Save The Date: Long Night of Museums

On 24 August 2024, we will open our doors from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. for the Long Night of Museums 2024 under the motto ‘Berlin Secrets’.
Discover this unique place of learning and remembrance of displacement, expulsion and forced migration in the past and present, where diversity is honoured. Whether you prefer classical, jazz or electronic music, there is something for everyone! You can also take part in themed guided tours, workshops, readings or a rally. You can also experience intercultural culinary delights with Kreuzberger Himmel. Refugees from different countries work here and present delicious specialities.
 

Programme

Performance & Music

Radu Ratoi / Solo accordion
Accordion virtuoso Radu Ratoi presents works from his contemporary repertoire that are little known. Ratoi performs as a soloist with renowned orchestras all over the world. He played at the Berlin Philharmonie as part of the Pantonale Festival ‘Friedenstraum’ with musicians from Ukraine, Russia, the Republic of Moldova and other countries.

Time: 20.00 / 22.00 (performance duration: 30 minutes)
Where: 1st floor, workshop

Musica Reanimata / Cello and piano
Since 1990, the musica reanimata association has been working to restore to musical life works that were long inaccessible to us due to the persecution, expulsion or murder of composers by the National Socialists. The cellist Peter Sarkar from Weimar and the Berlin pianist Uwe Kralisch will play some of these largely unknown pieces.

Time: 7.30 pm (performance duration: 30 minutes)
Where: Event hall

Musica Reanimata / Piano
Since 1990, the musica reanimata association has been working to restore to musical life works that were long inaccessible to us due to the persecution, expulsion or murder of composers by the National Socialists. With her work, pianist Katarzyna Wasiak contributes to the historical reappraisal of Polish-Jewish cultural heritage.

Time: 9.30 pm (performance duration: 30 minutes)
Where: Event hall

Radio Django with Janko Lauenberger
Jazz from Berlin influenced by Sinti music: The excellent Berlin jazz quartet Radio Django with Janko Lauenberger (guitar) interprets the music of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli in their own way.

Time: 19.00 / 2 1.00 (performance duration: 30 minutes)
Where: Event hall

Time: 23.00 (performance duration: 30 minutes )
Where: 1st floor, workshop

Kimia Bani and Ben Osborn / Live performance with unknown instruments
Ben Osborn, composer, musician, sound designer and co-founder of Open Music Lab, teams up with Kimia Bani, an Iranian percussionist known for combining Eastern and Western traditions. They present a live performance that combines electronic music with traditional Persian instruments, some of which are unknown to us.

Time: 20.30 / 22.30 (performance duration: 30 minutes)
Where: Event hall

Moji - DJ Set Downtempo
Moji was born in Iran and masters various traditional instruments. With an academic background in electrical engineering, he was drawn to the pulsating rhythms of electronic music when he moved to Berlin in 2009. Since then, he has been creating a mysterious and atmospheric mood for audiences as an ‘ethno-sound artist’.

Time: 18.00 - 19.00 hrs
Where: ground floor, foyer

Echoes of Iran: A multi-instrumental experience
We invite you to a performance by Moji and Pouriya Raisi, two artists whose musical journeys merge seamlessly. Moji, a Berlin-based DJ, brings vibrant energy to his sets and creates immersive experiences. Pouriya Raisi masters traditional instruments such as tanbur and divan and combines maqam with dynamic rhythms.

Time: 23.30 - 01.30
Where: ground floor, foyer
 

Guided tours

What pictures don't show - photographs of displacement and expulsion
Photographs play a central role in the memory of displacement - they shape our idea of the experiences and causes of flight. But who actually takes photos of displacement? In what situations are these images taken and on whose behalf? And do these images always reflect reality?

Time: 19.00 (EN) / 21.00 / 22.30 (guided tour, 30 minutes)
Where: Meeting point EG, Info Point

Spotlight tours - What objects hide...
A coat, a pot, a horse-drawn cart: many of the objects on display at the Documentation Centre appear inconspicuous at first glance. However, they actually conceal exciting secrets and stories, which we reveal in our short guided tours!

Time: 18.30 / 20.00 (EN) / 20.30 / 22.00 / 23.00 / 23.30 (EN)
(guided tours, 15 minutes)
Where: Meeting point ground floor, Info Point

Behind the Scenes - Meet The Director
Many people work on a large exhibition, the road is long and not everything succeeds. Learn interesting and previously unknown details about the making-of from our director Gundula Bavendamm.

Time: 19.30 / 21.30 (EN) / 23.30 (guided tour, 30 minutes)
Where: Meeting point EG, Info Point

Strong and vulnerable - women on displacement
More than half of all people who have had to flee or have been expelled are women and girls! They are often exposed to gender-specific violence and dangers during displacement. We will address the challenges faced by women and girls on displacement and look at testimonies that tell of their experiences then and now.

Time: 19.30 / 21.00 / 22.30 (EN) (guided tour, 30 minutes)
Where: Meeting point ground floor, Info Point

The languages of Berlin - from Charlottengrad to Arabische Straße
Linguistic diversity characterises Berlin: bilingualism is part of everyday life, new ‘mishmash languages’ are emerging and places and streets are given Arabic or Russian-sounding nicknames. The tour focuses on some of the most widely spoken languages in Berlin and explores their current and historical references to forced migration.

Time: 19.00 / 20.30 (EN) / 21.30 (guided tour, 30 minutes)
Where: Meeting point EG, Info Point

Between home and abroad - the (late) repatriates
(Late) repatriates are still one of the largest migrant groups in Germany today. However, they are by no means a uniform group - their backgrounds and places of origin are diverse. Where do these people come from? What connects them? How did they arrive and integrate in Germany?

Time: 18.30 / 20.00 / 22.00 (EN) (guided tour, 30 minutes)
Where: Meeting point on the ground floor, Info Point

Behind the scenes - what exactly is a magazine?
In this half-hour guided tour through the magazine and reading room of our contemporary witness archive, we offer you an exciting look behind the scenes, discover personal documents and diaries and give you tips on researching in our archive database.

Time: 20.00 / 22.30 (guided tour, 30 minutes)
Where: Meeting point 1st floor, library

Readings & Workshops

Workshop ‘Traces left behind...? The basics of family research
Many people whose family history is characterised by displacement or expulsion are still searching for their own roots today, especially on the other side of the Oder and Neisse rivers in Eastern Europe. In our workshop you will learn how such a search can lead to success.

Time: 19.00 / 21.30
Where: 1st floor, library

Every second Berliner a Silesian?
Reading and discussion with Roswitha Schieb
Silesian railway station, Silesian Gate... even today, many places in Berlin refer to the once close connections to the region between the Oder and the Giant Mountains. Roswitha Schieb takes us on a short journey of discovery and reveals one or two Berlin secrets.

Time: 19.30 / 21.00 (30 minutes)
Where: 1st floor, library

Speed dating: What does a curator actually do? And what does an archivist do?
Curator, director, museologist, registrar, archivist... The professions at the museum are as varied as the people who work here. Talk to our colleagues, find out details and unknown aspects of their exciting work!

Time: 19.30 / 21.00 / 22.30
Where: 1st floor, corridor

Take part

Rally
Follow the clues and find hidden objects of the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation! What secrets do they hide? In addition to exciting discoveries and a small surprise when you hand in your completed rally sheet, you could win one of our prizes.

Time: 18.00 - 01.30
Where: Meeting point EG

Lorbass, Marjellchen & Co. - a dialect memory game
What is a Lorbass, what does Marjellchen mean? Discover forgotten terms from the former German eastern territories in a playful way.

Time: 18.00 - 23.00 hrs
Where: 1st floor, library

Drop-in: ‘Heimatzeichen(n)en’
Home can be so many things! Very different images arise in our minds when we think of home - our ideas of home are as diverse as our lives. Together we create a large, colourful picture in which utopias have just as much space as memories of our home(s).

Time: 18.00 - 01.30 hrs
Where: 1st floor, corridor

Culinary delights

Culinary delights in Kreuzberg heaven
Experience intercultural culinary delights with Kreuzberger Himmel. Refugees from different countries work here and present delicious specialities. The culinary experience is accompanied by a selection of refreshing drinks.

Time: 18.00 - 01.30
Where: Ground floor, foyer

Also

Neon signs and dance pavilions: the forgotten history of the Deutschlandhaus
Film installation
From a symbol of Berlin's nightlife in the interwar period to the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation: visitors can learn more about the history and architecture of the building in four themed short films.

Time: 18.00 - 01.30 hrs
Where: Ground floor, Room of Silence

Advance tickets are available on the website of the Long Night of Museums Berlin.