http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/may/22/berlin-city-break
Helen Pidd, The Guardian, Saturday 22 May 2010
The decadence of the 1920s is back in fashion in the German capital, so vamp it up like Dietrich with our tips on everything from the best bars for a glass of absinthe to where to shop for that vintage party frock.
Whether you want to have sex with strangers (kitkatclub.de), or dance to techno until teatime (berghain.de), Berlin has long been the place to do it. The taste for excess in this magnet for hedonists is often considered a modern phenomenon, shaped by electronic music and fuelled by chemicals. But Berlin's reputation as a party town stems from the glorious years between 1924 and 1929.
Then, amid the political turmoil and civil unrest of the Weimar Republic, pleasure-seekers flocked to the city to dress up, dance, drink and express themselves – be it in theatre (Bertolt Brecht), film (Marlene Dietrich, Fritz Lang), architecture (Erich Mendelsohn, Mies van der Rohe), art (Otto Dix, George Grosz) or literature (Christopher Isherwood).
Now, with the historical resonance turned up to 11 as Germany's squabbling government tries to drag the country out of recession, Berlin's creative types have decided this is the time for a 1920s revival. Know where to go and you can dress up as a flapper, dance the Charleston, drink absinthe while smoking from a foot-long cigarette holder and generally behave as though the Second Reich is going to hell in a handcart. From 23-29 August, the city will be overrun with people dressed in 20s costume at the annual Historiale history festival. But you don't need to wait till then. Head to Berlin at any time and still get a taste for what the city was like during the Golden Twenties.
Now, with the historical resonance turned up to 11 as Germany's squabbling government tries to drag the country out of recession, Berlin's creative types have decided this is the time for a 1920s revival. Know where to go and you can dress up as a flapper, dance the Charleston, drink absinthe while smoking from a foot-long cigarette holder and generally behave as though the Second Reich is going to hell in a handcart. From 23-29 August, the city will be overrun with people dressed in 20s costume at the annual Historiale history festival. But you don't need to wait till then. Head to Berlin at any time and still get a taste for what the city was like during the Golden Twenties.
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