This Week's Highlights: January 31 – February 6

This Week's Highlights: Classic cars in Bremen, documentary films in Berlin, and a Super Bowl party in Munich.

BERLIN



Music/Concerts


Christiane Roesinger

Sadness, disillusionment, and the feeling of loss are recurrent themes in Christiane Roesinger's exquisitely melancholic songs. Make your heart bleed Thursday night in Berlin when the chanteuse takes the stage at Claerchen's Balhaus. Presented by Missy Magazine, the concert kicks off the “f******* Toward New Perspectives on Feminism” symposium, which starts Friday at the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein.

Price: €10
Location: Clärchen's Balhaus, Auguststrasse 24
Times: Thursday, January 31, 9pm
Reservations: konzert@new-perspective.org
More Information: www.new-perspective.org



Film


Globians World and Culture Documentary Film Festival

From the spring migration of cranes to the social-cultural challenges of a Luxembourg allotment garden, the topics explored at this year's Globians Festival are things you might not think about every day. And then there's Carlo Pisani's movie Love Trips about couples in long-distance relationships – a topic closer to home for expats like us. Spend some time at the cinema this weekend. All documentaries screen with English subtitles.

Price: €7; €40 (Festival Pass)
Location: Kino Toni, Antonplatz, Weissensee
Times: Thursday, January 31 – Sunday, February 3
Phone: 030 266 42 42 42
More Information: www.globians.com



Events


Transmediale 2013

“Back when Pluto was a planet” is the theme at this year's Transmediale Festival in Berlin. Through performances, workshops, exhibitions, panel discussions, and film screenings, the annual event explores new connections between art, culture, and technology. Experts from around the world focus on figuring out what to do with familiar objects that have been declared somewhat obsolete, like Rohrpost, Berlin's former mail delivery system that used pneumatic tubes to transfer letters. How did the system relate to social media? Check out “Octo” at the House of World Cultures to find out.

Price: €5-18 (Single Tickets); €25-30 (Day Pass); €90 (Festival Pass)
Location: Haus der Kulturen der Welt, John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10

Times: Tuesday, January 29 – Sunday, February 3
More Information: www.transmediale.de




BREMEN



Events


Bremen Classic Motor Show

If you're into antique cars (like my two-year-old), cruise up to Bremen this weekend. Original autos from the 1920s and 1930s including the Voisin C7C and the Hotchkiss AM2 join “young classics” like the 1977 Opel Manta S 1.9 Berlinetta. A star of the event is the 300 hp Ford Capri RS 2600, the same kind of razzle dazzle race car that legendary speed man Hans-Joachim Stuck steered around the track at the new German Racing Championship in 1972. Get your motor running!

Price: €15
Location: Theodor-Heuss-Allee
Times: Daily, 9am-6pm, Friday, February 1 – Sunday, February 3
Phone: 0421 . 3505 . 525
More Information: www.classicmotorshow.de




COLOGNE



Events


Grenzgang Dinner Show – Silk Road Adventure

Why shouldn't dinner be a journey – an enriching experience where the food is enhanced by music, stories, and imagery from a faraway land like the Orient? That's exactly what Grenzgang Dinner Shows are all about. This week Bruno Baumann leads gourmands on an adventure along the Silk Road from Istanbul to Peking. The evening begins in a theatre where you'll see extraordinary travel photography before moving on to a three-course meal of Arabian specialties. Satiate your hunger as well as your wanderlust in Cologne Saturday.

Price: €64.90
Location: Ludwig im Museum,
Heinrich-Böll-Platz
Times: Saturday, February 1, 7:30
Tickets: 0221 7199 1515
More Information: www.grenzgang.de




DUSSELDORF



Galleries/Museums


Yin Xiuzhen

Old clothing collected from cities around the world are stitched together into skyscrapers and apartment blocks in Yin Xiuzhen's “Portable Cities”. The cityscapes that bloom from suitcases join other interesting sculptures and installations the Chinese artist has created throughout her career in a new exhibition at Kunsthalle Dusseldorf. With vivid colors and textured materials, Xiuzhen ponders concepts like localization, globalization, and the impact of technology on nature and mankind.

Price: €5.50
Location: Kunsthalle Dusseldorf, Grabbeplatz 4
Times: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am-6pm; through March 10
Phone: 0211 899 6243
More Information: www.kunsthalle-düsseldorf.de




FRANKFURT



Music/Concerts


Ensemble Modern

This twenty-member group has been playing music by contemporary composers since 1980. Based in Frankfurt, it's one of the most important German ensembles of its kind. If you haven't checked them out yet, make a date for Saturday night. The modern music makers set up on stage at the Frankfurt Opera house with a program of new pieces commissioned for their series “From Where? - Myths, Nations, and Identity.”

Price: €18.90 – 30.50
Location: Alte Oper Frankfurt
, Opernplatz
Times: Saturday, February 2, 8pm
Phone: 069 13400
More Information: www.alteoper.de




HAMBURG



Film


Graphic Novels! Melbourne!

Comic book writers are fascinating people, especially the Australian ones. See for yourself Wednesday when Graphic Novels! Melbourne! screens at Projektor in Hamburg. The feature documentary by filmmaker Daniel Hayward and comic artist Bernard Caleo follows the lives of four cartoonists in Melbourne and offers insight into the city's comic book culture.

Price: €8-€10
Location: Projektor, Sternstrasse 4
Times: Wednesday, February 6 – Saturday, February 9, 7:30pm
More Information: www.graphicnovelsmelbourne.de



Events


The Cosmic Bay – Marcel Lichter and Friends

Stars collide Thursday in Hamburg when heartthrob Jan Sievers joins planetarium pianist Marcel Lichter for a cosmic evening of music and light. Sit back and relax as the duo perform songs about love and heartache as stars and lasers flash across the concave dome overhead. It's going to be galactic.

Price: €13
Location: Planetarium Hamburg,
 Hindenburgstrasse 1b

Times: Thursday, January 31, 7:30pm
Ticket Hotline: 040 428 86 5210
More Information: www.planetarium-hamburg.de




MUNICH



Galleries/Museums


Munich In Zoom

I could stare at a map for hours. But you know what's even cooler than cartography? Aerial photos. Get a bird's eye view of Munich this week at the office of the city's municipal department. Nineteen photographs from 1925 to 2011 offer a fascinating perspective on how the Bavarian capital has changed over the last several decades.

Price: Free
Location: Kommunalreferat der Landeshauptstadt München, Rossmarkt 3
Times: Monday – Friday, 8am-5:30pm; through March 28
More Information: www.muenchen.de



Events


Super Bowl Party

it's Super Bowl Sunday! And just because you're in Germany doesn't mean you have to miss out on America's biggest sporting events of the year. Head to TonHalle Sunday where you can watch all the action from New Orleans. Who will you root for? The Baltimore Ravens or the San Francisco 49ers? Even if you're not a football fan, go to see the halftime show. Beyonce's performing!

Price: €8; €96 (“Starter Package” includes entrance for 8, beer, and hotdogs)
Location: TonHalle München, Grafinger Strasse 6

Times: Sunday, February 3, 8pm
Phone: 089 6283 4411
More Information: www.tonhalle-muenchen.de