Gentrification sounds so smart and literate, but describes in the end a very questionable development. While Berlin conveys the feeling of being a largely gentrified city – as a quick walk through Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg or Friedrichshain proof easily- the situation in Munich is a bit different. Being always a wealthy place the center of the city was never really the home to the ‘working class’ with some smaller exceptions. But also the famous ‘Gärtnerplatz Viertel’ enqueues into the list of suburbs which alienate(d) an original population.
Our suburb, the Bahnhofsviertel, the southern streets around the central station Munich, give a storybook like example of this story. Unconscious of taking part in this process it’s not only us moving here and pushing the rents higher and higher. Last year Munich’s ‘Kammerspiele‘ theater just rented an empty shop across the street, aware of the coolness of the suburb, enwraping an cultural-academic approach with some smelly Döner shop ambiente – what a sensation.
A street away from our Goethestraße dear friend Bülent – former Generation Aldi and Hart of Noise mastermind – opened up a new gallery a few months ago – Gallerie Kullukcu. His idea was to give young modern artists – most of them with a migratory background – a space to present themselves; I guess there is no better place in the city for such a project as the Bahnhofsviertel. Another contribution to the change of the suburb, but in the end a more than positive.
Enjoy!
