What would brighten up your February? A brunch with a view over Berlin? A brisk Saturday hike through the city? A museum tour, or a chance to brush up a foreign language? The BIWC offers all this and much more.
GET OUT AND EXPLORE
Friday, 16 February A visit to the Hans Otto Theater, the futuristic-looking city theatre of Potsdam. We will get a tour and hear more about the history of the building and about the theatre productions.
Sunday, 18 February A visit to the exhibition at the Georg Kolbe Museum: Lin May Saeed, “In Paradise the Snow Falls Slowly.” With a broad cultural-historical knowledge of fairy tales and fables, and also with humour, Saeed tells old and new stories of the subjugation and liberation of animals and their coexistence with humans.
Tuesday, 20 February A guided tour in English of the Puppentheater Museum. Enter the wonderful world of marionettes, stick figures, shadow puppets and hand puppets from many different countries and features not only historical puppets but also modern ones.
Friday, 23 February A visit to the Jewish Museum in Berlin-Kreuzberg—a baroque building and an ultra-modern addition built by the architect Daniel Libeskind. The objects in the museum paint a lively portrait of private, professional, and religious life, showing how the Jews in Berlin lived before the Holocaust and how much they contributed to German culture.
Tuesday 27 February An evening with one of our members presenting the best of her pictures, short videos and stories of a trip to Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago north of the Arctic Circle. A spectacular place, with glaciers, steep mountains, long fjords, and Arctic wildlife.
Thursday, 29 February Learn about the Senior Expert Service, an organization that matches experienced retirees with clients that wish to profit from their know-how. One of our members will explain her work for the SES, including assignments in Central Asia, Africa and India in her special field of textiles. Her work has included product development, skills improvement, environmental aspects of textile production, and empowering women.
EAT, DRINK, AND ENJOY
Friday, 9 February Celebrate the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon, at the Royal Garden, an elegant and sprawling Chinese-Mongolian restaurant with replicas of famous terracotta warriors.
Thursday, 15 February A casual evening option at Hackescher Markt: a drink, a meal, a chat with friends—whatever you feel the need of at the end of the day!
Monday, 19 February Brunch at Bikini Berlin, located in the heart of Berlin. The Dawn restaurant offers an amazing selection of dishes for breakfast/brunch to suit all tastes, with fresh, high-quality, and where possible, regional ingredients.
BOOKS AND FILMS
Wednesday, 14 February The Biographies Book Group discusses Lady Byron and Her Daughters, by Julia Marcus (postponed from December). After a scandal-plagued marriage with the poet Byron in the early nineteenth century, Lady Byron went on to found innovative schools. At the same time, she was bringing up her daughter Ada, later known as the pioneer of computer science, and Medora, the child of Byron’s sister.
Monday, 26 February The Afternoon Book Group discusses The Fraud, by Zadie Smith, a novel set partly in Britain and partly in Jamaica, based on a notorious 19th-century criminal trial.
Film Buffs, a WhatsApp group, meets on an ad hoc basis, at times convenient to participants, to go to the cinema together.
STAY FIT WITH WALKING GROUPS
Saturday,17 February A city hike, starting in Prenzlauer Park. The first part will lead us through the typical original architecture in the area, where we will pass the Zeiss Grossplanetarium. On the way through Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain we will pass interesting areas and structures like a walk over the roof of the Velodrom arena and the “Hammelauktionshalle” (auction hall for mutton), as well as a series of parks.
Every Wednesday A walk around Schlachtensee
Every Thursday A walk around Tiergarten
CRAFTS, LANGUAGES, AND GAMES
Monday, 12 and 26 February English Speakers
Tuesday, 13 and 27 February German Speakers
Wednesday, 14 and 28 February French Speakers
The Club has multiple Mah Jong groups that play regularly, as well as a crafts group that meets at participants’ convenience.
