Kreuzberged.com is an informative website containing images that are related to a certain cultural aspect of Kreuzberg, whether from the past of from the present.
This website is based on a photojournalist's first hand account of current protests in the city of Berlin in Kreuzberg and Mitte. The protests include protesting against the new buildings on the former Tempelhof Airport site.
Neco Celik, Turkish film-director, ex-member of 36Boys
"Kreuzberg has changed slowly and subtly – not as extremely as Prenzlauer Berg or Mitte. It’s changed very healthily, actually. And in comparison with before, it’s of course much, much better. When you think that only Turkish families lived here, it’s crazy. We went to a school where there was not a single German! Before, there was no communication. With whom? We didn’t speak German!...As a kid, I used to play on the very construction site where my building is now standing. And now young students come along and make a WG. Before, they would have never dared. The picture is changing, and it’s an inspiration. It’s a very good opportunity – to inspire each other" (qtd. in Ringey).
Aziza A, Berlin’s Turkish queen of hip-hop
"Fortunately it still has this Kreuzberg smell, which will hopefully stay" (qtd. in Rigney).
Deso Dogg, German-Ghanian rapper, ex-member of Kreuzberg gang 36Boys
“Kreuzberg has changed for the worse. Too many people have come here, from southern Germany, from Italy, from Spain… The rents have gone up, and a lot of people from here had to move away because they can’t pay the rent. They took over their shops and made some kinds of funny cafes. I don’t like it at all. I don’t feel at home here anymore" (qtd. in Rigney).
Killa Hakan, ex-36boy, ex-con, rapper
“And I remember those days. We know what was here and we know what we have achieved. Kreuzberg is part party, part tourist and sometimes also violence. Of course many people have moved here, and they are building things and want to do new things. But at the end of the day it’s our life, our values here. Without us, Kreuzberg wouldn’t be Kreuzberg” (qtd. in Rigney).
For more of this article, visit exberliner.com.
Kreuzberged.com also provides an excellent explanation of what is happening on the inside with long term residents and their struggles with gentrificaiton in the article "Bio-hazard in the Kiez or Peeling the Kreuzberg Onion."
