My second Berlin hostel happens to be in a neighborhood on the far
eastern side of Berlin (over by the wall). This is a developing and quickly changing area, so I've had the unique opportunity
to learn first-hand about some of the major conflicts affecting
Berliners today.

During the years of Communism, West Berlin was fairly cut off from the
rest of Western Europe, and infrastructure and business were
naturally a very low priority. In these years, Western Berlin became
somewhat of a welfare state, as there weren't very many opportunities
for Berliners to develop and grow as a nation. Similarly
in the east, Berliners were operating under Communism, where it didn't
matter really how hard you worked because everyone was broke anyway.
So for about 50 years, Berlin was at a semi stand-still in terms of
business development and growth.

When the wall fell down, a lot of West Berliners moved over to the
East side by the wall (which was left abandoned since pre-Communism) and many artists and musicians began living in the
abandoned buildings rent free. Apparently, since the wall fell it's been somewhat of a free-for-all when it
comes to this property by the wall, and the government has turned a
blind eye to squatters who have made old abandoned buildings their
home. Art studios, night clubs, and all sorts of other counter-culture
activities have been taking place in these properties for close to 20
years.

In the late 1990's, Berlin started realizing that these abandoned
buildings were actually prime river-front property, and there have
been movements to increase the value of the land as well as Berlin's
overall wealth. There has been a push to encourage media companies to
take advantage of Berlin's "hip" status by making Berlin their
headquarters. Already there are deals with Universal, MTV, and most
controversially, O2 World - a stadium that was recently built along
the river near the wall that brings little money, but lots of
traffic to the neighborhood.

This movement to make Berlin a media capital, increase the value of
Berlin's land, and drive out squatters is called "Mediaspree," and it
is a movement that is wildly protested by locals who have lived in the
old buildings near the river for years, and who will not be able to afford to
stay in Berlin if the rents increase. It has been a mostly peaceful
battle, fought with street art and protests, but there have been some riots and car
burnings, and some landowners have cut deals with the squatters, which
I find completely fascinating.

I was talking to a girl in Berlin yesterday who was definitely on the side of the
artists, and while I agree it would be very hard for them if their
homes were taken away, the idea of being able to live somewhere rent
free is so foreign to me that I have a hard time sympathizing in many
ways. I am unsure at this point of where I side on this debate.

I just am so interested to see what happens in Berlin - many of the
buildings I photographed yesterday could be gone the next time I am
here, and I do find that really sad. So much of Berlin's value is it's
free culture and developing art scene, so it would be a shame to
corporatise it. But I also see the value for Berlin in increasing land
prices, developing infrastructure, and getting people off of welfare,
so it's a tough call to make.