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	Dear readers, dear colleagues: Exotic art, enchanting revues, and outstanding museums – spring in Berlin is taking off with a multitude of cultural highpoints.  For example, the past meets the present as the Nikolaikirche, the oldest church in the city, is reopened after a costly restoration.  The Martin-Gropius-Bau is providing insights into the world of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, while the 2nd Extended Opera and Theatre Night is the perfect invitation to discover Berlin’s stages.  You can learn more about these and other events in the current edition of the Culture Top Ten News. Warm regards from Berlin!

Frida Kahlo – Retrospective Colorful paintings with tragic subjects: from April 30 to August 9, 2010, the Martin-Gropius-Bau will present works by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Better than any other artist in the first half of the twentieth century, she was able to combine the dazzling culture of her native country with her own traumatic experiences. “Frida Kahlo – Retrospective” shows around 120 of the artist’s paintings and drawings. More at www.gropiusbau.de

Reopening of the Nikolaikirche Berlin’s oldest church is shining with a new radiance. On March 21, 2010 – the Nikolaikirche, which was built in the thirteenth century in the eponymous Nikolai district, the “cradle of Berlin” – will be reopened after comprehensive renovation work. At the same time, a new permanent exhibition will be initiated which will make use of seven so-called “thematic islands” to inform visitors about the history of the church and the city of Berlin. More at www.stadtmuseum.de (only in German)

2nd Extended Opera and Theatre Night One evening, one ticket – up to seventy different stages! On April 10, 2010, the “Extended Opera and Theatre Night” will be on the program for the second time. Between 7:00 P.M. and 1:00 A.M., the participating stages will present a colorful mixture of theatre, opera, dance, performance art, musicals, and cabaret with program excerpts lasting around thirty minutes, starting every hour. More at www.kulturprojekte-berlin.de

Design Award for the Neues Museum The Neues Museum (New Museum) on Berlin’s Museum Island is the winner of this year’s Travel + Leisure Design Awards in the category “Best Museum 2010”. Every year, this renowned American travel magazine honors outstanding design and modern architecture in the world of travelers. More at www.travelandleisure.com

Friedrichstadtpalast Enchants with Yma A world premiere in Europe’s largest show palace: beginning on September 2, 2010, Berlin will be inspired by “Yma – Too Beautiful to Be True”. A diva is at the center of the new production. Together with sixty dancers and supremely gifted artistes, she whisks the audience away into a realm of fantasy. More at www.friedrichstadtpalast.de

German Premiere: Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum From March 17, 2010 to June 6, 2010, the Martin-Gropius-Bau is offering Germany’s first glimpse of the collection of the Aga Khan.  In this exhibition, around two hundred works of Islamic art document more than a thousand years of cultural history.  Among the items on display are the oldest manuscript that has been translated to date from the “Canon of Medicine” by the philosopher Avicenna.  More at www.gropiusbau.de

Gallery Weekend From April 30 to May 2, 2010, around forty leading Berlin galleries are opening their doors for a tour through the colorful creative scene of the German capital. For four days, lovers of art and design will have the possibility to attend exclusive openings and to discover contemporary art. More at www.gallery-weekend-berlin.de

Festtage 2010 of the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden Top-quality stars may once again be heard with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden at this year’s “Festtage 2010”. From March 26 to April 5, 2010, the Staatskappelle Berlin, the Staatsoperchor, and famous greats of music such as Anna Netrebko and Andrzéj Dobber will perform outstanding operatic works under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim. More at www.staatsoper-berlin.de

Berliner Frühlingsklassik The concert series “Berliner Frühlingsklassik” (“Berlin Classic Spring”) combines classical music by the greatest composers with historical settings. Renowned artists will play works by Chopin, Mozart, and Schumann in April and May at a variety of locations in and around Berlin, including the Französische Dom at the Gendarmenmarkt, the Spandau citadel, and Köpenick Palace. More at www.berliner-schlosskonzerte.de (only in German)

VERSUS – the New Show at the Chamäleon Artistry that defies gravity – that is “VERSUS”, the new show in the Chamäleon Theater. Eight extraordinary performance artists display their skills and seem to no longer be bound to the ground. The spectacle between heaven and earth is to be experienced live starting on March 16. More at www.chamaeleonberlin.de

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