Hey Berliners!

May is a week away, and Berlin is about to shift gear. Theatertreffen opens on the 1st – Germany's biggest theatre festival, right here. Gallery Weekend follows the same weekend. Before all that, this week is quieter but good: the FIND Festival closes with Robert Lepage's Needles and Opium at the Schaubühne, and the Mauerpark flea market is back on Sunday. Two very different Kiezs sharing one postcode. Worth getting to know properly.

— Dr Yassir A Shuaib

🚗 Tiergartentunnel closed every weeknight, no end date
Berlin's main Tiergarten road tunnel shuts Mon–Fri, 21:30 to 05:45, indefinitely. Staff shortages in the control room — required by law for a tunnel this size. If you drive through Tiergarten at night or take the M41 or M85, neither bus stops between Potsdamer Platz and Hauptbahnhof during closure hours. Plan around it. 🔗 More info here

🎬 Bulgarian Film Week, KLICK Kino, 23–26 April (and beyond)
Four films within this week's window at Charlottenburg's best arthouse cinema. Each screening includes guests and discussion. Tickets via KLICK's booking system. Address: Windscheidstr. 19, 10627 Berlin (S-Bahn Charlottenburg, U7 Wilmersdorfer Str., U2 Sophie-Charlotte-Platz). 🔗 More info here.

🚬 Nitrous oxide, illegal to sell since 12 April
Cartridges over 8g can no longer be sold in shops, online, or from vending machines anywhere in Germany. Under-18s cannot purchase, possess, or receive them either. 🔗 More info here.

🌤️ Mon 20 – Sun 26 April
Mild start, warming through the week. Highs around 13–14°C early on, rising to 17–18°C by the weekend. Lows are mostly 3–7°C; it's still cold at night, so take a layer. Dry Mon–Wed, showers possible Thu onwards, and drier Sunday. 🔗 More info here.

💻 Samsung Galaxy Book4 – €499 at Saturn (was €844)
A solid everyday laptop: 15.6-inch screen, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD. Great for work, study, and video calls, not for gaming. 🔗 More info here. Also check Geizhals to compare deals.

🎧 Sony WF-1000XM5 – from €179 (was €319)
Flagship noise‑cancelling earbuds. 8 hours of battery, 24 with the case. Silver is cheaper; black is also available. 🔗 MediaMarkt 🔗 Saturn

⭐ Needles and Opium (Robert Lepage) — Schaubühne
The festival closes with Robert Lepage's landmark work, its German premiere. Three stories in parallel: Jean Cocteau returning to Paris from New York in 1949, Miles Davis arriving in Paris the same year, and a heartbroken man from Québec in a Paris hotel room forty years later, trying to forget a lost love. All three entangled through addiction and longing. Acrobatics, live video, and rotating cubes. 95 minutes, no interval.

Fri 24 April 20:30 · Sat 25 April 18:30 · Sun 26 April 19:30 Kurfürstendamm 153, Charlottenburg — U7 Adenauerplatz 🔗 More info here.

⚽ Hertha BSC vs Holstein Kiel — Sat 25 April, 13:00
Home game at the Olympiastadion. 2. Bundesliga, Matchday 31. Hertha are currently 6th with a few games to go. Tickets from €28. Olympischer Platz, Charlottenburg — S5/S7 Olympiastadion. 🔗 More info here.

🏀 Alba Berlin vs Telekom Baskets Bonn — Mon 20 April, 20:00
Home game. Bonn arrives on a three-game winning streak. Alba is currently sitting 3rd in the BBL standings. Uber Arena, Friedrichshain. 🔗 More info here.

🎹 Philharmonie Free Lunchtime Concert — Wed 22 April, 13:00
Shira Fuchs and Avalon Stottrop (violin) and Yukino Kaihara (piano). Programme: Beethoven "Spring" Sonata, Ravel Tzigane, Mozart, Waxman Carmen Fantasy, Shostakovich Five Pieces. Free — no ticket needed. Numbered entry chips from 12:00 at the door. Limited capacity, fills before 13:00. Address: Herbert-von-Karajan-Str. 1, Tiergarten — S/U Potsdamer Platz. 🔗 More info here

🎵 Berghain — Thu 23 (Säule, 22:00) · Fri 24 (22:00) · Sat 25 (Klubnacht, 23:59)
The legendary club has events all weekend. Thursday is in the smaller Säule room, Friday at Panorama Bar, and Saturday is the main Klubnacht, which runs through Sunday. Specific lineups aren't out yet, so check the website from Wednesday. Doors open at 10pm on Thursday and Friday and at midnight on Saturday. Remember, the door policy is strict, and entry isn't guaranteed.
Address: Am Wriezener Bahnhof, Friedrichshain, S/U Ostbahnhof. 🔗 More info here

🌿 Berliner Frühlingsfest — final two weekends, closes 3 May. 🔗 More info here.
🎨 Marina Abramović — Gropius Bau, to 23 August. 🔗 More info here.
🎭 FIND Festival — full programme, Schaubühne, closes Sun 26 April. 🔗 More info here.
🎭 Bluets — Schaubühne, still running. 🔗 More info here.
🏃 Parkrun Hasenheide — Sat 25 April, 09:00, free. 🔗 More info here.

🏛️ OLD FAVOURITE — Horváth, Paul-Lincke-Ufer 44a, Kreuzberg
Two Michelin stars. Chef Sebastian Frank's vegetable-forward tasting menus: Austrian roots, Berlin sensibility, and no luxury clichés. Canal terrace in warm weather. One of the best restaurant settings in the city. Open Wed–Sat from 18:30. Booking essential; cancellations within 48 hours incur a €210/person fee. 🔗 More info here.

🌱 Ökomarkt Chamissoplatz — Sat 25 April, 09:00–15:00
One of Berlin's oldest organic markets, founded 1994 and run by local residents. Veg, fruit, cheese, bread, meat and flowers direct from regional producers. EU organic certified. Playground on site — good with kids. Low-key, neighbourly, no tourists. Chamissoplatz, Kreuzberg — U6 Gneisenaustraße. 🔗 More info here

🛍️ Flohmarkt Marheinekeplatz — Sat 25 + Sun 26 April, 10:00–17:00
Right on Bergmannstraße, the heart of the Bergmannkiez. Saturday and Sunday markets with secondhand clothes, vinyl, books, and housewares. Smaller and more local than the Mauerpark, with less performance and more proper rummaging. Bergmannstraße 106, Kreuzberg, U7 Gneisenaustraße 🔗 More info here.

Puccini: La Bohème — Staatsoper Unter den Linden
The classic story of a poet, a seamstress, and young love in 19th-century Paris. The opera is sung in Italian with German and English surtitles.

K. — Berliner Ensemble Sat 25 April — 19:30–22:35
Barrie Kosky stages Kafka's The Trial as a wild and musical show. The performance is in German, Yiddish and Hebrew with a live band, and it's sold out regularly. (English surtitles are not confirmed for this date, so it's best to check the website before you go.)

"Saying the Wrong Thing" — Wed 22 April, 20:00
Experienced comedians, get full creative freedom (no script, no filter). The Wall Comedy Club, Friedrichshain, U5 Samariterstraße. Tickets

Epic Comedy Showcase — Fri 24 April, 20:00
Curated English stand-up, best of Berlin's comedy scene. Zosch, Tucholskystrasse 30, Mitte, S Oranienburger Strasse. Tickets

Darkest Thoughts (late night) — Fri 24 April, 22:45
Comedians improvise based on audience suggestions written from your darkest thoughts, written on notes and handed in anonymously. Same night, same venue, stay on after the showcase. Tickets

Both Friday shows at Zosch, Tucholskystraße 30, Mitte, S Oranienburger Str.

📚 Another Country
Berlin's best English bookshop since 1989. 20,000 second‑hand books in a cosy Kreuzberg living room: fiction, history, poetry, and sci‑fi. Buy a book or borrow it: pay the price, return it, and get your money back minus just €1.50.

📍 Riemannstraße 7, 10961 Berlin — U7 Gneisenaustraße
🕒 Mon 14:00–20:00 · Tue–Fri 11:00–20:00 · Sat 12:00–18:00

👨‍👩‍👧 SuperCity 3000 Deutsches Technikmuseum, Kreuzberg · Now until 27 June 2026
Sixty Berlin primary school kids designed their future city: hovering transport, solar treehouses, waste robots, and future parks, and their models are the centrepiece of an interactive exhibition. Hands-on throughout.

The museum itself is one of Berlin's best family days out: aircraft, locomotives and the world's first programmable computer all under the same roof. Ten minutes from Bergmannstraße.

💡 Free every Friday from 13:00 — Fri, 24 April, is fully free.

Trebbiner Straße 9, Kreuzberg — U1/U2/U3 Gleisdreieck · U1/U3/U7 Möckernbrücke Tue–Fri 09:00–17:30. · Sat–Sun 10:00–18:00 · Closed Monday: €15 adults · Under 18 free · Fridays from 13:00 free 🔗 More info here.

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See you next time. Same time. Same Kiez.

— Yassir