Berlin has changed for worse. It all started with the world championship
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Recently I had a huge dilemma. I received an invitation to a farewell party, which was to take place in the center of Berlin, near Alexanderplatz. I struggled with it for a long time. As a native Berlin, I must say one thing: I hate many things in my hometown. The city center resembles a vestibule of hell, which I usually no longer visit.
Where does this dissatisfaction with the “new” face of the capital come from? I am a very proud resident of the Spandau district – a place that is said that he is no longer Berlin. I also live on the very edge of these periphery. In five minutes I can reach the border with Land Brandenburg. In the summer I can even swim to it on the Havela River.
The house where I rent a flat is located in the forest, and the cleanest lake in the city is five minutes away. In turn, 10 minutes of cycling is the Alt-Kladow, the center of my “village”, about which the first mention comes from more than 750 years ago. Wannsee is another wonderful water reservoir, the bay of Havela's backwaters. Sacrow, with a beautiful park and the world -famous Heilandskirche church with a view of water, is located only a few minutes by car and is the favorite place of Berlin tourists.
In other words, I have a whole microworld here, in which, despite the closeness of the city, nature still dominates. Sometimes I even get fresh food from a farmer. Are you starting to understand why the city center has nothing to offer me?
In the past it was different …
It wasn't always like I hated the center of Berlin as much as today. I still remember the times when, as a teenager, with friends and skateboarding under my armpit, I discovered this city with curiosity and delight. Even a trip to Kudamm, the main street of West Berlin, seemed to me a great journey.
I remember the nights at Warschauer Strasse, when you could look at the railway tracks to the horizon and there was absolutely nothing. No stadium, no shopping center, no pubs for post -industrial areas. Just nothing. Well, maybe except for Matrix, Ntox and Die Busche clubs, some of which exist today.
But even then The best part of the night was always a trip to my home, which – through night timetables – often It lasted even longer than the events themselves. I often reached a safe house in the rays of the rising sun. With satisfaction, but also with a slight shiver, I came back to the adventure from the previous night. I was thinking about the center of Berlin, whose temptation I managed to avoid once again, and I was filled with a feeling of gratitude. I paid for admission to the circus and had a good time in it, but finally I was coming home.
Opening ceremony of the World Cup. Berlin, June 7, 2006
Berlin began to change clearly – for me for worse – in 2006, after the World Cup. The city suddenly was in sight even the last traveler. Renches and entrances to the clubs were still cheap at the time – maybe it was the last accent of this Berlin from the 70s and 80s, whose memory causes nostalgic tears in the eyes of old hippies.
Berlin seemed to be a place of unlimited possibilities, where everyone could live calmly and freely, at their own pace. And not only over the weekend, but permanently – or at least so many people thought.
Too big ego
The problem with the fact that in a given place everyone tries to live according to their own idea, but it is that many dreams can interfere with each other. This happened in the case of Berlin. In the city center it was getting louder, even more feverishly and fastand at some point I lost my desire to keep up with this pace.
Unfortunately, in the following years a significant number of people, of whom was much too much for the city's capabilities, moved to Berlin. They tried to appropriate as much space as possible, often regardless of others. I will say simply: for me Berlin is the world capital of hedonism, which is more and more often showing me its nasty face.
Suddenly the center of Berlin began to go to the first pages of newspapers – definitely not in a positive context. One headline wrote about the homeless, another about a boy beaten to death by a group of peers, another about a teenager stabbed in broad day before the supermarket – only because he was wearing a “inappropriate” football team. Let's add a terror to this, which shook Berlin and other cities in 2016.
As a boy “from the village” I have never been a fan of crowds of people who traverse the city center at any time of the day or night. Added to this is another example: Public transport is usually hopelessly full, even though the metro runs every few minutes. And there someone will certainly take out the kebab because he confused communication with the dining room.
Dog droppings and drugs
I am sure that I do not have to write anything more about dog droppings on every patch of a pavement in the city center. Dog owners do not clean them because they have it somewhere. Regular drug raids in parks such as Hasenheide, Mauerpark or “Goerli”? No problem, such headlines apparently no longer shock many Berliners.
And the fact that everyone is throwing garbage in the middle of the street? All this disturbed me over the years, which is why my visits to these districts of Berlin, which the whole tourist world dreams of, became rarer.
Daper in Berlin. Illustrative photo
The explosion of Coronavirus pandemic dealt the final blow to my relationship with the center of Berlin. Since then, as an independent journalist, I enjoy the privilege of complete remote work and I learned to love my “rural part of the city” even more. It is a very pleasant feeling to know and greet all your neighbors in the morning. Would it be possible in the city center?
Now, at the age of 40, I just don't need Berlin's temptation anymore. Going to mushrooms or fish is now my new way to entertain. I meet more and more people who envy me. It is no accident that Uckermark, a poviat on the border with Poland, being one of the least populated areas in all of Germany, has become a new favorite goal of travel tired of the city of Berliners.
Keep this circus away from us
Even if Berliners are not tired of the buzz around them, times change. The eloquent testimony is, unfortunately, the fact that in recent years rents has exploded, even in my “village”. 35 years ago, it smelled of goose droppings, today there are stylish lofts with a view of a havela.
Of course, I can still meet me from time to time in the center of Berlin, but my modus operandi has changed. For example, at Eberswalder Strasse, one of the worst places for me in Berlin, there are two stores that I visit regularly. What to do – if I want a good cheese and ham, I just have to go there.
But as before, after visiting the city center, as soon as I return to Spandau, I am overwhelmed by a wonderful feeling of peace and calmness. Here I can still determine the rhythm of my life myself And I am not in a bad mood since the morning, because I have to squeeze into public transport with countless other unfortunate.
But please, don't think to visit Spandau. We are quite satisfied with the status of “outsiders”, which holds most Berlin tourists from us. Believe me, we have earned hard for our image of a gray mouse. Thanks to this, we can freely choose when we want to go to the circus. But the circus rarely reaches us. And let it stay that way.
