On the Thursday of our Berlin excursion, we had a “My Berlin” day where we were split up into three groups for exploring the city. One group focused on the city’s Cold War history, another on urban art around the streets, and our group took on the neighborhood of Kreuzberg.
Kreuzberg is an immigrant hub in Berlin. The six of us set out for the neighborhood’s museum that is dedicated to the diversity of history that lies there. Once there we met Intissar, who would be our guide for the morning. She began by giving us a brief history of the neighborhood and how it came to be. The immigrant side of the neighborhood really came about when Turkish guest workers started immigrating to the area. Now there are about 150,000 residents in Kreuzberg with about 150 different cultures existing. After Intissar gave us a short introduction, she gave us iTouches which we used to listen to stories from different residents of the area. On the floor of the museum there was a large map of Kreuzberg with different colored numbers that corresponded to individual’s recordings of their experience. Some were about conflict, others about playgrounds, or religion there was such a wide range of ages, races, and voices. As I walked around the floor of the building, it became my quick introduction to the streets and the people.
After we each listened to a few stories, Intissar led us out into Kreuzberg. Something really striking about the neighborhood was the amount of graffiti and street art. The walls were abound with words and images plastered on by spray paint. Some were really cool and interesting, others less captivating and more generic, but there was not one street lacking some mark. Intissar became our window to the neighborhood, she brought us past an apartment complex where a reality show similar to MTV’s Real World but located in Kreuzberg is filmed. The neighborhood built too many parking structures, so one we passed by had been converted into aKindergarten. Apparently the ramps are still inside and the children use them to race around during recess. No wonder they have the autobahn here, they start kids thinking about cars so young. If only we could drive as fast. After passing the Kindergarten, we came across a four story building whose top floor was often used as a reception area for Arabic weddings. Intissar mentioned that she usually taught her tour groups a little traditional dance step from the weddings at this point, but she waved it off as if it was no big deal. There was no way we were missing this. Our entire group pleaded and she was so surprised we wanted to learn the dance. Who wouldn’t want to dance in the streets of Berlin? The six of us gathered in a circle, grabbed hands, and began stepping with our left foot over our right. Left again over right, and then kicking out with our left. It was a simple move, so we kept practicing it over and over and then she took out her phone and began playing a Arabic tune. There we were, six Americans and a German dancing on the sidewalk. It was perfect.
Intissar continued to lead us around and she brought us to a spot where the Berlin wall used to run through the neighborhood. Down the street, there was a famous squatter’s house that had been there for years that has been really helpful to residents. Our next stop was going to a neighborhood mosque. It was the first mosque I had been to and I was so surprised at how normal the outside of the building appeared. It just seemed like a courtyard entrance in the middle of a city block. Once inside, however, we just saw so and learned much more. Intissar taught us about the five pillars of Islam, why the rug pattern was all pointed in one direction (toward Mecca), and about the way one is supposed to pray. Coming from a Catholic background myself, it was really fascinating to learn more about a different religion.
After our mosque visit Intissar took us one last place: Wonder Waffle. My mouth started watering from the name. Each of us ordered delicious waffles for dessert with chocolate, strawberries, kiwis, pineapples, and even some chili pepper for an adventurous soul. Definitely a well balanced meal. I’m really on top of those over here. Overall, we had such a great little excursion around Berlin. Being able to do more than just the typical sightseeing for a day and actually focus on a neighborhood gave me a stronger grasp on the people of Berlin. I would love to go back some day. After all, I could use more balanced waffle lunches.
Written by: Sarah Bush
