View from the Oberbaumbrücke over the Spree
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The history of Kreuzberg: A passage of time
By Alexandre Weibel, Arthur Dufau, Bozhidar Tsekov, Carmina Adala and Iben Sørensen.
Berlin Trip, 12th to 15th January 2015
BERLIN – One of the world’s most historical
keystones is a place bombarded by so many
events that shaped it into the artistic sight we
know today as Berlin. A place of triumph and
tyranny, solitude and separation, redemption
and reconstruction. This is what Berlin has
witnessed and become throughout its existence
and this is what we will look at.
ORIGINS – The origins of Kreuzberg emerge
from the Greater Berlin Act of October 1st in
1920, which provided the reconstitution of
Berlin into twenty boroughs. Of these
boroughs, one was the product of four suburbs.
Named Hallesches Tor after its formation, this
borough had a name change on 27th of
September 1921, which contributes more to its
mountainous elevation. The new name derived
itself out of two words to form one name,
which directly translated means “cross-hill”.
This newly named collection of suburbs is
what we know today as Kreuzberg.
As we gaze into what magical journey it took
this city of wonder to behold such heralding
masterpieces of art, and such commemorations
of soldiers lost and wars past, we first begin
with a simple corner of this embassy of
history: the neighbourhood of Kreuzberg.
Specifically, the magical topics that follow
will
consist
of
the
evolution
of
Oberbaumbrücke, the East Side Gallery and
the O2 World Arena. We find ourselves in
Kreuzberg because, according to us, it is the
concentrated epicentre of Berlin's history.
Digging deeper into the trenches of the
history of Kreuzberg shows us that before the
age of boroughs, the areas of Kreuzberg
industrially revolutionized Berlin’s growth
rate in the 1860s. Thusly, most of the building
architecture seen in Kreuzberg originates from
that time.
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The lower deck of the bridge carries a
roadway, which connects Oberbaum Straße to
the south of the river with Warschauer Straße
to the north. The upper deck of the bridge
carries Berlin U-Bahn line U1, between
Schlesisches Tor and Warschauer Str. Station.
The bridge stands aloft the former boundary
of the municipal area with its rural environs,
where an excise wall was built in 1732. A
wooden drawbridge was built as part of the
wall; it served as a gate to the city. The name
Oberbaumbrücke stemmed from the heavy tree
trunk, covered in metal spikes that was used as
a boom to block the river at night to prevent
smuggling. The name roughly translates to
“Upper Tree Bridge”.
An old building in a street in Kreuzberg
Going back to the present like a maples
tourist, we surge forward to the 20th century,
which boasted the highest amount of residents.
The land of Kreuzberg is geographically
among the smallest in Berlin, but that does not
stop it from also being the most densely
populated location of the entire city. With over
400.000 people residing in its housings,
Kreuzberg defies and shatters the concept of
large-scale construction. After World War II, a
law, which made investments unattractive,
regulated the housing rents of Kreuzberg. As a
result, housing was of low quality, but cheap.
Starting in the late 60s, increasing numbers of
students, artists, and immigrants began moving
to Kreuzberg. This is still the case, even today.
In 1902, the first segment of the U-Bahn
opened. Its inaugural journey, carrying 19
passengers, ran from Stralauer Thor, at the
eastern end of the bridge, to Potsdamer Platz.
Stralauer Thor was dismantled after being
damaged in a 1945 air raid, but its 4
sandstone-clad support posts can still be seen
to this day.
Kreuzberg and its unfathomable population
also allowed it to become a nucleus of industry
for a while. This, of course means that we are
once again jumping back to a time long since
passed, in 1945 no less. That is because on the
3rd of February 1945 the destruction of two big
industrial quarters of Kreuzberg by aerial
assaults during World War II occurred.
When the construction of the Berlin Wall
happened in 1961 and the bridge became a
part of East Berlin's border with West Berlin;
as all the waters of the Spree were in
Friedrichshain, the East German fortifications
extended to the shoreline on the Kreuzberg
side. This forced the West Berlin U-Bahn line
to terminate at Schlesisches Tor. Beginning on
21 December 1963, the Oberbaumbrücke
became a pedestrian border crossing for West
Berlin residents only.
Oberbaumbrücke
The Oberbaumbrücke is a double-deck
bridge crossing Berlin's River Spree,
considered one of the city's landmarks. The
basis of the towers comes from the Brick
Gothic Mittel Torturm in Prenzlau. The bridge
links Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, former
divided boroughs by the Berlin Wall, and has
become an important symbol of Berlin’s unity.
One could even say it bridges the gap.
After the opening of the Wall in 1989, and
the German reunification the following year,
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the bridge was restored to its former
appearance, albeit with a new steel middle
section designed by the Spanish architect
Santiago Calatrava. It opened to pedestrians
and traffic on 9 November 1994, the fifth
anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall.
The U-Bahn line to Warschauer Straße station
We wanted to know what the East Side
Gallery evocated for a tourist and for a native
German, so we interviewed them, and here is
their response:
The Oberbaumbrücke
was reopened a year later.
●
The Tourist: “It doesn't really have a
sentimental meaning to me; I just
think about the people I have met; I
think about Anne Frank and the
people who lived to see the Berlin
Wall being built and then broken
down. Today, when I look at the wall I
think that people don't think about
how lucky they are when they visit the
East Side Gallery, and that makes me
feel frustrated.”
●
The Eastern Local: “For me it was
the Wall of shame, but not shame for
Germany, shame for America. I do not
understand why America did not help
us against Russia. Now when I see the
wall, I just feel free.”
Since 1997, a neon installation entitled
"Stone - Paper - Scissors" by Thorsten
Goldberg has adorned the bridge. Its two
elements are engaged in a constant game of
rock, paper, scissors, suggesting the
arbitrariness of immigration decisions; both
during the Cold War and for today's asylum
seekers and poverty migrants.
The East Side Gallery
The East Side Gallery
The Berlin wall was a barrier that divided
Berlin from 1961 to 1989, constructed by the
GDR (German Democratic Republic, East
Germany). This construction occurred in the
centre of Berlin from the night of 12 to 13
August 1961 that completely cut off West
Berlin from surrounding East Germany. Its
demolition officially began on 13 June 1990
and completion occurred in 1992. The East
Side Gallery is an international memorial for
freedom. It is 1.3 km long section of the Berlin
wall located near the centre of Berlin on
Mühlenstraße in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.
The Berlin Wall invokes feelings of pride and
shame, justice and freedom, and feelings of
compassion and regret that some may never
come to understand. For others, it is merely an
artistic form of expression. Whichever the
case, the East Side Gallery is truly a place to
behold for its beauty, and its message.
The O2 World Arena
The O2 World Arena, Berlin’s story begins
with its opening in September 2008. Its
abundance in history is not as rich and wide as
The gallery consists of 105 paintings by
artists from all over the world. Painted in 1990
on the east side of the Berlin Wall.
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its neighbouring tourist attraction, the East
Side Gallery, however, that does not mean that
it has nothing to tell.
The Arena faced some controversy before its
construction, because, even though it did not
do any harm to the natural environment,
people protested due to it being so close to the
historical Berlin Wall. Protests eventually
subsided when the building emerged fully
constructed, and boasted nothing but interest
and revenue for the area.
The O2 World Arena
The name of the O2 World came when O2
Germany purchased the naming rights. The
Arena is the home of the Eisenbären Berlin ice
hockey club, ALBA Berlin basketball team,
and it deserves this articles approval of visit.
ENCORE – As we reach the conclusion to
this adventure that has encompassed the full
majesty of Kreuzberg, let us take a step back
and recover, lest the information overwhelms
us. We have experienced the wonders of the
history of Kreuzberg and the artistic
temperaments of the East Side Gallery. We
had a blast with Oberbaumbrücke and The O2
World Arena, and as we draw ever so closer to
our end, we can at last reveal our articles
analogue and purpose. It is the comparison and
intrigue of old versus new. The symbolism
that age can have on architecture is something
truly to behold.
In an interview with a local souvenir shop
worker in the Arena, we discovered that
people liked it a lot, since it not only gave job
opportunities, but it also attracted a lot of
tourists as well as locals. More insight from
the worker we interviewed, she revealed to us
that there would be 3 600 000 people visiting
the Arena every year, with that number being
merely the bare-bones minimum. With 15 to
20 events per month, the Arena is getting
usage, not just for sports, but also for musical
events in which even magicians get the
pleasure of performing in it. Out of all events
in the O2 World Arena, the musical events
gather the biggest crowds every time.
Useful Links:
• http://www.visitberlin.de/en/article/friedrichshain-kreuzberg
• http://www.buzzfeed.com/nscholz/so-sehr-hat-sich-berlin-seit-1990-verandert
• http://www.contexttravel.com/city/berlin/walking-tour-details/evolving-berlin-everyday-life-inkreuzberg
• http://kreuzberged.com/category/history-of-kreuzberg/
• http://www.csmonitor.com/1987/1030/h1berg.html
http://www.artparasites.com/recommended/history-x-berg-how-kreuzberg-got-hip-1434
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View over the Spree