Marzahn: Berlin's Hip Hop Hood
Most guidebooks recommend that you don't go to the eastern suburb of Marzahn at night, if you go at all. High unemployment and the presence of neo-Nazi gangs are usually cited; if you look "foreign," you're not welcome (and by "foreign" I mean non-Aryan, natch). Marzahn has become a byword for the nastiest aspects of "prolo" culture, mocked by TV comedian Ilka Bessin's Cindy aus Marzahn character -- a vision in pink leopard print and frosted lipstick who's busy milking the welfare system and practicing with her girlband, "The Plattenpussies." Seems like everyone's laughing at Marzahn. It's an odd, intriguing place though; the original old village complete with windmill and cobbled streets is surrounded by Le Corbusian housing projects and acres of parkland. After the jump, a guide to Marzahn alt und neu.
Orwo Haus
Frank-Zappa-Straße 19
12681 Marzahn, Berlin, Germany
Everyone's excited about Orwo Haus, an old film factory which has been converted into a music factory. Local bands come here to rehearse, chew the fat, and organize … events. With seventy rehearsal rooms on seven floors open 24/7, it's a hive of cultural regeneration. [link]
Frank Zappa Straße
Frank-Zappa-Straße
12681 Berlin, Germany
Thank Orwo Haus for this. The former Strasse 13 got a whole lot more colorful this summer when it was rechristened in honor of their hero, Frank Z. There are peerless … photo opportunities for Zappatistas. [link]
Marzahn Cemetery
Wiesenburger Weg 10
12681 Marzahn, Berlin, Germany
This is a beautiful, wooded cemetery littered with monuments. Come here to commemorate victims of Stalinism, World Wars I and II, fascism, the 1918-1919 Sailor's Revolt … -- when communist seamen rose up against the Kaiser -- and the Roma Holocaust. It's near the site of one of the first Nazi camps for Roma and Sinti Germans, who were detained there during the 1936 Olympics, between the cemetery and a sewage dump, in atrocious conditions. [link]
Marzahn Windmill
Hinter der Mühle
12685 Marzahn, Berlin, Germany
On a little hill in Alt Marzahn sits a working wooden windmill complete with miller and a paddock full of donkeys, like something out of a story book. It's only been … there since 1994, but it stands on the site of four earlier mills. You can book a tour and even buy the flour. It's part of the Tierhof Alt-Marzahn farm and agricultural museum. [link]
Marzahn Plattenbau
Marzahner Promenade/Franz Stenzer Strasse, Berlin
In the 1970s, the GDR did its socialist thang and built vast tracts of highrise apartment blocks with all mod-cons (heating, running water, toilets) -- 57,000 in Marzahn … alone. These were bolted together from prefabricated slabs of concrete or platten -- hence the term plattenbau. They've been spruced up a little since reunification, but there's still plenty for students of urban planning to chew on, not least because occupancy is plummeting and some of the worst buildings are being demolished. Some have also been given slick new facelifts. [link]
Erholungspark Marzahn
Eisenacher Straße
Berlin, Germany
You might not have been expecting the most extensive Chinese garden in Europe in a godforsaken part of East Berlin, but that'd be reckoning without the oddness of city … twinning projects -- Berlin is sister to Beijing. The landscaped park with pagodas was a gift from China, completed in 2000. You can even book a tea ceremony here. Also on show, a bonsai-tastic Japanese garden and the Balinese Garden, featuring a tiny Balinese house swamped by ferns. The newly opened Korean garden completes the display. [link]
Marzahnwear @ Doorbreaker
Marzahner Promenade 1A
12679 Marzahn, Berlin, Germany
Show some pride in your hood with a "Don't mess with Marzahn" t-shirt decorated with a print of exploding plattenbau and lamp posts. You can also buy some of local rapper … Joe Rilla's catchy "Plattenbau Mutterficker" tunes and be the first in your home town to make German hip hop cool. Check the website for other locations. [link]
