Hey Berliners!

On Wednesday about a hundred and twenty museums, galleries and project spaces open at once, and for five days Berlin stops pretending it is anything other than an art city. The best night of it is free: the Gropius Bau opens its Kreuzberg show with no admission charge and a DJ set.

Then Saturday goes in a completely different direction. Two thousand kites over Tempelhofer Feld, the biggest of them fifty metres long, free. More than three hundred monuments opening doors that are usually closed. The Staatsoper is letting people backstage. And the basketball semi-finals.

Less cheerfully: the hackers holding Berlin’s state network published the data on Friday after the Senate refused to pay. And the election is two weeks away.

— Dr Yassir A Shuaib

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🚂 BahnCard 25 — €29.99, half price, September only

Deutsche Bahn has cut the BahnCard 25 to €29.99 from €62.90 in second class and €59.99 from €125 in first. Twenty-five per cent off Flex and Saver fares on long-distance trains for twelve months — it pays for itself at around €120 of ticket spend, which is roughly one return to Hamburg or Munich.

Two things to know. You have to pick a start date in September; the last possible first day of validity is the 30th. And it renews automatically at full price after twelve months unless you cancel at least four weeks before it expires — so cancel it the day you buy it, then decide next August whether to renew.

👉 Get the BahnCard 25 here

⌚ Garmin Venu 3 — €299
AMOLED screen, up to fourteen days of battery, and the sports watch people actually keep wearing rather than abandoning in a drawer.
👉 View deal here

📺 LG OLED65C57LA — 65-inch OLED
The television most price-comparison sites flagged this week. MediaMarkt and Saturn's IFA prices run to Wednesday, so check before Thursday.
👉 View deal here

🕹️ Half-price arcade every Tuesday
Electric Social at Alexanderplatz drops all arcade games to half price every Tuesday, noon to midnight, prize machines excepted. Fifty-plus cabinets. The games are the bargain; the food isn't.
📍 Grunerstr. 13 — U/S Alexanderplatz
👉 More info here

⚡ Switch electricity and save
Finanztip estimates €200–300 a year moving off a basic-supply tariff, depending on consumption and postcode. Two weeks' notice; the new provider handles the cancellation.
👉 Compare here

🎨 Berlin Art Week — Wednesday 9 to Sunday 13 September · around 120 venues ⭐

Fifteenth edition: museums, galleries, private collections and project spaces across the city, five days of openings, performances and talks.

For the anniversary, the Kulturforum is the centre. The Berlin Art Week Garten sits between the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Gemäldegalerie with a daily programme of talks, workshops and screenings, a reading garden, and the starting point for the curated tours. If you want one address rather than a hundred, that's it.

The four things to plan around
· Wed 9, 18:00–22:00 · Kreuzberg: Art and Migration Since 1960 — opening night at the Gropius Bau, free, with a DJ set by Ipek
· Thu 10 · Maurizio Cattelan's Night opens at the Neue Nationalgalerie, his first major solo show in Germany.
· Thu 10, 18:00–22:00 · Gallery Night: galleries open late across the city
· Fri 11 · Ryuichi Sakamoto: Seeing sound, hearing time opens to the public at the Hamburger Bahnhof.

Also worth the trip: the Positions art fair in the old Tempelhof hangars — 96 galleries from 20 countries, opening Thursday evening and open to the public Friday to Sunday.

The method that works: pick one cluster and walk it. Five galleries sit within a few streets of the Kulturforum; several more cluster around Kreuzberg and Bethaniendamm. Crossing the city between appointments is how people end up seeing three things and resenting all of them.

👉 Programme & venues here

Two warm days, then it settles into the low twenties for the rest of the week. Wednesday is when it turns — 19°C, which is where it stays. Mostly dry, and Saturday in particular is dry, which is what nine hours of kite flying needs.

· Today · 21°C / 11°C · partly cloudy
· Mon 7 · 24°C / 16°C · cloudy
· Tue 8 · 24°C / 14°C · a shower possible
· Wed 9 · 19°C / 11°C · clearing in the afternoon — Art Week opens
· Thu 10 · 19°C / 10°C · dry — Gallery Night
· Fri 11 · 20°C / 11°C · a shower possible
· Sat 12 · 20°C / 10°C · dry, good for the kites

👉 Full forecast here

🔒 Berlin's stolen data has been published

The ransom deadline expired on Friday afternoon. The Senate refused to pay the 30 Bitcoin demanded, and the Rhysida group published the material. Forensics teams are working through it to establish what was taken and who is affected.

The departments hit handle transport and building and housing. If you have an application pending with either, check it directly rather than trusting an online status. Anyone who finds their own data in the published material should report it to the police.
👉 Berlin's official statement here

🗳️ The election is two weeks away

Berlin votes on Sunday 20 September for the Abgeordnetenhaus and the district councils. German citizens aged 16 and over vote in both — the first Berlin state election with a voting age of 16. EU citizens registered here for at least three months can vote in the district elections.

Postal voting is open. Online applications close 15 September; post, email or fax until 15:00 on the 18th. Completed ballots must reach the Bezirkswahlamt by 18:00 on election day — post it three days ahead.

Two things that catch people off guard: there's only one ballot paper this year, not two, and the commonest spoilt vote is an unsigned Wahlschein.
👉 Apply for postal voting here · All the rules here

🖼️ Kreuzberg: Art and Migration Since 1960 — Gropius Bau · FREE opening Wednesday ⭐
Sixty-five years of migration and the art it produced in one district — labour, arrival, and what gets built afterwards. Wednesday from 19:00 is free to everyone, with a DJ set by Ipek. Ticketed entry starts Thursday.
👉 More info here
📍 Niederkirchnerstr. 7 — U/S Potsdamer Platz

🏛️ Tag des offenen Denkmals — Saturday and Sunday · FREE
More than 300 monuments and around 700 events across every district, under this year's theme of networks and infrastructure: water towers, machine halls, courtyards, and workshops. Free, though some guided tours need booking. It runs both days, so if Saturday is full, Sunday has the same programme.
👉 Programme here

📷 Carrie Mae Weems: The Heart of the Matter — C/O Berlin · opens Friday
Her first full retrospective in Berlin: more than a hundred photographs and videos across four decades, on race, gender and class. The opening is Friday at 20:00, as part of Art Week.
👉 Tickets here
📍 Hardenbergstr. 22–24 — S+U Zoologischer Garten

📚 International Literature Festival — to Saturday
The 26th edition, mid-run, with around 150 events at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and across the city. Han Kang, Christian Kracht, Cornelia Funke, Christopher Clark and Dave Eggers all appear this week. A good share is in English, with a free strand alongside the ticketed events.
👉 Programme here

🪁 Festival der Riesendrachen — Saturday 12 September · 11:00–20:00 · FREE

Thirteenth edition: more than 2,000 kites over Tempelhofer Feld, the largest reaching fifty metres, flown by around 75 professional pilots in 32 teams.

This year's addition is the Schleyerdeldas — kites with long, sweeping tails that drift across the sky like veils. Chinese dragons and stunt-kite displays run alongside, with live music and food on the ground.

Bring your own kite if you have one; there are areas to fly it.

🚇 Getting there — read this bit

Don't drive. S+U Tempelhof and the Tempelhofer Damm are expected to close between 12:00 and 19:00, along with surrounding streets, and there's no event parking.

Come by U6 to Paradestraße, Platz der Luftbrücke or Alt-Tempelhof, U7 to Südstern, or U8 to Leinestraße or Boddinstraße. The entrances are on Columbiadamm, Herrfurthstraße and Oderstraße.

And the displays aren't on a timetable — wind decides what flies and when. Bring a blanket and stay a while.

👉 Programme & details here
📍 Tempelhofer Feld

SUN 6 · TODAY
· ⚫ Hertha v 1. FC Magdeburg · 13:30 · Olympiastadion
· 📚 International Literature Festival · readings across the city
· 🛒 Flohmarkt Mauerpark · 10:00–18:00 · free · cash only
· 🛒 RAW-Flohmarkt · 09:00–17:00 · free
· 🍢 Thaipark · 11:00–20:00 · free · cash

MON 7
· 🏀 Germany v Mali · 17:50 · Uber Arena · Women's Basketball World Cup
· 📱 IFA · 10:00–18:00 · Messe Berlin

TUE 8
· 📱 IFA · final day · 10:00–18:00
· 🕹️ Half-price arcade · noon to midnight · Electric Social, Alexanderplatz
· 🌿 Türkenmarkt · 11:00–18:30 · free
· 🗣️ Language Exchange · 19:00 · free · Travolta Bar

WED 9 · ART WEEK OPENS
· 🖼️ Kreuzberg: Art and Migration Since 1960 · opening night from 19:00 · Gropius Bau · FREE
· 🎨 Berlin Art Week Garten opens · Kulturforum
· 🎬 Fantasy Filmfest · final day · Zoo Palast

THU 10
· 🎨 Positions art fair opens · 18:00–22:00 · Flughafen Tempelhof
· 🌃 Gallery Night · 18:00–22:00 · FREE · citywide
· 🖼️ Maurizio Cattelan: Night opens · Neue Nationalgalerie
· 🏀 Quarter-finals · Women's Basketball World Cup
· 🍜 Street Food Thursday · 17:00–22:00 · Markthalle Neun

FRI 11
· 🖼️ Ryuichi Sakamoto opens to the public · Hamburger Bahnhof
· 📷 Carrie Mae Weems opens · 20:00 · C/O Berlin
· 🍢 Halal Food Festival opens · Park Gleisdreieck · to 13 Sept
· 🔵 Union v FC Schalke 04 · 20:30 · Alte Försterei
· 🌿 Türkenmarkt · 11:00–18:30 · free

SAT 12 · THE BIG ONE
· 🏃 Parkrun Hasenheide · 09:00 · free 5 km
· 🥬 Winterfeldtmarkt · 08:00–16:00
· 🪁 Festival der Riesendrachen · 11:00–20:00 · FREE · Tempelhofer Feld
· 🎭 Staatsoper open day · from 11:00 · FREE · Unter den Linden
· 🏛️ Tag des offenen Denkmals · 300+ monuments · FREE · citywide
· 🏀 Semi-finals · 16:30 and 20:00 · Women's Basketball World Cup
· 🏭 Berlin Industrial Heritage Festival opens · to 4 October

🌅 Freiluftkino Kreuzberg — last night of the season, tonight at 20:00
The open-air season ends tonight in the Bethanien courtyard with The History of Sound, in English. €10 (€6 reduced). After this, everything is indoors until May.
👉 Programme here
📍 Mariannenplatz 2 — U1/U8 Kottbusser Tor

👻 Fantasy Filmfest — final days, to Wednesday · Zoo Palast
The 40th edition of Germany's biggest genre festival closes on the 9th: horror, thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy, in the original with subtitles, from €14.
👉 Tickets & programme here
📍 Hardenbergstr. 29a — S+U Zoologischer Garten

Look for OmeU — original language with English subtitles.

Alternde Meister — Gemäldegalerie · Friday to Sunday · €20/€10
A Berlin vanitas for Art Week: Ersan Mondtag and Nadim Samman put 25 performers of different generations into a tableau vivant among the Old Masters. WestBam and Louis Hofmann are among them. Ninety minutes. Contains nudity.
👉 Tickets here
📍 Matthäikirchplatz 4 — U/S Potsdamer Platz

Glücklich die Glücklichen — Berliner Ensemble · from Friday
The German-language premiere of Yasmina Reza's latest, directed by Oliver Reese.
👉 Tickets here
📍 Neues Haus, Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1 — S+U Friedrichstraße

If you need English subtitles, the Maxim Gorki has them at every performance. The Berliner Ensemble marks its surtitled nights in the programme and recommends the balconies or the stalls from row 13 — the side boxes have a partly blocked view of the screen.
👉 Browse the city's schedules here

🎼 Musikfest Berlin — to 23 September

The 75th anniversary edition: 36 events, around 40 concerts, five venues. Three worth booking this week.

London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Antonio Pappano — tonight, 20:00 · Philharmonie
Gubaidulina's Viola Concerto with Eivind Ringstad, then Bruckner's Ninth.
👉 Tickets here

Vienna Philharmonic, Tugan Sokhiev — Wednesday, 20:00 · Philharmonie
Hilary Hahn plays the Dvořák Violin Concerto, then Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. Introduction at 19:10.
👉 Tickets here

Berliner Philharmoniker, Brett Dean — Thursday, 20:00 · Philharmonie
This year's composer in residence conducts his own work alongside Debussy, with Jennifer France singing.
👉 Tickets here

The festival also leaves the concert hall — there's music on the Ringbahn and a grand piano on the Philharmonie roof.
👉 Full programme here
📍 Herbert-von-Karajan-Str. 1 — S+U Potsdamer Platz

🎨 Cassirer und der Durchbruch des Impressionismus — Alte Nationalgalerie · closes 27 September · €16/€8
Three weeks left. Around 100 Impressionist works — Monet, Degas, Cézanne, and van Gogh — built around the dealer who brought them to Germany. Extended hours, Tue–Sun 9:30–19:00.
👉 Tickets here
📍 Bodestr. 1–3 — Museumsinsel

📷 Anton Corbijn — Fotografiska · closes 20 September
Two weeks left. Portraits from fifty years of photographing Depeche Mode, U2 and Joy Division. Open daily 10:00–23:00, which makes it the rare museum you can visit after dinner.
👉 Tickets here
📍 Oranienburger Str. 54 — U6 Oranienburger Tor

🖼️ Gabriele Stötzer: Dabei sein und nicht schweigen — Gropius Bau · to 6 December · €15/€10
Five decades of work on justice, self-determination and gender in and after the GDR — around 150 photographs, Super 8 films and performance records. One ticket also covers the Kreuzberg show opening Wednesday. Closed Tuesdays.
👉 More info here
📍 Niederkirchnerstr. 7 — U/S Potsdamer Platz

🏙️ Ruin und Rausch: Berlin 1910–1930 — Neue Nationalgalerie · to 3 January · €14/€7
The city's boom-and-collapse years, in its own museum — Expressionism, Dada and New Objectivity, including Otto Dix's Anita Berber.
👉 More info here
📍 Potsdamer Str. 50 — U/S Potsdamer Platz

TODAY
· 🛒 Flohmarkt Mauerpark · 10:00–18:00 · free · 500+ stalls, Bearpit Karaoke from 15:00, cash only
· 🛒 RAW-Flohmarkt · 09:00–17:00 · free · vinyl, vintage, bike parts
· 🍢 Thaipark · 11:00–20:00 · free · cash

ALL WEEK
· 🍜 Dong Xuan Center · 10:00–20:00 · free · closed Tuesdays · six halls of Vietnamese food and textiles in Lichtenberg

IN THE WEEK
· 🌿 Türkenmarkt · Tue 8 + Fri 11 · 11:00–18:30 · free · prices drop after 17:30
· 🍜 Street Food Thursday · Thu 10 · 17:00–22:00 · Markthalle Neun
· 🍢 Halal Food Festival · Fri 11 to Sun 13 · 12:00–22:00 · Park Gleisdreieck · around 50 stalls · €6–7
· 🍢 Thaipark · Sat 12 · 11:00–20:00 · free · cash
· 🥬 Winterfeldtmarkt · Sat 12 · 08:00–16:00 · Winterfeldtplatz

⚫ Hertha v 1. FC Magdeburg — today · 13:30 · Olympiastadion
Hertha's first home game of the season, after two away trips.
📍 U2 Olympia-Stadion or S3/S9 Olympiastadion

🏀 Women's Basketball World Cup — the knockouts
Germany play Mali on Monday at 17:50 to finish the group. Then the quarter-finals on Thursday, the semi-finals on Saturday, and the final next Sunday — split between the Uber Arena and the Max-Schmeling-Halle.

🔵 Union v FC Schalke 04 — Friday · 20:30 · Alte Försterei
A Friday night home game under floodlights, worth the trip to Köpenick.
👉 Tickets here
📍 S3 Köpenick, then tram 60 or 68

🏃 Parkrun Hasenheide — Sat 12 · 09:00 · free
Timed 5km, register once; briefing in English and German at 08:50. Finished well before the kites go up.
👉 Register here
📍 Columbiadamm 160 — U8 Boddinstr.

🎤 0.1% Accurate — tonight · 19:00 · Z-Bar, Mitte · from €5.03
The cheapest comedy in Berlin this week, and it's tonight.
📍 Bergstr. 2 — S Oranienburger Str. · 👉 Tickets here

🎤 Laughing Spree — Mon 7 & Wed 9 · 20:30 · The Floating Lounge
Berlin's only comedy show on a boat. Six comedians, a free shot at the door, two and a half hours.
📍 Mühlenstr. 73 — S+U Warschauer Str. · 👉 Tickets here

🎤 Cosmic Comedy — Thu, Fri & Sat · Kookaburra, Prenzlauer Berg
Doors open at 19:00, free vegan pizza around 20:15, and show at 21:00 — the gap catches people out. Thursday open mic €13, Fri/Sat €17.
📍 Schönhauser Allee 184 — U2 Eberswalder Str. · 👉 Tickets here

🎤 LAUGH on TAP — Sat 12 · 20:30 · BRLO Brwhouse · from €16.88
English comedy in a Kreuzberg brewery.
📍 Schöneberger Str. 16 — U1/U7 Möckernbrücke · 👉 Tickets here

🎤 Meanwhile in Berlin… — Sat 12 · 20:45 · The Wall Comedy · from €18.02
Five local comics on dating, expat life and German bureaucracy. Carmen Chraim headlines.
📍 Grünberger Str. 84 — S+U Warschauer Str. · 👉 Tickets here

👉 Everything else on here

🪁 Festival der Riesendrachen — Saturday · 11:00–20:00 · FREE
Bring a kite if you have one; there are areas to fly it. The transport warning above matters more than usual with children in tow — come by U6, U7 or U8, not by car.

🏛️ Tag des offenen Denkmals — Saturday and Sunday · FREE
More than 300 monuments and around 700 events, under this year's theme of networks and infrastructure. The insides of things children usually only walk past.
👉 Programme here

🎭 Staatsoper open day — Saturday from 11:00 · FREE
The opening festival starts at midday, with open ballet and orchestra rehearsals — Giselle among them — plus costume and mask workshops and backstage tours. No registration needed. English tours run alongside the German ones, but without fixed times.
👉 Programme here

🍷 Der Kleine August — Mitte

A small French wine bar on Auguststraße, right in the gallery district — which makes it the obvious place to end up after Gallery Night on Thursday rather than trailing back to Kreuzberg at eleven.

A long French list, with charcuterie sliced to order, cheese, sourdough and tinned sardines. Small enough that whoever's pouring knows what they're pouring, and small enough to book ahead.

Tue–Sat, 17:00 to midnight. Closed Sunday and Monday.

👉 More info & reservations here
📍 Auguststr. 23 — U8 Rosenthaler Platz / S Oranienburger Str.

🪁 Flying Colours — Schöneberg

Berlin's kite shop, trading since 1983 and still called Vom Winde Verweht by anyone who's been going long enough. Single-line kites, stunt kites, windsocks, repair parts, and someone behind the counter who'll tell you honestly whether the thing you're buying will actually fly on Saturday.

The right week for it: there are places to fly your own on Tempelhofer Feld, and turning up with one you chose beats watching other people's.

Mon–Fri 10:00–18:00, Sat 10:00–16:00. Closed Sundays.

👉 More info here
📍 Eisenacher Str. 81 — U7 Eisenacher Str.

All from the joint portal of Berlin's seven state-owned housing companies. The figures are total warm rent, including the listed operating and heating costs.

An unusual week: Gewobag listed a batch of Pankow and Prenzlauer Berg flats on Friday, none of them needing a WBS. That almost never happens in this part of the city.

💶 €489.30 warm — Prenzlauer Berg · 1 room · 31.6 m² · no WBS
Dunckerstr. 76. Ground floor of five, cellar, gas central heating, built 1896. Listed as one for self-renovators. Available now.
👉 View flat here

💶 €586.66 warm — Pankow · 1 room · 40.8 m² · no WBS
Ostseestr. 63. First floor of five, balcony, cellar, built 1955. Forty square metres for a single room is generous.
👉 View flat here

💶 €760.86 warm — Pankow · 2 rooms · 50.8 m² · no WBS
Rietzestr. 16. First floor of four, balcony, cellar, 1930 Altbau.
👉 View flat here

💶 €862.32 warm — Pankow · 3 rooms · 72.1 m² · no WBS
Grellstr. 46. Third floor of four, balcony, 1930 Altbau. Three rooms for under €900 without a WBS.
👉 View flat here

Pandata — Full Stack Developer
TypeScript, Next.js, Node and Electron at a small Berlin data company. Open to all levels, which is unusual on this board.
👉 Apply here

Climatiq — Senior Product Manager, Data and API
Carbon accounting infrastructure: the emissions numbers other companies build their reporting on. Four to six years in B2B SaaS.
👉 Apply here

DATATRONiQ — Senior Frontend Developer
React, TypeScript and Kubernetes for industrial AI dashboards. Three years' experience, and German is strongly preferred.
👉 Apply here

PlanD — Lead Product Manager, AI
Leading AI product at an ERP company serving 700+ cleaning-services firms. Three to five years, with a technical background.
👉 Apply here

Andercore — Chief of Staff, Strategy & AI Enablement
The rare non-engineering role on this week's board — but narrow: five years at McKinsey, BCG, Bain or equivalent.
👉 Apply here

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See you next time. Same time. Same Kiez.

— Yassir