Every year Berlin lights up in autumn for the so called Festival of Lights. The most iconic buildings (and a few random ones in between) are then bathed in colourful light projections. To be honest, last year I didn’t even bother going. I figured it would be crowded, and that a few lights wouldn’t make an enormous impression on me. Now the other week I did an instagram post on the Pumpkin Festival. It was a lot of fun looking for motives, so the other day I asked my dear friend Ulrike of the Berlin photoblog ansichtswechsel if she would like to go for a little photoshoot with me to the Festival of Lights. And I learned: It wasn’t crowded, and a few lights do make an enormous impression on me.
TV tower at Alexanderplatz
I ended up taking so many pictures on my own that an instagram post didn’t seem to be enough and I had to do an instacollage one. You will find tons of pictures of this taken on professional cameras by proffesional photographers. My instagrams cannot compete there. But I do think they capture the atmosphere of the festival.
We started out from the TV tower and made our way from Alexanderplatz to the Berlin cathedral.
The Berlin Cathedral to the left, the TV tower to the right
I enojyed the cathedral being bathed in flowers and pouting lips – it secularized the church and made it pop art. What neither Ulrike nor I really got was the salad projected on it – but oh well 🙂 It only got better though. Apart from the funky, colourful pop art patterns, there were beautiful and almost impressionistic installations that showed musical notes – in black and white first, then gradually merged with colour until the pictures showed visually exploding music.
Berlin Cathedral covered in music
After wards we went on to the Bebelplatz where famous paintings where projected onto Hotel de Rome. I especially liked how the windows came into play – one in the upper left corner was lit up, and the light came to play with the painting. At the same time, in front of the university building, two opera singers were performing beutaifule duets from different pieces. It was magical.
Hote de Rome at Bebelplatz to the left, and the tower of the German cathedral at Gendarmenmarkt to the right
Via Gendarmenmarkt with the concert hall and the German and the French cathedral, we walked over to Potsdamer Platz – one of the weirdest and historically most underestimated places in Berlin, in my opinion. The futuristic architecture of today doesn’t tell of the role this place played in the 20s with its traditional and elegant shopping centres, and in the divided Berlin when this was no man’s land between the two Germanies. Now, the steel and glass constructions are perfect for light projections, and we couldn’t take our eyes off it.
Kisses from Potsdamer Platz
And it wasn’t only the walls of the buildings that were lit up – the ground was too, and the trees were shinign in an unearthly, eerie green colour along Leipziger Platz.
The floor, the trees, and me in the middle of it all
In between all the colours, there were quotes by artists – and I will close with this beautiful one by Picasso:
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.
Potsdamer Platz
EDIT: For Ulrike’s pictures of the Festival of Lights, go to her blogpost about it here!
Oktober 24, 2013 at 11:41 am
This looks awesome, Mariella! I think I would love to be at a festival like this 🙂
Really pretty images, lady!
Oktober 27, 2013 at 7:23 pm
Thanks, Kasha!! There is a similar one in Gdansk in mid-November every year! I cannot make it this time, but we should meet up in Gdansk for the one in 2014 🙂
Oktober 24, 2013 at 2:49 pm
Oh wow spectacular! I saw something like this in Singapore a while back but this is even more amazing!
Oktober 27, 2013 at 7:24 pm
Really? 🙂 I would have thought that Singapore is going all in with something like that. I think festivals like this are fairly common, but it is spectacular every time.
Oktober 26, 2013 at 10:34 am
Gorgeous photos! I’ve never been to a light show before – it must be incredible to see. I’d love to see one of Jean Michel Jarre’s shows where he uses both sound and light with his laser harp.
Oktober 27, 2013 at 7:25 pm
Oh I never knew about Jean-Michel Jarre until quite recently and the footage I have seen of his shows is AMAZING!!! Seeing him live would be an incredible experience I am sure. Glad you liked my photos, Mandy 🙂
Oktober 28, 2013 at 8:59 am
that looks so cool! I really wish to see these amazing lights live! Please remind me about that festival next year, I might actually try to come and visit Berlin then! 🙂
Oktober 31, 2013 at 11:38 am
Hehe, let’s both try and remember it – it’s every year in October! You would take stunning photos I’m sure!!