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FRANKFURT

What’s on in Germany: February 23 – 29

This Week's Highlights: Theatre in Berlin, Chinese culture in Cologne, and Georgia O'Keeffe paintings on view in Munich.

Published: 23 February 2012 09:33 CET
What's on in Germany: February 23 - 29

BERLIN

Theatre

Long Weekend of Free Theatre

Twitter amplified, bark-beetle infestations, and footage from Egypt. If your idea of theatre was Juliet on a balcony, think again. The Long Weekend of Free Theatre is four days of new ideas in stage performance presented by HAU and Sophiensaele.

Price: €16 (day ticket); €44 (festival pass)

Location: Hebbel Am Ufer, HAU 1, Stresemannstrasse 29; HAU 2, Hallesches Ufer 32; HAU 3, Tempelhofer Ufer 10; Sophiensaele, Sophienstrasse 18

Times: Thursday, February 23 – Sunday, February 26

Tickets: 030 259 004 27

More Information: www.hebbel-am-ufer.de and www.sophiensaele.com

Music/Concerts

Future Islands

The Baltimore boys bring their synth-tastic sounds to Berlin Thursday when they set up on Berghain’s storied stage. Their new album On the Water is “built around a song cycle exploring love, loss, and memory delivered with pounding rhythms, swelling melodies, and undeniable hooks.” Get on the dance floor and open those floodgates.

Price: €16.50

Location: Berghain, Am Wriezener Bahnhof

Times: Thursday, February 23, 8pm

More Information: www.berghain.de

Galleries/Museums

Exhibition Opening – Boris Mikhailov
: Time is Out of Joint

Bikini-clad grandmas at the lake are engulfed in the dreamy nostalgia of silver gelatin in Boris Mikhailov’s “Salt Lake” series from the 1980s, while shots of every day people look timeless in colour prints from the early 2000s. The Ukrainian photographer has experimented with pretty much every technique in the book. See his wide and diverse oeuvre when it goes on view at the Berlinische Galerie Thursday night.

Price: Free (Opening); €8 (Regular Admission)

Location: Berlinische Galerie, Alte Jakobstrasse 124-128


Times: Thursday, February 23, 7pm (Opening); Wednesday – Monday, 10am-6pm (Regular Hours); through May 28

More Information: www.berlinischegalerie.de

COLOGNE

Festivals

Chinese Lantern Festival

It’s the Year of the Dragon! Taste sticky rice, red beans and other traditional food Sunday at this Chinese cultural festival in Cologne. Multi-coloured lanterns and Chinese theatre make the Friend’s of China Society’s annual event a vibrant party for the whole family.

Price: €9.50 (adults); €4.50 (children over 6)

Times: Sunday, February 26, 11am

Location: St. Bruno’s Church, Klettenberggürtel 65

More Information: www.chinajahr-koeln.de

DRESDEN

Events

Erich Kästner Festival

The German author Erich Kästner was born in Dresden, where there’s a museum bearing his name. And that museum’s annual shindig for its namesake wraps up this week with a poetic and musical tribute to the author on Thursday, and a workshop for children on Friday.

Price: €6 Thursday, €2 Friday

Times: Thursday, February 23, 7pm (poetry/music); Friday, February 24, 3pm (children’s workshop)

Location: Erich Kästner Museum, Antonstrasse 1

Phone: 0351 804 5086

More Information: www.ekm-festival.com

Yoda Origami Workshop

What could you make with a piece of paper? An airplane. A boat. A hat. Yoda! Star Wars fans, get yourselves over to Dresden’s Haus des Buches and learn how to create the great Jedi master with just a few choice folds.

Price: Free

Times: Saturday, February 25, 11am-3pm

Location: Thalia-Buchhandlung Haus des Buches, Dr.-Külz-Ring 12

More Information: www.thalia.de

EISENACH

Museums/Music/Dance

Luther and [Bach’s] Music & The Art of the Fugue

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, smack bang in the center of Germany. Fans of the baroque maestro should pay a visit to Bachhaus, an excellent museum devoted to Bach’s life and work. Check out the new exhibition, which examines the relationship between Bach’s music and Martin Luther’s philosophy, and while you’re in town, head to the Eisenach Regional Theatre where the ballet “The Art of the Fugue” features his work.

Price: €7.50 (exhibition); €22 (ballet)

Times: Daily 10am-6pm (Bachhaus); Tuesday, February 28, 7:30pm (ballet)

Location: Bachhaus Eisenach, Frauenplan 21; Landestheater Eisenach,
Theaterplatz 4-7

Phone: 03691 79340 (Bachhaus); 03691 256 219 (Landestheater Eisenach)

More Information: www.english.bachhaus.de and www.theater-eisenach.de

HAMBURG

Music/Concerts

Chairlift

There’s quite a bit of euphoria pulsing through the swift drumbeats and electro synth lines of this Brooklyn band’s music. The Guardian called them “bewitching” back in 2008, the same year the iPod Nano grooved along to their song “Bruises.” Four years later the duo are cranking out some shiny new tracks on their new album Something. See Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly live in Hamburg Thursday.

Price: €15

Times: Thursday, February 23, 9pm

Location: ‪Knust, ‪Neuer Kamp 30

Ticket Hotline: 01805 570 070

More Information: www.knusthamburg.de

HEILBRONN

Events

Heilbronn Horse Market

I want a pony! For over 100 years horses have stood proudly on Heilbronn’s market streets awaiting purchase by a kindly farmer or elegant equestrian lass. Head to the Baden-Württemberg city just north of Stuttgart this weekend and engage in an age-old tradition. Food stalls. Amusement park rides, and market stalls add to the folly.

Price: Free

Times: Saturday, February 25 – Monday, February 27

Location: Central Heilbronn

More Information: www.heilbronn-tourist.de

MUNICH

Film

Beat Street

Hip hop has come a long way since Stan Lathan’s movie Beat Street premiered in 1984. Witness breakdancing at its finest Tuesday in Munich when “the most influential hip hop movie of all time” hits the big screen.

Price: Free

Location: Amerikahaus, Karolinenplatz 3

Times: Tuesday, February 28, 7pm

Phone: 089 55 25 370

More Information: www.amerikahaus.de

Galleries/Museums

Georgia O’Keeffe – Life and Work

Her oversized paintings of flowers are iconic examples of 20th century American art, but the works of Georgia O’Keeffe have rarely been shown in Europe. A new retrospective at Munich’s Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung comprises 75 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper as well as photographs of the artist and the western American landscape that inspired her.

Price: €11

Times: Daily, 10am-8pm; through May 13, 2012

Location: Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Theatinerstrasse 8

Phone: 089 22 44 12

More Information: www.hypo-kunsthalle.de

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BERLIN

EXPLAINED: Berlin’s latest Covid rules

In response to rapidly rising Covid-19 infection rates, the Berlin Senate has introduced stricter rules, which came into force on Saturday, November 27th. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 27 November 2021 16:16 CET
Updated: 29 November 2021 14:17 CET
A sign in front of a waxing studio in Berlin indicates the rule of the 2G system
A sign in front of a waxing studio indicates the rule of the 2G system with access only for fully vaccinated people and those who can show proof of recovery from Covid-19 as restrictions tighten in Berlin. STEFANIE LOOS / AFP

The Senate agreed on the tougher restrictions on Tuesday, November 23rd with the goal of reducing contacts and mobility, according to State Secretary of Health Martin Matz (SPD).

He explained after the meeting that these measures should slow the increase in Covid-19 infection rates, which was important as “the situation had, unfortunately, deteriorated over the past weeks”, according to media reports.

READ ALSO: Tougher Covid measures needed to stop 100,000 more deaths, warns top German virologist

Essentially, the new rules exclude from much of public life anyone who cannot show proof of vaccination or recovery from Covid-19. You’ll find more details of how different sectors are affected below.

Shops
If you haven’t been vaccinated or recovered (2G – geimpft (vaccinated) or genesen (recovered)) from Covid-19, then you can only go into shops for essential supplies, i.e. food shopping in supermarkets or to drugstores and pharmacies.

Many – but not all – of the rules for shopping are the same as those passed in the neighbouring state of Brandenburg in order to avoid promoting ‘shopping tourism’ with different restrictions in different states.

Leisure
2G applies here, too, as well as the requirement to wear a mask with most places now no longer accepting a negative test for entry. Only minors are exempt from this requirement.

Sport, culture, clubs
Indoor sports halls will off-limits to anyone who hasn’t  been vaccinated or can’t show proof of recovery from Covid-19. 2G is also in force for cultural events, such as plays and concerts, where there’s also a requirement to wear a mask. 

In places where mask-wearing isn’t possible, such as dance clubs, then a negative test and social distancing are required (capacity is capped at 50 percent of the maximum).

Restaurants, bars, pubs (indoors)
You have to wear a mask in all of these places when you come in, leave or move around. You can only take your mask off while you’re sat down. 2G rules also apply here.

Hotels and other types of accommodation 
Restrictions are tougher here, too, with 2G now in force. This means that unvaccinated people can no longer get a room, even if they have a negative test.

Hairdressers
For close-contact services, such as hairdressers and beauticians, it’s up to the service providers themselves to decide whether they require customers to wear masks or a negative test.

Football matches and other large-scale events
Rules have changed here, too. From December 1st, capacity will be limited to 5,000 people plus 50 percent of the total potential stadium or arena capacity. And only those who’ve been vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19 will be allowed in. Masks are also compulsory.

For the Olympic Stadium, this means capacity will be capped at 42,000 spectators and 16,000 for the Alte Försterei stadium. 

Transport
3G rules – ie vaccinated, recovered or a negative test – still apply on the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams and buses in Berlin. It was not possible to tighten restrictions, Matz said, as the regulations were issued at national level.

According to the German Act on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, people have to wear a surgical mask or an FFP2 mask  on public transport.

Christmas markets
The Senate currently has no plans to cancel the capital’s Christmas markets, some of which have been open since Monday. 

According to Matz, 2G rules apply and wearing a mask is compulsory.

Schools and day-care
Pupils will still have to take Covid tests three times a week and, in classes where there are at least two children who test positive in the rapid antigen tests, then tests should be carried out daily for a week.  

Unlike in Brandenburg, there are currently no plans to move away from face-to-face teaching. The child-friendly ‘lollipop’ Covid tests will be made compulsory in day-care centres and parents will be required to confirm that the tests have been carried out. Day-care staff have to document the results.

What about vaccination centres?
Berlin wants to expand these and set up new ones, according to Matz. A new vaccination centre should open in the Ring centre at the end of the week and 50 soldiers from the German army have been helping at the vaccination centre at the Exhibition Centre each day since last week.

The capacity in the new vaccination centre in the Lindencenter in Lichtenberg is expected to be doubled. There are also additional vaccination appointments so that people can get their jabs more quickly. Currently, all appointments are fully booked well into the new year.

 

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