1.30 pm - 5.00 pm
'Spandauer
Vorstadt', the historic area between Alexanderplatz and Friedrichstrasse
includes Hackescher Markt, Scheunenviertel (barn district), the Jewish
Synagogue and the cultural centre Tacheles and has been challenged by urban
renewal and gentrification like no
other community in Berlin since the wall came down. Since then, tens of
thousands of tenants, craftsmen, and tradesmen have been struggling to preserve
this area and its 'Berlin mixture' of living and working in one place (i.e.
socially and economically). They are trying to maintain social diversity, the
neighbourhood and solidarity. As such, they are trying to defend a social
mixture which was always the aim to be achieved in West-German re-development
areas.
'Spandauer
Vorstadt' is situated within the
East-Berlin city centre. It is the only remaining area in Berlin that
commemorates the early history of Berlin. Its genesis goes back to a time where
Berlin was a town within today's urban railway circle. During this period a
'Vorstadt' came into being behind the ancient city walls. Berlin was developed
as a poly-centric city by suburbanising the surrounding small towns. This is
the reason for the existence of a 'Vorstadt' within the city centre today. With
regard to the city's historical prominence 'Spandauer Vorstadt' is the
very ancient city of Berlin. The unsystematic streets with no city planning
structure in place developed spontaneously and its grid is a vivid reminder of
their functions - connecting 'Spandauer Vorstadt' directly to other cities.
Street names like Oranienburger Strasse, Rosenthaler Strasse, Schönhauser
Strasse and the like bring to mind this specific street grid. Because of a fire
ordinance (Feuerverordnung) all barns had to be built beyond city walls. That
is why the eastern part of the 'Spandauer Vorstadt' is known as
'Scheunenviertel' (the 'barn quarter'). Also the former city potter’s field
(pauper’s graveyard, today the Koppenplatz) was situated together with the
gibbet (at the corner between Krausnick Strasse and Oranienburger Strasse, a
place which has long been undeveloped), the Garnison (garrison) and the still
remaining garrison cemetery. The Linienstrasse is the street that earmarks the
first city's enhancement, the line where the medieval wall was.
During
that time migration through the city's gateways - the Oranienburger Tor and the
Rosenthaler Tor - was strictly regulated; Jews from eastern Europe, for
example, were only allowed to enter the city through the Rosenthaler Tor so
that the poorer Jews settled within the eastern parts of 'Spandauer Vorstadt'. All the different
phases of 'Spandauer Vorstadt’s'
history left behind traces in stone. The whole history is represented in monuments,
streets, squares, and places, thus making the city's history comprehensible.
The
Jewish Synagogue represents the assimilation of the Jewish community. In
today's Grosse Hamburger Strasse (the former Toleranzstrasse or Tolerance
Street) the cohabitation of various religious groups can be traced by the still
standing Catholic St. Hedwig's Hospital, the Protestant Sophienkirche (Sophien
Church) and the Jewish school, founded by Moses Mendelsohn. Even today you will
find his gravestone close to the school on the nearby lawn in the former Jewish
graveyard. Additionally, there are many reminders of the 1920's within this
tiny city quarter telling us about Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht who spoke
to the masses in today's Sophiensälen, reminding us of the time when
'neighbours were turned into Jews', a time, when the children of the district
clerk [Reviervorsteher] saved the lives of neighbouring Jewish children by
informing them about their planned deportation into the Nazi concentration
camps. We also find Miss Balszer, still working in her bakery today, a lady who
has white bread in stock all the time; white bread to smuggle the passports of
the Jewish workers who used to work at the home for the blind in the
Sophienstrasse.
These
historic roots may also explain the unique development since the fall of the
wall. Seemingly Sleeping Beauty 'Spandauer Vorstadt' rose and shone after the
wall came down. Under GDR-rule the bus driver and the professor lived here,
rents were low, segregation and gentrification unheard of. 'Spandauer Vorstadt'
was in hibernation, it was neither torn down nor - unlike in many Western
European cities - replaced by “Modernity”.
Capital
picked up the scent of a unique chance for profits after 1989 but residents had
already become organized by 1989. The community organization managed to turn
the area into a huge historic site (Flächendenkmal) to protect it against
anticipated gentrification and defend the "use value" of the area.
The unique result is the subject of our tour.
The
weekly magazine "Der Spiegel" wrote about re-unification after ten
years: ".. if anything like re-unification really happened, then it did in
'Spandauer Vorstadt'". This appraisal neglects to consider that this
unification "product" is the result of intense political struggle and
negotiations - and that it is far from secure.
The
field trip 'Spandauer Vorstadt' will reconnect its long history with the
political contest over the area’s significance during the past 12 years. The
resulting "product" 'Spandauer Vorstadt' will be critically
discussed.
The
urban safari will focus on social planning within the re-development law
concerning eastern cities. 'Spandauer Vorstadt' serves as the Berlin example.
The
following issues will be addressed while we walk through the community:
1. Starting point 1989: What was the East German configuration of
'Spandauer Vorstadt'?
2.
The different participants and their
competition over the community’s significance: Landlords, developer,
tenants and their organization, local politics and institutions
3.
How did the tenant’s group react to the
unification treaty and the possibilities offered by the German re-development
law (Sanierungsrecht)?
4.
Is a socially diverse population mix something
we value?
5. A socially just urban re-development with profit-driven developers – a
challenge for all participants involved (Negotiate – with the threat of class
struggle)
6.
An income dependent rent cap – is this a
post-socialist cul-de-sac or a legitimate means of achieving a socially just
re-development?
7.
Gentrification beyond legal regulation?
8.
Is there any academic fall-out from this?
9.
Conclusions regarding the margins of manoeuvre
for different participants
10. Future visions: What are the limits for social planning in the regional
context?
We
will visit the following locations:
Hackesche
Höfe / Sophienstrasse / Sophien/Gipshöfe / Gipsstrasse / Auguststrasse /
Heckmannhöfe / Oranienburgerstrasse / Handwerkerhof (artisian court)
A comprehensive paper will be available at the
conference. We can also show (at the retreat) a documentary about 'Spandauer
Vorstadt' by Günter Jordan (1996).