At the Edge of the Wall

Located in the geographical center of Berlin, the neighboring boroughs of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg shared a history and identity until their fortunes diverged dramatically following the construction of the Berlin Wall, which placed them within opposing political systems. This revealing account of the two municipal districts before, during and after the Cold War takes a microhistorical approach to investigate the broader historical trajectories of East and West Berlin, with particular attention to housing, religion, and leisure. Merged in 2001, they now comprise a single neighborhood that bears the traces of these complex histories and serves as an illuminating case study of urban renewal, gentrification, and other social processes that continue to reshape Berlin.

Located in the geographical center of Berlin, the neighboring boroughs of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg shared a history and identity until their fortunes diverged dramatically following the construction of the Berlin Wall, which placed them within opposing political systems. This revealing account of the two municipal districts before, during and after the Cold War takes a microhistorical approach to investigate the broader historical trajectories of East and West Berlin, with particular attention to housing, religion, and leisure. Merged in 2001, they now comprise a single neighborhood that bears the traces of these complex histories and serves as an illuminating case study of urban renewal, gentrification, and other social processes that continue to reshape Berlin.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Map of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg

Introduction

Chapter 1. Historical Foundations

Part I: Housing

Chapter 2. Housing as a Constitutive Field of the Public and Private Spheres
Chapter 3. The Long “Gestation Period” of Tenement Buildings: Sorauer Strasse
Chapter 4. The Public and Private Sphere in Urban Transformation: Strasse der Pariser Kommune
Chapter 5. Kreuzberg Counter-Public Spheres
Chapter 6. Neighborhood Appropriation in Friedrichshain
Interim Conclusion I

Part II: The Church

Chapter 7. The Church as a Constitutive Field of the Public and Private Spheres
Chapter 8. Church and the Neighborhood Public Sphere in the Kreuzberg
Chapter 9. The Church as a Surrogate Public Sphere in Friedrichshain
Interim Conclusion II

Part III: Entertainment

Chapter 10. Entertainment as a Constitutive Field of the Public and Private Spheres
Chapter 11. Neighborhood Entertainment: Fruchtstrasse Taverns
Chapter 12. The Diversification of Kreuzberg Bar Culture
Chapter 13. Festival Culture Between East and West
Interim Conclusion III

Chapter 14. Perspectives: Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg in Transformation since 1989–90

Conclusion

Bibliography
Index