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Places in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 25/11/202202/07/2023 1 Comment

Strange Animals Over Alexanderplatz

They come every year from the East. A black cloud swoops around the television tower, or Fernsehturm, at Alexanderplatz, at

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Living in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 17/11/202202/07/2023 3 Comments

What Berlin is Like in Winter

Winter is coming. Is it your first in Berlin? Stick it out and you’ll join the ranks of confirmed expats:

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Berlin History
Joseph Pearson 09/07/202202/07/2023 0 Comments

Felix Mendelssohn in Wannsee

Last month, at the American Academy in Berlin, I had the pleasure of hearing students from the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia play

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Living in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 06/03/202202/07/2023

Spring is Coming to Berlin

In just three Sundays, in the wee hours, clocks will go forward one hour, the days will be longer. Already on

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Blog Posts on The Needle
Joseph Pearson 19/07/202002/07/2023

Joseph Pearson, New Writing

My dear readers, I have a new professional website if you’d like to check it out: josephpearson.ca Please do follow

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Trips from Berlin
Joseph Pearson 31/01/202009/02/2020

Weekend Trip to Südtirol: Going to the Sun, by Train

It’s midwinter in Berlin and a pretty mild one. But a grey sheet is still suspended between us and the

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Berlin PortraitsBlog Posts on The Needle
Joseph Pearson 17/10/201917/10/2019

Learning German Because of Brexit

British playwright Tim Luscombe lived all over the world––Sweden, Italy, Thailand––before settling on the German capital. A passionate European, Tim’s relationship

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Living in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 31/03/201931/03/2019

What’s Changed in Berlin in a Decade? Ten Years of ‘Moving to Berlin’

Ten years ago The Needle published its first ‘Moving to Berlin’ guide, and it’s been updated every year since then.

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Berlin Arts
Joseph Pearson 24/03/201924/03/2019

Bellini or Mantegna?: A Personality Test

“Are you more Bellini or Mantegna?” an Italian friends asks me. Belliniano o Mantegnano? Not every art exhibit is also

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Opinion and Politics
Joseph Pearson 09/03/201910/03/2019

Why Does Kreuzberg Want to Save an ALDI?

The Kreuzberg gentrification battle continues to rage around the Markthalle 9. Residents of the traditionally left-wing neighbourhood, paradoxically, are protesting

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Places in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 09/12/201809/12/2018

A Secret Plan in Rix Café

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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About the Author

 

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

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 bi-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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