Festival, Nikolaiviertel

Museum Festival for the Anniversary

Old Town Charm in the Nikolaiviertel
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Michael Setzpfandt
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Illustration: Groupe Dejour

On Saturday, June 21st, we warmly invite you to our grand, free Museum Festival as part of the Fête de la Musique: Celebrate with us the 30th anniversary of the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin in the historic Nikolaiviertel.

Prices
Regular: free of charge
Location
Nikolaiviertel | 10178 Berlin

Parking around the Nikolaiviertel is very limited. We recommend arriving by public transport.

During the museum festival, video and photo recordings will be made for the public relations purposes of the Stadtmuseum Berlin. By participating, you agree that these recordings may be published.
Event
Duration
6h

History Meets Music

Enjoy a diverse music program on two stages in the Nikolaiviertel. Experience the talented Berlin singer-songwriter King Josephine, the captivating rhythms from around the world by Calango All Styles OrkeStar, and the unique Operndolmuş of the Komische Oper Berlin.
Discover the Nikolaiviertel through exciting tours, visit our fascinating exhibitions at the Museum Knoblauchhaus, Museum Nikolaikirche, and Museum Ephraim-Palais. Build musical instruments with your children, dance in the tango workshop, and learn more about our collections and the work of our friends and support associations.

Moderators: Anjouna Novak, Melanie Huber

Programme

The exact times of the individual program points and additional music acts will be announced shortly.

Concerts

  • The Operndolmuş presents “Hadi Bakalım – Let’s go!”
  • Die Bunte Bande Berlin
  • King Josephine
  • Calango All Style OrkeStar
  • “Milonga en Piso Alemán” – a dance installation by Philip Kojo Metz
  • Concert at the Lyra piano in the Museum Knoblauchhaus

Tours & Workshops

  • Creative offer: Instrument workshop
  • Dance workshop on Murga & Candombe
  • Legends and myths in the Nikolaiviertel
  • City walk through the Nikolaiviertel
  • Curatorial tour through BerlinZEIT
  • Curatorial tour through the Museum Knoblauchhaus

Museums

Our museums in the Nikolaiviertel are open to you during the Museum Festival. Admission on this day is free.

The detailed programme

The Operndolmuş presents “Hadi Bakalım – Let’s go!”
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Oliver Ziebe

The Operndolmuş presents “Hadi Bakalım – Let’s go!”

Stage in Nikolaiviertel
The Operndolmuş, a minibus full of opera stars, will stop in the Nikolaiviertel. The program, not too long and not too short, features famous opera arias, Berlin operetta duets, Turkish pop music, and Anatolian rock, inviting everyone to join in for an exciting ride through musical worlds in opera singing attire. The Operndolmuş is brought to the streets by Selam Opera, the outreach program of the Komische Oper Berlin.

Die Bunte Bande Berlin

Stage in Nikolaiviertel
The capital city choir “Die Bunte Bande Berlin” brings together diverse voices from all corners of the city into one choir. Here, the newcomer to Berlin meets the long-established native Berliner, indie meets pop, guitar meets piano, with the effect that there seems to be no guiding principle – except the shared joy of music. This way, the “Bande” makes the audience shine. Singing along and dancing are explicitly allowed and encouraged!
Die Bunte Bande Berlin
© Bunte Bande Berlin
King Josephine: Multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer-songwriter
© & PHoto: Nadja Krüger

King Josephine

Stage in Nikolaiviertel

King Josephine is a Berlin-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. In her recently released project, she tells life stories that deal with love, racism, mental health, and queerness, bridging universal human themes with emotions, humor, and wisdom. Her captivating voice has long enchanted audiences across Europe.

Calango All Styles OrkeStar

Stage in Nikolaiviertel

The Calango All Styles OrkeStar, also known as “CAS OrkeStar” by fans, is a 20-member ensemble from Berlin with a well-balanced mix of expressive percussion, impressive electro-strings, and distinctive brass sound. The variety of instruments – from cello to baritone saxophone, metal clarinet, surdo, and berimbau to voice and flute – reflects the wide range of danceable sounds and styles from around the world: from funk, jazz, reggae, polka, klezmer, salsa, mambo, and samba to fusion and folk rock.
Calango All Styles OrkeStar
© & Photo: Manuel Vering
Grit Schulze at the Lyra Piano
© Stadtmuseum Berlin

Concert at the Lyra Piano

Museum Knoblauchhaus | Limited number of participants

Experience the inimitable sound of the restored Lyra piano (F. A. Klein, Berlin) from 1835. Pianist and member of the Knoblauchhaus Friends Association, Grit Schulze, will play classical music pieces from the Biedermeier period on this historic instrument. Embark on a journey through time and listen to the sounds in the unique Biedermeier ambiance.

“Milonga en Piso Alemán”

In front of the Nikolaikirche

The name of the installation refers to the Ghanaian fortress Groß-Friedrichsburg. The dance floor corresponds to the layout of the room from which enslaved people were shipped overseas. The architect of this fortress is buried in the Nikolaikirche. The installation is accompanied by a music program curated by Negar Taymoorzadeh and live musicians playing tango – a music genre with Afro-American roots that has long been marginalized. Taymoorzadeh and Philip Kojo Metz explore the “Black History of Tango” and bring it into focus. Dancing is explicitly encouraged!

Music: Momo Abel and Damián DAlessandro
Milonga en Piso Alemán
© & Photo: Philip Kojo Metz
Come to the workshop in the Nikolaiviertel!
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Phil Dera

Instrument Workshop

In front of the Children’s Salon at the Museum Knoblauchhaus

In just a few steps, build a sound body from an empty deposit bottle for plucking and bowing. It’s easy to play like a mini-zither and is perfect for new sound experiments and spontaneous street music in the Nikolaiviertel. Together, we’ll let the sounds swing through the neighborhood.

Dance Workshop on Murga & Candombe

Schlütersaal at the Museum Ephraim-Palais | Limited number of participants | Please collect a free ticket at the Museum Ephraim-Palais ticket counter on the day of the event.

The workshop begins with a brief introduction to Argentine Murga and Candombe – two music styles that strongly reference their African roots. Through physicality and movement, we approach the elements of the Black history of tango and make them directly tangible. Afterwards, everyone is warmly invited to the thematically related Milonga with live music.
There’s always an opportunity to dance: here in front of the Museum Ephraim-Palais
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Michael Setzpfandt
The “Kaak” adorns both the original courthouse canopy of the former Berlin Town Hall in Babelsberg Palace Park (pictured) and its replica in the Berlin Nikolaiviertel.
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Rolf Goetze

Legends and Myths in the Nikolaiviertel

Meeting point in front of the Museum Ephraim-Palais | Limited number of participants | Please collect a free ticket at the Museum Ephraim-Palais ticket counter on the day of the event.

Join us on an exploration tour through the Nikolaiviertel. Families will encounter the Berlin Bear and learn how a giant’s rib came to Berlin. They will meet the Paddenwirt, discover the meaning of his name, and get acquainted with the “Kaak.” A visit to the dragon slayer George is also on the agenda, as well as a walk through the shortest street in Berlin.

City Walk through the Nikolaiviertel

Meeting point in front of the Museum Ephraim-Palais | Limited number of participants | Please collect a free ticket at the Museum Ephraim-Palais ticket counter on the day of the event. | The tour is held in German.

Discover the Berlin Nikolaiviertel during the Museum Festival! The mix of reconstruction and prefabricated buildings is undoubtedly an important part of Berlin’s architectural history.
Guided tour through the Nikolaiviertel
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Christian Kielmann
On two floors of the museum, the curator of the exhibition takes you on a journey through the centuries.
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Christian Kielmann

Curatorial Tour through BerlinZEIT

Museum Ephraim-Palais, 2nd Floor | Limited number of participants | Please collect a free ticket at the museum’s ticket counter on the day of the event. | The tour is held in German.

The brief tour with curator Gernot Schaulinski provides you with interesting facts about the city’s history and focuses on Berlin’s growth into a metropolis from its expansion into the surrounding areas in 1920 to the present day. The tour places special emphasis on the historical context in which the Stadtmuseum Berlin was established.

Curatorial Tour of the Museum Knoblauchhaus

Museum Knoblauchhaus | Limited number of participants | Please collect a free ticket at the museum’s ticket counter on the day of the event. | The tour is held in German.

Through silk trade, architecture, and the establishment of a brewery, the Knoblauch family shaped Berlin’s life. Today, their former residence is a museum. The “Berlin Salon” on the upper floor also presents the metropolitan network of silk merchant and politician Carl Knoblauch. The brief curatorial tour with Dr. Jan Mende tells of the everyday life of the wealthy Berlin population two hundred years ago and offers fascinating insights into the period between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the Revolution of 1848.
Guided tour through the Museum Knoblauchhaus
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Michael Setzpfandt

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