When Kreuzberg Becomes Your Home

Kreuzberg, photo: oktober bay / CC

I love Kreuzberg. Especially the area around Kotti because it is really special and it reminds me of Exarhia, a neighborhood in Athens that I used to live in. At Kotti you can find everything and everyone. It’s like Babel. Sometimes it can be really, really overwhelming, but that’s its beauty. And while everybody seems to mind their own business, it feels that each and every person is more present than ever. That’s how strolling around Kottbusser Tor feels like.

Kotti, photo: Andreas Lehner / CC

U-Bahnhof Kottbusser Tor, photo: Montecruz Foto / CC

My first home in Kreuzberg was in Adalberstraße (where the big hostel is) and to visit my boyfriend in Urbanstraße I was walking every day through Kotti, Admiralbrücke and Urbanstrasse. It’s really interesting because within 20-25 minutes Kreuzberg is changing faces without you even realizing it. From a dark neighborhood, I was passing to the lights and the sea of restaurants and cafes, then to one of the most urban parts of the city to walk to Admiralbrücke where people are hanging out when the weather is nice and street musicians are playing their songs by the canal. Next and final stop – the Urbanstraße. A rather big street, but because everything is so spacious it gives you the impression that you’re in a small town.

Admiralbrücke, photoonnola / CC

Urbanstraße, photo: Amanda Steggell / CC

The area around Urbanstraße is very family-friendly and so you’ll see very often young parents with their kids and older people following their routine. Now that I am a resident I can tell that there is nothing more inspiring than the neighborhood feeling- the fact that the people recognize your face and even the small talk. I was searching my home for years and I found it in Berlin. In Kreuzberg.

Text: Sarah P.

U-Bahnhof Kottbusser Tor, photo: Tim Mansel / CC

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Sarah P is one of our dear colleagues over at Blogfabrik. She is a musician and will release her new album “Who am I” in May 2017 and her new single on January 6. Also check out her amazing EP “Free”.

photo: Agnes Fox

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