Berlin – Shanghai – Berlin: A different history of the Roaring Twenties and beyond ...
Berlin, 1915. Aldona is born in Moabit, a densely populated working-class district. She grows up in difficult circumstances – in a city that is experiencing war, revolution and inflation, and which, just a few years later, reinvents itself with astonishing vigour.
Image gallery
Sharepic Brandy
As Aldona comes of age, the late 1920s are in full swing: on the streets, poverty and political unrest sit side by side with dance halls, cinemas, jazz, new fashions and new freedoms. Berlin is restless, contradictory and electrified.
It is into this world that the young woman, later known as Brandy-Al, grows up. When the lights go out in ‘Babylon Berlin’, she marries a wealthy Chinese man at the age of just 19 and follows him from Berlin to Shanghai – one of the most dazzling and cosmopolitan metropolises of her time. Probably the only city capable of carrying on the legacy of ‘golden’ Berlin.
Her daughter, the screenwriter and director Bettina Wilhelm, has written a remarkable biography about this extraordinary life.
The evening begins at 6 pm with music from DJ Wuthe’s ‘Hot-Koffer’, as he plays shellac records from his collection on a historic gramophone, bringing back the soundscape of those years. Bettina Wilhelm’s reading begins at 7 pm and lasts until 8.30 pm.
Food and drinks will be available from 6.00 pm and throughout the reading. A menu specially curated for the evening combines Berlin classics with Asian-inspired dishes. A bookstall will be on site.
From Moabit to Shanghai
Special evening menu
To complement the evening’s journey between Berlin and Shanghai, the Zimt & Zucker Kaffeehaus is offering a special event menu from 6 pm:
• Aubergine rondos with miso, garlic, spring onion and sesame
• Crispy tofu with glazed pak choi, kimchi and peanuts
• Currywurst with sourdough bread
• Sweet crêpe with lychee, yuzu and coconut chips
Food and drinks are available at your own expense from 6 pm onwards and throughout the reading.
Reading by Bettina Wilhelm from:
‘The Story of Brandy-Al and Her Shanghai Baby’
- Wednesday, 23 September 2026
- From 6.00 pm: Doors open, food and drinks available, and DJ Wuthe playing music from the ‘Hot-Koffer’
- 7.00 pm: Start of the reading
- Approx. 8.30 pm: End of the reading
- Zimt & Zucker Kaffeehaus, Potsdamer Str. 103, 10785 Berlin
- Admission: free
As seating is limited to a maximum of 80 people, please book your place by emailing event@zimtundzucker.de.
A bookstall will be set up at the venue. The book can be purchased on the evening of the event.
(Language: German)
Dates
September 2026
| Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
| |
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
