What's on in Germany: November 1 – 7

This Week's Highlights: A new music festival in Berlin, a long night of museums in Cologne, and rare silent films in Leipzig.

BERLIN



Music/Concerts


Klangwerkstatt Berlin – Festival for New Music

Berlin is home to one of the most respected new music scenes in the world. Champions who help give it that status like flutist Erik Drescher, guitarist/composer Annette Krebs, and groups like Ensemble Mosaik and Polwechsel strut their stuff this week at the city's oldest continually running festival for new music (Klangwerkstatt was founded in 1989). Go experience works by John Cage, Philip Glass, Peter Ablinger, Alvin Lucier and others this week in Berlin.

Price: €7 (Single concert); €30 (Five concerts); €55 (Festival pass)
Location: Kunstquartier Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2; Evangelische Brüdergemeinde Berlin, Kirchgasse 14-17; Sophiensaele, Sophienstrasse 18
Times: Friday, November 2 – Saturday, November 10
More Information: www.klangwerkstatt-berlin.de



Dirty Projectors

If their wacky rhythms and voracious vocal harmonies of records past threw you for a loop, the Dirty Projectors' latest disc "Swing Low Magellan" might be more your speed. The Guardian called it their “most accessible work to date.” The Brooklyn band makes one stop in Germany this month. Head to Berghain in Berlin Thursday where they're sharing the bill with Callers and Ballet School.

Price: €21.60
Location: Berghain, Am Wriezener Bahnhof
Times: Thursday, November 1, 9pm
Tickets: 01805 570070 (.14/min mobile; .42/min landlines)
More Information: www.berghain.de



Galleries/Museums


Jan Elhoj and Morten Kirckhoff – Abandoned

Since their childhood days, Danish photographers Jan Elhoj and Morten Kirckhoff have been fascinated by abandoned buildings. So it was only natural that when the pair grew up, they would go out in search of abandoned places with their cameras in tow. A new exhibition at Gallery Kuchling shows the treasures Elhoj and Kirckhoff discovered during expeditions around the globe. See their photographs of quiet, rusty factories, dilapidated theatres, Cold War era control rooms, and ghostly train depots when the show opens Thursday night.

Price: Free
Location: Galerie Kuchling,
 Prenzlauer Allee 188
Times: Thursday, November 1, 7pm (Opening); Monday, Tuesday, Thursday – Saturday, 2-7pm; November 2 – 23 (Regular Hours)
Phone: 030 2574 7430
More Information: www.galerie-kuchling.de




COLOGNE



Galleries/Museums


Long Night of Cologne Museums

Dance to West African music at the Chocolate Museum, hear tunes from Ancient Rome at the Praetorium Archaeological Zone, and sway to the sounds of a Brazilian bossa nova trio at the Carnival Museum. On Saturday, 45 museums, galleries, and cultural spaces join forces for a long night of art, theatre, film, music, and dance. One ticket gets you access to it all.

Price: €16
Location: Various
Times: Saturday, November 3, 7pm-3am
Phone: 0221 95 15 4147
More Information: www.museumsnacht-koeln.de



Music/Concerts


La Vera Costanza Basset Horn Trio

The basset horn. A woodwind instrument. A little bit like a clarinet. What else do you know about the basset horn? Learn all about it Tuesday in Cologne when La Vera Costanza Basset Horn Trio presents a history of the intriguing instrument through the music composed for it. Hear the group, made up of performers dedicated to playing early instruments, present works by Mozart at Bläserforum, Cologne's emporium of brass and woodwind instruments. Hey, you might even get inspired to pick one up after the show. Or at least a recorder.

Price: €25
Location: Bläserforum, Martinstrasse. 16-20
Times: Tuesday, November 6, 7pm
Tickets: 0221 399 3860
More Information: www.blaeserforum.com




FRANKFURT



Theatre


Nature Theatre of Oklahoma – Life and Times

Nature Theatre of Oklahoma is actually from New York. And they get their name from Kafka. Their latest piece "Life and Times" is a musical biographical epic that's based on a transcription of a telephone conversation between "Kristin" and the theatre group's founders Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper. See all four episodes documeting Kristin's life this week in Frankfurt; or go Saturday, November 10, for the ten-hour marathon.

Price: €17
Location: Kunstlerhaus Mousonturm, Saal 
Waldschmidtstrasse 4
Times: Thursday, November 1, and Saturday, November 3, 8pm; Sunday, November 4, 6pm; Thursday, November 8, 8pm; Saturday, November 10, 4pm
Box office: 069 40 58 95 20
More Information: www.mousonturm.de




HAMBURG



Events


Mexican Day of the Dead Festival

Every year Mexicans honour their deceased loved ones with a colourful celebration known as the Dia de los Meurtos, or the Day of the Dead. This weekend, the Museum of Ethnology in Hamburg is holding its own celebration complete with Mexican food, mariachi bands, and a special altar where visitors can place their own photos of those who have passed away.

Price: €7
Location: Museum für Völkerkunde Hamburg, Rothenbaumchaussee 64
Times: Saturday, November 3, 4:30 and Sunday, November 4, 11am
Phone: 040 42 88 790
More Information: www.voelkerkundemuseum.com




LEIPZIG



Film


DOK Leipzig – International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film

Among the excellent documentary and animated films being shown at this year's DOK festival in Leipzig, you'll find a retrospective of silent films from the 1920s and 1930s made by the Berlin-based German-Russian film studio Mezhrabpom. Entitled "Utopias and Realities – The Red Dream Factory," the retrospective includes early cinema treasures like "The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen" and "Skating Rink" accompanied by live music.

Price: €7 (Single Ticket); €20 (Day Ticket); €70 (Season Ticket)
Location: Various
Times: October 29 – Sunday, November 4
Phone: 0341 30864 20
More Information: www.dok-leipzig.de




MUNICH



Events


Market of Senses – Autumn on the Prater Island

The aroma of spiced tea fills the air as shoppers stream into the Praterinsel to take in the sites and sounds of one of Munich's colorful autumn markets. Dozens of artists and artisans set out their paintings, jewelery, toys, fashions, pottery, sculptures, and housewares beneath the Praterinsel's vaulted ceilings this weekend during the Markt der Sinne. Browse through the market's four sections “Arts & Crafts,” “Eat & Enjoy,” “The Wellness Oasis,” and “The Garden Market,” and get a head start on your Christmas shopping, or pick up a few seasonal things for your autumn table.

Price: €5
Location: Praterinsel
Times: 11am-7pm, Friday, November 2 – Sunday, November 4
Tickets: 089 780 60 70
More Information: www.markt-der-sinne.com



Literature


Don Winslow – The Kings of Cool

According to Wikipedia, the American author Don Winslow “writes every day from 5:30 to 10:00 in the morning and then hikes six or seven miles before returning to work.” Talk about motivated. With 18 books under his belt, Winslow could teach us all a thing or two about productivity. His latest, "The Kings of Cool" is a sequel to "Savages" his 2010 New York Times bestseller, which came out on the big screen last summer directed by Oliver Stone. See the word man read from his book Saturday at America House.

Price: €10
Location: Amerika Haus, Karolinenplatz 3
Times: Saturday, November 3, 8pm
Tickets: 089 55 25 370
More Information: www.amerikahaus.de




SCHLUCHTERN



Festivals


Kalter Market

Schluchtern's Kalter Market dates back to the 12th century. Among the highlights of the merry autumn festival is a torchlight fairy tale parade and a fireworks show. Head to the mediaeval town just to the northeast of Frankfurt this week and ride the Ferris wheel high over the hills of Hesse. Tuesday is family day.

Price: Free
Location: Schluchtern City Center
Times: Wednesday, October 31 – Tuesday, November 6
More Information: www.schluechtern.de