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The Needle: Berlin

The Needle: Berlin

Sharp Views on the German capital

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Living in Berlin

Living in Berlin 

You Know You’re a Savvy Expat Berliner When…

27/02/201423/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

How long have you been in Berlin? And how good is your local knowledge? Take The Needle’s quiz. Looking back

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Living in Berlin 

What Berlin Looks Like After Paris

11/12/201323/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Those first hours after arriving in a European capital from another are the most ripe for making comparisons. Especially if

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Living in Berlin 

Busted on the BVG

09/11/201323/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Let’s say you are foolhardy enough to attempt avoiding the plaincloth ticket controllers on the BVG (Berlin transport system). Stand

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Living in Berlin 

Condoms or Kiddie Crack?

26/10/201323/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

For a long time I thought they were condom wrappers. Little blue foil packages torn open and scattered over the

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Living in Berlin 

Berlin Bleeds Your Lungs

19/10/201323/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Coming home in the wee hours from a bar in London, Madrid or New York, you might have reason to

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Living in Berlin 

Kirchensteuer: A Nasty Letter from the Catholic Church

22/09/201323/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Recently, I got a nasty letter from the Catholic Church. But I’ll get to that. Let me start with the

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Living in Berlin 

Gentrification Alert: Wedding

31/08/201323/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

At dinner last night on Schoenleinstraße in Kreuzberg, I was surrounded by people who live in Wedding and love it.

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Living in Berlin 

Why Are Anglo Businesses Closing in Kreuzberg?

30/07/201323/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Hudson’s, the English cake shop we blogged soon after its opening, closed its doors on Sunday. It’s the third English-speaking

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Living in Berlin 

Berlin’s Ghetto Bus: the M41

27/05/201323/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

On a Friday sunny morning I see a large group waiting at the M41 bus stop on Urbanstraße on the

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Living in Berlin 

You Ain’t No Berliner

22/12/201223/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Another nasty sticker pasted around Berlin telling you to go home. Of so you think. Is it meant––yet again, in

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Living in Berlin 

Blaming Hipsters for Gentrification in Neukölln?

02/12/201223/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Imagine you are in a Berlin bar, at your most vulnerable at the urinal or bathroom stall, and you read

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About the Author

Joseph Pearson is a writer based in Berlin. Born in Canada, he was educated at Cambridge University, UK, where he received his doctorate in history in 2001. His non-fiction portrait of Berlin was published in 2017. He is also the essayist and blogger of the Schaubühne Theatre, one of Berlin’s best known state-funded institutions. Since 2008, he has written The Needle, which has become one of Berlin’s most popular blogs. His writing has appeared widely in the press, literary and academic journals, and has been translated into German, Italian, French, Arabic, and other languages. For professional inquiries please contact:  joseph [AT] cantab.net.

What is The Needle?

The changing meanings of The Needle are the inspiration for these pages. Above Alexanderplatz is Berlin's television tower. The Needle surveilled the city during East German times like a threatening eye; then its meaning changed after the Berlin Wall fell. Berliners now think of the tower as a giant disco ball flirting with the city lights––a symbol of sex, electronic music and youth culture. This weekly documents the Berlin Renaissance today, mindful of a dramatic and terrifying history. Berlin is Europe's most exciting city, and The Needle is here to share.

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Recent Comments

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Berlin Links

  • Architecture in Berlin A blog about buildings in the city
  • Berlin Poche Berlin en français!
  • Boulezian Classical Music Blog, with much on Berlin
  • Cabaret Berlin Exploring the entertainment world of Weimar Berlin
  • Expats Blog compendium of expats’ blogs
  • German Way Resources for the German-speaking lands
  • Il Mitte Online Magazine about Berlin in Italian
  • Kreuzberged Xberg–A Love and Hate Relationship
  • Neuköllner.net (German language) Nifty Neukölln weekend round-up
  • Sand: Berlin Literary Journal A literary journal based in Berlin
  • Slow Travel Berlin Meander through the city…
  • Sugarhigh: Design, Eat, Love Berlin
  • Then We Take Berlin Off-beat Berlin Blog
  • Überlin tips on the best places
  • Wednesday Chef Berlin Foodie Blog

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