your time with, and I’d really recommend “playing the tourist” for a couple of weeks while you settle in. 

Bucket-list locations include the National Gallery and museums on Museuminsel, the Berlin Wall memorial, the Brandenburg Gate, and the site of the Berlin airlift at Tempelhof. And beyond this, there’s never a shortage of things to do – walks around Tiergarten and the customary Sunday flea markets (Flohmarkt am Mauerpark being the most famous) are popular with visitors and locals alike.

A skateboarder performs tricks on Tempelhofer Feld

A skateboarder performs tricks on a former runway at Berlin’s Tempelhofer Feld, a popular meeting place in Berlin-Neukölln. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

Something I’ve also really enjoyed after being here for a while is noticing the small details which differentiate the former East and West Berlin sectors, such as different traffic lights and types of transport. While much of the architecture is admittedly stark, grey and not as pretty as other parts of Germany, the way in which present-day Berlin is a visible product of its recent history makes it a fascinating place to live.

READ ALSO: How do I get a student visa for Germany and what does it let me do?

Pros & Cons

Any culture shock inevitably comes with both positives and negatives, and these are a few which particularly struck me after moving to Berlin from the UK. 

Cons: many shops refuse to take card payment and only accept cash; all shops and supermarkets close on Sundays; there’s no guarantee of being let into a club or bar on a night out, and the traffic lights genuinely seem to conspire against drivers and pedestrians alike. (Also, the weather in winter really will destroy your soul, and this is a Brit talking…)

Pros: the quality of food is much better here than in the UK, and cheaper; the cost of alcohol is much lower; public transport is cheaper and more efficient than in London; work-life balance and mental wellbeing are taken very seriously; and finally, there’s a far less visible “class system” than in the UK, possibly due to the greater access and affordability of German universities.  (This is really nice, especially if you’re coming from a UK university where socio-economic prejudice is very common.)

READ ALSO: How to stay in Germany after graduating from a German university

Overall, Berlin has been a vibrant place to spend my exchange semester. Not only has it given me insights into the most significant shifts in recent German history, but it also offers the archetypal experience of living in a bustling, multicultural city. So while it’s distinctly different to anywhere else in Germany you might be considering, the variety of things to see and do in Berlin will keep you engaged for your full year abroad.

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