There’s a moment for chasing mice and climbing trees, being connected and multitask here and there. But now it’s time for being lavishly lazy and mysteriously elusive, purring along the winter’s icy winds. Off-line time. (it’s good for our fur).

See you in early January…

Purr: courtesy of Tinky @ Kessels.nl

The first time 72 Smalldive learned of Alexander von Keyserlingk was through his blog site  “Slowretail”. Not unlike the slow food movement, a delegate of people have been and are, even more so now, advocating “slow consumption” as le mode de vie. The tainted food and the economy crisis in this millennium has left a resounding reminder of the ugliness of hubristic notions of progress and expansion. Those  unfortunate happenings have incidentally spurred a greater awareness of issues such as provenance, ethics, culture preservation, and humanity in the realm of consumption. Amid such awareness, we ask to Alexander how a retail space may uptake the role of an arena to nurture a meaningful and intimate relationship between producers, suppliers, and consumers.

Interviewer
Szetiong

V: You named your consulting company Slowretail and along with this moniker one of your core ‘philosophy’ is to focus on building a relationship between the store owner and the customer. In your opinion how has this ‘relationship’ evolved over the decades?
AVK: Generalists such as department stores and mono-brand stores (for e.g. ZARA) have edged out specialized and customer-friendly stores over the past decade. Many worldwide retail-chains place a disproportionate focus on their brands’ presence and not on the customer. Brand building trumps individuals’ needs in the mass retail market. This has provoked an anti-trend: A new generation of customers are “demonstrating” by frequenting less departmental stores and rejecting replaceable store formats. These consumers demand for a more individual, personal, and authentic shopping experience.

Shop window of Ludwig3

V: At Commes des Garcons’ runaway show in Paris for S/S 2010, the show’s underlying message is to ’slowdown’. We see an increase of awareness towards the slow movement’ in food – is this also rampant in the non-food retail sector?
AVK: The slow movement is a worldwide phenomena in many industry sectors. Many companies have been and are working on concepts and principals of slowing down their development pace to focus on increased  transparency, efficiency, and sustainability. The product story becomes as important as the product itself. Fair trade and organically grown produce are becoming more easily available in the market place due to wider acceptance; unlike in the past where such items are often regarded as unattractive or niche. Customers now want to be fascinated by a convincing value proposition, not just by product packaging or superficial marketing.

Product Offerings at Ludwig3

V: In your opinion what makes a retail space stand out? What values should, do you think, the space confer?
AVK: In my opinion, the perfect retail space is one that maintains an unique concept. Without a good concept, many successful independent stores would not have been sustainable and more importantly inspirational. The old school of thought about “location, location, location” doesn’t exist anymore. Now stores have to keep focusing on “concepts, concepts, and concepts”. With the right concept, a store can be established anywhere. Be courageous!

...Stores have to keep focusing on concepts

V: Tell us more about your recent project Ludwig3? Do you think Ludwig3 is a model that can be replicated in others markets such as Asia?
AVK: Ludwig3 is Germany’s first concept store that offers organic and fair-trade lifestyle products. It is located in Regensburg, a UNESCO heritage site, in southern Germany. The store has been considered a fine example of a modern retail space that offers fair-trade and sustainable products. Ludwig3 has garnered strong press interest in Germany, within the first weeks of its opening. Its success story has inspired us to consider replicating the concept to other markets and we are already working on it now.

Alexander von Keyserlingk’s vast experience in the retail market includes having pioneered Berlin’s first GAP store in Tauentzienstrasse, a major shopping street in western Berlin. After his successful stinct with GAP, Alexander moved on to manage several retail institutions of Berlin, such as Quartier 206 and KadeWe. Apart from Berlin, Alexander also assisted chain retail stores in establishing their presence in major cities in Germany.

To know more about Alexander’s retail consultancy services, please visit http://www.slowretail.com.

Ludwig3 is located in Ludwigstrasse 3, 93047 Regensberg, Germany.

Following on the heels of my one week in London, I then spent one week in Berlin!  To go, or not to go, to Berlin, was a last minute decision that I finally made about a week before leaving for London.  In fact, I was still booking tours for Berlin one evening from my London Hotel!

I wonder now how I ever, for one moment, debated not going at all!  Especially with compelling reasons like these:

1. I had the vacation time already scheduled since early this year
2. I have vowed to visit other International places outside of the UK (tho’ I love UK so! )
3. I’ve been learning the German language for about 5 months now
4. I have friends in Germany to meet
5. My favorite Swiss Music Duo, Yello, would be launching their first album in six years and their first concert in nearly 30!
6. My best friend Jonathan bought one ticket to the concert and sold it to me!!

This was my first trip to Berlin, and Germany, so my goal was to get an overview of the sights and hope later to revisit my favorite points of interest in more detail. Yello’s World Premiere Virtual Concert wasn’t until later in the week, so until then I had plenty of time for a number of tours.

I took twice as many pics in Berlin than I did in London, so be warned…this blog may turn into a bit of a picspam! 

Here’s one of my first impressions of Berlin when I went for a walk the first Sunday afternoon near my hotel.

Park - Möllendorffstraße

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I took the bulk of my pics during two boat tours of Berlin’s Bridges and Waterways.  Here’s a sampling:

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Deutscher Bundestag

German Chancellery, Berlin

Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Haus

Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Haus

Bridge connecting Paul Löbe Haus & Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Haus

Berlin Boat Tour

Bodemuseum

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I also took a “Hop On-Hop Off” Bus tour and did some wandering on my own as well:

Berlin Wall remains

Berliner Dom

Danziger/Hagenauer Straße, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin

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On Wednesday, I ventured out of Berlin and saw some countryside during the 2 hour bus trip to and from beautiful Dresden.

Between Berlin and Dresden

Dresden on the River Elbe

Theaterplatz facing The Catholic Church of the Royal Court of Saxony, Dresden

Semperoper, Dresden

Zwinger Palace, Dresden

Detail - Zwinger Palace, Dresden

Between Dresden and Berlin

See more Pics from Dresden, Germany in this photo album on Facebook

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When I returned from Dresden it was a perfect opportunity to capture some night shots along Berlin’s Tauentzienstraße, which included the mega-store equivalent of London’s Harrods, KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens).

'Berlin' in the middle of the Tauentzienstraße

KaDeWe Store, Berlin

KaDeWe Main Entrance, Berlin

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Besides boat and bus tours…I also did a fantastic, well-presented 4 hour walking tour.  The tour guide really brought to life Berlin’s history for me.

German Historical Museum, Berlin

Lustgarten, Berlin

Mother with her Dead Son - The Neue Wache (The New Guard House), Berlin

Memorial for the book burnings of 1933, Bebelplatz, Berlin

Quadriga, Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate)

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin

Französischer Dom (French Cathedral), Berlin

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By this time I was suffering from sight-seeing overload and beyond ready to meet up with Yello fans and get excited about the Yello Virtual Concert that night!

Touch Yello World Premiere Virtual Concert, Kino International Berlin

Touch Yello World Premiere Virtual Concert, Kino International Berlin

Yello is a Swiss electronica band consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank.  Fans of Yello have been fairly resigned to never expect to see a live performance.  But, what a great idea to present a Virtual Concert!!  Yello’s new songs, plus some of their classics, featured in a 50 minute film with awesome graphics set to a concert theatre backdrop!

The evening began with Boris taking a seat in the theatre with the audience while Dieter did introductions and presentations.  We were then treated to live music performances by each of two artists, Heidi Happy and Till Brönner, who are featured on the new Touch Yello album.

Then, it was roll on the Virtual Yello Concert!!! AND…which ended with a ten-minute long standing ovation as Dieter and Boris both took to the stage for final thanks and acknowledgments …SERIOUSLY, I have never seen anything like it!!

For more about just how special the night was for everyone involved, here’s a great written recap of the night or watch the equally great video recap.   Look for me in the background (@ 10:38) talking to my new Yello friends, Jens and Michael!

But that’s not all!  Everyone at the concert was invited to an after-party and it was incredibly cool to see Dieter and Boris hanging out as well with their families!  Fans could continue to approach them for autographs, pics and general chit-chat.  I met up with Boris a second time and quickly snagged Michael off the dance floor to take a pic for me!

Shelley, Boris Blank - Touch Yello Premiere After Party, Kino International Berlin

Boris is all kinds of awesome! 

And many thanks again to Michael for the pic!  Speaking of…here’s an example of just how happy us Yello fans were that night!

Shelley, Michael, Jens - Touch Yello Premiere After Party, Kino International Berlin

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Wow, the main event has passed and the next couple days were a bit more relaxed pace for me.  I took a short bus tour one afternoon to Potsdam and toured Sanssouci Palace.

Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam

Gardens of Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam

Stairs to Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam

See more Pics from Sanssouci palace in Potsdam, near Berlin in this photo album on Facebook

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My final evening in Berlin and as with my last night in London, it was certainly not the least of times to meet NEW friends!  I met Silke (who’s been suffering through my attempts at learning German ) along with her husband and son for a wonderful dinner and plenty of drink!  I was introduced to the Brazilian cocktail, caipirinha, that may well replace my Mojito’s at my next summer party! 

Shelley, Silke - La Mulata Cuban restaurant, Berlin

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Sunday morning 8 am.

I’m stood waiting with luggage at the bus stop for Tegel airport and my flight home.  I look up…and see… the Fernsehturm Berlin (Television Tower).

Fernsehturm Berlin (Television Tower)

This tower is not a new sight for me.  It has been visible throughout my week in Berlin since day one and quickly became a “Where’s Waldo” in many of my pics.

The tower is a symbol of Berlin and I find it unquestionably perfect that this would inevitably become the very last picture that I took of Berlin.  The final picture to not only wrap up my memories of my week there, but also my wonderful 2-week vacation that started in London.

See more Pics from Berlin, Germany in this photo album on Facebook

(See “One Week in London” Blog)

]]> http://dreizeiger.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/kadewe-will-moderner-werden-und-setzt-auf-eigenmarken/ Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:07:18 +0000 dreizeiger http://dreizeiger.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/kadewe-will-moderner-werden-und-setzt-auf-eigenmarken/

Das Berliner Luxuskaufhaus KaDeWe will zukünftig verstärkt auf Eigenmarken setzen, um sein Markenpotenzial auszuspielen. Derzeit werde geprüft, in welchen Bereichen man Lizenzen vergeben könne. Auch ein Internetshop stehe zur Debatte. Das zum insolventen Arcandor-Konzern gehörende Kaufhaus schreibe KaDeWe-Chefin Ursula Vierkötter zufolge trotz der Krise schwarze Zahlen. Das zeige, dass es weiterhin einen Markt für Luxus gebe. Im Frühsommer hatte der Berliner Finanzsenator Ulrich Nußbaum dem KaDeWe bereits empfohlen, sich am Londoner Luxuskaufhaus Harrods ein Beispiel zu nehmen, das mit seinen Eigenmarken Millionengewinne mache. Schließlich sei das KaDeWe eine der bekanntesten Marken in Deutschland.

Quelle: SZ

Two nice discoveries today. A friend in London told me about The Auteurs. And while browsing the movies MeinMann discovered 24 hours Berlin by Volker Heise.

Well, all this has been around for a while but nevertheless, better late than never!

If you love movies The Auteurs is a precious website. And if you love Berlin, you will love this collection of 24 movies shot in Berlin one year ago, each one covering a specific hour of the day. With stunning photography and everyday stories.

The first part of 24 hours Berlin takes us in the capital and her inhabitants at 6am. Nori at the BMW motorbike factory in Spandau. An inmate in the Knast in Reinickendorf. Waking up in a flat in Schoeneberg. A Koepenick fisherman on the Mueggelsee. An old man waiting for heart surgery at the Charite’ hospital in Mitte. A round-the-clock bakery in Schlesisches Tor. An interview with von und zu Guttemberg in front of Brandenburger Gate about John McCain (John McCain…? who was that?). A vain and antipathique foreign correspondent headquartered in Gendarmenmarkt and totally waterproof to the country he’s reporting from.

The crisis was just starting: September 5th, 2008. MeinMann and I only watched episode 1 so far (the one covering the awakening of the city, in between6.00 am and 7 am) and so there’s more to come. We have 23 movies in stock to look forward to now!

One year after this magnificient series of shootings I wonder what happened to the people portrayed in the movie. The world changed an awful lot in the meantime.

Sarah Palin and her red jackets were pestering our screens one year ago. FW Steinmeier was not sure to become THE candidate to the Kanzleramt. Lehman Brothers was fame and glory. Barack Obama was preceded by an “If”. Von und zu Guttemberg was in the making. KaDeWe was strong as an ox. The S-bahn ran on time (but with a dark secret) and the U55 was still in the box.  We were still discussing the project for our flat in Berlin.

This movie frames life in the city and its Zeitgeist. Berlin is the lucky town which deserved but also generated such an oeuvre, I hope it means something beautiful for its future.

One of the pages with most traffic on this blog is the Bookshelf in Berlin. Thanks to this page, online (and offline) friendships started, in Rome and Berlin.

So it’s time to put a bit in order that page and update it with the latest arrivals on our bookshelf. Let’s try to summarize…

I bought at Chatwin’s “U5″ by Pol Sax. If you are recovering your German language skills, it can be helpful as there is more introspection than plot intricacies. Three characters (an artist which has some success, a prostitute, a former artist now in need of psychiatric professional help) show us their thoughts while they live their lives in Friedrichshain, along the U5 line precisely.

At Tegel airport I bought Sven Regener’s “Berlin blues”. It is enjoyable, to some extent I started to confuse the characters (I was still reading Pol Sax) since also in this book the quirky and borderline are very close. But it is definitely enjoyable, especially the bits in which tapes full of House music constantly risk to end up in the bin of the pub. “He says this will be the music of tomorrow!”. It was the summer 1989. The English translation I read seems really good to me, but I should read the German original version to be sure about it…and get an insight on the 80s slang.

Get this bande dessinée, if you want to get some insight on how kids in 1989 lived the fall of the Berlin wall. It is witzig, light, ironic, and yes, you may have spotted Flix strips in a Berlin’s newspaper. I found it at the fantastic Bayerischer Platz Buchladen, my local.

At Nollendorfplatz I bought Alexanderplatz. I am already a fan of Harald Hauswald’s photos of East Berlin so this book was a safe bet. It is a photographic book, very useful for playing one of my favourite Berlin games “how was it before/how is it now?”.

At the KaDeWe bookstore – which happens to be pas mal du tout – I couldn’t resist in buying Berliner Plätze, after spending an hour or so on the bookstore’s red sofas while browsing the book.

Taking the game “Berlin yesterday/today” a century back, with this gorgeous book you can understand what kind of metropolis Berlin was in the 20s…The square pictured on the cover is Viktoria-Luise Platz, which happens to be like this also today. The grim, concrete-clad Bayerischer Platz in our neighborhood was a true beauty once. Fabulous book for architecture lovers.

This one is only for Berlin fanatics…taking the game even deeper, and digging out the history of the Schoeneberg neighborhood. I agree, it’s so specialized, but how can you resist if you find it at the Flohmarkt for Eur 2?

Wow, a book in Italian, German, French. You may recognize the cover…but it is not Imgard Keun’s “The artificial silk girl”. It’s a catalogue, bought at Remainders in Rome, about Berlin’s fashion industry in the 30s. Berlin fashion shared the same grim fate of Bayerischer Platz buildings and the Bauhaus school – annihilation -  since it had a strong contribution by the Jewish Berlin entrepreneurs. The book is fabulous for the quality of fashion photography and the architectural aesthetic: the city, the modern city, was the set.

This is an investment. The Bauhaus exhibition catalogue…solemnly acquired at the Martin-Gropius Bau . Of course I saw the exhibition…but I want the pleasure to last, and that’s why I started reading the catalogue but I will keep the most part of it for the rainy-windy-stormy-icy days in Berlin this winter. 80 years! But there had been an impressive exhibition in 1977….

…I discovered it because I found at the Rathaus Schoeneberg Flohmarkt this fabulous book, the catalogue of the exhibition. It was interesting to compare how catalogues have evolved in the past 30 years, and on very similar themes. Today’s bauhaus catalogue is more graphic and inviting, the 1977 oeuvre is definitely very academic. But extremely complete and thorough.

My friend in Moabit, who enjoyed Alessandra Montrucchio’s “Berlino”, advised me to get its French mirror image, Cecile Calla’s “Tour de Franz”. It is definitely enjoyable and is a good insight on conversational German, with a Berlinisch flavour. Sometimes there’s too much Paris in this book (the cooking, the lingerie, the aperos) and you may wonder if the book’s title “mein Rendez-vous mit den Deutschen” should rather be “my convinction that French do it better, whatever it is”. But the chapters “spiessig”, “Sex”, Tatort” and “Mann” are good fun. By the way, I bought this book at a nice local bookstore, just off Crellestrasse in Schoeneberg. Check it out, it’s called Mackensen.

Another French fascinated by Germany, Michel Tournier. I bought the book at Palais Sans Souci, in Potsdam…so the title sounded quite appropriate, in the middle of the Prussian vineyards and Mediterrenean fig trees. Almost a pamphlet, it is a bijou and not to be missed. En français uniquement.

Another book, another advice from a friend, C. from Geneva. Its structure is interesting and it makes an interesting companion during travels for business or pleasure. But when it comes to history, I prefer books such as Maier’s “The Fall” or Weitz’s “Weimar, utopia and tragedy”. The social and economic side of history is the one I am interested in, and in vol d’oiseau books it does not get enough coverage.

In the same bookstore off Crellestrasse I also treated myself to a new Kaminer. But I am still in the middle of it…so I’ll let you know!

And now I’ll close with two masterpieces, quite obvious, but hey, I read them this summer…

The Cold War masterpiece, IanMcEwan’s “The Innocent”. I must confess that when I bought the book at Tegel airport I hd not realized immediately that I already had this book. Fortunately, because my copy of the Italian translation “Lettere a Berlino” was in Rome, with a bookmark stuck at 1/3 of the book. Here it goes, another “double book” I told myself…but eventually I started reading the original version and got totally captured. The beauty of the language, the differences in Glass’s American English and Marham’s stuttered English from Tottenham is quintessential to the pleasure of the intricated plot. And moreover…we have been to Altglienicke! (and everybody flying Easijet has been to Rudow, right?).

The 30s masterpiece is “Goodbye Berlin”. I bought it by night at Dussman, during Die Lange Nacht der Museen, the Berlin version of Notte bianca. I love Christopher Isherwood! His social portraits are as sharp as Imgard Keun’s, but with a British irony which rubs off the hyperrealistic decadence of Alfred Döblin’s friend.

It was my goodbye book to Berlin…a somewhat cooler weather had arrived that night and the following day I packed my luggage, taking with me Kaminer for fighting that dash of sadness with Schonhauser Allee nonsensical humor.

På väg hem från semester i Skåne passade vi på att göra ett stopp i Berlin, tyvärr avbrutet då en yngre familjemedlem drabbades av hög feber. Men på den korta tid vi var där hann vi besöka varuhuset KaDeWe, Kaufhaus des Westens. På sjätte våningen hittar man en enorm matavdelning eller som varuhuset har valt att kalla den, Feinschmeckeretage (översättning överflödig). Serveringar i mängd och mat från all världens hörn.

Avdelningen för ost kan stoltsera med över 1300 olika sorter, därav ca 400 från Frankrike. Stora delar av det ostproducerande Europa verkade representerat, så även Sverige. Den olyckliga febertoppen inträffade tyvärr just under inspektionen av ostdiskarna varför besöket blev väldigt kort. Ny Berlinresa, utan barn, är dock redan på planeringsstadiet och efter det hoppas jag kunna ge en lite mer fyllig beskrivning av vad som finns att inhandla. För den som har vägarna förbi Berlin tycker jag definitivt ett besök är att rekommendera. Fast det måste tilläggas att denna typ av “stormarknad” aldrig får den charm som ett besök i en mindre ostbutik kan ge.

Om man blir hungrig och inte vill sitta ner vid någon av våningens serveringar utan hellre går ut i Berlinluften så kan jag rekommendera gatuköket Witti’s som ligger på torget snett emot varuhuset. God currywurst med tillbehör och dryck för en billig peng, dessutom är allt som serveras ekologiskt odlat.

The other day we ventured over to KaDeWe, a really huge and really nice department store in Berlin. We checked out their gourmet floor which had all kinds of fish and meats and desserts and everything else to either purchase to take home or have them prepare it for you right there. People were drinking wine and beer and watching as their food was being made fresh in front of them. It was crazy though. We couldn’t read any signs, everyone was moving really fast and we couldn’t make sense of the whole process. We were clueless.

We sat at the fish bar for awhile trying to figure out what was going on before my mom decided to ask the youngest chef guy there, “Do you speak English?” “Yes…” So he was really nice and he gave us an English menu and we were able to order successfully.

There is the nice young man we ordered from and here is the grill where all the action was.

Yum, yum, yum. Also, I got a glass of wine. White German wine and my mom says she’s going to start feeding me wine more often.

Here’s our food. Our meals also came with small salads and bread.

Delicious! And I love love wine with dinner. Except this was lunch, so…

Anyway. I was feeling a bit buzzing after that glass of wine. You know I had my smiley face going on and we wandered our way over to the childrens toy section on one of the floors and I found me a new Steiff friend to take home with me from Germany.

Yep, yep. There’s me and my bear. Ok, not the big bear, the little bear. He’s my new friend. I picked him up and carried him around KaDeWe with me before finally purchasing him and now he is sitting on the bed, waiting for me back at the hotel. He is such a dear. I’m going to name him something German… perhaps after one of the areas in the city? But for now I’ve just been calling him “Bear.”

Bear!

Vorgestern auf meiner Foto-Tour habe ich auch einen letzten Blick auf das Hertie-Kaufhaus in Berlin Tegel geworfen. Gestern wurde es geschlossen. Für immer.

Am 10. August wurden bundesweit bereits 24 von 50 noch bestehenden Filialen geschlossen. Im Berliner Kaufhaus in Berlin-Moabit gingen die Türen viel früher als geplant zu, denn mittags gab es bereits keine Waren mehr zu kaufen. Dieses Wochenende schlossen die restlichen Warenhäuser. 2600 betroffene Mitarbeiter werden nicht nur arbeitslos sondern bekommen wohl auch sonst keine Abfindungen oder Ausgleichsleistungen. Wenn sie “Glück” haben, kommt vielleicht in ca. einem Jahr nach Abschluss des Insolvenzverfahrens noch eine kleine Lohnnachzahlung.

Mit der Schließung der Warenhäuser verschwindet der Markenname Hertie zum zweiten Mal. Bereits 1993 erlosch der Traditionsname, nachdem Hertie von Karstadt übernommen wurde. Im Jahr 2007 verkaufte Karstadt zu einem recht hohen Preis 73 kleinere Filialen gemeinsam mit dem Namen Hertie an den britischen Finanzinvestor Dawnay Day und die Handelsexperten Hilco UK, die Hertie wieder aufleben ließen. 2007 stand das Immobiliengeschäft noch in voller Blüte. Nach dem Kauf wurde das Handelsgeschäft und das Immobiliengeschäft getrennt an zwei Tochterunternehmen gegeben.

Der Insolvenzverwalter Biner Bähr attestiert der ebenfalls insolventen britischen Immobiliengruppe, dass sie keine Ahnung vom Warenhausgeschäft gehabt habe. Dawnay Day habe  überzogene Mieten verlangt, die teils bei bis zu 25 Prozent des Umsatzes lägen. Nach der Position von Bähr ging es dem Finanzinvestor vor allem darum, Geld aus den Warenhäusern zu ziehen. Dawnay Day Tochter 1 zahlte quasi Miete an Dawnay Day Tochter 2, kann man das so formulieren? Das gegenseitige Hickhack der Interessenskonflikte der Parteien zieht sich seit einem Jahr. Verständlich, wenn es um Millionen geht.

Unterm Strich hatte sich Dawnay Day mit Immobilien verspekuliert und als die große Immobilienblase platzte, ging der Investor 2008 selbst in die Insolvenz. Momentan ist die niederländische Dawnay-Day-Tochter Mercatoria Acquisitions für die Verwertung der Hertie-Gebäude zuständig. So einfach ist das aber wohl auch nicht. Zumindest liest man, dass sich Kaufland und Lidl für einige der Hertie Häuser in attraktiver Lage interessieren.

Hertie-Kaufhaus Berlin-Tegel

Bei all den Schlagabtauschen sollte man nicht vergessen, dass Hertie mit seinem Geschäftsmodell mitten in einer Boomphase auch so Verluste eingefahren hat. Wie kann das sein? Es liegt am Wandel. Langsam aber unaufhörlich haben sich die Kaufgewohnheiten der Menschen geändert. In den 1970er Jahren hatten die Warenhäuser mehr als 14 Prozent Anteil am Einzelhandelsumsatz. Inzwischen sind es nur noch etwas mehr als 3 Prozent. In den vergangenen zehn Jahren brach der Umsatz der Warenhäuser um mehr als 25 Prozent ein.

Demgegenüber steht eine Verdopplung der Gesamtverkaufsfläche im Einzelhandel in den letzten 30 Jahren. Neue Fachmärkte sind entstanden, viele Discounter machen Konkurrenz, der Internethandel nimmt Anteile ab, Einkaufszentren bieten ein breites Angebot von Schlemmen bis Kino. Letztere haben ihre Zahl seit 1990 vervierfacht! Noch in den 90er Jahren war das Geschrei groß als die Center am Stadtrand eröffneten und die Innenstädte “ausstarben”. Doch mittlerweile eröffnen diese Center mitten in den Städten und sind eine scharfe Konkurrenz für die seit über 100 Jahren etablierten Warenhäuser.

Das traditionelle Warenhauskonzept kann meiner Meinung nach so nicht mehr funktionieren. Woolworth mit seiner Kette ist ebenso pleite, wie Arcandor mit Karstadt und Quelle. Wer gemütlich shoppen gehen will, wird gewöhnlich ein Einkaufszentrum mit seiner breiten Palette und vielen unabhängigen Anbietern vorziehen. Diese Center sind mittlerweile “kleine Städte”, in denen man sich verlaufen kann. Verlaufen kann man sich in Berliner Warenhäusern glaube ich nur im KaDeWe. Dort ist die Vielfalt noch vorhanden. In den anderen Häusern, vielleicht abgesehen vom Kaufhof am Alexanderplatz, habe ich das seit Jahren nicht erlebt…

Zum Schluss ein kleiner Nachgesang auf Hertie:

• 1. März 1882
  Oscar Tietz eröffnet in Gera sein erste Warenhaus.
• Zeit des Nationalsozialismus
  Der jüdische Name Tietz sollte nicht mehr geführt werden. So entstand der Name Hertie nach dem Onkel und Geldgeber von Oscar Tietz, Hermann Tietz.
  
• 1933
  Durch die Arisierung jüdischer Unternehmen im Dritten Reich wurde Georg Karg als Geschäftsführer eingesetzt. Später kaufte er das Unternehmen auf.
• 1933-1945
  Durch den Zweiten Weltkrieg wurden viele Häuser, insbesondere im Osten, zertört.
• Nachkriegszeit bis 1970
  Hertie erholt sich von den Weltkriegszerstörungen und beginnt zu expandieren: Übernahme der Wertheim AG, Übernahme der Hansa AG, Gründung der Niedrigpreis-Warenhauskette “Bilka“.
• Mitte 80er Jahre
  Der Niedergang beginnt. Umsatzrückgänge, Schließung von Warenhäusern.
• 1994
  Hertie wird von Karstadt AG übernommen
• 1999
  Fusionierung der Karstadt AG mit der Quelle Schickedanz AG & Co.
  
• 2007
  Das angeschlagene Unternehmen KarstadtQuelle verkauft 73 kleinere Filialen gemeinsam mit dem Namen Hertie an den britischen Finanzinvestor Dawnay Day und die Handelsexperten Hilco UK
• 2007
  Die neue Kette firmierte zunächst unter dem Namen Karstadt Kompakt.
• März 2007
  Umfirmierung in Hertie
• 10. Juli 2008
  Bei Hertie geht innerhalb weniger Monate der zweite Spitzenmanager.
  Laut Medienberichten schreibt das Unternehmen im laufenden Geschäftsjahr (30.9.) rund 30 Millionen Euro Verlust.
• 21. Juli 2008
  Ein westdeutscher Unternehmer sagt, ihm sei Hertie zum Kauf angeboten worden.
• 30. Juli 2008
  Nach einer außerordentlichen Aufsichtsratssitzung wird bekannt, dass der Warenhauskette die Insolvenz droht.
• 31. Juli 2008
  Hertie meldet Insolvenz für 73 Warenhäuser mit insgesamt 4100 Mitarbeitern an.
• 19. August 2008
  Der vorläufige Insolvenzverwalter Biner Bähr lehnt eine Zerschlagung der Warenhaus-Kette ab. Er will sogar im November ein neues Kaufhaus in Straubing (Bayern) eröffnen.
• 6. Oktober 2008
  Es laufen Verhandlungen zur Rettung mit 10 bis 15 potenziellen Investoren.
• 27. Januar 2009
  19 der 73 deutschen Filialen sollen geschlossen werden (650 von rund 3400 Mitarbeiter)
• 28. Januar 2009
  Bähr stellt Dawnay Day ein Ultimatum, bis Ende Februar für Gespräche über die Rettung der Kaufhäuser. Er wirft überhöhte Mietforderungen vor.
• 12. Februar 2009
  Die ersten Filialen schließen.
• 2. März 2009
  Das Amtsgericht Essen eröffnet das Insolvenzverfahren für Hertie.
• 20. Mai 2009
  Die Gläubigerversammlung beschließt auf Empfehlung von Bähr die Einstellung des Geschäftsbetriebs der restlichen 54 Warenhäuser. (2600 Mitarbeiter)
• 15. August 2009
  Die letzten Warenhäuser schließen

(© Martin Bahmann, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Ein Keim der Hoffnung. Darf man sowas sagen? Darf man sowas veröffentlichen? Darf man einigen hundert von tausenden entlassener Hertie-Mitarbeiter Hoffnung machen, bevor das Ei gelegt ist? Ich weiß es nicht.

Jedenfalls wurde in München eines der Hertie-Häuser unter dem Dach von Kaufring neu eröffnen und es wurden obendrein drei Viertel der alten Belegschaft übernommen. Möglich wurde dies, weil das Haus nicht dem Investor Dawnay Day gehört sondern einer spanischen Investmentgesellschaft. Während sich Dawnay Day standhaft weigerte, die Mieten zu senken, wurde man mit den Spaniern offenbar handelseinig. Nun sagte der Insolvenzverwalter Bähr, dass es auch Chancen für andere Häuser gäbe, die sich nicht im Besitz von Dawnay Day befänden. Die Presse konstruiert daraus einen Hoffnungsschimmer für die Häuser in Berlin-Tegel und Berlin-Schöneberg. ¹⁾ Wie fühlen sich die gekündigten Mitarbeiter, wenn sie sowas in der Zeitung lesen? Ich hab dabei ein ganz komisches Gefühl…

Ohne Worte

Das perfekte Verbechen scheint nun festzustehen. Trotz der Fortschritte im Bereich der Genetik hat die Kriminalwissenschaft ihre Grenzen erkennen müssen und ein Täter zieht jubelnd durch das Land.

Der Fall hat Anfang 2009 Schlagzeilen gemacht. “Wie die Berliner Polizei am Dienstag nach Auswertung der Bilder mitteilte, waren mindestens drei maskierte Einbrecher an dem Millionen-Coup im weltbekannten Kaufhaus beteiligt. Die Einbrecher entwendeten diverse Schmuckstücke und Uhren, darunter auch Stücke der Luxusmarken Breitling und Bell & Ross, die bis zu 10 000 Euro kosten. Sie verließen das Kaufhaus mit ihrer Beute auf dem gleichen Weg, erklärte ein Sprecher”.

Nach den ersten hilflosen Ermittlungen konnte die Polizei Erfolge melden. “17 Tage nach dem Coup wurden sie gestern früh gegen acht Uhr auf einem Autohof bei Rotenburg (Niedersachsen) festgenommen. Die libanesischen Zwillingsbrüder Hassan und Abbas O. (27) hatten gerade an einem Spielautomaten gezockt”.

Ohne Worte

Doch schnell stellten sich Probleme heraus, nur einer der Zwillingsbrüder konnte an dem Coup dabei gewesen sein. Die Frage war nun welcher? “Fünf Wochen nach dem Einbruch ins Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) sind die mutmaßlichen Täter, die Zwillingsbrüder Hassan und Abbas O., wieder auf freiem Fuß. Am Tatort wurden zwar Gen-Spuren gefunden. Die aber konnten Polizei und Rechtsmediziner nicht eindeutig zuordnen, weil die DNS von eineiigen Zwillingen mit gängigen Methoden nicht zu unterscheiden ist”.

Ohne Worte

Und dieser Misserfolg muss nun heute von der Polizei eingestanden werden, sie hat die Ermittlungen eingestellt und somit gilt der KaDeWe-Raub als das erste perfekte Verbrechen und zeigt auf, wie begrenzt die Erfolge der Gentechnik sein können. Man darf nur hoffen, dass die beiden Zwillingsbrüder sich nicht für andere Straftaten anheuern lassen, denn nun haben sie ja einen Freibrief und wissen, wie man selbst die gesamte Kriminalistik aushebeln kann.

Ohne Worte

“Dass die Ermittlungen aller Wahrscheinlichkeit erst einmal nicht fortgeführt werden, heiße jedoch nicht, dass der Aktendeckel komplett geschlossen werde, sagte die Sprecherin der Staatsanwaltschaft, Simone Herbeth”.

Und man darf nicht übersehen, dass auch dieses Verbrechen irgendwann verjährt ist. Der Fall geht in die Geschichte ein, so viel steht fest.

An old city with a young vibe, Berlin will take you unawares.

Berlin's oldest bridge over the river Spree, near the Reichstag

If, like me, your impressions of Berlin were formed by watching way too many World War 2 documentaries, Berlin will take you by surprise. Physically, very green, lots of parks and lots of trees, many of which line the river Spree that winds through the city.

Beyond that, Berlin has a really young, energetic, sexy vibe to it and an ethnic diversity you wouldn’t expect in the capital of the nation that gave the world Nazism and the “Final Solution.” Maybe this is Berlin’s way of saying “in your face, Adolf” to the Nazi legacy.

All this youthful energy is good compensation for the air travel getting here. The flight into Berlin TXL on Delta was a perfect storm — if you’re a masochist. Old-fashioned seats with no entertainment system built into the backs, just enough legroom for a hamster and narrow enough to give Twiggy a thrill. Surly flight attendants. Loud, obnoxious teenagers just across the aisle whose every third word was an F-bomb. The lady sitting in front of me spilled her cabernet sauvignon all over my foot.

This flight was part of a super-cheap package from Go-Today.com, which means it wasn’t my choice. Otherwise, I would’ve looked up the seating on SeatGuru.com or one of the other airline seat Web sites. Whatever. We made it.

Summer weather in Berlin will be instantly familiar to anyone from New York, New Orleans or Washington DC — sweltering heat and so humidity that you feel like you’re swimming standing up. You can lose five pounds just waiting for the light to change.

Berlin has been in the midst of a building boom for a long time now, and the recession doesn’t seem to have slowed things down much. In most directions you look, you can see construction cranes.

Much of Berlin looks very modern, as you’d expect from a city that received regular visit from hundreds of Allied bombers during “the war.” You can still see reminders of those days — churches with blackened, broken spires, buildings with bullet holes.

But you also get the feeling that even if Berlin hadn’t been bombed and blasted into Europe’s largest rubble pile, the city would still be hell-bent on renewing itself, as if it were trying to put as much aesthetic distance as possible between its past and its future.

The fall of the Berlin Wall gave Berlin another excuse to break out the cranes and give itself a new look. The area of Potsdamer Platz, which had been just on the east side of The Wall, today looks more like the set of Bladerunner, but updated by about 30 years — ultra-modern high-rises and arcades like the Sony Centre.

But go a little further into the former Easter Berlin and you find conditions not much changed from when The Wall as in place.

Like other European capitals, getting around is easy. Berlin’s subway system is the U-Bahn. Their city-suburban trains, that run on the surface, are the S-Bahn.

Hit the KaDeWe department store. KaDeWe is the acronym (spelled out phonetically) for Kaufhaus des Westens. This is an old-school department store of the type you used to see all over the States before America was “malled” to death. Think Harrod’s in German.

Three floors of this place are devoted, in whole or in part, to food, including a sixth-floor food court that staggers the imagination, with prices that are lower than you’d expect for the mother of Berlin department stores. On Saturdays, the only weekend day that Berliners get to shop in KaDeWe, the mobs are so huge that you can barely move.

Next up, a hop-on, hop-off bus tour around the city.

Am Freitag kamen Simon, Lisa, Nadine und Markus Besuch. Zu sechst wurde es in der 2-Zimmer-Wohnung ziemlich eng. Der prophezeite Stau im Bad blieb allerdings aus.

Nadine und Marksu gingen auf meine Empfehlung am Freitagabend zur Blue Man Group und waren mindestens genauso begeistert wie ich. Samstag stand eine der üblichen TouriTouren auf dem Programm: Madame Tussaud, KaDeWe, Sony-Center und zum Abschluss Kreuzberg. Amy war derweil mit Simon und Lisa rund ums Rote Rathaus unterwegs.

Nach einem ausgiebigen Abenessen beim Italiener, gingen wir zum Karaoke in den Knaack-Club nach Friedrichshain. Dazu später mehr in einem zweiten Artikel.

Sonntags schauten wir uns das Charlottenburger Schloss an. Von dort gings mit dem Schiff die Spree entlang bis zur Jannowitzbrücke.

Doch was soll ich lange schreiben. Hier gibts die Bilder vom Wochenende.

I love Berlin – always have and always will!!! You can never get bored there…especially not when you have the great friends I have!

In my prior blog I announced that I wanna go shopping and still need to buy a few things for my Holland trip. And I went shopping. But I have to admit that some stores offer the most ridiculous/funniest clothes/styles ever. Some of you know that I love “bling bling”… so that one hat caught my attention immediately…and Jess joined me on that one:

pretty huh?!?!

And look what I found in “KaDeWe” today:

The most expensive water bottle ever: for just 89,90€ (!!) the amazing amount of 0,75 liters of water is yours! Sale of the century or am I wrong???

Another surprise that really touched me: a Michael Jackson memorial at Alexanderplatz. People put down flowers, pictures, letters and candles to honor the dead “King of Pop”.

Of course we put down a candle too and listened to his music which was played there as well.

]]> http://nobaedeker.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/westward-ho/ Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:51:07 +0000 Giulia http://nobaedeker.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/westward-ho/

Yesterday I decided that I needed something I could only find on Ku’damm, and so with low trepidation and much expectation, I decided to go into the West. Now, before you misinterpret the grandiosity of this statement as something artificial and forced, born out of my nostalgia for a city I never knew and my desperate wish still to capture something of it, consider this: every time I go into the West, I get lost. I’m not talking deliberately, fairy tale lost, leaving a trail of brötchen crumbs like Hansel and Gretel and dramatically wondering “just when, oh when I would ever get home!” I mean really lost. Like that time I tried to meet a friend for a cabaret show at the famous Bar Jeder Vernunft and found myself wondering darkened residential streets with grand, Parisian-looking apartment buildings with winding staircases and gilded foyers, only ten minutes to spare before the performance began, and me with a clue…or a map. I finally found the place I was looking for, but only after coming out in front of the KaDeWe (one landmark I could always recognize), catching sight of a taxi stand, and asking at least four taxi drivers if they knew where the bar was. When the four answered in the affirmative, I jumped dramatically into the back seat and shouted, “take me there!” almost as if I were demanding that he “follow that car!” I was glad to have a driver to take me through this city I didn’t recognize, if only for a few minutes.

Every time I go into the West, I’m seized by the dual feelings of strangeness and familiarity. More strangeness, actually. The people here are still speaking German, and the same newspapers are on the newsstands, virtually the same ads on bus and subway kiosks, but there’s something that just feels a bit off. It’s like I can’t decide whether I’ve traveled back in time or merely to Paris. Or perhaps this is what Cologne looks like? I find myself wondering what the people in the West think of East Berlin. Do they never go there? Do kids only go there on weekends and not tell their parents? Do they still regard it as an unsavory and somewhat unlawful place? When I was little, nothing enraged me more than that hint of fear in the voices of my classmates after they found out I lived “in Harlem.” Actually I lived several blocks from Columbia University in Morningside Heights and not in Harlem at all, but their constant questioning about “whether I heard gun shots at night” and “whether I was afraid to leave my apartment” irritated me for two reasons. First of all, it annoyed me that they couldn’t tell the difference between the various sections of the city simply because they lived on the Upper East Side, or in the acceptable parts of the Upper West Side. Second of all, it was absolutely ridiculous this fear they had of Harlem, as if Harlem were not also a place where normal people lived with normal jobs and families. In fact, I probably experienced this type of open prejudice the most when I was first here and living in Neukölln. There was a certain disapproval and distrust of the Turkish people who populated that neighborhood in every under-the-breath question to me of “is it clean?” and “is it safe?” It is impossible for me not to wonder about the types of people populating Charlottenburg, especially since I’m not German and don’t have the 20 years of Ost-West resentment permeating my bones.

I imagine the West being populated by all the old people you never see here, having lived out their days in gargantuan flats with only some vague recollection of a wall being up somewhere in the city, much like they had some vague recollection of a war beginning and a war ending, and all the Jews going off on holiday in between. I’m sure that is not really the case, and I reveal my own prejudice by even suggesting that this is so, but then again, the West used to be an island of refuge in the middle of Communist East Germany, and it seems to remain somewhat isolated today, living out an idyllic, boring existence in a city that is not in a constant state of flux; a city that is not being rebuilt because in fact it was never knocked down.

I’m sure this is all just speculation, born from the need to believe that, after eight months of living here, there are still parts of this city left to explore. But to me, living in my little flat in Ossie Mitte, there’s still something iconic about the West, about Savigny Platz and the Ku’damm and Kanstrasse and Momsenstrasse (where my grandmother lived when she was young) that makes every trip there seem like a real adventure.

We just learned that the Galerie de Bellefeuille in Quebec  and the Acte 2 gallery in Paris have both just added David Drebin to their list of fine artists whom they represent. The Galerie de Bellefeuille, in fact, is already working with David on exhibiting his work at the Toronto International Art Fair October 22–26 at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Acte 2 also represents Jill Greenberg, Rankin, and our own Nadav Kander.

David sent us the good news from Berlin, corresponding with us by PDA as he enjoyed a lunch of lobster tails at the food court at KaDeWe, the largest department store in continental Europe. “It’s the greatest food court in Europe that I have seen yet,” he wrote enthusiastically. Our American mind can’t quite comprehend the idea of eating lobster at a food court, but the merits of notching two top international galleries? Yeah, we can understand that.

We’ll be heading out to Chicago later tonight to go hang out with the bro. I’m excited to get my fill of tasty Chicago food while seeing some friends every now and then. So I’m not sure how the updates will happen, but I guess we’ll just take it one day at a time.

++++++++++++++

We started the day with a search for a Turkish market. We took a bus and walked around a fairly scenic area of town. Then we saw a large crowd gathered down a small aisle between stalls featuring an assortment of goods: from fabric to pasta to fish to produce, etc. The stretch of stalls and the crush of people in such a small space was a bit much. Everyone is pressing up on every part of you. Not so pleasant.

After making it through the market, we took the U-bahn out to one of the biggest department stores in Europe: KaDeWe. We had an insider tip that on the very top floor of the massive building, is a luxurious food court. Unfortunately, it was ridiculously expensive for the food…good, but expensive. If you ever find yourself here, make sure to go down to the second highest floor for cheaper alternatives that are just as good. We toured the shop a little bit more before we made our way to the next stop.

Walking down the river.

Why don’t more bridges have lifesavers?

Fresh produce.

This bread looked amazingly good. I love my carbs.

Train station. I love how they all indicate when the train will be arriving.

Also, no one checks your ticket when you enter the train, but beware: they do have people walking down the trains checking tickets (unlike their Swiss counterparts).

KaDeWe dept store.

Unaffordable for us. Maybe for you?

The top floor features a glass roof allowing some very scenic views of Berlin.

Pretty good.

Schnitzel is pretty awesome. Reminds me of Japanese katsu.

Another traditional German beef dish. Not a huge fan.

KaDeWe Premium Pilsner.

Sausage fest?

Fish scale sandwich? Pass.

Scary looking fish.

Another scary looking fish.

Het is eigenlijk best wrang. Vroeger klaagden ondernemers steen en been over de onderdrukking door de grote, alles verkopende warenhuizen. De kleine nering zag het beleg van het brood verdwijnen. Deze geschiedenis lijkt zich te herhalen, zij het één dimensie hoger: de warenhuizen noemen de grote, alles opslokkende shopping malls (Arkaden) als mede-oorzaak voor de faillissementen. De tsunami raast met volle kracht door Kaufhausland.

Feit is, de warenhuizen verdwijnen! Eerst was Hertie aan de beurt. Al in 2008 vroeg het oude concern van Hermann Tietz het faillissement aan. De verkoop sleept tot de dag van vandaag door, maar succesvol is het allerminst. Nu volgt ook warenhuiskoepel Arcandor. Verschillende filialen van Karstadt zullen niet aan de guillotine ontkomen.

Voor de arbeidsverhoudingen is het zuur dat juist Karstadt de stekker eruit moet trekken. Zij betaalden hun werknemers een prima loon. In Duitsland is het vrij normaal dat winkelwerk per uur 5,50 euro oplevert. Karstadt schokte meer dan het dubbele. Komt deze houding ze nu duur te staan? Volgens de leiding is dit niet de hoofdreden: vooral de hoge huurlasten waren niet meer op te brengen.

Onder het Arcandor-concern vallen ook een aantal goedlopende warenhuizen, zoals Karstadt in Steglitz en het luxe KaDeWe. Het is niet waarschijnlijk dat de tsunami deze voor altijd wegvaagt.

Am Pfingstwochenende hatten wir schon wieder Besuch. Dieses Mal waren Amys Eltern da. Die TouriTour ging also in die nächste Runde. Man könnte das Wochenende aber auch gut und gerne als Treppenwocheende bezeichnen, denn wir haben an diesem Wochenende unglaublich viele Treppenstufen bewältigt. Doch von Anfang an.

FREITAG

Gegen 23 Uhr kamen Amys Eltern am Südbahnhof an. Von dort holten wir sie ab. Nach einer Weile plaudern gings dann so gegen eins schlafen.

Bewältige Treppen an diesem Tag:

• 164 (aus der Wohnung raus und wieder hoch. (82 Stufen einfach. Vierter Stock)
• 80 (Bahnhof, geschätzt)

Gesamt: 244 Treppen
Gelaufene Kilometer: 2
Zustand der Beine: herrvorragend.

SAMSTAG

Nach dem Frühstückten machten wir uns auf zur x-ten TouriTour. Erst Schloss Charlottenburg. Dann gings denn Ku-Damm rauf und runter, zum KaDeWe in die Gourmetabteilung und anschließend in die Gedächtniskirche. Das alles begleitet durch unzählige Bayer 04 und Werder Bremen Sprechchöre. Auf dem Platz bei der Gedächniskirche waren nämlich zwei Leinwände aufgebaut, die das DFB-Pokal-Finale übertrugen. Überhaupt waren sehr viele Fans und Touristen in der Stadt unterwegs. Das Pfingtswochenende hatten wohl sehr viele für einen Ausflug nach Berlin genutzt.

Mit dem Bus 100 fuhren wir zum Alexanderplatz zum üblichen Touri-SightSeeing (Dom, Rotes Rathause, Fernsehturm, Museumsinsel, ..[bitte hier weitere Sehenswürdigkeiten ergänzen].

Unser Weg führte uns dann weiter zum Gendarmenmarkt. Dort in der Nähe sahen wir den Leverkusener Manschaftsbus vor dem 5-Sterne-Hotel “The Regent” parken. Rainer Calmund schlenderte gerade zu seinem Auto. Wir beschlossen zu warten, bis die Mannschaft herauskommen würde. Das konnte nicht mehr lange dauern, da die Polizeieskorte schon bereit stand. 20 Minuten dauerte es aber dennoch bis die Spieler herauskamen. 20 Sekunden dauerte es bis sie wieder im Bus verschwundende waren. Nur wenige schrieben ein paar Autogramme. Die Spieler waren auf jeden Fall schon sehr angespannt und konzentriert. Hat ihnen aber  ja auch nichts gebracht.

Eigentlich wollten wir dann noch zum Brandenburger Tor und zum Reichstag, aber ein heftiges Unwetter machte unsere Pläne zu Nichte. Statt Brandenburger Tor gabs ein Hoftor zum unterstellen. Fast genauso schön. Als das schlimmste vorbei war, gingen wir zur U-Bahn und fuhren nach Hause. Dort machten wir uns frisch, ehe es ins Nikolaiviertel zum Essen ging.

Bewältigte Treppen an diesem Tag:

• 328 (2x Wohnung rauf und runter)
• 300 (diverse U- und S-Bahn-Treppen
• 50 (Kneipe)

Gesamt: 678 Treppen
Gelaufene Kilometer: ca. 25
Zustand der Beine: nicht mehr herrvorragend.

SONNTAG

Nach ausgiebigem Frühstück gings über den Potsdamer Platz und Holocaust-Mahnmal zum Brandenburger Tor und Reichstag. Anschließend fuhren wir mit dem Bus zur Siegessäule. Dort zahlten wir den Eintritt und machten uns an den Aufstieg. 282 Stufen gings im Bauch der Säule nach oben. Dort war es wirklich eng und es kamen uns auch immer wieder Leute auf dem Weg nach unten entgegen. Platzangst sollte man da wirklich nicht haben. Oben bot sich uns eine tolle Aussicht. Seinen Platz am Geländer der Aussichtsplattform musste man sich allerdings ein wenig erkämpfen, da es auch dort nicht so geräumig ist, wie es von unten aussieht.

Anschließend fuhren wir zum Karneval der Kuluren nach Kreuzberg. Wie wir später aus dem Radio erfuhren hatten 700.000 die gleiche Idee und dementsprechen voll war es auf den Straßen. Der Umzug an sich war nicht sehr spektakulär. Die eine oder andere gute Verkleidung gab es zu sehen, mehr aber nicht. Überhaupt bewegte sich der Zug sehr langsam fort, sodass es immer einige Zeit dauerte bis man die nächste Gruppe sehen konnte. So richtig Stimmung kam auch nicht auf, die Leute schauten sich einfach den Umzug an. Da wird Fasching bei uns auf jeden Fall ausgelassener gefeiert.

Allgemein hab ich den Eindruck, dass die Berliner nach Volksfesten lächzen. Denn zu jedem noch so popeligen Fest, strömen Tausende hin, auch wenn überhaupt nichts besonderes geboten wird.

Nachdem wir dem Treiben des Umzugs ein wenig zugeschaut hatten, liefen wir zum Festplatz. Dort waren viele Buden und Zelte aufgebaut und dem es viele interessante Sachen aus allen möglichen Kulturkreisen zu kaufen gab. Kulinarisch waren ebenfalls keine geografischen Grenzen gesetzt. Leider war es auch dort viel zu voll, sodass man dort die Stände überhaupt nicht richtig anschauen konnte. Auch das Essen musste man mehr oder weniger im vorbeigehen einnehmen. Es gab kaum ein Platz, wo man sich mal in Ruhe hinstellen konnte. Von mangelnden Sitzplätzen will ich gar nicht anfangen. Aber ich will ja nicht nur nörgeln. An sich war das Fest eigentlich ziemlich cool, nur leider viel zu überlaufen.

Nach dem “Karneval” machten wir uns auf den Heimweg. Wir wollten uns noch ein wenig ausruhen, da wir abends ins Musical “Dirty Dancing” gehen wollten. Dazu gibts bald einen extra Artikel.

Bewältigte Treppen:

• 2 mal Wohnung rauf und runter: 328
• Siegessäule: 568
• Diverse U-Bahn Stationen: ca. 150
• Theater am Potsdamer Platz: ca. 150

Gesamt: 1216 Treppen
Gelaufene Kilometer: 25
Zustand der Beine: Pudding

MONTAG

Montag nachmittag mussten sich Amys Eltern wieder auf den Heimweg machen. Vor schauten wir uns aber noch die Hackeschen Höfe und das Kreuzberger Zentrum an. Abends bin ich dann noch mit Jochen was trinken gegangen. Gekickert haben wir natürlich auch. Ich 3 mal hintereinander 6 zu 5 verloren. Aber das ist ne andere Geschichte.

Bewältigte Treppen:

• 2 mal Wohnung rauf und runter: 328
• Diverse U-Bahn Stationen: ca. 150

Gesamt: 478 Treppen
Gelaufene Kilometer: 15
Zustand der Beine: Welche Beine?

Am Wochenende waren meine Eltern zu Besuch in Berlin. Samstags um 12.30 hab ich sie am Berliner Hauptbahnhof abgeholt. Da wir am Nachmittag noch auf die Bundesrepulik am Brandenburger Tor anstoßen wollten, gings flott zu unserer Wohnung. Dort schnell auspacken, die Wohnung loben, ein bisschen frisch machen, die Sauberheit loben, einen Happen essen, das Essen loben, dann aber gleich weiter zur Feiermeile. Pünktlich zur Moderation von Thomas Gottschalt standen wir dann auch vor der Bühne. Und ich muss neidlos anerkennen: Der Mann ist der geborene Entertainer. Hier mal ein Spruch, da ein Bussi; zwei, drei mal Servus und Grüß Gott ins Publikum rufen und schon liegen ihm die Massen zu Füßen. Dabei strahlt er eine Vitalität und Freude aus, die wirklich ansteckend ist.

Nach und nach marschierten dann allerhand Stars auf, die Ihren größten Hit oder was sie sonst in der Vergangheit verbrochen hatten, von der Bühne schmetterten. Kurzer Applaus. Der nächste Bitte. War irgendwie wie Wetten dass im Schnelldurchlauf. Nur ohne Wetten und Hollywood-Schauspieler.

Danach schlenderten wir über die Straße des 17. Juni. Dort waren Buden und Info-Zelte aufgebaut.  Spät nachmittags machten wir uns langsam auf den Heimweg, der uns am Potsdamer Platz vorbeiführte. Wir setzen uns noch in eine Bar am Ufer des urbanen Gewässer. Das ist ein kleiner, künstlich angelegter See beim Blue Max Theater. Wirklich schön.

Nach kurzem Umziehen und Frischmachen gingen meine Eltern dann aufs Konzert von Andrea Berg, Amy und ich gingen zu den Broilers. Unterschiedlicher können die Musikrichtungen kaum sein. Ist wahrscheinlich so ein Generationending. Fürs Broilers Konzert gibts die nächsten Tage einen extra Artikel. Der hier würde sonst zu lang. Ja, ich weiß, das hab ich schonmal versprochen…

Sonntags standen wir zeitig auf und frühstückten ausgiebig. Anschließend fuhren wir mit der U-Bahn zur Jannowitz-Brücke. Von dort starteten wir eine Schifffahrt. Vorbei an vielen Sehenswürdigkeiten gings auf der Spree und dem Landwehrkanal entlang. Wir genossen das herrliche Wetter und ließen uns vom Reiseführer (der wirklich permanent redete) ein wenig berieseln. Bei tollem Wetter ist es wirklich super, die Stadt so zu erkunden. Nach gut 3 Stunden gingen wir von Bord. Nachmittags fuhren wir zum Schloss Charlottenburg und schlenderten dort durch den Park.

Montags stand dann Schaufenster-Seeing auf dem Programm. Beim KaDeWe angefangen, gings im Stechschritt den KuDamm rauf und runter. Meine ernüchternde Bilanz nach vier Stunden einkaufen: Ein T-Shirt für 7 Euro. Dafür haben meine Eltern ein paar Sachen mehr gefunden. Auf dem Rückweg machten wir noch einen Abstecher zum Sony-Center. In der Potsdamer Straße legten die Bauern mit Ihrem Streik (bestehen aus 1000! Traktoren) die komplette Innenstadt lahm. Ich fand das ganze ziemlich witzig, außerdem war es enorm praktisch, da man nicht warten musste, bis die Ampel grün wurden, ehe man die Straßen überqueren konnte. Den anderen Autofahrern, die im Stau feststecken schien es nicht so zu gefallen; anders konnte ich mir das gellende Hupkonzert nicht erklären. Ich fühlte mich an die WM zurückerinnert.

Abends fuhren meine Eltern leider schon wieder nach Hause und so ging ein anstrengendes, aber tolles Wochenende zu Ende.

Pam and I took the train to Berlin on March 22^nd to meet Bob and Risa. Bob was actually in Dortmund for a conference at which he was speaking. We stayed at the SAS/Radisson on the Alexanderplatz again. The SAS is next door to an aquarium and there is a huge aquarium in the middle of the hotel lobby that is approximately 5 stories high.

Pam and I arrived first and settled into our room. Our room looked across to another building that was part commercial and part residential.  We could look across and see the family there as they moved about, eating, exercising, watching TV, etc. We then went down to the lobby and Bob and Risa were checking in.  They looked remarkably fresh having just flown in from Boston.

It was late afternoon and we walked out to Unter den Linden and in the direction of the Brandenburg Gate.  We stopped in at the Hotel Adlon where we got a light bite and a drink. The Adlon was the first 5-star hotel built in Berlin after Berlin became the capital of unified Germany and was attempting to become a Weltstadt (world class city).

On Saturday we went back out to show them around Berlin. They had slept well and after a very typical German hotel breakfast buffet, we headed out. First stop was the flea market next to the Berliner Dome.  This flea market is there every weekend of the year. Bob and Risa loved the flea market and we spent about an hour there.

We then continued down Unter den Linden. We saw the communist memorial. It was built to memorialize all of the communists who suffered and died between the 1870’s and 1945. We also went to the plaza where the Nazi’s had huge book burnings, across from the University Library.  Today, there is a perpetual book fair that takes place across the street from the plaza.

We continued walking to Check Point Charlie.  Charlie was the primary location for travel between East and West Berlin. Bob and Risa spent considerable time reading the history of the wall that is available there. From Check Point Charlie we took the subway to Charlottenburg. This is where you will find the Berlin Zoo and a large shopping district. Also located here is the Kaiser Wilhelm church.  It was destroyed in Allied air raids during WW2 but it was not rebuilt (as many other buildings were). Instead, it was cleaned up and left as a monument to the stupidity of war.

We also went into the KaDeWe which is the second largest department store in Europe (Harrods is larger). It is an amazing store with stores within a store. After, we continued to walk south into a residential area admiring the houses and such.  We found a Jewish community center along the way. The center had a wall with a stylized map of the Jewish Ghettos and concentration camps listed, including Shanghai.

On Sunday, we took them back through the Brandenburg gate and over to the Holocaust Memorial. The Memorial sits on prime ground right in the center of Berlin. Below the memorial is the Holocaust Museum.  The museum is tastefully done and attempts to give you a feel for some of the history leading up to the holocaust as well as who the people were. We also took Bob and Risa to the New Synagogue and walked around the Prenzlauerberg area. Bob and Risa were pretty tired by this time so they went back to the hotel.  Pam and I headed out to meet Christine who was in from Singapore for the next couple weeks (final defense of her PhD thesis) and was in Berlin with some friends for the weekend . We had a very nice chat and a light snack and coffee.

We met Bob and Risa for dinner afterwards and went to a traditional German restaurant across the Alexanderplatz. Bob wanted to take the pilsner glass with him, but Risa would not be party to such a theft.  The waitress left the glass on the table even when everything else was cleared. I believe this was a message telling us we should just have left with it.

After dinner, Pam and I headed to the train station where we took the night train to Heidelberg.

Holger Boerner sent us another Number 22 and a beer from Berlin, thanks Holger. (Sorry it took so long to go up, but the bills have to get paid!)

And keeping with the general stress around here I will be brief. I have only one question: Do people actually enjoy “Berliner Weisse” beer? 

photo by holger boerner for 22 and a beer

Vivo 
Wittenbergplatz 1
U-Bahn Wittenbergplatz
across from KaDeWe

Opening hours from around 10 am till 7 pm

Number 22 Pizza Greca: € 7,50

Weisse mit Schuss: € 2,60

Pizzeria Vivo is directly across from from Berlin’s largest Department store KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens) and a fairly open-air location which makes a visit in nicer weather much more bearable than during rainfall (although there are a few pavillions to stand under.) The pizza is a decent average, although the mini pizza mista is better than the pictured Number 22.  All in all Vivo is a decent place for a snack while shopping.

Bares e

Restaurantes

Romiosini – Restaurante Grego na Budapest Strasse – Muito bom e preço ótimo, fica em frente ao Hotel Intercontinental http://www.romiosini-berlin.de/

 Hotéis

 Holyday Inn Express Berlim City Centre West http://www.holidaycityeurope.com/holidayinn-express-berlinwest/index.htm

 Intercontinental

 Schweizerhof http://www.hros.net/hotel/de/sofitelberlinschweizerhof.pt.html

 Esses ficam próximos ao Zoo de Berlim, que é um ótimo lugar para ficar. Os 2 últimos, apesar de mais caros, costumam ter ótimas promoções nos fins de semana e o café da manhã é um espetáculo!

 Compras

 Kurfurstendamm – rua de comércio e bares, paraíso do consumo!!!http://www.berlin.de/tourismus/sehenswuerdigkeiten.en/00219.html

 KaDeWe – maior loja de departamentos vale a pena visitar. http://www.kadewe.de/

 Lazer

Vale a pena pegar esses ônibus de turismo que dão uma geral pela cidade e fazer uma triagem de onde descer e visitar.

 Tiergarten – porque um piquenique no parque é sempre bom J

 Parlamento (Reichstag) – A cúpula de vidro fica aberta à visitação, vale conhecer e apreciar a vista dos diversos ângulos enquanto se sobe. Nesta região, situa-se a maioria dos prédios do governo. Caminhe pela Avenida “Unter den Linden” onde estão concentradas as embaixadas. Um passeio de barco pelo canal também é bem legal.

 Gendarmenmarkt – Praça com casa de concertos ladeada por 2 igrejas. Lindo! De lá, pode-se seguir andando para a Friedrichstrasse, avenida onde estão lojas de design e alta costura. Continuando-se por ela, chega-se ao Checkpoint Charlie onde há uma reprodução do que foi o ponto de passagem dos aliados mais conturbado e agora existe um museu e vários painéis contando a história e indicando as marcações do muro. http://www.berlin.de/tourismus/sehenswuerdigkeiten.en/28948.html

 Postdamer Platz – Nesta área encontramos muitos restaurantes, bares, cinemas e o Cassino de Berlim. Aí perto, está o Sony Center, com sua arquitetura deslumbrante e a Philarmonie. http://www.potsdamerplatz.de/en.html

 Para achar hotel e reservar – www.booking.com – Todas as reservas que fizemos deram super certo. Não é preciso pagar antecipado.

Kudos to our first mutliple contributor, Holger Börner! ¡Ay, Caramba!

Not only is Holger apparently a true believer in the “Number 22 and a beer” idea he really, really must like to eat.

I am a lover of true mexican food, and yes I do also mean pickled pigs ears and nopales, a delightfully spicy-sour condiment made of marinated cactus. Fortunate enough to have lived in the USA for many years, I have been able to sample many fine mexican meals, including a wonderful home cooked Pollo en Mole from the salad lady at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Chicago. (Over fifteen years ago, but not forgotten!) Regrettably (at least as far as mexican food is concerned) I moved to Germany. And there is only one place where mexican food tasted worse than in Germany: a chain I would consider hell in form of a restaurant, Chi-Chi’s. Which incidentally had to close all of its restaurants in 1994, after an outbreak of hepatitis in a restaurant in Pennsylvania (Oy, the irony!) With all respect to Holger, I do urge any and all readers to take caution when choosing mexican food in Germany. Although hepatitis is probably unlikely, bad food is probable.
It’s sad. But true.

Here then is Holger’s report. (In the background when can discern Holger’s companion’s meal (number 23): a steak with a side order of bleeding fingers, it seems.)

photo: Holger Börner for Number 22 and a beer

Paydos
Wittenbergplatz 3
10787 Berlin/Germany
U-Bahn Wittenbergplatz
http://www.paydos-berlin.de

Opening hours:
su-th 9:00-24:00
fr-sa 9:00-2:00

Date eaten: March 18 2009

Price: € 11,50, Beer € 3,50

¡hola ricura! el número 22 y una cerveza, por favor

Pollo a la piña
Strips of chicken breast together with pineapple, vegetables, rice and salad

A large portion with lots of salad, it was a filling meal- for me at least. This dish is listed under “specialties” and tastes very good.

Paydos belongs to a series of three restaurants next to each other on the north side of the Wittenbergplatz, with a view of KaDeWe, (Berlin’s big department store). The interior is very nice, and one might be tempted to think of oneself in Mexico.
The service was friendly and pretty, at least at lunch when I visited. Because of the central location in Berlin’s West Center I presume reservations are recommended in the evening, when the place could be rather full.