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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 

Bahnhof Alexanderplatz

13/01/201123/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Berlin scares the hell out of me, a Parisian friend confesses on a weekend visit. Putain! Look how empty the

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Places in Berlin 

When You’re From Kotti

31/10/201023/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Kottbusser Tor, the centre of the ertswhile-radical SO36 district in Kreuzberg, is affectionately known as just ‘Kotti’. The surrounding kiez

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Places in Berlin 

The Jewish Museum

12/10/201023/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

(bear with us as we try to correct some formatting problems with this page)   I first visited the Jewish

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Places in Berlin 

Starship Tunnels No More

06/10/201023/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Not far from Hermannplatz, the cusp of Kreuzberg and Neukölln, at Hasenheide 13, are two tunnels that lead to another

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Places in Berlin 

Luminous and Transparent: the Henry Ford Bau

01/09/201023/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

It’s a late summer day and we are riding our bikes around Dahlem, in the South of former West Berlin.

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Places in Berlin 

State Security in No Man’s Land

19/07/201023/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

  Berliners are used to there being a great space off-limits between Mitte and Wedding, hidden behind a wall. The

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Places in Berlin 

Pump Action

11/06/201023/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Doppelkolbenpumpe. I was surprised I could find an online translation: double piston pump. Then what is one doing in a

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Places in Berlin 

The Tempelhof Airfield

24/05/201023/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

The gates are now open to the Tempelhofer Feld, a public park on what was the airstrip of Tempelhof Airport

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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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