I’ve lived in Berlin for almost a decade now. And let me tell you - this place has something.

It might not be obvious to weekend tourists and business visitors, but once you dig deeper into the city, you can immediately feel it. It manifests not only in the well-known party life, but in the overall eccentric “anything goes” lifestyle.

Some people hate it, saying the whole place feels too chaotic, too dirty, too “free”. Others love it and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

My question is - where is it all coming from?

(photos mine, except where noted)

The Third Reich

The story starts over a hundred years ago. After the abdication of Wilhelm II in 1918, Germany was converted into an unstable democratic state known as the Weimar Republic. People suddenly felt unrestrained, there was less authority hanging over their heads. Drugs became a common thing, with Berlin leading the way, as opposed to the more alcohol-oriented places like Münich.

The upcoming Third Reich focused on the “intelligence over intellect”, as Joseph Goebbels put it. He had a particular problem with the so-called “Asphalt literature” and “Asphalt culture”, referring to the urban progressive mindset found in big cities, particularly Berlin. He wanted to distance people away from intellectual thinking and towards traditional nationalist values, famously burning books in 1933.

Berlin, guilty as charged, high on life and opioids, remained a thorn in their side. Hitler regarded it as dirty. He called it a “hotbed of communist, Jewish, liberal, and intellectual resistance”, a center of “degeneration”. He even hired Albert Speer to completely raze it and rebuild it as a massive capital of his global empire, renamed “Germania” (some works already started, such as the relocation of the Berlin Victory Column… but most of them got postponed due to, well, other plans).

Relevant side note: Berlin was already becoming a hotspot for homosexuals at this time.

The Cold War

After World War II, West Berlin was controlled by the USA, UK and France. East Berlin was controlled by the Soviets. One interesting event happened in 1949 - West Berlin completely removed the curfew, an effort by The West to show their progressiveness. To this day, Berlin remains one of the few cities in the world where you can easily go out until early morning - and sometimes much longer.

In 1961, Soviets built the (in)famous wall to physically prevent the “brain drain” from East to West. With all this turmoil, Berlin was economically struggling. It was poor. It was bad news for the middle class, but great news for aspiring artists and bohemians, who were completely drawn to it.

Two areas in particular - Kreuzberg and Neukölln.

Woodstock vibes of Görlitzer Park in Kreuzberg.

Kreuzberg was the poorest district in West Berlin, but it had its benefits: tons of drugs fun events, dirt cheap rent, and the freedom to be whatever you wanted to be. And it wasn’t just the hippies and punks and misfits; as part of the so-called Gasterbeiter program, lots of foreign workers (mostly Turkish) also started flocking in large numbers.

Other expats followed suit - today, Kreuzberg hosts about 180 different nationalities. Speaking of statistics, it also boasts the highest incidence of STDs in Germany. The price of the Kreuzberg lifestyle.

Unsurprisingly, it also became a place for political activism. Its rebellious nature strongly opposed the capitalism, with violent May Day riots being a prime example. Nowadays it’s primarily a huge street festival with outdoor parties and live music, although the demonstration itself is still a big part of it too.

First of May in Berlin. Credit: berlinlovesyou.com

Worth mentioning is SO36, an old-school Kreuzberg music venue named after the famous district postcode from the 70s. It was the face of the local punk-rock movement, and to this day remains a legendary place for alternative music parties and live gigs. Apparently, it was frequently visited by David Bowie and Iggy Pop during their Berlin years, and it’s one of my favorites as well.

With over half a century on its shoulders, SO36 is still going strong.

As for the neighbouring Neukölln, it followed a similar development trajectory as Kreuzberg, just somewhat postponed - it remained a working-class industrial area until the 2000s. Today it’s full of dive bars and jazz clubs. While some locals resent the slow but steady gentrification, others are enjoying the increasing approachability of the place.

One more thing about divided Berlin - I heard an anecdote that lots of folks escaped Federal Republic of Germany (aka West Germany) in fear of being drafted in the army, and so they took shelter in West Berlin, which was officially not part of FRG since it was formally controlled by the Allies. As we know, certain demographics correlate highly with despising the army. Tons of liberal, artistic, pacifist people started populating areas like Kreuzberg. Even more ingredients for the whacky Berlin melting pot, which was very much cooking at this point.

Modern times

When the Berlin Wall finally came down in 1989, there was a massive population shift from East to West. It left East Berlin neighbourhoods like Friedrichshain, Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg completely deserted.

Guess what? Even more hippies and party folks came in swarms, not just from other parts of Berlin and Germany, but the world, paying crazy cheap rents or living for free, squatting in deserted buildings and hosting underground techno parties. Aforementioned West districts of Kreuzberg and Neukölln still continued to carry the torch, but the suddenly-popular boho areas of East Berlin joined the party.

Lazy afternoon in the colorful Prenzlauer Berg

By the way, there’s more to West Berlin as well. Take Schöneberg, often considered one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly districts of Europe. Or Wedding, a “rough around the edges” multi-culti spot that successfully avoids gentrification (for a while everyone thought it would become the next Neukölln, but that doesn’t seem to be happening, so “Wedding is coming!” became a running joke among the locals).

“Poor but sexy”, as famously described by the former Mayor Klaus Wowereit in 2003, Berlin started gaining lots of traction in the tech business. It was no longer just an artist’s paradise, but a startup founder’s too. To give just one example - Soundcloud was created by two Swedes, who deliberately decided to start their business in Berlin instead.

And that brings us to today. They say that the “change is the only constant”, which definitely goes for Berlin. And as we know, people are often resistant to change, so you might hear that “old Berlin is dead”. They say that about the club scene, about the startup scene, even about the art scene. There are other standard complaints too - it’s dirty, it’s noisy, it’s gritty, public transport can be unreliable, people can be rude, the list goes on. And still, every such rant usually ends with:

“…But there’s no place like it”.