issue 176
Not just a rent thing
If you’re young or just new to the city, shared housing is a fact of life. In Germany that means WG-life, which can be a strain. But communal living also comes with great benefits, experts say. Read more
New Year, new home?
INTERVIEW! Is 2019 your year for big change? Maybe you're considering buying property. Real estate investment advisor Brigitta Mühlhans on why it’s time to join the gentry and where to start. Read more
Are the good days gone?
Finding a flat in a decent neighbourhood is becoming increasingly difficult. Unless you’re ready to pay big bucks. What happened to Berlin’s legendary affordable housing? And how did we get here? Read more
Room for more?
Record numbers of students are moving to Berlin. Private companies are cashing in on the shortage of state-provided accommodation with luxury, campus-style alternatives. Read more
Post-book reading
According to the founders of Round not Square, “turning pages is so 20th century!” Read more
An ex-imam confesses: Abdul Adhim Kamouss
Abdul Adhim Kamouss on his life-changing path from hardline preacher to humanist, and how hard it is to shake off labels once the media has you pegged as a dangerous Salafist. Read more
A new Barn for coffee hipsters
The Barn, Berlin's original specialty coffee shop, has opened their fourth and newest location on Friedelstraße last month and could well herald a new, more democratic era in the history of the world-renowned coffee institution. Read more
Towards a shared utopia: WG alternatives
From progressive forms of flat-sharing to the shiny new start-up culture of co-housing, we checked out alternatives for all ages. Read more
Hirsch & Hase: Great Scots
Comforting yet refined, Berlin-friendly yet unapologetically Scottish, sums up Hirsch & Hase perfectly. Read more
The shadow of love: Cold War
INTERVIEW! Pawel Pawlikowski on his 88-minute monochrome epic Cold War. It's out Nov 22 in Berlin cinemas. Read more
Save Berlin: Condo bonanza
Berlin real estate prices have been skyrocketing in the last few years. Is the bubble about to pop? Read more
The World on Paper
The inaugural show of Deutsche Bank’s brand new art space, PalaisPopulaire, spreads over three floors, with 300 works from post-war Modernism to the era of digital technologies, and even to the graphic novel. Read more
The Moment is Eternity
The Olbricht collection is presenting what easily qualifies as a “best of” from its expansive inventory of photography, interspersed with sculptures and paintings by art history’s big names (Jan Brueghel among others). Read more
Lee Bul: Crash
Sequins, a labyrinth of infinity mirrors, leather, mother of pearl and metal – Lee Bul, one of the most important South Korean artists of her generation uses a futuristic mix of materials. Read more
Sublime shorts
Binge on mini-movies at the Interfilm festival Nov 20-25 at cinemas around the city. Read more
Routinised Absurdity
Human figures behind drying laundry photographic close-ups of textile and the skin of commuters – this show at KINDL Zentrum presents 10 international contemporary photographers and their take on the absurdity of everyday processes. Read more
Reclaiming pop: Drangsal
INTERVIEW! About to return to the Berlin stage with his latest, thoroughly danceable fury of an album, Drangsal talks about some of his newfound guilt-free pleasures. He hits SO36 on Nov 16. It's sold out, so scour FB now. Read more
A cry-for-help Jewish map
The website Jewish Places provides an interactive map showing Jewish institutions, places, historic personalities and themed walks. Users are also able to add new locations to this open-source project. Read more
Fair(y) tales
What three Berlin gallerists make of this year’s huge Art Week success. Eicker explains... but hurry, gallery Sweetwater is already closing the doors on "Closer" on Sat, Nov 17. Read more