Tag Archives: Berlin

Current Events Berlin

Harvard Club Invite: Dinner with Author Jamaica Kincaid


Hello all!

The Harvard Club of Berlin invites us to an evening discussion with renown author Jamaica Kincaid on November 5 at 6:30pm at Restaurant Luther & Wegner, Charlottenstr. 56 10117 Berlin.

The invite is below.

Cheers!  

Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle and Berlin Chair, Princeton Alumni Association in Germany

P.S.  Stammtisch, Tuesday, Nov 4 at Fredericks in Potsdammer Platz.

Dear members and friends of the Harvard Community in Berlin,

The Harvard Cub of Berlin is honored to invite you to a Leadership Dinner with Jamaica Kincaid.

Jamaica Kincaid will begin with a short reading followed by a conversation on her experiences as a writer and professor at Harvard University as well as her impressions so far as an American Academy Fellow in Germany.

The evening will be moderated by Clara Péron, the club’s vice president.

About Jamica Kincaid:

Jamaica Kincaid is a writer and Professor Emerita of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She holds honorary degrees from Amherst College, Tufts University, Middlebury College, and the University of the West Indies, among others. Celebrated for her evocative reflections on family, memory, gender, colonialism, her native Antigua, and gardening, Kincaid is the author of numerous award-winning and widely translated essays, short stories, and novels, including At the Bottom of the River (1983), Annie John (1985), Lucy (1990), A Small Place (1988), The Autobiography of My Mother (1996), My Brother (1997), Mr. Potter (2002), Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalayas (2005), See Now Then (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013), and most recently An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children (with Kara Walker; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024). Her “Talk of the Town” columns for The New Yorker appeared in Talk Stories (2001). She is the winner of the 2022 Paris Review Hadada Prize for Lifetime Achievement, 2017 Dan David Prize, a 2014 American Book Award and 2000 Prix Femina Étranger, among many other awards. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.

We look forward to seeing you at our Leadership Dinner.

When?: Wednesday, November 5, 2025, at 6:30 pm

Where?: Restaurant Luther & Wegner

Charlottenstraße 56, 10117 Berlin

Dresscode: Smart Casual

Tickets:

Members & partners: 45 € p.p.

Non-Members: 55 € p.p.

Welcome drinks and two course menu are included.

Drinks with the meal will be charged separately.

30 tickets are available for this event.

Please register via the following link: Registration  until October 29, 2025.

Payment options:

  1. Bank transfer: Please transfer the ticket to our bank account:

Harvard University Alumni Club of Berlin e.V.

IBAN: DE33 1007 0848 0036 7532 00

BIC: DEUTDEDB110

Reference: your name & HLD Kincaid

  1. Paypal: frohn@pwwl.de  family and friends

Reference: your name & HLD Kincaid

Past Events Berlin

A Conversation With Pulitzer Prize Laureate Elizabeth Kolbert

by Carl Kruse

Something of a last minute invite courtesy of Bill Woodward – an evening with journalist Elizabeth Kolbert taking place Monday, September 22 at 7pm at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Please see the invite below for full information.

Cheers!

Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle


You are warmly invited to join us for the conversation

Our Climate Past and Future:
An Evening with Elizabeth Kolbert, Journalist and Pulitzer Prize Laureate
 
Monday, September 22, 2025
7:00 pm CET/GMT+1
Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Jägerstr. 22-23, 10117 Berlin 

Climate change continues to reshape both domestic and global policy and politics on both sides of the Atlantic. Despite a shared reality in how the world is changing around us, Europe and the United States under President Trump are approaching the crisis in dramatically different ways. In conversation with Joshua Yaffa Bard College Berlin’s writer-in-residence, prominent journalist and Pulitzer Prize laureate, Elizabeth Kolbert, will share stories, and prognoses from the frontlines of a changing climate. Kolbert will speak to the way humans are changing the world around them, and how those changes reflect back on humanity. She will also address the current state of climate politics and policy in the U.S. and Europe—a gap in approach and even basic understanding that is quickly widening to a gulf. Is it possible to speak of a shared transatlantic climate policy, or even climate understanding? And can technology save us if politics doesn’t? 

Kindly register here.
 
For questions, please contact Dr. Berit Ebert, Director of Public Programs and Strategic Initiatives: b.ebert@berlin.bard.edu.

I hope everyone is well!

Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle
Past Events Berlin

Introductory Tango With The Ivy Circle

by Carl Kruse

We’re excited to invite you to a special evening — a private Argentine tango introduction workshop followed by networking over wine and the chance to experience Berlin’s famous Milonga. All exclusive and private for the Ivy Circle.

No experience? No problem! Most of us have never been introduced to tango and this evening we’ll be guided by Berlin’s top tango teachers at Nou Tango Berlin, the city’s most prestigious tango school.

We start completely from zero:

  • Learn tango basics, the unique etiquette, and how to walk comfortably
  • Get a glimpse into the rich, magical world of Argentine tango.
  • No partner or special shoes needed — just bring yourself!

Program:
🕓 4:30 PM – Private tango class exclusively for the Ivy Circle.
🕕 6:00 PM – Wine & networking in our private mirror room at the venue.
🕢 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM – Join or watch Berlin’s famous Milonga (the lively social dance event open to the wider tango community)

You can either join the dancing and try your new skills or simply relax with a glass of wine and watch beautiful tango dancers in action.

Event Details:
Date: Saturday, May 17, 2025
Location: Nou Mitte (Chausseestraße 102, 10115 Berlin). (U-Naturkundemuseum).
Cost: 20€ (includes the workshop + one glass of wine)

Milonga? A milonga is a traditional tango gathering — a warm, welcoming evening full of music, dancing, and community.

Fun fact: Berlin has the largest and most vibrant tango community in the world outside Argentina!

RSVP:

Please RSVP to Carl Kruse at carl@alumni.princeton.edu before Saturday 03 May if possible.

+1s are warmly welcome! Bring a friend, partner, or fellow alumni — the more the merrier.

Don’t miss this opportunity to discover the magic of tango, make new friends, and enjoy a beautiful evening with the Ivy Circle.

We look forward to dancing and toasting with you!

Cheers!
Carl Kruse

P.S. May thanks to LSE Alum Avitosh Sawhney for the original idea and organizing of the event.

Past Events Berlin

Champagne and Art Exhibition With Jade Cassidy in Berlin


The Ivy Circle Berlin is happy to invite all to an art exhibit of artist Jade Cassidy taking place on Wednesday, February 12, 2025 from 6-9 p.m. at the Quantum Gallery on Kurfürstendamm 210 in West Berlin.

The event will feature complimentary champagne from the Lombard champagne company, who will be represented by champagne ambassador Fanny Thiel, and a complimentary open wine bar from 6-7pm.  A full cash bar goes on all night.

Originally from South Africa, Jade Cassidy is an emerging artist who resides in Berlin.  Her work explores themes of renewal and resilience, and the exhibition invites viewers to reflect through her paintings and sculptures on cycles of destruction and revival, often using the South African Protea flower for inspiration.

The event is free and open to all friends of the Ivy Circle and while an RSVP is not mandatory, it would be good to have a head count for the champagne and the bar.

For any questions (and to RSVP) contact Carl Kruse at carl@alumni.princeton.edu

Cheers and to a great gathering on the 12th in Berlin!

Carl Kruse
The Ivy Circle’s last event was a tour of the Boros Bunker in Berlin.

Past Events Berlin

Boros Art Bunker Tour in Berlin

Dear Alumni Leaders and Friends,

The Cambridge Society invites the Ivy Circle for a private tour of the iconoclastic Boros Bunker art collection in Berlin.

  • Date & Time: Tuesday, 19/11/24, 5:00-6:30 pm
  • Place: Boros Foundation, Reinhardtstraße 20, 10117 Berlin
  • URL: https://www.boros-foundation.de 
  • Cost: 35€

Spread over 3,000 sq m of a converted air-raid bunker, this is the fourth exhibition featuring works from the private collection of Karen and Christian Boros, showcasing international artists from 1990 to the present. The couple purchased the bunker, originally designed by Albert Speer to both house their contemporary art and to make it accessible to the public.  The redesign of the bunker was awarded the Beton Architectural Prize in 2008.

During the 1.5-hr tour in English, an art mediator from the Boros team will tell us about the exhibited works, the history of the building, and its architectural background. Christian Boros has often said he only buys art that he does not understand, so the tour will be interesting to say the least.

The event is to be followed by an optional dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Sign up here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/germancambridgesocietyev/1461627

For any questions please reach out to me as soon as possible.

Cheers!

Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle Berlin

Past Events Berlin

Oxford Singles Bouldering Event

Dear Alumni Leaders and Friends,

The Oxford University Society (OUS) – Berlin singles group invites the Ivy Circle to a mixer at the Berta Block bouldering facility on Saturday, October 26 between 7:00-9:00pm. 

The idea is to meet in a fun, relaxed environment.  No prior bouldering experience is necessary.

Berta Block is located at Mühlenstr 62 in Pankow (Berlin).

If interested please contact Aravindh at +49 1525 6001644.

Cheers!
Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle Berlin
Berlin Chair, Princeton Alumni Association of Germany

Past Events Berlin

Art Brunch on October 5 at the Kauppila Art Studio in Berlin

by Carl Kruse

The Ivy Circle Berlin would like to invite all to its second Art Brunch at the studio of Helena Kauppila, on Saturday, October 5, 2024, starting at 11:45 am on the fourth floor of Ackerstrasse 81, 13355 Berlin

There will be a welcome and brief introduction by the artist at 12:15 am. 

A mathematician turned painter, Helena is fascinated by complexity and emerging systems. While her colorful paintings may appear random and disjointed, there is a systems thinking behind them, often anchored in mathematics. Her work touches on the structure of DNA, mathematical theories, and the human connection to nature and the world around us..

Kauppila resides in Berlin. She holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Columbia University and is the recipient of the Reginald Marsh and Felicia Meyer Marsh scholarship at the Art Students League of New York. 

Light brunch food and drinks will be served. Featuring “Elixir of Life” DNA Canapes and a color-changing welcome drink.  RSVP helpful (but not required).

At 1 pm other ateliers in the building open as well, so there will be further opportunity to explore other art and meet other artists.

For any questions please contact Helena directly at helena@helenakauppila.com.

I look forward to seeing everyone on October 5!

Cheers!
Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle Berlin
Also find Carl Kruse at the Princeton Alumni Association of Germany

Past Events Berlin

Stanford Summer Event At TU Berlin

by Carl Kruse

The Stanford University Alumni group invites the Ivy Circle to their end of summer event hosted at the brewery of the TU Berlin. If you are not  familiar with them, they are one of the world’s top universities for Brewmeister training. The event will feature free flowing beer and a catered menu. Tickets are 49€ for adults. 10€ from every ticket goes to the charity of the TU Berlin.

DATE: 4 September 2024 – 18:30

WHAT: Stanford Summer Party @ TU Berlin Brewery


WHERE:  Seestraße 13, 13353 Berlin

HIGHLIGHTS

 Venue: We’re thrilled to have exclusive access to the renowned Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei in Berlin (VLB), the Brewery of the Technische Universität Berlin–one of the world’s leading schools for Brewmaster certification.

Dinner & Drinks: A delicious Brewery-style feast will be presented, featuring a variety of gourmet appetizers, mains, and desserts. Enjoy unlimited beer brewed by TU Berlin, as well as soft drinks and water.

Tickets: Secure your spot for an evening of great food, engaging talks, and great connections— all for a great cause! €10 from each ticket will be donated to the TU Berlin charity.

RSVP:  To RSVP complete the Google form at

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelYpkGGcFFNZt6uL2fc4-aWupVsrbmxthh2djZ7GTnsEXyZQ/viewform

PROGRAM

* Private Brewery Tour: At 18:30, Dr. Fontaine, Director of the VLB, will give us an insider’s tour of the brewery. Not to be missed.

* Keynote by Prof. Nick Bambos: Be inspired by insights from the R. Weiland Professor at Stanford University’s Department of Management Science & Engineering.

* Honorary Address: Hear from Prof. Frank Behrendt, Delegate of the Board of TU Berlin

* Special guest: TU Berlin President Geraldine Rauch, who will treat us to a preview performance of her upcoming musical.

TICKETS

* Adults: €49

* Current Students & Young Adults (under 18): €39

* Graduated within the last 5 years? Contact Tracy Prentiss (tracyprentiss8@gmail.com) about the young alumni discount before booking.

RSVP & Payment Details

To join us, please complete payment by 1 September 2024 to:

German Stanford Association e.V.

IBAN: DE85 1001 0010 0915 9481 00

Let’s close the summer on a high note! We look forward to seeing you. For any questions or further information, reach out to Tracy Prentiss at tracyprentiss8@gmail.com.

You can also reach out to carl@alumni.princeton.edu.

Cheers!

Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle Berlin
Former events include the Tour of the Documentation Center and the World Premiere of the Film The Presidents’ Tailor.
There is an ongoing Theater Discussion Group.

Past Events Berlin

Tour of the Documentation Center in Berlin

The Columbia University Club invites us to a private English-language tour of the Documentation Center for Nazi Forced Laborers to take place on Sunday, June 23 from 15:30 to 17:30.  The Center, located in Schöneweide, has the task of making the history of the 26 million men, women, and children forced into labor by the Nazis visible for future generations.  It is located on the site of an almost completely preserved camp.  

Address: Britzer Straße 5, Berlin-Schöneweide.  

Directions: From S-Bhf Schöneweide (lines S8, 9, 45, 46, 47, and 85) take the exit at the head of the train, turn left and walk one block to Michael Brückner Straße.  Cross the street and turn right.  Turn left on Fennstraße, which forks almost immediately.  Take the right part of the fork (Britzer Straße); the documentation center is on your right.  

The tour is free, but prior registration with Patrick Truhn (apollinaire@live.com) is required.

Cheers!

Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle

Past Events Berlin

World premiere of the Film “The President’s Tailor” in Berlin


Ivy Circle member Rick Minnich will be celebrating the world premiere of his latest film “The President’s Tailor” as part of the Jewish Film Festival Berlin-Brandenburg. The screening takes place at the Bundesplatz Kino on June 19th at 20:30.

The Ivy Circle will gather with Rick before the film at the Mexican restaurant “Alcatraz” beginning at 6pm for complimentary appetizers and drinks.  The restaurant is located at Bundesplatz 6, right across the theater.

“The Presidents’ Tailor” is a heartwarming story about the Holocaust survivor and star tailor Martin Greenfield, who dressed six US presidents and hundreds of celebrities. The New York Times wrote an extensive tribute to Martin upon his death in March at age 95. The Jewish Journal also ran a cover story about the film. 

An additional screening is planned for June 23rd at 5 p.m. at the Bundesplatz Kino.

There will be a Q&A session with Rick after the film for those interested.

You can reserve a place for the showing at http://www.bundesplatz-kino.de/  The Ivy Circle has 5 tickets, preferably earmarked for students and anyone under  hardship, but really available to all on a first come first served basis

For any questions please write me at carl AT alumni DOT princeton DOT edu.

See everyone on June 19 for what should be a wonderful evening.

Cheers!

Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle