Vacancies must not mean stagnation

From the BZ editorial team

Every Wednesday, Berlin district leaders write their opinions here. Today: Kirstin Bauch (Greens), District Mayor of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.

The vacancy of many retail spaces in the district is obvious. In the past it was mainly side streets that were affected, but today it no longer stops at 1A locations. Even Kurfürstendamm and Tauentzien have to fight.

Trade can hardly be replaced by trade. The hunt for large, so-called anchor tenants is causing rental prices to skyrocket. She is relentless and drives away small, medium-sized businesses. More and more people who gave the district an identity, a spirit, a scene and stand for its individual radiance are disappearing.

While in City West in the 1920s it was the wild, the creative, the bohemian of Berlin who met here, in the 1950s the Kudamm became the showcase of the economic miracle. In the 1970s it became synonymous with the drug scene around Christiane F., in the early 1990s it became the starting point for the ravers around Dr. Motte, Wastbam, Marusha and many others who stood for a new dance culture.

The Kudamm has become interchangeable

Barely thirty years later, this identity is hardly recognizable on the legendary boulevard. He has become interchangeable. City West is crying out for a new attitude towards life, for the spirit of a new culture… the vacancy also offers opportunities.

Some owners and landlords have recognized this. There was the temporary Woodstock exhibition in the former Karstadt-Sport, the pop-up store in Kranzler-Eck for the graffiti gallery “All We Wrote – 50 Years of Graffiti” on the central reservation of Kurfürstendamm or the opening of a former brothel for artists from the Ukraine at Leibnizstrasse 60.

This year there is a temporary use for fine art at Kudamm 156 and the interactive dark exhibition by street art artist Fino91 – A graffiti homage to the Berlin subway (runs until July 23) in KudammEck (Kudamm 227). Unusual things for a shopping mall, but they can be the cornerstone of a new identity.

The BID Kurfürstendamm-Tauentzien, which has unfortunately expired, described and deepened the temporary use of vacancies for artists in a comprehensive presentation. The myth of the City West thrives on its changeability. If we want to be part of this myth, then we should get involved.

ttn-27