Roots and Revolutions: Berlin's Battle for Cultural Identity
The history of Berlin has been strongly shaped by its relationship to land from the era of the monarchy to becoming a republic to its occupation to becoming a democracy. These fundamental shifts in power have engendered a constant circulation of people throughout the city, migrating in and out of it. It is these tensions and intersections between the flux of different groups of people and their assertion of belonging that gave rise to the counterculture of Berlin across history.
theory
- Anchors – The markers of the spaces of counterculture within the city that attract people from all over to convene/ consume.
- Attractors – The spatial/ social setting for anchors to thrive.
- Resistances – Surveillance and commodification by mainstream culture and police brutality that combat anchors.
A Journey Through Three Berlin Neighborhoods
The highest densities of migrant populations has historically been concentrated around the center of the city. It is these neighborhoods that gave rise to the counterculture the city is known for today. When overlaid with land use patterns, it reveals that these are often working class neighborhoods that occur adjacent to industrial areas. This combined with the outward migration of the affluent class towards the suburbs post reunification has concentrated poorer sections of the population within these neighborhoods with affordable living conditions which created thriving space for artists.
The neighborhood of Kreuzberg is one of the historic centers of the counterculture movement. It was conceived as part of an extensive housing program and had a range of small scale industries. After WWII due to the destruction from bombings and rent control, there was cheap housing that attracted communities of immigrants, students and artists and an alternative culture thrived in its abandoned buildings. In recent years, ironically its counterculture has made it a mainstream tourist destination. Its low rents have become a tool for gentrification and that has begun to violently expel the artists and destroy the spaces of its counterculture era.
Kreuzberg has historically had a high migrant population. Anchors occur in association with nightlife and the many art establishments. This has created tourist clusters within the neighborhood. Along the stretch that has a high density of nightlife, we also see a greater degree of surveillance that is indicative of wanting to assert control over these spaces.
Once known as the Bronx of Berlin because of its high rates of crime, this neighborhood of industrial workers and migrants, has seen a complete transformation in recent years. As artists moved out of Kreuzberg, Neukolln began to grow as a new hub. From 2007 onwards as it got more recognition in travel guides to Berlin, it resulted in a proliferation of bars and clubs and cafes that has resulted in the rapid and unchecked gentrification of the area.
Neukolln has a high migrant population that works in the industrial sites within the district. Most of the anchors occur along its northern part where it borders Kreuzberg which shows the movement of artist colonies outwards from Kreuzberg. The northern quarters have a high density of nightlife destinations of the consumable counterculture that are closely associated with tourist hotspots. The areas adjacent to commercial establishments show increased surveillance that may be a result of monitoring the consumption of counterculture.
Wedding is speculated to become the new grounds of counterculture. As these communities are pushed out of the inner city, industrial working class neighborhoods like Wedding with some of the highest migrant concentration in the city are growing a new concentration of artistic spaces. This urban condition is further stabilized through rent control in the district that seeks to maintain the social diversity of the area.
Wedding has some of the largest migrant populations in Berlin. It doesn’t have many art establishments and many of the anchors occur around the institutional zone with high concentrations of the student population. This is accompanied by a concentration of nightlife venues. This locality has become a tourist hotspot, especially because it falls on the Ubahn line and is easily accessible. However, due to the institutional associations, this counterculture occurs in an area that is highly surveilled and hence occurs in a restricted manner.