Here we all are back in Berlin again, and there’s a lot going on in the Club! From a flea market visit to a palace visit, from language-learning groups to walking groups to an Oktoberfest celebration (yes, Oktoberfest starts in September), there’s something for everyone.
Get Out and Explore
Mauerpark art
Sunday, 3 September Sunday afternoon at the Mauerpark: a flea market with food and drink stands, a karaoke stage, and colourful street art!
Tuesday, 12 September A tour of the Visitors’ Center of the German Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst), the German equivalent of the CIA or the British Secret Intelligence Service, with an introductory talk about the history and work of the Service.
Thursday, 14 September Insights into new art! Founded by artists in 1999, the group dimension14 presents temporary, theme-related, site-specific art works each year. A long-time member of the group will introduce us to dimension14’s concept and history and the works she and her colleagues have created.
Friday, 15 September A visit to the top of the Funkturm, one of Berlin’s classic landmarks, with fabulous views over the city.
Friday, 29 September A visit to Glienicke Palace and gardens. The palace is a neoclassical villa built for Prince Carl of Prussia, and the garden is full of antique sculptures–a dream of Italy on the sandy soil of Brandenburg.
Friday, 29 September A guided walk through a cozy village world in the middle of Berlin: flat farmhouses, garden fences overgrown with Virginia creeper and ivy, and winding courtyards as well as its own graveyard: the Bohemian village in the Neukölln district Rixdorf.
Eat, Drink, and Enjoy
Tuesday, 5 September Learn how go make coulibiac, a traditional Russian fish pie in puff pastry. A member will show us how to cook her version of an old family recipe.
Thursday, 14 September Lunch at the new Hotel Luc near Gendarmenmarkt. Enjoy the new Prussian-blue interior and elegant food from Florian Glauert, known to many as the head chef at the “Duke” in the now closed Hotel Ellington.
Thursday, 14 September Join the Casual Evening group for a drink or a meal and relaxing conversation at the end of the day.
Wednesday, 27 September Take a culinary journey through Italy with the Kool Kiez group at Ristorante Bellucci in Charlottenburg.
Thursday, 28 September Celebrate a traditional Bavarian Oktoberfest, with as at the (traditionally Bavarian!) Hofbräu Wirtshaus.
Books and Films
Monday, 25 September Take part in a discussion of Violeta, by Isabel Allende, the tale of a 100-year-old woman who lived between two pandemics (the Spanish flu at the end of World War I and Covid) and was touched by many of Latin America’s political calamities in the intervening decades.
At a mutually convenient time, the Science Group will discuss Wolfram Eilenberger’s book, Time of the Magicians: Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Cassirer, Heidegger, and the Decade that Reinvented Philosophy. An “accessible and deeply human treatment of four thinkers,” per the New York Times review.
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, 9 September A hike through northern Berlin, catching the first glimpses of autumn in wooded parks like the Wilhelm-von-Siemens park, Volkspark Jungfernheide, and the park areas around Plötzensee.
Every Wednesday A walk around Schlachtensee.
Every Thursday A walk around Tiergarten
Crafts, Languages, and Games
Monday, 11 and 25 September English Speakers
Tuesday, 12 and 26 September German Speakers
Wednesday, 13 September French Speakers
The Club has multiple Mah Jong groups that play regularly, as well as a crafts group that meets at participants’ convenience.
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Photo credits: Mauerpark,Singlespeedfahrer – Eigenes Werk, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=116582370
Rixdorf: Daniela Roggendorf. Jungfernheide, Brigitte Jäger.
