This was an unfortunate realization I had today. Berlin is a place where the sub-cultures are so big they've become
the dominant culture. 90's style techno parties, artists living
as squatters in abandoned buildings, parties in old Nazi bunkers, S&M, streeet
art, and anything else you can think of are accepted, are everywhere,
and dominate the scene. The more
grungy and underground and counter-culture in Berlin the better. As a local explained it to me - Berlin has been through so much in the
last 100 years that now, as long as you aren't hurting anyone, you can
do whatever you want. People start partying at 3pm on Friday and call
it quits with just enough time to get ready for work on Monday. Really
dirty crap coke is the party drug of choice (considering the
prevalence of the rave culture I would have expected ecstasy to be the
big drug but I was told that is not the case). Street art is the
dominant form of art, and artists have tagged the city one hundred
times over. It's been 20 years after the fall of the wall, but the Berlin
government is just now finally getting around to gentrifying the areas
that they've largely ignored for the last 20 years.
This is bad news for the art scene, because a lot of the squatters
will be forced out unless they can get
community support to keep the buildings as they were. There seems to
be a war between the community squatting in the buildings and its
supporters, and those
who want to create department stores and other types of industry for
Berlin. The situation sounded fairly complicated. There is a lot more I could say, because I feel like I got quite a
lesson in "what's happening in Berlin since the fall of the wall" but
I am super exhausted. My big take away is that I will never be grungy
enough for Berlin - I felt so clean cut and square-ish all day today,
but I am really excited I had the opportunity to see all of this first
hand before it does get wiped out and replaced by fancy department
stores and luxury hotels.
the dominant culture. 90's style techno parties, artists living
as squatters in abandoned buildings, parties in old Nazi bunkers, S&M, streeet
art, and anything else you can think of are accepted, are everywhere,
and dominate the scene. The more
grungy and underground and counter-culture in Berlin the better. As a local explained it to me - Berlin has been through so much in the
last 100 years that now, as long as you aren't hurting anyone, you can
do whatever you want. People start partying at 3pm on Friday and call
it quits with just enough time to get ready for work on Monday. Really
dirty crap coke is the party drug of choice (considering the
prevalence of the rave culture I would have expected ecstasy to be the
big drug but I was told that is not the case). Street art is the
dominant form of art, and artists have tagged the city one hundred
times over. It's been 20 years after the fall of the wall, but the Berlin
government is just now finally getting around to gentrifying the areas
that they've largely ignored for the last 20 years.
This is bad news for the art scene, because a lot of the squatters
will be forced out unless they can get
community support to keep the buildings as they were. There seems to
be a war between the community squatting in the buildings and its
supporters, and those
who want to create department stores and other types of industry for
Berlin. The situation sounded fairly complicated. There is a lot more I could say, because I feel like I got quite a
lesson in "what's happening in Berlin since the fall of the wall" but
I am super exhausted. My big take away is that I will never be grungy
enough for Berlin - I felt so clean cut and square-ish all day today,
but I am really excited I had the opportunity to see all of this first
hand before it does get wiped out and replaced by fancy department
stores and luxury hotels.
