Tag Archives: berlin

Da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine at Berlin’s Bode Museum

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The Leonardo de Vinci masterpiece “Lady with an Ermine” has enjoyed huge success in Berlin, drawing 175,000 people in two months and causing queues of eight hours for its last day on display Monday.

The 15th century portrait of a young woman holding a white ermine, stolen by the Nazis from Poland, has been on display in Germany for the first time since World War II in an exhibition of Renaissance art at Berlin’s Bode Museum.

Along with the Mona Lisa, the work is one of just four paintings of women by the famed Italian master.

The piece is set to be transferred to London for a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery that is due to open on November 9.

In Berlin, the first people began to queue up at 4:00 am for a glimpse of the work on its last day.

“The queue can last until midnight on some days,” a museum employee told us. Queues of six hours are more usual and only 300 people are admitted at any one time.

Stolen by Hitler’s troops during World War II, the work was later returned to Poland.
The culture ministry in Warsaw was initially hostile to the idea of the painting on wood leaving the country, fearing it could be damaged.

But a personal appeal by its owner, Polish aristocrat Prince Adam Karol Czartoryski, convinced the ministry to allow it to go on display in Madrid earlier this year, then Berlin from August 25 and now London.

The German press called the loan a gesture of “reconciliation” between Poland and Germany.


Hotel Q! in Berlin, Germany

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Minimalist, modern and highly original. These are the main attributes of Hotel Q! in Berlin, Germany. Designed by international architectural firm GRAFT, this accommodation unit is definitely not one that will leave you indifferent.

The design and contemporary atmosphere of Hotel Q! in Berlin are truly captivating. Challenging the classical spacial “rules”, the architects managed to create folding, distorted interiors. Sand-like and lifted floors contribute to the “odd”, yet appealing feel of this hotel. According to the architects, “the flow of this inside landscape creates generous spatial connections rather than a typical dissection into multiple singular spaces. The topographical treatment of the design problem maximizes versatility of program and creates a continuous flow of form and space. The visitor will discover a narrative that departs from conventional perceptual experience and allows for ambiguous readings of the space“.

Some of the facilities of the hotel include wireless Internet, iPod docking station in all rooms, flat-screen TVs, Nintendo-Wii in all suites, Spa with Finnish sauna, steam bath, Japanese wash zone, massage and cosmetics and meeting rooms. There is a bar and a restaurant at the customer’s disposal, both with a design that seems perfectly suited for a hotel with such a strong personality.


Daily Dream Home by Lecarolimited, Berlin

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Architects Lecarolimited have created a very reflective urban oasis in Berlin, Germany. They remodeled a sprawling penthouse in an apartment building — which is spread over two floors on a small but active street in the middle of a large arts district. “We projected into the design both a tradition of Loos-ian sensuality, as well [...]

Clärchens Ballhaus: Dancing The Night Away in 1920′s Berlin

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Located in Berlin’s central district of Mitte, Clärchens Ballhaus is a privately owned dance hall and restaurant that dates back to 1913. The dance hall represents a moment in time that although it has passed, is more alive than ever. Stepping into Clärchens, you’re transported back to 1920’s Berlin, to a place where artists and [...]

Treasure Hunting at Mauerpark Flea Market, Berlin

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Maurerpark (Wall Park) is a public park in Prezlauer Berg, Berlin, located along a section of where the Berlin Wall once stood. Every Sunday brings the Flohmarkt am Mauerpark (Mauerpark Flea Market). From 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., locals come seeking yet-to-be-discovered treasures. Mixed with the usual flea market digs – secondhand clothing, furniture, electronics, [...]

Lunettes Kollektion, Berlin

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With Lunettes Kollektion, a Berlin-based company creating classic glasses, designer Uta Geyer has brought the timeless forms and styles of vintage frames together with the energy and vitality of contemporary Berlin street-life. Still keeping it traditional and authentic by producing the eyeglasses by hand in small-batch artisanal factories in Austria and Italy — you can [...]

TriBeCa Festival Announces Prizewinners

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By NYTimes.com “When We Leave,” the German director Feo Aladag’s drama about a woman’s flight to her family in Berlin from her abusive husband in Istanbul, won the Founders Award for best narrative feature at the Tribeca Film Festival, and its star Sibel Kekilli, above, won for …

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TriBeCa Festival Announces Prizewinners