Exberliner - English-language newspaper for Berlin

Dear all,

If you're living or working in Berlin I recommend you get your hands on a copy of Exberliner magazine. Exberliner is the monthly English-language paper for Berlin which offers high-quality journalism and up-to-date listings of events in the capital. Find out whats on and where in English.

Thanks alot for the Link,

I have been criing out for something like this since I moved here in '96.

I have asked just about everyone I know and even some I don't know ie the British Council and Embassy.

Looks good, Could you find somewhere in Köpenick to sell it ? We're very cosmopolitan here you know.

does any here bother regular by the Exberliner as i find it a waste off time as the editor is German and i don't see the point as it should be edited by a native English speaker really
as most off the articles in their are not worth reading in my opinion

I had a subscription but did not renew it, exactly for the reasons you mention. Very little substance or useful information, mostly terrible writing. It seemed like half of each issue is comprised of reviews and event listings (come on, even a non-German speaker can get those from 030, Tip or Zitty, much more thorough and up to date as well) For me, the straw that broke the camel's back was seeing the third or fourth Cobra Killer article in the space of the year. Is it supposed to be a magazine just for 20/30-something expat scenesters--ie, friends and peers of their staff--or a magazine for the English speaking community at large? Think they need to make up their minds and get a bit more direction in their content.

There are similar opinions about the local monthly publication for English-speakers in Munich. See the TT discussion about Munich Found magazine. My opinion is that the market is simply too small to be able to support any competition, hence the quality suffers. There's no money in English-language magazine print publishing in Germany, hence nobody really bothers to create a decent product.

I bought a few copies when i first moved here- they sell them at practically every newsstand. But, it's really a lousy magazine. The writing is terrible, as is the formatting. It reminds me of my high school newspaper, only worse.

I agree with you all that the magazine is rubbish, and I'm sure the person who started this thread works for them but eh for 2 euros what do you expect. Do what I did, subscribe and get a 15 euro meal voucher, tell em your a student (they don't check) and the whole thing only costs 20 euros. Take off the voucher and I'm paying 41 cents per issue, which is about what it is worth!

Despite the self-promoting theme of the initial posts back in 2004, I am a bit surprised by the pessimistic tone of those from this year. I find the ExBerliner very useful b/c the editors do the work of compiling multiple listings for English-language events: stuff that I surely would have missed because I don't have time to exhaustively go through all the sections of a Zitty or Tip necessary to be on top of the myriad of events every day. Also, I am 41 & my SO is 47 so we definitely don't fit into the 20-something demographic. I find the German perspective (in English that seems perfectly fine to me) to be very helpful in understanding local issues (what the mayor is up to, thoughts on the gay scene, etc). In the last 4 months they've had two special topics of particular interest to me: buying housing in the Berlin market and healthcare challenges for both Germans and expats. Granted, I'm not really into the baby thing, which was another issue that I remember. But the examples I've given sort of show how the magazine appeals to different demographics. Maybe the only people who might not be interested would be retirees, but how many of them (English-speaking) are even here in Berlin? So, I have bought it each of the 4 months I've lived here & plan to continue.

I buy it occasionally, but it if they are combing the scene looking for events in English, it is crazy to publish it merely monthly. But what frustrates me most is that the web site is practically useless. It neither supports an interest in the magazine, nor drives interest in returning to either in the upcoming month.

I would rather pay for a more frequent PDF version of a English-speakers community "newsletter" at this rate.

That said, I enjoy the sex columnist very much.

Maybe they need to do some "reader focus groups" to guide its 2007 development??

Hmm. I think exberliner is pretty groovy. I pick up a copy at imperial coffee at eberswalderstr every so often. for the last three issues it's been continuous.

I think it's prob gotten a lot better, imo, then it has been 3 years ago.

Im also in agreement that the magazine has its good months, and months that are pure trash.. I think it would be a bit better if the actual staff of the magazine were actual expats.. makes you kind of wonder how bad people are looking for work in this city.. Desperation comes in many forms hahahaha

For a once in a while read its fine, other than the meal voucher ( The Spanisch Returant listed is Marvelous!! cant remember the name though) it is worth at most the 41 cents per copy..