What does it mean to be a Berliner in a city that is in constant transformation, a place that is relatively new and at the same time historic?
Berlin, for the past half century, has had two separate histories. With the divide, West Berlin has been immersed within the western lifestyle, familiarized with the capitalistic way of living. East Berlin, on the other hand, followed the communist system way of living, one that revolved around community style living, sameness. Therefore when the Wall came down, East Berliners were thrust into a world of mass consumerism and complete exposure to the Western culture, which, in a lot of ways, clashed with what they were formerly accustomed to.
Fast-forward two decades and it seems almost impossible to picture a Berlin without the existence of chain restaurants and foreign products. From street corners to U-Bahn stations, these corporate chains coexist amongst local German businesses. One also can’t ignore the amount of non-German brand names and media that have filtered their way through. From the UK’s H&M clothing line to Hannah Montana merchandises at the Galleria department store to Disney shows like Kim Possible appearing in German television, these are just as popularly viewed and consumed widely amongst similar age groups, globally. And, while some might say that this is the advancement of capitalism and globalization, because such a thing makes the world go round, others might see it as another way to turn something authentic into another generic metropolitan.
With so much non-German products invading the German everyday life, this leads to the question of: where does this leave Germans to cultivate their own sense of self and culture?
To wander throughout the streets of Berlin today, what would one be able to see? Would the impression of a western influenced world outweigh the latter?
Turning to the basic field of sociology, a person comes to develop their sense of identity through their surrounding and through the way they are brought up: family beliefs and cultural beliefs, the idea of nurture and nature. Since Berliners in this new era of reunification are part of this expanding global society, I wanted to further inspect the role of nature.
As an American student with an interest for international studies, I have a curiosity for the motives and intent of certain key players in this globalization aspect in the 21st century. And, having somewhat of an idea and understanding behind the politics of large businesses, I wanted to see how far along I can develop my thinking on this capitalistic phenomenon. Along with that comes the realization that in this world where the line between nature and nurture is quickly graying, who impacts the other more becomes interchangeable. So, if nature is closely sewn to our identity, what does a world-marketed environment do to us as citizens in a society, what does it say or not say about us? I figured that examining a small sample of Berlin could help paint the broader picture.
*Methods of investigation
Taking the nature approach, I decided that my research would require a lot of walking around and visually examining what I see in public spaces. What I was specifically looking for was how much of an impact this spread of American fast food had on Berliners, and how was the consumer responding to these things and places?
The first time I was introduced to Berlin, I was also reintroduced to Kentucky Fried Chicken. Colonel Sander’s outlined smile illuminated in front of me as I stood in Alexanderplatz, dumbfounded at the amount of colorful neon lights that spelled out titles of fast food restaurants I recognized from the states. It was nearly one in the morning and yet every single shop was busy with midnight snackers. However, I had to remind myself that I was standing in the main center for tourists and it was still vacation season.
In the following days, I came to discover that I had underestimated the existence of McDonalds, KFC, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and Burger King in Berlin. From Potsdamer Platz to Kreuzberg to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp museum, these corporate chains were of no strangers to these locations.
Fast food, in America, have the reputation of being, well, fast, and, with convenience there comes the lack of class. The overload of calories and fat along with stories of uncleanliness has created a negative image to fast food. Americans are often warned, despite the inexpensive prices, to avoid these places for health reasons. And, no matter how decked out a fast food restaurant might appear in the states, it will always be considered another cheap meals-for-deals destination.
In Berlin (and other parts of Europe I will later come to discover), while McDonalds (or any other fast food places) might still not be considered a five star restaurant, it does take on a completely different tone. Clean floors, well-furnished furniture and even more vibrant menu images, along with delicate employees who seem to take their work seriously, carefully arranging their burgers that could might as well been taken directly from a commercial, are unique features that sets these restaurants apart from America.
And, while fast food in Berlin did mean fast, it didn’t always mean cheap. A typical combo meal faired around 6,50 euros and only specific locations offered a value menu. These restaurants didn’t seem like the usual run down diners for the lower class, but rather, their décor and pricey element added a certain higher status to these restaurants.
These observations I mentioned to my interviewee, a student I (fortunately) randomly met at the Turkeyimspor soccer game. His name was Iskandar and he was originally born in Lebanon but immigrated to Berlin as an adolescent. He was a third year student, around his early 20’s, at Humboldt University, studying Civil Engineering. I explained to him how the usual fast food diner one might find in the states would appear to look just quite the opposite. He nods in understanding and says that these restaurants are displayed to give it family appeal. Europeans, after all, are often family oriented: meals are cooked, served and eaten at home together. Therefore, in order to attract a sustainable customer base, these restaurants have to appear as if they’re serving to the majority’s interest, family friendly. A marketing technique simple enough that also provides positive results.
“As a non-American, does it bother you to see so many American corporations like McDonalds and Burger King here?”
“You know, I remember growing up in Lebanon, there was only one city where you can get McDonalds, and there was only one McDonalds. However, several years after I had left, I returned and was amazed at how many McDonalds had opened shop in my country.
McDonalds is not so much seen as an ‘American corporation,’ but rather, THE symbol of global marketing. It doesn’t bother me much, personally, because I think it’s something we’ve just gotten used to, I mean, there are over 50 McDonalds here in Berlin alone.”
That distinguished difference, American corporation versus globalization in general, indicated that the accusation on American corporation isn’t so much the concern as it is the spread of capitalism as a whole. Mass production and consumerism is imminent. While locals understand this idea of globalization and it’s manifestation, it is important to acknowledge that in its entirety, Berliners are not completely passive about this expansion of foreign goods.
If one were to travel to the heart of East Berlin, such as the district of Pankow, there is an overall less amount of food chains and a greater amount of local businesses. Upon my exploration there, the sense of pre-wall-destruction was still preserved throughout the neighborhoods. Stores selling DDR antiques could be found taking up an entire block, and even grocery stores were selling DDR goods. By setting up these local businesses and having old DDR merchandises still around, it seems like the people were resisting the overtake of giant corporations.
In a less subtle example, in 2007, the district of Kreuzberg rounded up its residents to protest the construction of a McDonald within their neighborhood. Locals got together to create a citizen’s initiative to dissuade the fast food empire from spreading into their territory. To their disappointment, they eventually lost their battle but without making a statement. As I walked past this notorious McDonald one evening, I noticed that the restaurant sat in its lot, fenced off from the street and guarded by police cars, as if still anticipating revolts. Manuela mentioned to me how a lot of the locals still boycotted this diner and due to fear of violent protesters, cameras have been installed to add further security.
Whether its publicly or subtly, it was clear that a lot of Berliners have a stronger sense of resistance towards the idea of large corporations, especially when its concerning their intimate neighborhoods, ones that they occupy and have made economically function on their own. And why not? After all, these Berliners were here way long before these outside-corporations have been.
And it shows.
Manuela introduced me to one of the more popular “fast” food places around, Curry 36, a currywurst stand that is quite popular amongst Kreuzberg locals. “Popular” would be an understatement. It was crowded with the old and young alike (think our Dicks Burgers on steroids), and the lines stretched out across the sidewalk. There was not an unhappy or unsatisfied face in sight, strangers welcomed others to share their table stands with them. The loud commotion of laughter, shouting orders, and conversations overwhelmed the atmosphere. I noticed that there was no seating available, only tall standing tables were offered to customers to stand at and eat, and while I couldn’t understand their dialogue, it seemed like no one was complaining about their sauce covered sausages or fries or the lack of chairs.
Curious to see if a fast food restaurant was around and how well it faired compared to this stand, I decided to wander around. Lo and behold, the next street over had a Burger King. I stood outside and examined their business: three customers sat outside chatting in Portuguese (I assumed they were visitors or travelers) and three more, all sitting in separate booths, occupied the inside. I continued to walk and discovered a Subway sandwich parlor not too far from where the Burger King was, again, business, compared to Curry 36, was not booming. Kreuzbergers seemed to favorably choose to honor their authentic German dish and support their local business instead of non-local.
This sense of local pride and community support was a noticeable theme within each neighborhood that I approached. Berlin, although large, was made small and personal within these districts. It is that personalization that I believe draws a lot of Berliners together and keeps them unified. That keen sense of social and environmental awareness comes from being well informed about their neighborhoods and their surroundings.
As mentioned before, passivity is not the attitude of Berliners when it comes to events that are occurring around them. It is obvious to interpret just how active these citizens are from something as simple as meandering through their neighborhoods and visually examining their environment.
From the examples of Kreuzberg and Pankow, Berliners seem to define their identity through the way they react and deal with these corporate invasions of space. Whether they choose to consume other goods aside from these foreign franchises or protest these establishments, their actions speak louder than words.
It’s not a matter of denying the fact that globalization has taken root and is expanding daily, it’s a matter of preserving what still exists and showing through consumerism that an authentic Berlin culture, with determination and, often times, a battle, has the ability to triumph amidst corporate attempt at world domination.
Problems encountered and analysis of project:
I didn’t know it then, but Shanga’s exercise on studying people’s interaction with space was a precursor for what I would spend most of my time doing for my research. It is quite a skill to have to learn to converse with body movements. Without speaking a lick of Deutsche, and sometimes running into a place where no one can understand or speak in English, I had to learn quickly how to improvise oral language for body language. Being animated with my facial expressions and hand gestures, along with being able to read and decipher the other person’s (or group’s) was something I had to become comfortable (and skillful) at doing.
I remembered standing awkwardly at the Curry 36 stand, hoping to hear someone throw out an English word so that I can feel less like an alien amongst so many locals, only to be met by more Deutsche. It was then that I realized that I could learn a lot by just studying other’s interaction around me. These people sharing stands with strangers were quite comfortable and happy in this element, ah, familiarity and satisfaction, those were two facts to record. I began to do most of my exploration this way after I realized that finding someone who spoke English was actually a bit more difficult than I thought.
Of course, body language came with recognizing my surroundings and being able to not only see with my eyes but with my nose, ears and hands, too. As Shawn encouraged us to practice more in our postcard assignment, to record things we usually forget to capture, such as what we hear, what we smell, what we see and what we feel, those were things I had to put to use, also. Were these dialogues expressed in a certain way? Were they happy, sad, or upset? Was the smell near the restaurants or stands pungent? Welcoming? These were things that I had to constantly ask myself, and in doing so, I found that they gave me insight on ways to read and understand my environment.
I am in love with Kreuzberg. I love the tight knittedness of the locals and the magnificent smell of roasting lamb meat at the doner kebab stands, of oil. The sight of leisurely old men having an afternoon beer. I am in love with the golden rays that shines directly onto the buildings' dust encrusted facade and how quickly they turn different shades of pink and cream and blue.
Airports remind me of Love Actually. The whole sending-off, reunion, emotional deal that makes airports interesting. A woman is crying, her mascara is beginning to run as she hugs another woman goodbye. Her face prunes up. I'm gonna look away now, I hate seeing people cry.
Mmmh. The things I get myself into. It's like the chicken pox, only no oatmeal baths.
I'm trying to keep a poker face on but Mert's driving is scaring me shitless right about now. All American Rejects is playing and he's having a grand ol time. My heart's palpitating like crazy. My palms are sweaty. Turkish drivers are like Vietnam moped drivers, minus the moped and insert giant moving metal death traps instead. It's hot and I'm trying to enjoy this but I keep seeing my life flash before my eyes.
It's a whir of noise in here. I'm thinking of mom and how much she'd probably love this place right now, spices and herbs galore. It's a heavy smell and I think of old chinese ladies with crow feet and gray hair and soft hands. Mom used to take me with her to these chinese herb stores on Jackson. They'd grab my arm and pat my hand, grinning their toothy (some missing) smiles. A guy just asked me where I'm from. "America." No, where in Asia? "Oh, Vietnam." Do you know this? "Instant cherry flavored tea?" Yes, very good.
"Sunny days sweeping the clouds away..." I'm often asked why I feel sad when I hear of stranger's death. Sorry if I have a sense of compassion? Our feet quietly pat across the stone laid pavement. "Those who are scared of death don't know a thing about living." Cement everywhere. "Up above the sky remained blue."
Everything echoes in here, I swear I can hear my own breathing. I almost expect these opened mouths to start releasing cries from their O's. How eerie. How enclosed is this space. I can hear footsteps approaching and its making me realize that I do have a route of escape after all.
