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The Needle: Berlin

The Needle: Berlin

Sharp Views on the German capital

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Places in Berlin

Places in Berlin 

A Secret Plan in Rix Café

09/12/201809/12/2018 Joseph Pearson

What secret plan is being hatched in Rix Café? In Rick’s Café, in the film Casablanca, they sing La Marseillaise

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Places in Berlin 

The Monkey Enclosure at the Bikini Mall

22/10/201819/10/2018 Joseph Pearson

I’m not ashamed to say that one of my favourite places in Berlin is in a shopping mall, the renovated

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Places in Berlin 

Swimming in Public, Reflecting on Summer

07/10/201807/10/2018 Joseph Pearson

It feels like the last day of summer because the Kreuzberg Prinzenbad summer pool––one of the many Sommerbäder around the

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Places in Berlin 

Berlin’s Museum of Natural History: Dinosaurs and Dark Tourism

14/09/201818/09/2018 Joseph Pearson

When I read about the destruction of Brazil’s Natural History Museum by fire on 2 September–– and the loss of

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Places in Berlin 

How to Get into Berghain, and Why Not To

12/01/201523/09/2018 Joseph Pearson

Locals and visitors alike are always asking me how to get into Berghain. I don’t tell them it’s not worth

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Places in Berlin 

36 Hours in Berlin (and not a minute more)

29/07/201423/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Did you ever wonder at the intentions of tourists who come to Berlin as voyeurs to the horrors of the

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Places in Berlin 

The Anthropology of Vabali

21/07/201423/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Was I the only one surprised that only a five minute walk from Berlin’s Central Station there is a brand new upscale

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Places in Berlin 

The Two Faces of Kreuzberg: 36 Brennt, 61 Pennt

03/07/201423/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

“I live in Kreuzberg”. This means about as much as “I live in Brooklyn”. It does not tell you very

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Places in Berlin 

KaterHolzig Poisoned, But Not Down

02/02/201423/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

‘We’ve been poisoned by the mainstream ‘, say the folks at KaterHolzig on their website. Yet another classic of old Berlin––this

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Places in Berlin 

The Bridge of Neglected Lions

07/09/201323/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

It is late summer and you wander through the garden of beasts, the Tiergarten, along the waters of the Neuer

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Places in Berlin 

No Winter Badeschiff

16/12/201223/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Every winter something remarkable has happened in Berlin. The Badeschiff (or “swimming boat”) is an innovative pool that floats in

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About the Author

Joseph Pearson is a writer based between Berlin and New York City. 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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