Berlin is a modern typography hub, the influence Spiekermann has in the DACH region and maybe even beyond is hard to overestimate.
Apart from that if you come to Berlin and you are the kind of person that would have liked the Buchstabenmuseum you should try to get an opportunity to visit the crashed space station.
> Fixed costs and a lack of financial support are forcing us to take this step. In addition, the general cultural situation in Berlin is very precarious. It was a very difficult decision for us.
Partial explanation: Gentrification + increased costs because of inflation is my understanding.
Berlin has been relatively underpopulated ever since WW2 which seems to have contributed to a de-gentrified situation which allowed an unique culture to grow. But time's are changing.
What does this even mean? Does this mean "low cost of living"? I feel like gentrification due to post-war generational housing shortages is now just a catch all term for increasing cost of living in general.
Berlin lost over 1.5m inhabitants in the time since 1945 to its lowest point after reunification (due to being a divided city without much industrial jobs).
At it height 1 in 5 apartments were empty in Berlin which pushed rents down below 4 EUR per square meter. A 3 bedroom apartment for less than 500 EURs a month. This was de-gentrification the parent mentioned.
Since 2010 population grew and now Berlin has housing shortages like every other capital in Europe. Rents now top 20 EUR per sqm.
Sure it's mostly about cost of living but also relatively good access to abandoned buildings (and perhaps other services) that could be used for non housing purposes. A lot of Berlin clubs and art venues started in buildings that were abandoned if I understand correctly.
I recall that there were interesting similarities after depopulation events like the black plague. Suddenly there's a surplus of built infrastructure.
Berlin is the best proof that capitalism destroys culture. We should probably find a way to prevent that from happening. The current German and Berlin government would rather accelerate it though - besides the funding thing, they're currently ramming a highway expansion straight through a cultural area.
According to HN moderators this is a bad comment and I should be punished for posting it.
"but it does indicate that an abundance of cheap housing/buildings makes culture thrive."
Not on its own, though. Plenty of abandoned/underpopulated cheap places in europe that do not thrive. But it certainly is beneficial.
(in the case of Berlin, there was for example a special effect, that all germans living in west berlin did not had to go to the army (to not having to shoot their relatives in east berlin) - so lots of counterculture people evading the army came to Berlin and they created culture)
Berlin, like other large cities, suffers from cancerous population density growth. It's sucking the life away from nearby cities, while the cost of living keeps skyrocketing.
This is a bummer - headed to Berlin for the first time in a few weeks and hoped to visit. Any recommendations for similarly geek-oriented side trips in Berlin?
Technikmuseum [0] has many different technology-related exhibitions. And the Spectrum (separate building) has a lot of physics- and science experiments you can actively try out. Loved it as a kid.
Not sure if it counts as geek-oriented but take a look at the guided tours by Berliner Unterwelten [1]. They are really good. (Tours in English are available)
Money spent on startups isn't charity, you do it in the expectation of (in aggregate) profit -- so it's not rivalrous with charities. People who might support museums earn money on investments that they can then use for charities.
If you believe that you are better at picking winners (slop startups vs non-slop startups) than the rest of the investment world, then that's a valuable skill that you could use to earn a lot of money that you could then use to support museums if you choose.
It's a deeply capitalist perspective to respond to a criticism of the excesses and inefficiency of wild, unfounded capital speculation with 'Well if you so smart, why ain't you rich?!?'
Is that so unreasonable? Lots of people post that Wall Street corporations are dominated by short term, next quarter thinking. If that were true, then shorting those stocks would be a profitable plan. It seems reasonable to point out that if one is so sure corporations were going to tank because of short term thinking, they could get rich by shorting the stock.
Well, let's go with a learning exercise. Do you think that you should dismiss the fact that someone said something dumb because you perceive them as being on the right side? Then I guess it's good for you.
Well if you are very against capitalism, that would be pretty bad, but ONLY if you are then also a hypocrite working for amounts of money that would make anyone not in the top 20 percent of the world population's eyes pop;
Deduct extra points if you ever accepted stock options, ever tried to start a startup or did a side hustle because you wanted MORE than the bare minimum you need to survive. (Like those capitalist pigs do!)
Or if you are typing this from a mobile phone or laptop computer that costs an amount of money that would be unimaginable to the typical person for most of human history.
Otherwise you're golden. Socialism truly is the superior moral position. It's so obvious we can all agree. And you should lead by example by giving away everything that you might need less than some other random poor person out there.
I agree completely. Museums, culture, and other wasteful/pointless excesses should be deducted from profits - at the discretion of the profiteer - only after the actually useful work of poisoning the drinking water to generate pornography is complete.
Sad to hear.
Berlin is a modern typography hub, the influence Spiekermann has in the DACH region and maybe even beyond is hard to overestimate.
Apart from that if you come to Berlin and you are the kind of person that would have liked the Buchstabenmuseum you should try to get an opportunity to visit the crashed space station.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-base
The Museum Der Dinge is also worth a visit: https://museumderdinge.org/
As for why they are closing:
> Fixed costs and a lack of financial support are forcing us to take this step. In addition, the general cultural situation in Berlin is very precarious. It was a very difficult decision for us.
Via Deepl, original here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLuAW5DIANV/
> cultural situation in Berlin is very precarious
Can someone please elaborate this for someone who is absolutely clueless about Berlin?
Partial explanation: Gentrification + increased costs because of inflation is my understanding.
Berlin has been relatively underpopulated ever since WW2 which seems to have contributed to a de-gentrified situation which allowed an unique culture to grow. But time's are changing.
Look at this pop graph: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_population_statistics Still hasn't caught up with the peak in the 1930:s.
>a de-gentrified situation
What does this even mean? Does this mean "low cost of living"? I feel like gentrification due to post-war generational housing shortages is now just a catch all term for increasing cost of living in general.
Berlin lost over 1.5m inhabitants in the time since 1945 to its lowest point after reunification (due to being a divided city without much industrial jobs).
At it height 1 in 5 apartments were empty in Berlin which pushed rents down below 4 EUR per square meter. A 3 bedroom apartment for less than 500 EURs a month. This was de-gentrification the parent mentioned.
Since 2010 population grew and now Berlin has housing shortages like every other capital in Europe. Rents now top 20 EUR per sqm.
Sure it's mostly about cost of living but also relatively good access to abandoned buildings (and perhaps other services) that could be used for non housing purposes. A lot of Berlin clubs and art venues started in buildings that were abandoned if I understand correctly.
I recall that there were interesting similarities after depopulation events like the black plague. Suddenly there's a surplus of built infrastructure.
Berlin is the best proof that capitalism destroys culture. We should probably find a way to prevent that from happening. The current German and Berlin government would rather accelerate it though - besides the funding thing, they're currently ramming a highway expansion straight through a cultural area.
According to HN moderators this is a bad comment and I should be punished for posting it.
Did the prior good Belin culture develop under a economic system other than capitalism?
Yeah I don't agree that this proves something about capitalism but it does indicate that an abundance of cheap housing/buildings makes culture thrive.
"but it does indicate that an abundance of cheap housing/buildings makes culture thrive."
Not on its own, though. Plenty of abandoned/underpopulated cheap places in europe that do not thrive. But it certainly is beneficial.
(in the case of Berlin, there was for example a special effect, that all germans living in west berlin did not had to go to the army (to not having to shoot their relatives in east berlin) - so lots of counterculture people evading the army came to Berlin and they created culture)
It's politics that prevents the construction of cheap housing, not capitalism.
Start here, you can use a translator
https://www.rbb24.de/politik/beitrag/2025/02/chialo-einsparu...
Municipal/state government cutting budgets.
Berlin, like other large cities, suffers from cancerous population density growth. It's sucking the life away from nearby cities, while the cost of living keeps skyrocketing.
What cultural situation are they referring to?
I believe they mean "funding for culture," i.e. public grants for museums.
This is a bummer - headed to Berlin for the first time in a few weeks and hoped to visit. Any recommendations for similarly geek-oriented side trips in Berlin?
Technikmuseum [0] has many different technology-related exhibitions. And the Spectrum (separate building) has a lot of physics- and science experiments you can actively try out. Loved it as a kid.
[0] https://technikmuseum.berlin/en/
The Computerspielemuseum is worth a visit. https://www.computerspielemuseum.de/
100%, you can play a lot of retro arcades for free after u paid the 5€ entry fee. 10/10 experience
Totally! Dont miss it.
Not sure if it counts as geek-oriented but take a look at the guided tours by Berliner Unterwelten [1]. They are really good. (Tours in English are available)
[1] https://www.berliner-unterwelten.de/en/index.html
In a similar vein there's the Neon Museum in Warsaw.
https://www.neonmuzeum.org/english
It's sad. I did not know this exists, where do people find locations like this?
Berlin is an open air museum for typography
As is Vienna. Definitely a typographers dream.
https://www.stadtschrift.at
Why do they need a museum dedicated to back stabbing?
Oh no! We were just there a couple of months ago. I hope they find a good home for their collection.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchstabenmuseum
It opened in 2016.
This post is likely the most attention it has ever received.
It opened in 2005 and moved in 2016
Probably the money gambled away on slop AI startups in a single week could sustain thousands of museums like this for decades
Money spent on startups isn't charity, you do it in the expectation of (in aggregate) profit -- so it's not rivalrous with charities. People who might support museums earn money on investments that they can then use for charities.
If you believe that you are better at picking winners (slop startups vs non-slop startups) than the rest of the investment world, then that's a valuable skill that you could use to earn a lot of money that you could then use to support museums if you choose.
It's a deeply capitalist perspective to respond to a criticism of the excesses and inefficiency of wild, unfounded capital speculation with 'Well if you so smart, why ain't you rich?!?'
Is that so unreasonable? Lots of people post that Wall Street corporations are dominated by short term, next quarter thinking. If that were true, then shorting those stocks would be a profitable plan. It seems reasonable to point out that if one is so sure corporations were going to tank because of short term thinking, they could get rich by shorting the stock.
Alas, the market can remain irrational longer than I can remain solvent.
It's a deeply non-capitalist perspective to demand that everyone respond to dumb posts with sentiment instead of analysis.
> a deeply non-capitalist perspective
This seems to have been said as if it is a bad thing. Is it, or did I misread what you meant?
Well, let's go with a learning exercise. Do you think that you should dismiss the fact that someone said something dumb because you perceive them as being on the right side? Then I guess it's good for you.
It turns out they were being triggered by sentiment to respond with more sentiment, but they think their sentiment is "analysis."
Well if you are very against capitalism, that would be pretty bad, but ONLY if you are then also a hypocrite working for amounts of money that would make anyone not in the top 20 percent of the world population's eyes pop;
Deduct extra points if you ever accepted stock options, ever tried to start a startup or did a side hustle because you wanted MORE than the bare minimum you need to survive. (Like those capitalist pigs do!)
Or if you are typing this from a mobile phone or laptop computer that costs an amount of money that would be unimaginable to the typical person for most of human history.
Otherwise you're golden. Socialism truly is the superior moral position. It's so obvious we can all agree. And you should lead by example by giving away everything that you might need less than some other random poor person out there.
I agree completely. Museums, culture, and other wasteful/pointless excesses should be deducted from profits - at the discretion of the profiteer - only after the actually useful work of poisoning the drinking water to generate pornography is complete.
Long live the overlords.
Or the money they sent to Ukraine.