Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Left Plaque on Nollendorfplatz Centre Façade of the Metropol Right Ruins of Anhalter Bahnhof
Anhalter Bahnhof
Only pitiful fragments
remain of the railway station that
was once the largest in Europe.
The giant structure was erected
in 1880 by Franz Schwechten as
a showcase station: official visi-
tors to the Empire were meant
to be impressed by the splen-
dour and glory of the German
capital as soon as they reached
the railway station. In 1943 the
station was badly damaged by
bombs and in 1960 it was pulled
down. The waste ground behind
the façade was meant to become
a park; today the Tempodrom is
based here, hosting concerts and
cabaret shows.
d Askanischer Platz 6-7 Map F5
Nollendorfplatz
Nollendorfplatz and neigh-
bouring Winterfeldtplatz are right
in the centre of Schöneberg. The
former square has always been a
focal point for the gay scene in
Berlin, and a plaque at U-Bahn
station Nollendorfplatz commem-
orates approximately 5,000 homo-
sexuals killed in concentration
camps by the Nazis. Today, gay
life is concentrated more in the
surrounding streets. Before
World War II, Nollendorfplatz
was also a centre of entertain-
ment. The Metropol-Theater,
today a discotheque, then
boasted Erwin Piscator as its
innovative director. And next
door lived the writer Christopher
Isherwood, whose novel formed
the basis of the famous musical
“Cabaret . d Map E5
Oranienstraße
Oranienstraße is the heart of
Kreuzberg. It is the wildest, most
colourful and most unusual street
of the district, where alternative
shops and pubs jostle for space
with doner kebab take-aways and
Turkish greengrocers. All aspects
of life and politics in Kreuzberg
are centred around this road.
d Between Lindenstr. and Skalitzer Str.
Map H5
Turkish Berlin
In the 1960s, thousands of Turk-
ish gastarbeiter (“guest
workers”) came to Berlin in
response to a shortage of labour.
Today the Turkish community
numbers around 190,000 and it is
mainly their children who leave
their mark on life in the city. There
are few “guest workers” left;
most Turkish Berliners own their
own shops and consider them-
selves to be true Berliners. The
rate of naturalization is still fairly
low, and many German Berliners
have no contact with everyday
life in the Turkish community. At
40 per cent, the rate of unem-
ployment among Turkish
Berliners is depressingly high.
Flower stall on Winterfeldtmarkt
104
 
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