"That’s it!"

“That’s it!” breaks the silence. Beforehand, many give too little thought to their need to say goodbye. The more they engage with this, the more valuable it becomes to have a plan for an emergency – a personalised farewell. Because the more freely people deal with it, the easier it becomes. They allow death into our lives. The theatre comes to an end at some point.

That’s why they need to explore the various approaches to the end of life, without neglecting humour or a light-hearted attitude. They’re celebrating the last of all parties. They’re taking a close look and sharing knowledge rather than fear. A diverse programme of literature, music, discussions and information offers new perspectives. Curated by a wide range of Berliners.

So: Do come along! Join in the conversation! Live life to the full! The aim is to bring together the diversity of society and create spaces for people to meet. And one thing is already certain: last year’s tax return needs to be filed; the tax office won’t let you off the hook, not even if you’ve passed away…

The six-part salon series ‘Jetzt ist Sense!’ – a cheerful and diverse evening exploring finitude – continues with its third event. Naturally, the line-up will also change.

You’re warmly invited to the Allgemeiner Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverein Berlin, founded in 1874 (ABSV, Auerbachstraße 7, 14193 Berlin) on Thursday 24 September 2026 at 7 pm (doors open at 6 pm).

Admission is free; donations are welcome.

Due to limited seating capacity, please register in advance (telephone: 030 895 88-0, email: freizeit@absv.de).

Ms zu Kappenstein is the curator of the series.

The event is organised by the Freundeskreis Tina Modotti Archiv e.V., a non-profit association and cooperation partner of the ABSV. We would like to thank the LOTTO Foundation Berlin for its support.

The third talk with music and a reading, ‘Jetzt ist Sense’, will feature:

Sigrid Grajek (host), AnniKa von Trier (music) and the authors Susanne Danowski, Astrid Ann Jabusch, Felicitas Wand and Abini Zöllner.

Also featuring as a special act is ‘Herzenswunsch’ by the Maltesers with Valentin Otto, an established project aimed at fulfilling a special heart’s desire for people in the final stages of their lives.

To accompany the salon series, the anthology ‘Schluss! Aus! Sense!’ has been published, edited by Frau zu Kappenstein and Elke Hübener-Lipkau, with illustrations by Antje Püpke.

Do make a note of the next dates for ‘Jetzt ist Sense!’:

Thursday 12 November and Wednesday 9 December 2026. Further details will be provided in good time. Renate Koßmann will be responsible for the photographic documentation of the event.

Here are the performers in detail:

Susanne Danowski: Born in 1953 in Hohen Neuendorf, near Berlin; divorced; three adult daughters; worked as an engineer and works council member until 2011. Since retiring, she has discovered a passion for painting, writing, working with clay and stone sculpture. She lives in Berlin and volunteers in cultural work at a local community centre.

Sigrid Grajek (presenter): Is a singing actress, cabaret artist and presenter. Since the mid-1980s, she has been involved in productions at the Theatermanufaktur Berlin, the Stadttheater Bremerhaven, the Berliner Jedermann Festival and in off-theatre productions, amongst others. In the mid-1990s, she moved to the ‘Berliner Brett’l’ cabaret and devoted herself to traditional Berlin songs and the chansons of the 1920s. Since the venue closed in 2012, she has been touring Germany as a freelance artist with various pianists. With her musical biography ‘Claire Waldoff: But I want to sing about life…’, she pays tribute to the great Berlin folk artist. In her musical and literary collage ‘BERLIN: The 1920s – A City in a Frenzy’, she has been shedding light on the darker side of the ‘Golden Twenties’ since 2020 through historical texts and songs. In her quest for clues through the minefield of language, ‘He who slept for so long has risen…’, she focuses on texts and songs from and prior to the First World War.

Astrid Ann Jabusch: Born several decades ago in Hagen, Westphalia. She grew up in the nearby, rainy Sauerland region, where she learnt several respectable trades (watchmaker and electrical engineer) and practised them for many years. At the end of the last millennium, she moved to Berlin and has since earned her living as an editor, copywriter and author not far from the confluence of the Spree and Havel rivers. Since joining the ‘Mörderischen Schwestern Berlin’, she has been committing gruesome murders and heinous crimes. So far, however, only on paper. For her, the exploration of death takes place through writing.

AnniKa von Trier (Music): The multimedia artist (performance artist, author, singer, accordionist) AnniKa von Trier came to Berlin in 1991 to study literature. In 2017, together with the graphic designer A. Vogel (Vogelpresse), she published the text ‘Hannah’s Garden, or the Dadaist Turns Everything into Flowers’. In 2020, her book “Brandenburger Brief – Bettine von Arnim to Achim von Arnim 1816” was published – with design by U. Koch. In 2021, “Das Grüne Album – Gerade jetzt!” was released. She works as a radio play and feature writer and composer for Deutschlandfunk, RBB Kultur and SWR 2. Her radio play “Wer WAGENITZ, der nichts gewinnt!” about Bettine von Arnim, Jenny Marx and Hannah Höch (RBB 2019, directed by H. Tauch) was nominated for the ARD German Radio Play Prize 2019 and has been broadcast several times by Deutschlandfunk, WDR, SWR, BR and RBB. In 2021, she was the town writer in Rheinsberg. The Kurt Tucholsky Literary Museum has published her “Rheinsberger Bogen – Lust Wandeln”.

Felicitas Wand: Poet, born in Saxony-Anhalt, living in Hildesheim. Readings in Hildesheim, Halle and Berlin. Active in the ‘kyper lyrikklub’ at the ‘Haus der Poesie’ in Berlin, member of ‘Netzwerk Lyrik e.V.’

Abini Zöllner: Journalist and author, born in Berlin-Lichtenberg to a German mother and a Nigerian father. Her parents (mother: Jewish, father: Yoruba) had her baptised as a Protestant and raised her in a lively mix of three religions. She explores the theme of her mother’s death. As a mother of two, family is her number one priority and is, without a doubt, her true religion. Her first book, the successful autobiography *Schokoladenkind*, was published in 2003; in 2023, she worked on the Disney+ series *Sam. Ein Sachse*; her next challenge is already on the horizon.

As well as

‘Herzenswunsch’ by the Malteser – one of the largest, most reputable and recognised aid organisations in Germany: since early 2026, 25-year-old Valentin Otto has been leading the ‘Herzenswunsch’ project as a volunteer coordinator. He is currently training to become a paramedic and a healthcare and nursing professional specialising in in-hospital emergency care and pre-clinical emergency medicine. The Malteser ‘Herzenswunsch’ ambulance enables seriously ill and dying people to fulfil one last personal wish when they are no longer able to do so themselves due to their illness. The journeys are planned individually, medically supervised and carried out by volunteers. The aim is to allow illness, dying and death to take a back seat for a moment and to restore a sense of normality – be it through a visit to a special place, a reunion with a loved one or one last special experience. Valentin Otto emphasises: “In doing this, I have learnt that in these special moments, the focus is not on medicine, but on the person themselves. For me, it is a very fulfilling task, together with my team, to make wishes come true that initially seem unattainable in the context of a serious illness or the dying process, and thereby to give people and their relatives special and precious moments once again.”