As I mentioned before, I'm living in Kreuzberg on Oranienstraße, which is arguably the most happening street in Kreuzberg. From what I can tell and have heard, my neighborhood is the "hippest" in Berlin and is thriving with independent businesses, incomparable nightlife, and great artists. Last week, Robert (who has lived in Berlin all of his life, including for some time in Kreuzberg) gave us a tour of Kreuzberg, and I thought I'd pass some of that experience along to help you all get more acquainted with my neighborhood.
When the Berlin wall was still standing, and was only a few blocks - in three different directions - from where I live now, Kreuzberg was the underground center of West Berlin. What I mean by "in three directions" is this: when the Berlin wall was built (in1961) it arbitrarily split the city in half in a way that made no sense at all in relation to how Berlin functioned as a whole. Tight-knit communities and neighborhoods (that would have been strategically kept together had someone with any knowledge of the city been in charge) were cut down the middle and disrupted basically overnight. Therefore, the Berlin wall did not even come close to being built in a straight line. Because of its jagged path, Kreuzberg just happened to be surrounded by the wall on three of its four sides, creating and thriving in its own little cove, with East Berlin so close that if you spun around with your eyes closed and threw a rock, it would most likely hit an East Berliner square in the forehead.
Throughout the 1970's and 1980's, Kreuzberg was known to be the center of the "alternative movement"and the Berlin squatters movement. It was especially cultivated as the center of Berlin's punk rock scene throughout the 80's. Kreuzberg was flooded with punk rock politics, music, and ways of life, and big names such as David Bowie and Iggy Pop visited places like Kreuzberg's still famous punk club, SO36, which stands for "Süd Ost 36"(this is important, I'll come back to it). Even though now Kreuzberg is still hip, punk, and full of night life (the largest punk rock label/center called "Core-Tex Records" is right downstairs from me) it is now widely known for being the home to many Turkish- and Kurdish- Germans. Many of these families moved to Germany because of Germany's deal with Turkey that involved them being sent guest workers to help rebuild the city after the war. There's a whole interesting history behind that, including immigration policy and the process to gain citizenship in Germany, but I won't go into that for now. For now, we'll talk about Kreuzberg.
Because these Turkish- and Kurdish- Germans make their homes and livelihoods in my area, there are lots of amazing small restaurants around. I've been eating like royalty. Falafel, döner, doyum, kebabs - you name it, the best of it is here. This is also not relevant to the history of Kreuzberg. I need to stop changing the subject.
Back to my mention of Süd Ost 36. Kreuzberg is divided into two parts: SO36 (Süd Ost 36/South East 36) and SW61 (Süd West 61/South West 61). I live in the SO36 area. SO36 is more of the grungy-hip area, while SW61 is more ritzy-hip. Apparently, people who live in Kreuzberg feel a strong connection and pride to whichever of these two zones they live in. There are stickers and t-shirts around my street that I see all the time that say "Kreuzberg 36" and other things like that. My personal favorite stickers in my area have also been these ones, I think they're really funny:
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| "Berlin liebt dich nicht" aka get out tourists. |
Here are some photos from all around Kreuzberg. I'll do my best to caption them and explain them so that they make some sense...
The neighborhood next to Kreuzberg (61) is called Neuköln. According to Robert, it's much better to be from Kreuzberg than Neuköln, but I don't exactly know why...? Anyway, Kottbusser Damm is the main street that divides Neuköln from Kreuzberg SW61. This is a shot of the Neuköln side of the street from the Kreuzberg side.
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| The Neuköln side of Kottbusser Damm (the street that my Sprachen Schule is on). |
Kreuzberg 61 is known for being a bit fancier than 36. According to Robert, a lot of university professors live there and the buildings are, for the most part, what they were before the war. There are some places that you can tell have been bombed out and were rebuilt in either the 70's or the 80's, though.
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| Kreuzberg SW61 |
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| Kreuzberg SW61 There are missing buildings that were bombed out during the war. This one happened to have been turned into a little park. |
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| Kreuzberg 61 |
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| Kreuzberg 61 You can tell that whatever was here was also bombed out during the war. It looks like it was rebuilt in probably the 70's. |
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| Kreuzberg 61 Apartments right on the canal. All of these buildings are pretty much original. You can see how ornate they are compared to the ones that have been rebuilt (as well as the ones that are in Kreuzberg 36). |
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| Kreuzberg 36 across the canal from Kreuzberg 61 |
Once you walk over the canal, you can immediately feel the difference between the neighborhoods of Kreuzberg SW61 and Kreuzberg SO36. You leave the ornate facades for a more hand-painted, grungy kind of look.
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| Crossing the bridge from 61 to 36. |
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| Kreuzberg 36 Hand painted buildings. "It's so Kreuzberg 36." |
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| Kreuzberg 36 According to Robert, all of the old punks from the 80's now own natural food stores and restaurants like this one. This punk beet outside is kind of awesome. |
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| Kreuzberg 36 The kpd/rz is an old political party from the late 1980's that was founded in Kreuzberg. They no longer exist, but this was once their headquarters. The building and office remains untouched. |
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| Kreuzberg 36 The only punk statue in Berlin (and maybe all of Germany?) This is a good idea of exactly what the culture was like there during the 80's. |
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| Punk statue close-up |
Kottbusser Tor is the most main square that is close to where I live. The Kottbusser Tor U-Bahn stop is there, as well as my grocery store, some cafe's, a lot of little shops, many restaurants, etc.
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| Kottbusser Tor U-Bahn Station (U1) |
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| Kottbusser Tor U-Bahn (U1) Station |
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| Kreuzberg 36 A little square that's more my part of the neighborhood. |
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| Kreuzberg 36 "Kreuzburger" burger joint and "SO36" - the famous punk club on Oranienstraße. |
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| Kreuzberg 36 Square near my apartment. |
On the 1st of May, 1987, there was a big, famous riot in Kreuzberg. Here's some info about it if you want to read more. There used to be a big grocery store across the street from my apartment that was where the main breaking-of-windows and robbery went down that year. From what I understand, this was due to raising rent in the area and frustrations had been building for a long time. Apparently, it is said that the younger people in Kreuzberg broke into this store and stole bread, which they then went out into the streets and handed out to older Turkish women, as a symbol of equality and sharing what rightfully belonged to all of them. The rioting got so bad that night that the Berlin police had to withdraw from Kreuzberg, leaving the neighborhood unattended and in riots all night. Since then, there is a demonstration every year in the square on Oranienstraße (where I live) on May 1st, commemorating these riots and what they stood for. Deciding what to do with the now burned-down famous old grocery store was a touchy subject for many years. If they rebuilt it, it would be a symbol of "trying to forget" or "covering up" the Kreuzberg riots. There were fears that whatever was put up there would again be torn down. Eventually, just a few years ago, a brand new mosque was built there - a new place for Kreuzberg's practicers of Islam that has had absolutely no problems whatsoever.
Right downstairs from me is a punk rock record shop/record company called "Core-Tex Records". Robert says that Core Tex is THE place in Kreuzberg to go for the local music scene. They have a lot of goofy punk t-shirts in the window and I've yet to go in, but I think I'll buy an "Ick liebe Berlin" t-shirt before I leave (part of the famous Berliner dialect here is that instead of "ich" they say "ick").
Alright, so that's a little bit of Kreuzberg. Now maybe you'll have a better idea of what my general area of Berlin is like. I've been writing this same blog over the course of almost a week now because I've just been so busy and tired that I haven't gotten an opportunity to properly sit down and finish it. I apologize. There are a lot of things that have happened in the past week that I'll try to fit into the next blog that I write... And I'm starting that one right now!
Also, Happy Valentine's Day!
In proper Berliner dialect (which also switches dative and accusative tenses), "Ick liebe dir!"
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| Kreuzberg 36 Mosque across the street from my apartment. (Gölitzer Bahnhof U-Bahn (U1) stop in front) |
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| Kreuzberg 36 An old church in that was basically right at the Berlin Wall when it still stood. |
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| Kreuzberg 36 An old hospital that was right where the Berlin Wall was. It had to be shut down because not enough patients were going to it anymore, since it was blocked off by the wall. |
Right downstairs from me is a punk rock record shop/record company called "Core-Tex Records". Robert says that Core Tex is THE place in Kreuzberg to go for the local music scene. They have a lot of goofy punk t-shirts in the window and I've yet to go in, but I think I'll buy an "Ick liebe Berlin" t-shirt before I leave (part of the famous Berliner dialect here is that instead of "ich" they say "ick").
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| Kreuzberg 36 Front of Core-Tex Records |
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| Poster in the window of Core-Tex Records. I just thought it was funny. |
Also, Happy Valentine's Day!
In proper Berliner dialect (which also switches dative and accusative tenses), "Ick liebe dir!"
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