His lips were painted bright red, his eyes traced with black kohl. He wore a black suit with sequins and a red bow tie. Hatay Engin stood on the stage of the remodelled Bülowstraße Station and sang with passion old Ottoman songs. It was a very normal Saturday evening at the Turkish Bazaar in 1990. It was full, loud and the mood was upbeat. People sang, danced, laughed and raised their glasses. Since September 1980, the disused train station had been the most important meeting point for the Turkish community in West Berlin. The music in the Turkish Bazaar was for many a piece of home in a foreign country. Just like the Turkish food, the jewellers, the record stores and the small tea rooms.
In August 1961, the Berlin Wall prevented people from the GDR from working in West Berlin companies overnight. Their jobs were subsequently taken over by numerous so-called guest workers, mainly from Turkey. The construction of the Wall also cut rail connections from West to East. Bülowstraße Station was closed down and stood empty. A fair on the elevated railway line was supposed to revitalize the area, but it was the project of the clever Turkish businessman Atalay Özcakir that was successful. In September 1980, he opened the Turkish Bazaar.
Then, once again, it was the Wall that changed the lives of the Turkish community. After its fall in the autumn of 1989, more and more jobs in industry were cut. This affected the migrant population in particular. They had to reorient themselves in reunified Germany. For many, self-employment was the way out of sudden unemployment. They opened supermarkets, restaurants, stores. They used the new opportunities and the short distances to East Berlin to be successful there as well, like Izzet Aydogdu. A self-constructed food truck in front of the Oranienburger Tor made the social worker from Kreuzberg, who is of Turkish origin, rich for a short time. But Izzet Aydogdu had to fight hard for his success. Two days after the food truck was opened, it was set on fire and burned down by Neonazis. The Turkish community had already been exposed to racism in West Berlin and the Federal Republic. But in the 1990s, acts of violence and attacks increased significantly. Aydogdu did not let that discourage him and continued. Others questioned whether they still belonged to the country they lived in. A discussion about racism, identity and belonging emerged. Subsequently, memories from diverse perspectives and the confrontation with one’s own migrant family history played a bigger role in films, plays and music.
Since November 1993, trains have been operating again where Turkish music had filled the air for thirteen years. Bülowstraße Station once again connects East and West. The many graffiti and galleries are visible from the platform of the train station. Today, tourists from all over the world come to the hip neighbourhood to party. The once unrenovated houses near the Wall are shining again and are in high demand. Migrants of Turkish descent still shape the neighbourhood. The children and grandchildren of the generation that celebrated in the Turkish Bazaar are naturally part of the centre of Berlin today.
