Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie is holding a fund-raising event this weekend in support of Ukrainian refugees who arrive in the city after fleeing the Russian invasion of their country.
Klaus Biesenbach, the director of Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie since 1 January, initiated the public fundraiser in collaboration with the artists Anne Imhof and Olafur Eliasson.
The two-day event, which will take place around the clock from 10am on Saturday until midnight on Sunday, will collect money, cell-phone power packs and mobile Wifi hotspots. It will also host an open microphone event with contributions from artists, actors and musicians. It is supported by Gallery Weekend Berlin, the Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art, the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, the Palais Populaire and other Berlin museums.
The Humboldt Forum is also holding an event to collect camping mattresses, blankets, bedding and foodstuffs for the charity Ukraine-Hilfe Lobetal, which will take donations to Ukraine.
Berliners offering accommodation turned out in their hundreds to meet trains bringing refugees from Ukraine. On 3 March, 6,500 people arrived by train from Ukraine at Berlin’s central station and the city authorities are expecting numbers to continue swelling. They plan to erect a tent with capacity for 1,000 by the station.
Deutsche Bahn said it had doubled the capacity of trains from the Polish-German border and is allowing Ukrainians to travel free of charge.