Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Religion

Christianity is the largest religion in Germany with 59,981,000 (73.14%) per end of 2006 adherents. The second largest religion is Islam with 3.3 million adherents (4%) followed by Buddhism and Judaism.


Christian

The city of Berlin is rich in the number and in the kind of churches it has to offer for Christians from other countries.


Christian Churches:
Gateway International Church
Gospel Believers Center
Intl. Triumphant Church of Christ
International Baptist Church
Open Door Mission Church e.V.
Oromo Christian Fellowship
Protestant Faith Fellowship (PFF)- Pentecostal Church of Berlin




Buddhist

Not only Tibetan Buddhism is represented here, but also Sri Lankan, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese and Korean - with more or less westernised traditions, or actual Korean or Chinese Buddhist communities. All centres offer meditation sessions and talks, some also organise courses, weekend courses, and retreats.

Buddhist centres:

Buddhistisches Tor Berlin
Buddhistisches Zentrum Berlin
Das Buddhistische Haus

Dharmakaya, Schloss Sommerswalde
...



Islamic

It is a little known fact that Berlin had a small islamic community, with its own mosque before the First World War. Currently the islamic population of the city numbers some 200,000. A list of the location of 34 Berlin mosques is available from the Zentralrat der Muslime .




Jewish

Berlin was once one of the great Jewish cities of the world. The Jewish Community organization maintains five synagogues, most of them renovated buildings dating from before the 1930s.

Synagogues:
Pestalozzistrasse
Joachimstaler Strasse
Fraenkelufer
Herbartstrasse
...

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Deutsche Welle

Deutsche Welle TV programmes


- Journal

- euromaxx

- People and Politics / Politik direkt

- Made in Germany

- European Journal / Europa Aktuell

- Bundesliga Kick off!

- drive it! / motor mobil

- popXport

- Discover Germany / Gute Reise TV

- KINO

- Arts.21 / Kultur.21

- Tomorrow Today / Projekt Zukunft

- Quadriga

- Capital Cities

- Documentaries on DW-TV



Music

Germans have played an overwhelming role in world music.

Many of the best classical musicians such as Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Handel, Brahms or Mahler were ethnically German.



PUNK
German punk has a long and diverse history. Important rock band like Die Ärzte and Die Toten Hosen originated from the underground punk scene in the 1980s.

HEAVY METAL
Heavy metal bands from Germany include Scorpions, Accept, Helloween, Blind Guardian and Rage.

ROCK
Neue Deutsche Härte is a style of rock music. It combines the common sound of metal with electronic samples and is mostly sung with German lyrics.


Germany has the largest electronic music scene in the world.
The band Kraftwerk was one of the first bands in the world to make music entirely on electronic equipment, and the band Tangerine Dream is often credited as being among the originators and primary influences of the "Berlin School" of electronic music, which would later influence trance music. Some other bands like Liaisons Dangereuses, Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft and Die Krupps created a style later called Electronic body music.



FAMOUS MUSICS OF GERMANY

Carl Friedrich Zelter
Richard Strauss
Aribert Reiman
Arnold Schönber
Felix Mendelssohn Barthol
Albert Lortzin
Frederick Loewe
Paul Hindemit
Clara Schumann


SOCIAL ACTS

Sarah Barsamian - BBRAVO
Cheryl Duggan - Production of RUMORS at the 1870 Hall
Maryanne MacLeod - The Indians of Berlin
Tahanto Music Parents Organization - Quintessential Brass Enrichment Program
John Porcino - To Life! Celebrations of Life and Songs
Berlin Lions Club - Christmas in Berlin
Evelyn Dueck - Summer Community Band
Martin Miller - Shaping the Environment, Farming in Berlin
John Root - Senior Citizen Musical Program
Tahanto Music Parents Organization - Worcester Jazz Orchestra Workshop/Concert
1870 Town Hall - Youth Summer Band Woekshop
Art to Gogh - Wild About Art Workshop
Berlin Memorial School - Tales for Peace & Tall Tales and Whoppers
Nicole Reardon - Publishing Children’s Book
Tahanto Regional High School - Boston Symphony Orchestra Youth Concert Series
The Bolton Fair, Inc. - Kids Country
Berlin Memorial School - Worcester Art Museum
Berlin Public Library - Cooking with Katie
Berlin Art and Historical Society - National Registry Photo Documentation
Berlin Country Orchestra - Free Family Dance
Worcester County Horticultural Society - Five-Star Concert Series
Berlin Public Library - Science Quest
Calliope Productions, Inc. - 2008 Youth Theatre Program
Hudson Area Arts Alliance - River’s Edge Participant & Performance Program
Berlin Country Orchestra - Free Contra Dance


Wednesday, November 5, 2008