April 2010 – The Needle: Berlin

Joseph Pearson 27/04/201002/07/2023

Linienstraße 113: Bötzow Privat

Pass by in the evening, and look into the picture windows illuminated by candles. Perhaps you will see a penumbra,

Joseph Pearson 20/04/201023/06/2018

A New Museum

Germany’s bold confrontation with its past, its sometimes self-flagellating intent to imprint guilt and scars onto its official history, marks

Living in Berlin

Joseph Pearson 12/04/201023/06/2018

Rosenthaler Platz, Berlin-Mitte

Dear Berlin-Mitte, We need to discuss our relationship. We’ve got problems. I suppose it’s inevitable after our years together. I’m

Joseph Pearson 11/04/201023/06/2018

Colonnades Unveiled

I was used to the Museum Island as building site. The edifices were interiors, not exteriors. You negotiated your way

Joseph Pearson 05/04/201023/06/2018

Schlachtensee 1940

These photographs taken last autumn I found unbearable to contemplate only a few weeks ago. But now, with warmer days,

Joseph Pearson is a writer and historian based in Berlin. His non-fiction portrait of Berlin was published in 2017. He published a second book, My Grandfather’s Knife, about how everyday objects tell World War Two stories, in 2022. His writing has appeared widely in the press, literary and academic journals, and has been translated into German, Italian, French, Arabic, and other languages. Born in Canada, he was educated at Cambridge University, UK, where he received his doctorate in history in 2001. He works at New York University, Berlin, and at the Barenboim-Said Akademie. Since 2008, he has written The Needle, which has become one of Berlin’s most popular blogs. For professional inquiries please contact his agency, Peters Fraser Dunlop, email him directly joseph [AT] cantab.net, or visit his professional website: josephpearson.ca