Bar jeder Vernunft

The Bar jeder Vernunft on Schaperstraße in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, opened on 11 November 1992 under the artistic direction of Holger Klotzbach and Otmar Birkner, is one of Berlin's most idiosyncratic stages and the only mirror-tent theatre in Germany operated year-round at a fixed location. The hand-built wooden spiegelpalais (mirror palace) from 1912, made by Belgian master craftsmen and originally used as a travelling fairground attraction, has stood permanently at this site for over thirty years and gives the venue its unmistakable atmosphere: hundreds of mirror panels, hand-painted wooden ornaments, velvet curtains, and Art Nouveau gas lamps create a setting that feels suspended between cabaret history and contemporary stage art. With around 220 seats around small round tables, the venue stages an extraordinarily broad programme: literary cabaret, chanson evenings, jazz, opera in chamber format, contemporary drama, and the signature Berlin "Tigerpalast" revue tradition. Tim Fischer, Georgette Dee, Ulrike Folkerts, Désirée Nick, and Nina Hagen are among the regular performers, and the late Hildegard Knef gave one of her last major stage performances here in 1999. The bar has consistently positioned itself as an antithesis to Berlin's large state theatres: intimate, gastronomically distinctive (the kitchen serves throughout performances), and programmed with a sensibility that links the Weimar-era cabaret tradition to contemporary queer culture and Berlin's literary scene. A sister venue, Tipi am Kanzleramt — also a mirror tent — was opened in 2002 in the government quarter and is run by the same operating company. Together both houses represent one of the most successful private-theatre operations in Germany.