The Local Germany

How Berlin plans to give museums a makeover amid visitor dip

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 17:27:58 +0200

Berlin museums might house the iconic Nefertiti bust, the Ishtar gate of ancient Babylon or Rembrandt masterpieces, but they still trail global counterparts in popularity -- and the coronavirus is making things worse.

The show must go on: How cultural life has moved online in Germany

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 19:17:51 +0100

The audience being housebound does not necessarily mean the end of live performances. We take a look at creative cultural events across Germany which have migrated online.

Dresden police receive over 500 tip-offs for stolen jewellery

Tue, 03 Dec 2019 17:29:17 +0100

Police have received 516 tip-offs following the burglary at the Green Vault in Dresden on November 25th, amid calls for greater security in the art world.

Everything you need to know about the Dresden museum heist

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 13:06:04 +0100

Monday's Green Vault break in was dubbed the largest art theft in Germany since World War II. Here's how it happened, what was stolen, and if there's hope of finding the objects.

Dresden museum burglary 'probably biggest art theft since WWII'

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 16:32:10 +0100

Burglars made off with three priceless diamond sets from a state museum in Dresden, police and museum directors confirmed Monday, in what German media have described as the biggest art heist since World War Two.

1,000 East African skulls, bones still in Berlin: report

Tue, 22 Nov 2016 16:50:53 +0100

More than 1,000 skulls and bones belonging to east Africans and brought to Germany for racial "scientific" research during the colonial era are still in storage in Berlin, a media report said Tuesday.

Berlin opens museums to thank refugee helpers

Fri, 11 Dec 2015 09:47:25 +0100

Berlin's parliament on Thursday voted to open the doors of museums, zoos, operas and theatres for free on January 31st, 2016, to thank the capital's residents for their mobilisation in the country's biggest refugee relief drive since the Second World War.

Missing 3.5-tonne Lenin head thwarts expo

Fri, 15 Aug 2014 10:24:00 +0200

The giant head was to be a focal point of an exhibition of monuments in Berlin next year. But culture authorities say it is lost in a local forest, the Berliner Zeitung reported on Friday.

New Berlin museum for 20th century art

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 10:29:00 +0200

Berlin has agreed to build a new museum for 20th century masterpieces by artists including Rothko, Magritte and Dali donated by a wealthy couple, potentially resolving a lengthy dispute.

Porsche 911 gracefully races into middle age

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:59:00 +0200

With the Porsche 911 turning 50 this year, Tracy Moran races to Stuttgart to see how Germany's favourite sports car is ageing.

Knut's real fur used for new museum statue

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:52:00 +0100

A furry homage or creepy exploitation? Nearly two years after the death of Berlin's favourite polar bear Knut, the city's natural history museum is using his pelt for a new exhibit.

Berlin sees world's first Scorsese exhibition

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 09:22:00 +0100

A Berlin museum will on Thursday open what it called the first exhibition worldwide dedicated to the work of veteran US film-maker Martin Scorsese, who opened his vast archive for the show.

Humanity's 'greatest treasures' move to Bonn

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 18:01:00 +0100

Human history's greatest treasures are all to be found in Bonn for the coming four months, with the crème de la crème of the British Museum's collection in Bonn until April.

'Make German museums free to bring them to life'

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:24:00 +0200

While German officials talk about building new museums, they should first copy their British colleagues and open their collections to the people for free, says Matthias Thibaut, the Tagesspiegel newspaper’s London correspondent.

BMW and Guggenheim scared off Berlin project

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:48:00 +0100

German car maker BMW and New York's Guggenheim Museum have axed plans to bring an urban design showcase to a Berlin district over threats of attacks, a spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.

Lost ancient artefacts found after 50 years

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:34:00 +0100

Nearly 50 ancient artefacts have been returned to the Bode Museum, Berlin, decades after being looted by Soviet soldiers. The find has sparked hope that more objects lost during the war will turn up.

Exhibition shows everyday life as communism crumbled

Tue, 17 May 2011 15:40:00 +0200

A new exhibition at the German Historical Museum (DHM) in Berlin offers insight into everyday life in East Germany and post-communist eastern Europe with never-before-seen photos. Curator Yara-Colette Lemke took The Local on a tour.

Guggenheim 'Lab' set to swing through Berlin

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:54:00 +0200

New York’s Guggenheim Museum is creating travelling “laboratories” that will look at the design of cities. Berlin is believed to be one host city, but a redevelopment dispute is complicating matters.

Dresden art director to take over London's Victoria and Albert

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:05:00 +0200

The art gallery director who organised the controversial Art of the Enlightenment exhibition of German art currently on display in Beijing is leaving his post in Dresden to take over the British Victoria and Albert Museum.

Intelligence agency still keeping secrets on Eichmann

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0200

Fifty years after Adolf Eichmann went on trial in Israel, Germany is still keeping mum on how much it knew before Mossad agents kidnapped the Nazi war criminal in Argentina in 1960.