Bilkent University
Ankara, Turkey
Güclü Aydogdu
Sera Cakiroglu
Basak Gokce
Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts USA
Christie O’Laughlin
Kate Terrado
Ann McDonald
Shandong University of Art and Design
Ji’nan, Shandong Province, P.R. China
Kang Kai
Sun Lu
Li Lingjun
Xu Yichen
Ma Wen
Liu Mengdie
Yang Shuai
Li Yang
Liu Xinkun
Zhang Xiao
Shi Zengquan
Hou Liping
Wang Xiaofeng
Zhang Xiaojuan
Universität der Künste
Berlin, Germany
Anna Cairns
James Ellison
Karolina Hałatek
Catherine Kirk
Rotem Peleg
Philipp Tögel
Xingzheng Jin
Thomas Zimmermann
Ulrich Schwarz
Charlotte Driessen
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland USA
Brittany Atkinson
Katie Friedgen
Shai Goller
Talia Hillman
Christie Liberatore
Jaimie Mertz
Todd Nelson
Joanna Shieh
Anna Tulchinskaya
Jessy Weiss
Lilian Yu
Audra Buck-Coleman
Weber State University
Ogden, Utah USA
Crissy Barney
Sam DeMastrie
Jennifer Hadley
Britni Howe
Chanel Lich eld
Jeff Madsen
Mark Biddle
23 Comments
From Sticks + Stones
A couple things hit me pretty hard about Kreutzberg. People have been arriving in Kreutzberg from many different countries internationally for many years now. Turkish have been moving to Kreutzberg since after WWII and religious refugees have come to Kreutzberg for a while. Some come just seeking asylum. International newcomers are not an uncommon sight in Kreutzberg. What I didn’t realize is what the status of “tolerated” that many of them have actually meant. Lots of people who seek asylum in Berlin are restricted to a specific area within the city. They are not allowed to travel around the country or even the city for any reason at all.
According to Gurtchen, our tour guide, even for school trips, children in these groups aren’t allowed to leave their area of the city. It’s a bizarre way to grow up. Having moved around some, it’s weird to imagine a situation where you not only don’t move from one neighborhood to another, but more so, that you can’t. How can you really learn without seeing?
Kreutzberg is similar to some of the neighborhoods I’ve lived in. It’s similar to Israel in that it is the inhabitance of many middle easterners. It’s populated by people from many cultures like Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, London and Washington D.C. Just as it’s difficult to find anybody in D.C. or London who has lived in the city since they were born, it seems as though it would be difficult to find anyone who was born in Kreutzberg still living there.
I suppose Kreutzberg is even a little like my neighborhood in College Park, Maryland because the university’s population is fairly diverse. I have never had a class where everyone looks the same and tracing origins back; I can’t imagine I’ve been in a single class where all the students were born in the same country.
Kreutzberg is different from Maryland in that most of the people speak a language that is different to mine. Although this is not completely inhibiting, it is restricting for me because I don’t speak the language and that makes it difficult to have a real conversation on any real topic.
I’d gladly live in Kreutzberg if I were to move to Germany. I don’t think it’s the kind of place I would just pick up and leave my life to move to though. The international aspect, as a I mentioned before is familiar to me so that’s great. However, the language is too much of a barrier. I’d need to know from the start, perhaps through German language classes pre-move that I would be able to integrate with Kreutzberg society. Once I got past that, I’m sure I’d be able to appreciate the culture, nightlife, price and central location of the Kreutzberg.
I would like to comment on Shai Goller’s post about Kreuzberg. I agree that a place like Kreuzberg would be much like other immigrant towns of the world. As I mentioned previously in my blog about Kreuzberg, I can understand the aesthetic value being lost in places where people are just trying to survive as immigrants and support their families, especially with a 42% unemployment rate. The city seems to be a bit rundown and not taken care of. The buildings look old and weathered, graffiti coats the walls. Although it has the essence of beauty in its own right. It seems very European, but my idea of beauty is more like medieval cities and gothic architecture. I guess it really depends on who is there as to whether they find it attractive to them. I could see people who live there feeling comfortable and happy being there. Shai mentioned that Kreuzberg reminds him of immigrant inhabited places in Israel. I think maybe he would be happy to live in a place like Kreuzberg. I however, still feel like if I were to immigrate, I would not want to live there. It is just not my style; I need aesthetically pleasing elements around me, which I feel that this place lacks. Some people may not care about the physical aspect of a neighborhood, as long as they have a roof over their heads and that’s fine. Some people may like the style of the neighbor and its features and that’s fine, too. I would imagine that the neighbors would either get along very well, or not communicate at all, perhaps due to lack of common languages spoken or because they do not care to know others around them. Like I said, I feel like people there are just trying to survive, and I get the feeling that they may not enjoy life as much as they should because of the economic conditions they are presented with.
Kreuzberg is a very interesting town in Berlin, in the middle of Germany. I liked all it had to offer, its many cultures and backgrounds of its citizens seem to come together. However, things are somewhat turbulent as the residents blame other races for its problems – the Turkish seem to encounter most of the hatred from Germans who still consider them to be foreigners here as “guest workers”* even though some of them were born here and their families have been settled here for generations. Also some places, like the mosque, were sort of hidden away to blend in with the other buildings around it. In a way it seems kind of rundown. Perhaps this is because there is a 42% unemployment rate, or because some people there are immigrants that are just trying to survive; so there is no need for aesthetic value of the town. This is not to say that it doesn’t have character, it just lacks the medieval and beautiful luster that comes to mind in some European cities have. Graffiti covers the city’s old buildings. The graffiti is actually extremely artistic and beautiful. Kreuzberg was actually once along the Berlin wall, so it was a less than savory place to live; rent was cheap and that’s why people lived there.
My hometown is the middle of Baltimore City, MD in the USA. Our crime rate is through the roof. I don’t feel like Kreuzberg is much like my hometown. First off, Europeans are just different types of people compared to Americans. Secondly there are not many immigrants who come to live in my neighborhood. The rundown aspect of the residential housing is similar; in that just looking upon the neighborhoods I would probably not want to live in either place. There seems to be turmoil in Kreuzberg, between the German government and the immigrants there; the German people and the immigrants there; and between the different groups of immigrants there. I do not think I would like to live in a place like that, especially because I would be another immigrant in the mix. However I do really enjoy and respect the different cultures, which are especially visible in the different cultural-based restaurants which represent different regions of the world; I noticed this especially because I love to try foreign foods. But Kreuzberg is not an area of living choice for me.
*“Guest worker” is a term applied to foreigners invited by the government to work for west Germany in the 1960’s and 1970’s after the Berlin Wall was built. They worked factory jobs that no one else wanted to work with the intention that they would return home. Some decided to stay in Germany.
Last edited by Brittany_Atkinson on June 10, 2010 at 12:33 am
The Kreuzberg tour was very enlightening. I found it very interesting that each neighborhood in Berlin has their own museum space to tell their story. It seems to be quite the close-knit community where everyone can relate on the grounds of immigration. Yet, as a place of immigration, it keeps the community culturally rich with a wide variety of traditions of different regions of the world.
I liked the variety of cuisine that the neighborhood offered, though I didn’t particularly care for the Turkish food that we had for lunch. It seems like there would always be something new to try in this sector of town. Ogden lacks this variety. It carries mostly chain restaurants, and it seems like every place that goes out of business, a Chinese restaurant replaces it.
It must have been very strange having the Berlin Wall literally in your backyard. I can’t even fathom having a fence in my backyard where practically nothing existed beyond that, because there was no admittance allowed. I can’t even imagine how confining it must of felt to practically have the end of the world in the back yard.
One of my favorite aspects of the community was the seemingly “hidden treasures” around every corner. I never expected to find a farm that close to the buildings and streets. From the streets, the land appears overflowing with the building touching. The facades of these buildings also play in to the “hidden treasure” aspect, in that they open up to these magnificent courtyards. It’s as if their entire community is a metaphor. Their town literally represents who they are: You only see what is on the outside. Then if you take the time, you will discover things about this community and the people within that is hardly imaginable. The aspect of the “squatters” protecting their old building from being destroyed seems to say “we won’t give up our heritage that easily.”
I can’t remember what they are called, but the stones of the people in the community who disappeared during the holocaust is probably one of the most powerful symbols of remembrance that a community could give. They are quite simple, subtle, seemingly effortless, but contain the memory of a person that once existed. They are there, still bound to their community with a physical object so their suffering will not be forgotten. It’s like a quiet moment of reflection for everyday life, and a reminder that terrible things happen to people (from all walks of life).
Last edited by Chrissy_Barney on June 10, 2010 at 8:24 pm
My first impressions of Kreuzberg were disappointing. I was unimpressed by the poorer neighborhood, dirty streets, graffiti filled facades, and small mosque. In my first few moments, I felt that the program was bringing us to obscure areas of Berlin and that we seemed to be missing the Berlin I anticipated I’d see. However, as the tour guide gave some historical context and gave each park and building a story, I realized that I was seeing Berlin on a deeper level. I wasn’t seeing the Berlin in the tour book that suggests the top ten attractions. I was fortunate to be taken by insiders, true Berliners, who could provide the context I needed to truly appreciate the area. I first began to truly appreciate the area when we walked through the neighborhoods and walked past a few golden bricks, placed amongst the regular bricks on the sidewalk. Each stone had a name, a date and a location inscribed. We learned that these stones are memorials to victims of the holocaust. They are placed directly outside the buildings in which these people used to live. I suddenly developed a personal, emotional connection with the area. I could visualize the Jewish families that had lived in that apartment building. Somehow, visualizing that one family remembered by the golden stones, helped me conceptualize the other populations of people. It seems silly that I could not recognize that at first, but sometimes you need an emotional trigger to gain an appreciation and respect for a person or place.
I enjoyed the tour guide’s personal story as well. She lived in an apartment that was right next to the wall. Her memory of home until that point always included the wall. It was her playground, her safe-haven. She was told to play there because she and her friends would not disturb anyone if they played games and yelled there. The east side of the wall had a zone of dead man’s land. The west side of the wall was quite, because everyone’s disdain from the wall kept them away from it. But, she, her mother and grandmother, were Turkish immigrants. They came as workers to fill jobs in the factories that German’s had no desire to fill. They immigrated to Germany when the wall was already built. The wall, to them, was not a disastrous event and did not separate and destroy their families. Her story showed a different perspective of German history. Through the eyes of the immigrants. An immigrant, who came purely to work, and an immigrant who was detached from the country’s politics.
But, it seems today after a few generations of living in Germany, the politics is coming to the immigrants. It becomes complicated when these workers settle down, have children and raise them in a German school. The process of becoming a citizen was difficult, and only recently the laws were changed making anyone born in Germany a citizen. As immigrants living in a poor neighborhood, the habitants of kreutzberg are often charged with crime. Such charges add to the question of identity for these immigrants, they feel connected with their country of origin, but if they ever return to visit, they are immediately labeled a German. But in Germany, they are often pointed out and continually struggle to feel a part of the German culture as well.
Last edited by Talia_Hillman on June 10, 2010 at 9:21 pm
I agree with Talia and her feelings about the golden bricks. I don’t think there was a way you could look at the bricks and not feel some sort of connection to the pain of families and the people that were taken.
This may sound childish of me but it took me back to the Diary of Anne Frank and the way she described the horrible process of people that were taken. I have read the book and also seen the play and seeing things through a child’s eyes can be very different emotionally.
Maybe because I am pregnant or just missing my toddler but I thought of the pain of the children when I saw the bricks and the broken family, because family is so important to me. I would never want to experience anything like that first hand or even wish that upon anyone.
I really felt a connection to the places with the golden bricks and I am very thankful for the inspired artist who came up with the idea. I think it takes a special artist who can trigger emotions so easily at the first look at their art. I think this is one of the most successful artwork that I have experienced or made a connection immediately with since I started studying art seven years ago.
From start to finish, the Kruezberg tour was an entirely new experience for me. As a person born, raised, and currently residing in Utah, it was fascinating to venture into such an alien region. On top of that, Utah has never been known for its diversity. It’s residents are mostly white and English-speaking, with a majority belonging to the Mormon faith. Kruezberg succeeded in bringing me farther out of my own cultural element than I’ve ever been before. Out of all the places I have visited in my life (which, admittedly, aren’t many), I’ve never felt like more of a foreigner than I did in Kruezberg. This is not to imply that my experience was in any was negative. On the contrary, it was wholly positive. Venturing into a region so densely packed with people of various religions, ethnic backgrounds, and different languages (many of which are drastically different than my own) I came to appreciate the people and cultures of the world.
Another thing that struck me about Kruezberg is its history, specifically its connections with the war and the Berlin wall. Like every other student, I’ve learned a lot about the Second World War in school. However, I’ve never had any personal connection to it. It has always been a distant event that happened far in the past, on another continent. When we were shown the stones in the ground memorializing individual victims of the Holocaust, I was very touched. This was the first time I’ve really had a strong emotional experience connecting with the victims of the Holocaust and their respective communities. We were told that the artist who put these stones in the ground was the first to really focus on the victims of the Holocaust on an individual level and not a group level. This made a lot of sense to me. It makes for a stronger connection to the communities that these victims were from.
So while I would never want to live in Kruezberg, because I have no personal connection to it, I do admire it for its diversity. There’s a big debate in the western states right now concerning immigrants from Mexico and other Hispanic countries. Many do not want them around at all. This is in direct contrast to Kruezberg’s immigration status. While all the different groups may not always get along, they still live together. I wish this quality was represented in my home state.
Last edited by Sam_DeMastrie on June 10, 2010 at 9:42 pm
I didn’t feel like an outsider, despite the only reason I was in Kreutzberg was because I was a tourist learning about their community. Of all the places to seek asylum in a community, I feel like this place is liberal and outgoing enough to stay there for many years.
I feel that growing up in this community could have the same effect as moving around to different niches, in that it has diversity in and of itself. It seems like a place where all walk of life meet together and are able to put their differences aside for no other reason than the insiders of this community are all outsiders. Differences are what is celebrated, and they are proud to bring their cultural heritage to the table.
When Gertchen said that kindergarten was developed from 6 am to 6 pm as a place for the children to go while the parents worked, and they were the first school to start teaching children more than one language, I thought, “wow, this community really knows how to band together to get things accomplished.” I was very impressed with this community and how selfless the values of which it was founded upon. I feel that Kreuzberg is a very admirable sector of Berlin.
Although, I feel that it is very important to learn the language native to the place to which you are moving, I feel that in this community, if you were to learn the basic, important phrases, like, “where is the toilettes?” or “How do you ______,” before you migrate, the community would help you learn the rest of the language. I strongly believe this in that I learn best being “thrown into hot water” so to speak.
I could definitely live in Kreutzberg. I’m not saying that I am going to live there, but now that I have visited there, it is a possibility. I have a hard time saying “Oh, I could never live there,” to any specific location, because I don’t know where the wind is going to blow me in my lifetime. I would like to think that there is a possibility for me to end up anywhere this world has to offer me. This includes a hammock strung between two coconut trees someplace tropical, or a cot above raw sewage in a tent of a third world country. This is not to say that I don’t enjoy the modern conveniences and luxuries of the consumer society in the United States, I just means that I will belong where ever I end up. Just some societies will be easier to adapt to than others.
Kreuzberg (from now on x-berg), is a home away from home, especially the area around Kottbusser tor and Schonlein Strasse. I spent a large amount of the first two months in Berlin getting to know this area. As a visitor I recognise it has a vibrant cultural scene that brings together people from all over the world and shelters them in a community full of originality and charm.
When I first moved to x-berg I was aware of a higher number of people with non-European attributes, you often see women wearing scarves or hijabs in x-berg. This is a outward symbol of their status as Muslim women and x-berg is know for a large population of Turks. I was expecting this and it didn’t come as a surprise, no more than the intricacies of any new city are. In Bristol, my home before I came to live in Berlin it is not uncommon to see Muslim women often dressed in the full Burka. But the high concentration of women who are outwardly expressing their Muslim identity is something I have only seen while living in Kreuzberg. I think in most of the western world, cities have areas or communities that comprise mostly people with a non-European heritage.
Bristol for instance has it’s own migrant communities; there are areas with high numbers of British Caribbean and Somali citizens. And I think Berlin with its history is extremely lucky to have an area with such a diverse mix of friendly and considerate people. It gives Berlin an element of variety not found in other areas of the city and often other smaller towns.
Something that should not be forgotten in any conversation about x-berg is there is also a large community of white non-German speaking immigrants, these economic migrants are often from other European countries, North America and Australia. As well as conversations in Turkish you will often here people speaking English, Spanish or French, especially outside the many trendy bars and cafes that dominant the inner part of this area. Its important not to forget that these people are also migrants and make up a large part of x-bergs population but they are a lot less easy to spot unless you have a keen eye for stripy t-shirts and fake Ray Ban sunglasses.
Last edited by James_Ellison on June 10, 2010 at 9:43 pm
I really enjoyed the Kreuzberg neighborhood tour. I feel like I have learned a lot about the different countries that are represented in the neighborhood. I felt like the neighborhood was very nice and spacious. I tried to imagine myself as a child growing up next to the Berlin wall and the feelings that I might have had. I think it would be more difficult for the parents to live close to the wall than the children because children tend to live in the moment and not dwell on hardship, especially when their lives seem to be engulfed in it. I think it was unfortunate that Germany was put in the position to take workers from outside when the people inside needed work themselves. But that is what created the culture in Kreuzberg. I think there are more differences when compared to my home neighborhood than there are similarities. We had plenty of room for families to grow and we felt that we could come and go as we please. There were boundaries into other peoples’ yards but as children we trespassed and never got in trouble. I would like to live in Kreuzberg today. I think that it is gorgeous and rich with culture and vegetation. I would give a lot to have a little farm in my home neighborhood now. I think it is a great family place to live and to have your children grow. It would have been difficult as a German to live in Kreuzberg when the Berlin wall was still standing. There would have been so much emotion knowing that you were separated from people you knew so close on the other side. I would not like the feeling of having boundaries. I think it would have been easier for the migrant workers because they were disconnected from the people on the other side of the wall. When you don’t know what is on the other side, you don’t know what to miss or how to miss it. I think that is why the immigrants fit so well in that neighborhood. There was no one to complain and it was probably easier on the authorities.
Last edited by Jennifer_Hadley on June 10, 2010 at 9:44 pm
Ich liebe Kreuzberg
What a beautiful place to be, Kreuzberg! Did anybody else love the canvases with photographs of Istanbul that were hung above storefronts on one of the streets? Or the amazing home-style food? Or the overall feeling of comfort that somehow hung around that place? I’m not sure why I loved Kreuzberg as much as I did. Overall, it wasn’t significantly different from places I’m used to in terms of aesthetics, and perhaps it was made more special through the stories that we heard from the tour guide. Either way, I feel that I would settle in Kreuzberg if I ever moved to Berlin.
None of the places that I’ve lived in resemble Kreuzberg in a significant way. In Saint Petersburg, we lived in apartment blocks that did not integrate with any sort of a commercial area, so that “bustle” of Kreuzberg and the daily interactions of thousands of people were missing. In addition, I did not know a single immigrant to Russia back when I lived there. In America, I first lived with my parents in the suburbs of Washington, DC, and then in College Park (near the University of Maryland). The suburbs that we lived in were characterized by many immigrants living around there, but there was a big difference between our area and Kreuzberg – while the Berlin neighborhood embraced foreignness and exhibited signs of the residents’ origins in the streets, my neighborhood was very “Americanized” from the outside and in public spaces, and people only revealed their roots in the privacy of their homes. Further, little public evidence of immigrants appears in College Park, and is usually revealed only through restaurant storefronts that boast foreign cuisines. Even so, such commercial areas are not as visible in College Park as they are in nearby Langley Park, which is primarily occupied by Hispanics. And even though Washington, DC has the largest population of Ethiopians outside of Ethiopia, you would not be able to recognize that fact when exploring various parts of the city.
Despite the differences between the areas in which I have lived and Kreuzberg, I really felt that I could relate to the residents of this neighborhood on a level that has nothing to do with physical surroundings. We learned that a lot of the children growing up here do not associate themselves with Germans. People tend to relate to what they are comfortable with, so those who grow up here can call themselves Berliners and Kreuzbergers, but not Germans, as they have not ever felt that they fully belong in the German culture. Moreover, these people end up living a life in which they are a foreigner in their current country of residents, and a foreigner in their native country as well, as living in Germany changes them in a seemingly irreconcilable way. I have had a very similar experience, as I still feel like a foreigner in both countries in which I have lived for a decade. In addition, I can never call myself an American, yet I can easily associate myself with the University of Maryland or Montgomery County, the suburban area in which I have lived. I never thought about that until I heard about the Kreuzberg residents’ experiences in Germany. You live and you learn, I guess.
Last edited by Anna_Tulchinskaya on June 10, 2010 at 10:20 pm
On Tuesday, I was part of the first group to do the Kreuzberg tour. At the beginning of my studies at UdK Berlin 9 months ago I moved into southern Kreuzberg at the Südstern, towards Neukölln. Back then, I didn’t have much of an idea about the area other than having heard that there are many people with an immigrant background, which comes with certain social issues – but that didn’t bother me, it seemed nice to me and I just wanted to live close to university. I ended up in „Kreuzberg 61“ (the number referring to the last two figures of the postal code), as opposed to the better known „Kreuzberg 36“, or „SO 36“, the neighbourhood we walked through during our tour. You could say that where I live is less „typical“ of Kreuzberg in the sense that it’s less ethnically mixed, but you still have the liveliness, creativity and diversity of cuisines and subcultures that makes this part of the city so interesting.
Only about two months ago did I first get to know „SO 36“ around Kottbusser Tor. I had heard a few dubious things about it before. I was told that since there are so many cultures clashing and people economically struggling because of their immigrant history, that there was a higher crime rate and it could be dangerous to go there at night. I can’t say I know the area very well yet, but so far this stereotype hasn’t been confirmed. After having overcome my inital prejudices, I now find it very lively, welcoming and I love going there and checking out all of its cafés, restaurants, markets and interesting shops.
Having this personal relation to Kreuzberg, I was looking forward to hearing about it on a tour from a local’s point of view and learning more about its specific history to be able to put my own experiences and point of view into a historical and socio-economic context. At first, the guide told us about the cultural composition of the area and the historical reasons why people came, which I found very interesting. I wished we could have had more time to explore in the museum but I’ll definitely come again to do that. During the walking tour, I recognized practically every place and knew about some things a little, but still I found the experiene enlightening and it helped me build relations between other places, general and specific immigrant issues and Berlin’s and Germany’s history, so from now on I will definitely see everything from a different perspective.During the tour I was wondering whether only I found this interesting because I live here, and if the students from the other countries were bored or not. I asked a few people and, surprisingly for me, they all gave positive responses saying that they were enjoying the trip. They felt that all they had learned in class about German history and immigration seemed concentrated in this area and it was all being retold and retaught within these few hours, but in a more tangible way.
The concluding lunch was a nice way to round up the tour, showing that Turkish food isn’t just all about falafel and kebap.
I can say that I fully enjoyed myself and thought it was a good idea to do this tour, for social as well as educational reasons.
Last edited by Anna_Cairns on June 10, 2010 at 10:13 pm
A particular reputation surrounds both Kreuzberg and my hometown, and although for different reasons, it still affects the treatment of people from those places. Inhabitants from Kreuzberg are judged based on their country of origin, or better yet, the country that their family immigrated from a generation or two before them.
Alternatively, as a citizen of New Jersey, I am often viewed a certain way immediately. “Oh, you’re from New Jersey…” is a common response, as if there is information they can automatically assume about me because of this, even if they have never been there. Naturally, I tend to defend my home state because It’s where I am from, but also because I feel that their expectations are probably not true. There is a negative connotation that seems to follow this discussion, and I don’t identify with a lot of the stereotypes. The assumptions are that everyone in New Jersey is dirty, or that they act like the cast of the recent MTV reality show “Jersey Shore”.
A lot of friends from my hometown were angry when Jersey Shore aired because they thought it highlighted and encouraged negative attitudes about us, but really the show does not misrepresent the types of people who tend to visit certain areas of the coast. A young crowd from all over the tri-state area travels down to a handful of beaches in NJ to party and enjoy their summer. If you visit these beaches before Memorial Day or after Labor Day, the official beginning and end of summer, respectively, you will find them much less crowded because this typical audience does not live in NJ.
On one hand it amuses me that people have such grand ideas about what those who live in New Jersey are like. I find it funny because it’s so ridiculous, but I think it is typical of humans all over the world to want to identify themselves and other people as one thing or another. We seem to label each other with ease, perhaps as a means of organizing the number and types of people we encounter.
Hearing someone else’s perception of me based solely on the place that I was born makes me consider if I do the same to others. Although not all stereotypes are bad, I think their existence shows how hypocritical we can be. Just like how a child can’t fit a square block through a round hole, one can hardly know a person based solely on knowing the location they were born or the color of their skin. We don’t like it when it happens to us but I think it’s possible that in one way or another we have all judged someone based on their gender, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation at some point in our lives.
Some people who live in Kreuzberg were born in Germany, and therefore consider themselves German. However, there are certain complications within local culture that attempts to limit their identity. The conversation on the day of our visit reflected concerns about belonging. Kreuzberg tends to be known for it’s population of Turkish immigrants, but there are people who have come here from France, Poland, Cuba, Chile, and Iran to name just a few more locations. Our tour guide mentioned that Germany does not consider itself a country with immigrants, despite the history of guest workers that have migrated here. Only recently laws were passed to grant German citizenship to these people who might be displaced since their grandparents or parents came here for an educational, occupational, or religious opportunity.
I am by no means an expert on the diverse inhabitants of Kreuzberg, or greater Berlin, but I think the term ‘immigrant’ can have some negative associations. Like some animals, humans can be protective of their territory and need time to accept outsiders. Although I can generally escape stereotypes by remaining within NJ, I believe that every place I travel to, or every time I move, I learn more about other people and locations, and also about myself.
Last edited by Christie_OLaughlin on June 11, 2010 at 8:12 am
It was interesting to be apart of the tour to the city of Kreuzberg. I really enjoyed the diversity in this small space. It was intriguing to see a presumable poor building right next to an assumable rich building. It was cool to see that these groups of people live so closely together. Where I grew up the economical different groups had significantly different locations. The rich people usually lived up on the hill, close to the mountain and the poor people usually lived in the “ghetto” of the city. People in my city don’t like to associate with the crowd that is different than them and it was nice to see that in a city of such diversity, the city had come together in unity.
I find the most interesting part of the city to be something that is significant throughout the city of Berlin and most likely the whole country of Germany. The graffiti that exists all around is a unique characteristic of Germany. I feel like they are making a visual expression of the past that had happened with their country. This country has been apart of a difficult past where authorities took too much control over innocent lives and the inappropriate way they persecuted and murdered all of those people. I can see how a country like Germany really wouldn’t have the obscure respect for the buildings of their city. It shows a rebellious way of the individuals who had to be apart of this time. It most likely is the children of those who went through this but it just represents the respect that is not there for their city. They are respectful in a sense of being environmental aware but they are not respectful when it comes to “labeling” their city with graffiti. Back in my hometown graffiti is only done by the gangs of the city. In this town I have seen significant graffiti that could almost pass as being more of an artistic expression rather than a disruption or disrespect of public property. I feel like a lot of the city would appreciate this graffiti rather than hate on it. It gives the city the historical background of being a country of an unjustifiable past. They are a country of visual passion and expression; I really have enjoyed viewing this aspect of the city.
I do not believe I would like to live in this city. I have grown up half of my life in a spacious neighborhood and I wouldn’t want to live in a “crowded” area. I feel like that may come off as a little spoiled but I do enjoy my personal space:)
Last edited by Chanel_Lichfield on June 10, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Kreuzberg Parallel
Kreuzberg was a pretty different experience for me. What stuck out to me most was the fact that Kreuzberg became the location of Berlin specifically known for having a high number of Immigrants. In parts of Utah, like Rose Park (west of northern Salt Lake City), the population is known for being populated heavily with Hispanics. The Rose Park area is rundown in parts, property is cheap, crime is elevated and there is drug influence beginning at early age. Its not the most aesthetically pleasing place to live as the mountains to the east are being excavated for aggregates, and just to the north there is a sewage treatment facility. Most people do not want to live here because of these reasons. This not were all the Hispanic people live in Utah, nor are they sent to live there, but I can see some comparison to Kreuzberg. It is cheap to live there because it is an undesirable place to live. And It has a predominant Hispanic community that would make it more “comfortable” for other Hispanics or minorities that may have no other choice.
The feeling of displacement by immigrants coming into Germany must have been overwhelming. Not only where they outsiders coming into a new country with a new language, but they basically were sent to a place they had to live. This trip so far has been a eye opening ad life changing experience. I have a small taste of what it feels like to be an outsider in a country that I don’t know the language. Thank God there are people that speak enough English to help me. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for our Chinese comrades. Berlin and Kreuzberg have impacted me in ways that I would never have thought. I thought I would just come here, have a good time, meet some people, and do some design work. But since I have arrived here I have decided to learn a second language (Spanish) that is becoming more increasingly valuable in the United States. I have become more sympathetic to immigrants and foreigners. I’m getting a new view of the world and it makes me want to become a more well rounded person.
Last edited by Jeff_Madsen on June 10, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Kreuzberg is one of the most eclectic, interesting areas I’ve seen in Berlin so far. When we first got to the museum, it reminded me a lot of Brooklyn—full of older immigrants, and our tour guide told us that people who grew up there either loved it or hated it. I can definitely see how it would be a badge of courage to have lived in a place that “everyone who could afford to moved out of.” The identification of the area’s residents with the outdated postal code S.O. 36, even, reminded me of my granfather’s identification with his New York public school number.
As we walked through the center of the neighborhood, I was struck by Kreuzberg’s implications for the field of urban planning, too. There are these very tightly built, industrial-looking tenements surrounding the U-Bahnhof that really contrast with the older-looking, more decorative apartments as close as 100 yards to the station. Our guide explained that the tenements were part of a misguided modernization project that aimed to create cheap housing to put the city’s guest workers in, but didn’t really work because there were too many people for a population center, and there wasn’t even any place for kids to play.
The impact of the building and falling of the wall are also interesting instances of the importance of premeditation in urban manipulation. Along with the migration of the guest workers during the Cold War, the area in Kreuzberg around where the wall used to stand has a concentrated immigrant population because many native Germans avoid living there because it reminds them of the division of their country and their estrangement from their family, but few Turks, Greeks, or Vietnamese have this emotional connotation with the sight.
Religion also seemed to be a big part of Kreuzberg’s story. Our tour guide was a Muslim and she brought us to her mosque, but she pointed out that she thought that most of the tensions between natives and ethnic groups is actually based on competition for jobs, and because many of the immigrants were Muslim Turks or Palestinian refugees, religion became a way to mark difference. The more financial, and less ethnic or religious root of these tensions was also apparent in something I read at the museum: in the 19th century, Berliners referred to anyone looking for work as a “Polack,” not just the Polish people. It’s ironic that the government of Berlin had actually agreed with Turkey and Greece’s governments to bring the workers there in the first place, because the Berliners didn’t want and couldn’t occupy all the factory jobs after the war, but now that jobs are scarce, they’ve turned on them and want to send them back. The overpopulation and visa status of many refugees has led to an unemployment rate of 42%, which understandably exacerbates a lot of tensions.
The more we walked around the area, even after the tour ended, the more I saw a younger, more punk, counter-culture Kreuzberg, and it began to strike me as more of a Greenwich Village than a Brooklyn, and I think these tensions with citizenships and unemployment could have really helped contribute to this dynamic. We walked into a shop called Core Tex that reminded me of a Hot Topic or somewhere similarly angsty and heavy metal-inspired in the U.S., and it occurred to me that maybe some of the area’s cache for rebellious teenagers could have to do with its association with immigration issues, and things they would want to protest about the society there. For example, there was a recent policy change in Germany to encourage people between the ages of 18 and 21 to revoke their German citizenship and take on the citizenship of their parents if they were only citizens because they were born in Germany. According to our tour guide, mailings that offer young people this option create fear that the government can and will take your citizenship away, because it makes them feel like it’s not a very permanent thing, and they’re not wanted here.
Last edited by Jaimie_Mertz on June 10, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Before I visited Kreuzberg on June 8, 2010, I did not know what to expect. I heard it was an immigrant-rich area (which is where the “hidden brain” switched on and pictured it to be a scattered with a mixture of shops, stores, and signs and a somewhat dingy place) but that was about all the knowledge I had. When I got there, it did not look like I expected. It looked like most areas of Berlin but with more personality. I immediately recognized this because of all of the different cultures and the way it looked. I learned that about every three people are from a different country which I find so interesting! There is so much to learn from these different people. They are all different but they are living together.
Compared to my neighborhood at home, it is VERY different. At home, I live in a “middle class” to “low class” area and everyone is very conservative and very similar. Everyone lives in grassy neighborhoods and you need to drive to get anywhere. At my apartment at school in College Park, compared to my home town, it is more similar. College Park is a mixture of people. There are a diverse group of college kids to start but the area is more “lower class”. The majority of the “locals” are of a hispanic or african decent. This mix of ages, races, and class has more in common with Kreuzberg than my home town, Finksburg of Carroll County does. I would not say I would pick this place as one of the top choices I would WANT to live but I would not mind living there. I think it has a lot to offer experience wise, especially getting to know those who live there. They all seem to have their own background and history and it would be fascinating to learn about. Being open to such a diverse group of people and culture would really help people explore not only different ways of living but also explore their inner-selves. Being submersed in a different culture is something I would love to experience. I believe everyone needs to live in a place full of people from different areas to open their eyes and their minds. I could see myself staying here for awhile, but not living. I only say this because I personally want to live in a fast pace, contemporary city.
Last edited by Christie_Liberatore on June 10, 2010 at 11:50 pm
Our tour to Kreuzberg was interesting for most of the students for sure but somehow I could not feel like it was real life. Almost all the people I have seen around were Turkish, yet not like the ones I see at home, and the place did not have any resemblence as well. People living there were rather like Europanized versions of the Turks in Turkey but their lifestyle seemed as a “Turked“ European life. Of course after hearing their history of struggles, this situation made much more sense. I have heard them complaining that they are not considered Turkish in Turkey or German in Germany several times but what they cannot see from where they stand is that they have created their own culture and history in a country which they “actually“ belong in. They are the Turks from Germany! I do not say that they should be proud of themselves or the assimilation, but they also should not regret their decision of staying. To make their own life easier, they should just accept the things the way they are. I am not really sure if I can manage to live in such an area because although we (can) speak the same language, we belong to somewhat different cultures. Being a Turk who has lived all his life in Turkey, it definately will take time for me to get used to these new traditions and customs they have created through time. Yet, I suppose it will be easier for me to cope with them and the area then most of the foreign people. The actual question for me is, if I decided to live abroad someday, whether it would be easier to get used to an area such as Kreuzberg or would it be a better idea to start a life in a Turk free zone.
Last edited by Guclu_Aydogdu on June 10, 2010 at 11:57 pm
My Impressions of the Colorful Kreuzberg
My experience in Kreuzberg was definitely a positive experience. I learned much about the different cultural varieties within that area, especially how it came to be such a high population for immigrants in the 60’s and 70’s. Our tour guide did an excellent job of explaining the history, and helped paint a picture of how it was growing up within Kreuzberg along with the struggles that she faced of not being “German” even though she grew up in Germany.
Walking through Kreuzberg is not like any part of Virginia where I grew up as a child. The majority of people living in Fredericksburg, Va was mostly made up of middle class whites. Also, I’m not from the city, so the environment is completely opposite. Most of the people who have migrated to the states live in the northern part of Virginia where it’s more urban. I lived in a more country-like setting. The same countries that migrate to Germany such as Turkey, they are the same countries that can be found in Virginia. Of course there’s not as many Hispanics here in Germany, but I did see some Spanish speaking people as we were leaving Kreuzberg.
I don’t think I could live in Kreuzberg. Not because of all of the different cultures, but because when you live in an environment where the income of workers is low, you usually have crime. I live in an environment (Baltimore, Maryland) where the crime rate is high, and I can’t take it anymore. I am currently in the process of looking elsewhere to live. It becomes very stressful to live in a low income area, and constantly look over your shoulder because you don’t know what to expect from others, and having to constantly keep your guard up. During the tour, we were told a lot of these kids from Migrant families are not educated and this is the reason why they are involved in crime. The same could be said about where I currently live. Most of the children that are in my community are from a low income family and are not getting a good education.
The Kreuzberg area is absolutely beautiful, and I got a sense of history and culture as I walked through the tour, but it’s definitely not a place where I could settle down. Also, I don’t think my background has anything in common with their culture which is why it would be very hard to live there.
Last edited by Todd_Nelson on June 11, 2010 at 12:32 am
Kreuezbrerg was a very interesting neighborhood with a ton of diversity. Gerchin was extremely knowledgeable about the immigration of not just the Turks, but many different races moving into this neighborhood, and the reasons why. The map at the first of the exhibit was very easy to read have a ton of information to offer about all the different countries moving here and why. Each country had its own set of problems and issues that moving to Berlin would solve. While at the same time helped out Berlin in a time of need. Learning that Germany actually asked for guest workers in the first place was something I never knew, and something I found very interesting. It makes me wonder if the USA was ever in the same situation and resorted to the same kinds of methods or if they had different kinds of ideas, and how they may have been different from the German ideas.
The most interesting part of Kreuezbrerg I think was the mosque. I took Art and architecture of Islamic cultures last semester and we learned all about mosques and the Islamic culture in many different countries, and it was nothing like what I saw in Kreuezbrerg. All the mosques I studied were very large and imposing, colorful and unique. What I saw in Kreuezbrerg was a very simple room with carpet, of course pointed towards Mecca, with a fairly simple Mihrab niche and Minbar, when in the pictures I studies mostly what I saw was extremely high domes, and beautiful tile and architecture. Here in Kreuezbrerg, it is simply a rented building converted into a mosque with no real initial intention of using this space for a Muslim meeting place. I found this very interesting, and it made me wonder how many other places in Europe and other places in the world this is the case. Where alternative buildings are necessary to use as a meeting place.
Kruezberg was such a contrast to my home because we really do not have a lot of diverse people living there. In Utah the majority of the population is white, with mostly the same background and experiences, This makes it very interesting to travel to new places and hear and learn about new experiences the locals and immigrants here have. Hearing Gerchin talk about her childhood living and playing by the Berlin wall was SO interesting. Being that young age and not realizing what huge history is happening around you I feel is a very common occurrence and it is a very interesting thing to look back on once you are grown and realize the importance of the event.
I don’t think I would ever want to live in Kruezberg because____
Kreuezbrerg was a very interesting neighborhood with a ton of diversity. Gerchin was extremely knowledgeable about the immigration of not just the Turks, but many different races moving into this neighborhood, and the reasons why. The map at the first of the exhibit was very easy to read have a ton of information to offer about all the different countries moving here and why. Each country had its own set of problems and issues that moving to Berlin would solve. While at the same time helped out Berlin in a time of need. Learning that Germany actually asked for guest workers in the first place was something I never knew, and something I found very interesting. It makes me wonder if the USA was ever in the same situation and resorted to the same kinds of methods or if they had different kinds of ideas, and how they may have been different from the German ideas, The most interesting part of Kreuezbrerg I think was the mosque. I took Art and architecture of Islamic cultures last semester and we learned all about mosques and the Islamic culture in many different countries, and it was nothing like what I saw in Kreuezbrerg. All the mosques I studied were very large and imposing, colorful and unique. What I saw in Kreuezbrerg was a very simple room with carpet, of course pointed towards Mecca, with a fairly simple Mihrab niche and Minbar, when in the pictures I studies mostly what I saw was extremely high domes, and beautiful tile and architecture. Here in Kreuezbrerg, it is simply a rented building converted into a mosque with no real initial intention of using this space for a Muslim meeting place. I found this very interesting, and it made me wonder how many other places in Europe and other places in the world this is the case. Where alternative buildings are necessary to use as a meeting place. Kruezberg was such a contrast to my home because we really do not have a lot of diverse people living there. In Utah the majority of the population is white, with mostly the same background and experiences, This makes it very interesting to travel to new places and hear and learn about new experiences the locals and immigrants here have. Hearing Gerchin talk about her childhood living and playing by the Berlin wall was SO interesting. Being that young age and not realizing what huge history is happening around you I feel is a very common occurrence and it is a very interesting thing to look back on once you are grown and realize the importance of the event. I don’t think I would ever want to live in Kruezberg because____
Last edited by Britni_Howe on June 11, 2010 at 9:26 am
Overall, I found the tour of Kreuzberg to be very interesting and relevant to our studies here in Berlin as I think it was important for us to see apart of the city that is not as “touristy.” Despite our large English speaking group with countless cameras, we were to experience another part of Berlin. Gertchen was able to provide us with a first hand account as a Muslim Turk living in Germany. Her personal touch gave the tour a greater sense of meaning and even made it more believable. I also particularly liked visiting the mosque and restaurant at the end of the tour because it allowed us to see how a Turkish immigrant in Kreuzberg might spend part of their day and how German life integrates with Turkish tradition. I thought it was interesting to hear about the wide range of immigrants, their home countries, and reasons for immigrating- such as guest workers and because of conflict in their homelands. But, I would like to know what city or area in the United States is comparable to Kreuzberg just to give the information that was presented to us some more context and to make it more relatable. Aside from the high concentration of immigrants living in the area, I found the range of economic classes living in Kreuzberg to be of importance. The tour guide gave the example that you may see a homeless person and the next person to walk by may be a businessman in a suit off to a nice restaurant; this is far from my experience of living in Hunt Valley, MD. Kreuzberg is not at all similar to my neighborhood; the first and most obvious difference is the fact that Kreuzberg is within a large city, while Hunt Valley is only a small suburb, and in some cases a rural area, of Baltimore county. The population of Hunt Valley is for the most part homogeneous in terms of social class, economic class, race, culture, etc. I would not be opposed to living in an area like Kreuzberg, but it would initially be a little unusual to live in such a diverse environment. I have lived in other areas that are more diverse than my hometown (Philadelphia and Washington DC area) and was able to adjust to the diverse population surrounding me quickly.
Last edited by Jessy_Weiss 10 June, 2010 @ 22:35 by
Our trip to Kreuzberg as been very interesting for me, maybe even more then the other students,
since we had the chance to get an idea about the lives of Turkish people living in Germany. There
were many things that touched me a lot, one of them was the place where we were shown the stones
on the ground covered with metal and having the names of the people deported to concentration
camps. This was special for me in a way that I later noticed similar situations implying the german
effort to keep their history alive no matter how painful it is. I found that the fact that our tour guide
was someone who actually grew up in Kreuzberg, just next to the wall, has enhanced the content of
the tour. I was very touched by one of her quotations saying „Go play next to the wall“, this is what
her mother used to say when our guide was little because the area around the wall was secure,
without cars and silent. This was for me an interesting reference to those time of cold war since
only the people leaving on the west side of the wall were able o get so close to the wall until they
can touch it. The closest the people of the east part could get to the wall was fourty meter. Another
thing about Kreuzberg was that fact that it still had black spots on the ground locating the place of
the wall. I found it tragic that Kreuzberg, the neighborhood that has long been a place where people
wanted to run away from is now one of the places where houses are expensäve and rents are high.
About the mosque, it was not an actual one but of course we cannot expect it to be a perfect mosque
given these people are not in their actual city. The place we visited there was more like what we call
in Turkey a „mescit“, which is small, clean and silent place usually close to the area people work.
Its main function is to provide a place for the believer to pray as quick as possible without having to
stop working for too long.
Being able to take a tour in Kreuzberg was a very nice and interesting experince, there were really
lots of Turkish people, but they were not like us, they were definitely different. This is certainly not
a bad impression, it is just that have not yet understood the background of me feeling that way.
Last edited by Sera_Cakiroglu on June 16, 2010 at 4:42 pm