#294: Urban space wars
Parks, housing, tourists, dealers. The debate about who gets to be where never ends in Berlin.
Dear 20 Percent,
I was going to write one of my typical rants about the inhumane state of the public toilets in Treptower Park, which I attempted to visit after a lovely outing to this beautiful, well-maintained green space. It almost ruined my Sunday. Still angry two days later, I tramped to my local coffeeshop this morning and encountered these Holland fans. Like a beam of sunshine, they instantly brightened my mood. You can’t let the crap (sic) aspects of life in Berlin get you down. Thanks, Oranje! And good luck against Austria at the Olympiastadion tonight.
Maurice
If we help you through your day like my orange friends, why not join the 226 readers who support us on Patreon or by simply upgrading to a paid subscription here on Substack.
Green space: the future of Tempelhof
In 2014, Berliners voted in a referendum to preserve the ex-airfield of Tempelhof airport as a giant park and not allow any construction on it whatsoever. But mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) wants to build housing around the edges but knows it’s a sensitive issue so a process of “citizen participation” on the future of the park has been started. The Berlin government wrote to 20,000 randomly selected inhabitants to apply to take part in the “Dialogprozess Tempelhofer Feld”. Tagesspiegel (paywall) writes that 996 applied. Of these, 275 people will make the final cut, with 12 percent coming from districts bordering the park, with the rest selected proportionate to their district’s share of the population. From September, this group will discuss concepts for the future of the vast green space. Tempelhof purists point out that the Volk made their voice heard in 2014, and says there’s plenty of empty land to build housing elsewhere in town.
Spaces for dealers: rave against the Görli fence
On Friday, thousands showed up for a “rave against the fence” in Görlitzer Park, which the city government hopes to encircle in a secure fence in order to close the park at sundown. The Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain district council opposes the fence. Security in the park has been a growing issue for years, especially following an alleged rape last year. It’s also known for its many drug dealers. According to taz, many area residents are against the fence, because the crime would just move into their neighbourhoods. In a speech at the rave, David Kiefer of the Wrangelkiez United association said, “A fence does not help a single woman in the neighbourhood, not a single homeless person, a fence does not improve the situation of drug users, and what a fence is supposed to do against drug dealing remains a mystery.”
Space for tourists: more hotels?
The Senat (city government) says Berlin will need 9,300 more hotel beds by 2030, reports Tagesspiegel (paywall). Around 30 new hotels with 4,812 beds are already in the planning phase. Opposition politicians say new hotels aren’t needed because last year the occupancy rate was just 55.8%, below the pre-corona peak of 62% in 2018 and 2019. Overtourism already feels like a problem in many areas. Will Berlin ever consider a total ban on vacation rentals, like in Barcelona? I don’t think we’re quite there yet but it would help boost hotel occupancy.
Sure, you don’t need to learn German to live in Berlin…
…but wouldn’t it feel damn good to master your der-die-das once and for all? Get serious about learning German at the Berlin-based online course, Smarter German. Sign up for a free trial today.
Selected events from our friends at The Next Day Berlin:
🎶Mary Ocher
Thursday, 27.06, 8 pm. Rough Trade, Karl-Marx-Strasse 101, 12043 Berlin. Free admission.
Berlin-based cult experimental pop artist Mary Ocher presents a special Rough Trade in-store showcase. Featuring two new records, "Approaching Singularity: Music for The End of Time" and 🎧 "Your Guide to Revolution," the music spans cumbia, post-punk, field recordings, cosmic synth compositions, and deconstructed techno.
🎶BLACK Communion
Thu-Fri, 27.28.06, 8 pm. Morphine Raum, Köpenicker Strasse, 147, Mitte. Tickets: €15/25.
BLACK Communion shares experiences from the transnational Afro-diaspora, breaking genre boundaries and encouraging collaboration. This event series celebrates artists from diverse backgrounds and creative communities, united by their sonic activism in composition, improvisation, and sound art. The third edition features 🎧 Robert Machiri, Savanna Morgan, and Kelvin Lamar Sholar.
🎭48 Stunden Neukölln: Urban Silence
Fri-Sun, 28-30.06. Opening from 7 pm on Friday with live music at Berliner Berg Brauerei. We recommend downloading the app.
At the 48 Stunden Neukölln festival, explorations of urban silence are welcome: field recordings, experimental music, traditional expressions, compositions, installations, texts, theatre, poetry, pictures, and sculptures. Artists will creatively interpret and present the theme of urban silence. This festival is a good opportunity to explorer new spaces in Neukölln.
For a weekly culture update, subscribe to The Next Day Berlin!
Germany-wide news
💸Historic tax evasion trial dropped due to defendent’s poor health
📱Germany to vote against Belgian plan to monitor chats
🎙️How a podcast tracked down a Red Army Faction(RAF) member after 30 years.
⚽Football tourism bump, economy still weak
Factoid
Teufelsberg in Grunewald is an artificial hill made out of World War II rumble. Occupying Allied forces built a listening station to surveil East German and Soviet communications up there in the 1950s but it was abandoned after German reunification in 1990. Back when there was snow, there was even a short ski slope with lift. The 50,000m² former spying facility has remained the domain of urban explorers, some impressive street art and the occasional rave. Film director David Lynch once proposed building a university for transcendental mediation there. In an RBB video, the new owner of the protected site says he wants to restore the building, open a museum and cafe, while keeping the street art and Cold War ambiance.
Thanks for reading! And have a great week.