Posted by Petra Zlatevska on November 2, 2010
You ain´t nothing but a hound dog if you have never been to 3 Schwestern Restaurant in the kiez where bohos, Turkish immigrants and bobos (bohemian bourgeois) converge and thrive. Kreuzberg´s toxic mix of students, artists and lefties coupled with the dirt cheap rent in either the 19th Century apartments or 1970s pre-fab blocks housing the majority of the gäste arbeiter (temporary workers mostly from Turkey, the former Yugoslavia and Portugal) has resulted in an area that is more social symbiosis than suburb.
It is only fitting that 3 Schwestern (three sisters) should be located in the grounds of a former 19th century hospital, the Bethanien, which was a squat in its former incarnation. During the 1970s, local activists took over the site to protest its being sold to private developers and led to massive clashes between the riot squad and the squatters. This raid was immoralised in the song 'Rauch-Haus-Song' by German band Ton Steine Scherben. In the end, the activists won with the promise from the city’s council that the building would be used for social and artistic communal projects, since becoming the Kunstquartier Bethanien. It houses ateliers, art initiatives and the brand new 3 Schwestern restaurant downstairs. The recently renovated upstairs area is a gallery space staging regular exhibitions, with the most recent one playing host to the group exhibition of young Australian artists A Perfect Day to Chase Tornadoes (White).More...
3 schwestern, kreuzberg, rauch-haus-song, ton steine scherben, a perfect day to chase tornadoes