Youth in Berlin – The kids are alright!

The man who makes the balls go mad Page 2

Female, 21, Mormon, seeks devoted mate Page 2

Chasing dreams, landing careers Page 3

Berlin goesBollywood Page 4

International Media StudiesVol 3 Published by International Institute for Journalism / GIZ & Deutsche Welle May 2011

A young debate: Who owns the city?

In or out in the urban jungle of Berlin? The right to living space has created huge conflicts and discussion

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A scene of alternative charm at Görlitzer Park in Kreuzberg, Berlin: A

young woman rests on a couch outside an old building. Howev-er, the idyll is questionable: Not only was this building squatted for a long time before being turned into “Edelweiss,” a club-lounge, but also the very neighbors of “Gör-li” park on the Spree River – many of them Turkish immigrants – protested against the influx of loud mu-sic and even drug dealers in their midst. Who owns the city, and who is entitled to dwell where? Two decades after reuni-fication, the debate about gen-trification is probably the single most important topic in Berlin, a city of 3.4 million, where almost a fifth of the population is under 25. This urban issue of gentrifica-

tion – taken up especially by youth – is polarising the German capital, as ever-increasing housing costs and rent are pushing out the origi-nal tenants, especially in eastern

Berlin regions. Areas such as the fashionable Prenzlauer Berg

have already experienced several waves of gentrifica-

tion: Yuppies took over housing from alterna-

tive young parents, who in turn drove

out the original eastern German

inhabitants a decade ago. “Wir bleiben alle hier” (we will all stay), insists an ac-

tivist’s blog against urban expul-sion. In June 2011, an entire city event with 40 workshops is to be dedicated to the issue. Slogans and campaigns like the warning sign above can be seen all over the city: Attention, eviction! The debate and protest are here to stay.

Attention, eviction! A mock sign by creative urban activists

■ May 1 in the United states of America was long known as “moving day,” when employ-ment contracts were signed, renegotiated or cancelled.

■ Labour unions in the UsA organized mass strikes on May 1 in the late 1800s, calling for an eight-hour working day.

■ Many countries around the world adopted May 1 as a public holiday to honor workers’ rights.

May Day in Kreuzberg, Berlin

■ 1987: Unemployment and political discontent contributed to conflict with authorities. radical leftists and police clashed; heavy rioting took place. this became an annual occurrence.

■ 2003: politicians and local residents searching for a way to reduce tensions and rioting initiated the “MyFest.” the annual street fair features live music, food and politi-cal stands, and emphasises a peaceful atmosphere.

■ 2011: Up to 20,000 people visited more than 250 stands, with the Kreuzberg borough budgeting 150,000 euros for the event. Anti-fascist and autonomous groups held a “revolutionary demonstration” in the evening. police say 9,000 people took part; organizers put the figure at 13,000. Around 6,000 police officers were deployed for the event.

MAYDAY, MAY DAY!Party politicsEvery year, the same dilemma: It‘s May 1 in Berlin, and everyone’s invited

By Sonya Angelica Diehn and Myles Tweedie

The first thing that hits you is the beat. This rhythm, pounding like a heart, that

envelops your body and makes you want to move along. There’s something very powerful about dancing and moving as a crowd; the electronic music builds to a crescendo, there’s this tiny pause, then when the beat hits again, you’re jumping and pumping along with everyone. This aspect of music and dancing is a central part of the MyFest, which draws thousands of people – mostly youth – to Berlin on the 1 of May every year.

Roughly one city block away, another gathering is taking place. The thousands of people here – also mostly youth – march to-gether through the streets, car-rying banners and calling out chants: against repression, against exploitation, and fundamentally, against authority. They’re call-ing for change. You can feel pas-sion and conviction in the crowd. There’s also an undercurrent of provocation and aggression. This latter element – stemming not just from political factions – becomes stronger over the course of the march. It climaxes in battles with police and the smashing of glass, which have become synonymous with protests on the 1 of May in

their identity and play out their roles in society – some festive, some provocative. “This is very rel-evant for the development of a po-litical human being,” Teune adds.

“The 1 of May is the battle day. I don’t think there’s any other day where so many demonstrations take place, where people take to the streets for their ideals,” says “Kai-Uwe,” a 27-year-old Berlin activist who took part in the dem-onstration. Kai-Uwe admits that riots often emerge from the pro-tests. But this gets distorted, he claims. “To the media, we’re just the ones who want to riot. But we’re not here for fun – we really want to change things,” Kai-Uwe insists.

In contrast, Daniel, a 23-year-old Londoner who happened to be in Berlin visiting friends over the weekend, came out more or less as a tourist looking for action, or “anything interesting happening.” He’s not politically active, he says, and didn’t even see the demon-stration. But he would definitely come back, “for the people and the music.”

Zacharias, who is 21 and from Berlin, probably represents the majority of those at the events. He supports political campaigns, but came there more for party than politics.

He was dancing rather than demonstrating. How was it?

“It was great.” More info on history: www.erstermai.dgb.de/article/ articleview/4443/2/352

Berlin for nearly the past quarter of a century.

Partying, rioting and political expression: what can we make of it when these volatile ingredients mix? “One thing is obvious,” says Simon Teune, a doctoral candi-date at the Social Science Research Center in Berlin: “The way people get politically active is changing.“ But to him, the annual May 1 phe-nomenon doesn’t reflect mere disruption. Contra-

ry to the wide-spread view that youth are increas ingly politically apa-thetic, Teune sees youth as preferring to get involved with specific

campaigns rather than organisations. Young people gather at protests to build shared experi-ences, he says.

The 1 of May, also known as May Day or International Workers’ Day, traditionally is a public holiday in many countries. But in the Berlin borough of Kreuz-berg, with its history of alternative communities, May 1 has developed into its own happening. Rioting there became an annual tradition after 1987 when autonomist movements adopted a

neighborhood rebellion as a sym-bol of resistance. Berlin politicians and residents initiated the Kreuz-berg MyFest in 2003 to defuse the riots – the event highlights live mu-sic and food, along with political in-formation. (See info box.)

“The street is used as a stage,” says Teune. To him, all of May Day in Kreuzberg becomes a ritual, where people can publicly display

“The way young people get politically

active is changing.“

When anger turns to violence: What’s the future of the May Day demonstrations?

2 Dossier: Youth in Berlin – The kids are alright! May 2011

By Gemechu Bekele

H e is a young, brown-skinned man of average height, with a well-built

body and welcoming smile. He is a master of juggling, and his juggling balls are his obedient friends.

When his hands and the jug-gling balls meet, they create such a magical motion that his specta-tors cannot help but to stand up in amazement and applaud unceas-ingly until he disappears behind the curtain.

Abdulrazak Rashid Adam, 28, is known to many by the name Abddi. He was born in Ethiopia, but has now lived in a lively down-town suburb of the western part of Berlin for eight years. Abddi is a professional juggler and has al-ready started down the path to success and fame. He knows how to make “the balls dance” perfectly.

As a child, juggling was not his favorite sport. Twenty years ago in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Abddi started attending a school where he learned acrobatics, but he only re-ally started to juggle “for fun” at the

age of 16. Unlike during his early experiences at school with the ac-crobatics, Abddi taught himself to juggle.

When his trainer saw Abddi handling the balls, so masterfully and expertly making them dance, he did not think twice to take him into the juggling team. Since then,

Abddi has taken up juggling as a profession.

Having moved to Berlin, Ger-many, 10 years ago, Abddi entered into a new atmosphere in which his talent was better able to flour-ish. He won two international jug-gling competitions, held in Leipzig, Germany, and Paris, France. Out-side Germany, he performs mostly in the USA and France. He once juggled in the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington. “I was privi-leged to have a chance to perform in the Kennedy Center,” says Ab-ddi. “That is where even the most famous musicians and artists in the world have to wait for long time to get permission to perform,” Abddi reflects. This performance subse-quently gave Abddi the opportu-nity to work as a model within the fashion industry in the USA and Germany.

The secret of Abddi’s success is obvious: hard work and discipline. He spends 8 to 10 hours per day visualizing and practicing the talent of making the balls “go mad.” Abddi believes in the need for youth to be free from addiction if they are aim-ing for success. Success needs disci-

pline, and the battle to remain free from addiction is its part and parcel. “I don’t smoke, I don’t drink. Nei-ther do I use drugs,” said Abddi.

For him, Berlin, apart from serving as the place where his talent breathes freely, is also a place where he practices reciprocity. He proudly says, “I love Berlin” because he learns a lot from the youth with whom he practices the be-loved sport, and they also have something to learn from him. Furthermore, the cultural variety of the youth with whom he spends most of his time gives him a window into another world, with which he is still not well acquainted.

A few years ago, when Abddi went to perform in many differ-ent States within the USA, he remembers how he was asked to stay longer. But he refused. “I can’t stay here any longer. I want to go back to Berlin because I miss it.” By now, Berlin is where he feels at home.

Abddi has already set out sail-ing the seas of success, yet he dreams about the best shores where he can anchor his ship, to wait for the next journey. He plans in the near future to become an art teacher at a private college. In the long term, he wants to open his own private school in

Berlin where he can teach children and youth the art

he loves and re-spects most of all. “I want to

work with kids to guide them through what I have already expe-rienced, because I like what I have gone through”, Abddi concludes.

By Theresa Locker and Anna Appelrath

E ven though religious conviction among youth is ever-declining, some

still lead and promote an ultra-conservative lifestyle. Mus-lims, the usual suspects? Think again.

They’re young and good-look-ing, single, and have just taken a year and a half off to live in Ger-many’s youth culture mecca Ber-lin. But they’re not here for the fa-bled nightlife – in fact, they won’t see a single historical sight or even have a coffee with friends. Piroska Szvoboda from Switzerland and Lisa Jensen from Utah are on a mission.

They swapped their first names to the title “Sister” and now roam the streets every day, trying to talk people into joining the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, an ultra-conservative re-ligious community, commonly known as Mormons.

“We never drink alcohol; no coffee, no cigarettes and of course use no other drugs,” says 21-year- old Piroska, “but during mission,

we have even stricter rules in or-der to concentrate on our task.” The Hungarian-born student, who has been living with her Utah col-league in a shared flat rented by the church for three months now, has to get up every day at 6:30 for aerobics in her room, then starts preparing for her day of canvassing in the name of the Lord by reading scriptures.

Her daily routine couldn’t be more dif-ferent from those of her heathen peers in Berlin. While other girls prepare to look their hottest for a night out on the weekend, Piroska prepares herself in chastity for the “Eternal Mar-riage” with a fellow Mormon and to stay at home for the kids, as her church encourages her to do.

Her mobile rings - a danceable house tune. She apologizes quickly. During her mission’s time, she is not allowed to listen to pop music, read non-religious books or even call her family more than twice a year. “And

those calls can get quite emotional, especially having an 8-year old sis-ter who doesn’t really get what I’m doing,” says Piroska. She readily ac-cepts the dress code, advising her to wear a wide calf-length skirt: “All these restrictions prevent me from

getting distracted.”The Utah-based Mor-mons are often viewed as harmless freaks out-side mainstream reli-gion, but are a rapidly growing community in spite of all accusations of being backward. While

the clean-shaven young men in black suits have to serve for two years, the mission is optional for young ladies. To decide where in the world it takes them, however, is not. “One of our apostles deter-mined Germany for me through divine inspiration after seeing my picture,” says Piroska.

In contrast to the life most European teens nowadays expe-rience, the church’s concept of youth does not include emancipa-

tion from parents. “When I was 13, I wondered if my parents told me the truth. But the more I read in the Book of Mormon, the more I believe. It gives me power every day.”

A godly power reserve comes in handy for the girls, who talk to roughly 40 people per day. Not everyone likes to discuss religious matters with the ever-smiling mis-sionaries, but their rejection, they claim, “only makes us stronger.”

Blindfolded in Berlin

“Young people do a lot of things because they lack self-con-fidence,” Lisa Jensen is convinced. To avoid being “tempted to sin,” Mormon youth hold several meet-ings a week which mix studying religious messages and videos from the governing body of the church with leisure activities, and many of them found their partners there. No wonder ex-members call the meetings “marriage markets”.

Being committed to a rigid full-time schedule studying language, church speeches and scriptures, talking people up and only having half a day off each week for doing laundry and running errands, the two devotees basically are running blind through Berlin. The more they are compelled to keep among themselves, the less they see and learn from the country and culture they’ve been thrown into.

So do they really think they are happier than other young people? As always, during our encounter in the no-frills building of the Cen-tre for Young Adults in the posh western part of the city, their an-swer comes promptly, polite and seems well-trained. “Joining the one true church is the best way to gain confidence – but some people can lead a happy life without being a member of our or any church,” says Piroska.”I guess.”

Maidens on a missionTwo Mormon girls give their youth away to sell chastity in Berlin

Carsten Rein, representative of the Berlin senate for questions on religious communities, has this to say on the Mormons:

“we consider them as a protected religious commu-nity and not as a sect, so we have no right to investigate in depth the Mormon’s practice. we’ve had personal contact to the members though and feel there are no psychological pressure mechanisms like in the numerous cases we’ve had with Jehova’s witnesses, for example. some worried Berlin parents have called us when their kids are abroad and find out their host parents are Mormons. But overall, we can tell them they’re usually not dangerous.”

Currently there are more than 27 000 Ethiopians living in Ger-many. Among them 11 000 have ethiopian citizenship and the rest have become German citizens. there are 709 registered ethiopian citizens in Berlin of which 371 are men and 338 female. Most of them have permanent residency permits and some of them are still living with temporary residency permits. this number does not include ethiopians who have changed their citizenship.

You want to see Abddi juggling?

www.myspace.com/252221896 www.youtube.com/user/sabaprom

“NoT A sECT”

EThIoPIANs IN GERMANY

■ There are 13 million mem-bers worldwide – almost as many as Jewish people.

■ Mormonism is a young religion, founded in the UsA around 1830 by Joseph smith, a farmer’s son. with the help of the “prophet’s glasses”, he claimed to have translated God-given golden tablets after having had a vision. the book of Mormon, words of the current president and the bible form the scriptural basis.

■ Polygamy is today practised only within some minorities.

■ Main idea: human beings have the possibility to develop strongly and become them-selves like God after death.

■ The religious center is salt lake City in the Us state of Utah. Mormonism is the fastest grow-ing religion in the UsA.

■ Mormons in Germany: About 38,000 (only 0,04 per-cent of the whole population), in Berlin: 2,518

■ Info site by an ex-member:    www.mormonismus-online.de

No spare time : “sisters” Lisa and Piroska keep smiling in the name of Jesus

Abdulrazak Rashid Adam

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Religion in Berlin: surprisingly, more than 60 percent of all Berliners have no registered religious affilia-tion – the city has therefore been described as the “atheist capital of Germany”.

MoRE oN MoRMoNs

“Restrictions prevent us

from distraction”

LosT IN FAITh

The man who commands the ballsAbddi, 28, juggler and successful migrant in Berlin

May 2011 Dossier: Youth in Berlin - The Kids are alright! 3

Puppets and spoonsWhere jobs are rare, start-ups are the rave: 4 young women in Berlin turn their passion into business

Urban gardeners: Natalie Kirchbaumer and Wanda Ganders.

young start-ups based in Berlin come in all shapes – here a few examples:

■ Tape.tv

The idea: personalized internet music television The creator: Conrad Fritzsch, self-employed since the age of 23successful? 30 employees, by 2014 planning to increase to 100 staffmembers

www.tape.tv

■ Urban Camping

The idea: camping in the middle of the city for 11 euro per dayThe creator: four young Ber-liners-by-choice in 2006 trans-formed an abandoned swim-ming pool into the first urban campground of Berlinsuccessful? several thousands of guests from more than 40 countries so far

www.tentstation.de

■ MyParfüm

The idea: individually created perfume through the internetThe creator: Matti and yannis niebel-schütz, patrick wilhelmsuccessful? 12 employees, 40,000 clients

www.myparfuem.com

■ DeinDesign

The idea: unique product de-sign for phones, laptops and other electronic devicesThe creator: Victoria Chirita, self-employed since the age of 23successful? eBusiness model of the year 2010 (print & Media Awards, Germany)

www.designskins.com

Always on the move: Melanie Streibelt and her doll “Päckchen”. Cuisine lovers’ paradise: Ellen Teschendorf in her kitchen shop.

By Christine Rohrer and Volha Danishevich

Berlin attracts countless young entrepreneurs trying to edge a liv-

ing out of the city. These four women succeeded not only fi-nancially, but also by putting their heart into their ventures.

Wooden spoons in all forms and sizes, special cutting boards to chop garlic and other parapher-nalia on colourful shelves. No plain white walls and ugly manu-facturer wrappings. That is Ellen Teschendorf’s shop “Küchen-liebe” in Friedrichshain, a lively urban quarter in Berlin, and that is also her idea of a business.

“After one year of Küchen-liebe I realise now that it was the right thing to do in my life,” says the young woman. On average she dedicates 50 to 60 hours a week to her work. “I would love to spend more time selling the products in the shop than on sit-ting behind the desk and doing administration,” says Ellen.

The 37-year-old shopowner is a self-made woman. Although she didn’t have a lot of busi-ness knowledge, she launched an online store, founded the store “Schwesterherz” which of-fers knick-knacks, and in 2010 opened up Küchenliebe providing first-class and partly nonstandard kitchen accessories. In the begin-ning she financed her project by means of a special loan for persons setting up their own businesses.

Since Ellen was born in Ber-lin it was out of the question to choose another location for her business. By now, she has six em-ployees, three of them working in the Küchenliebe store. A third

to 60 hours per week. “The whole business is passion,” says the 31-year-old. She studied literature, history and theatre science in Ber-lin and did some advanced training in pedagogy and communication theory to build up her knowledge for the start-up. Berlin was her first

choice because she wants to make use of her local network.

The puppet Päck-chen was born out of a novel she wrote herself. Seeing her

performance, one wonders about the extraordinary language of the puppet, which is a mixture of French, Dutch, Yiddish and local German accents. The young wom-an dreams of her own TV show. But first in line is a new body for the puppet made by an artist.

A farm in Berlin-Rudow, near the airport Schönefeld, horses on green land. Endless beds of vio-lets, cabbage grown in neat rows, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes ready for consumption.

What looks like an ordinary family garden is in fact a new business model: in 2010 Natalie Kirchbaumer and Wanda Ganders have started “Meine Ernte” in six cities all over Germany. One year later, they are already managing branches in 15 metropolises. “We focus on big cities as Berlin where people have usually only a bal-cony and no yard. We want them to leave the hectic city and enjoy nature for a while,” says Natalie.

For 179 Euros, everybody can rent a small garden with 20 differ-ent vegetables and flowers already planted for them. One should spend at least two hours per week caring for the future crops. “We offer our gardeners all-around service so they will find gardening tools, water and professional sup-port in the field,” says the enter-preneur.

At the age of 28, she and Wan-da put their savings into city farm-ing, additionally receiving a start-up grant from the state. At the moment there are 850 city gar-deners in the whole of Germany, around 200 of them in Berlin. This season, most of the gardens are fully booked. Natalie and Wanda get many calls from people who ask them when the project is fi-nally going to be in their city, too. “All you have to bring are your gumboots,” Natalie says – and that is exactly what people like about her garden venture.

www.kuechenliebe.dewww.kleines-paeckchen.dewww.meine-ernte.de

store is in the planning stage. El-len’s advice to fellow start-ups: “Don’t start small, but have the heart to do something big.”

“With Päckchen you get very close to people,” enthuses Mela-nie Streibelt about her work with a yellow hand-puppet named Päckchen (German for parcel). It has a red bib and it listens to sorrows, makes one laugh and medi-ates conflicts. It ap-pears as a friend, ba-bysitter or story-teller in schools, hospitals and businesses, where Melanie stages her puppet per-formances.

She clearly loves her doll, but also makes a living out of it. Founded with a grant by the state in 2010, the business demands 30

■ Be your own boss in 2009, about 11 per cent of all economically active people in Germany (38.7 million) were self-employed, in Berlin even 16 per cent.

■ start-up initiatives they help people on their way to found a business. they also offer start-up trainings with important infor-mation about choosing the right legal status, tax, insurance and writing a business plan. such a plan is usually required for external funding. information, seminars and advice:

www.ihk-berlin.de/starthilfe

■ Planning ahead Besides a persuasive business idea, ac-curate planning is also needed, beginning with the name and registration of the company, up to marketing and distribution. Useful addresses, dates and general support:

www.gruenden-in-berlin.de

■ Financial help Apply for the state-run grant “Gründungszus-chuss” of the German employ-ment Agency, which runs up to 24,000 euro. this fund has recently come under debate but is still active. there are 12 steps for getting financial support:

www.gruendungszuschuss.de

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“Start big, not small”

Ellen Teschendorf

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4 Dossier: Youth in Berlin – The kids are alright! May 2011

Bollywood beats Berlin Indian music, food and parties are in vogue these days – youth like it because it‘s exotic

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Indian food in Berlin:

■ Meena Kumari, lychener straße 9- quality indian food

■ Agni, warschauer straße 59- cheap and authentic

■ Amrit, oranienstraße 45- nice indian ambiance

■ Bombay, Friedrichstraße 106- hot and spicy

Video links:

■ superstar Khan in Germany: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2e64UluohA&feature=related

■ Khan’s fans recieving him at the Berlinale: www.youtube.com/watch?v= lpic6-xxnQ4&feature=fvsr

■ Khan’s movie trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GvJKsBkl7w

INDIAN hoTsPoTs

India sells in the grocery stores: Indian student Nirmalya Chaud-hary (29) lives in Berlin and has witnessed the craze for the Bol-lywood films. He looks at the commercial aspect of Bollywood. “Bollywood doesn’t represent India. It is disturbing for me at times, when I see Germans think-ing India is what they see in these films – homogenous, dancing and singing around the trees.”

He mentions that Indian res-taurants and products are not al-ways authentic, and many times the owners are from Sri lanka, Pa-kistan, Bangladesh and Afghani-stan. “India sells, that is why, they all use the name”.

This Bollywood craze among youngsters is growing slowly but continuously. Young Berliners dance to the tunes of Bollywood and this surprises Indians who wonder, what makes Bollywood popular among young Germans.

Crowd puller No 1: Bollywood mega star shahrukh Khan with his co-star Kajol on the red carpet of Berlinale 2010.

Bollywood film star Shahrukh Khan has more fans in Berlin than

in any other European city. Young Berliners are in love with Bollywood films. There are more than 20 Bollywood chat groups, many discos and a growing number of Indian restaurants in the capital, re-port Qurratulain Zaman & Atif Tauqeer.

It’s a bright and sunny day in May. Cozy Indian restaurant Mee-na Kumari on Lychener Street is filled with dozens of Germans. You can hear the voice of Indian singer Lata in the background. It

the famous Indian restaurants in Kreuzberg. The open court-yard with statues of the Buddhas, Krishna and Ganesh add beauty to the place. The ambiance and au-thentic Indian food seems to be in vogue among Berliners. Even at midnight, this place is almost full of people. Amrit has five restau-rants in Berlin. (See side box)

In this city of around 3.4 mil-lion people, there are more than 300 Indian res-taurants and ca-fes. Many Indolo-gists believe that this is the effect of Bollywood films, which increased demand for In-dian food.

It all started in 2004, when the German pri-vate TV channel RTL II for the first time showed the Bollywood movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (in guten wie in schweren Tagen) in a prime time slot.

Chris Schock is in the restau-rant business. He lived for nine years in India, and is now back in Berlin to work at an Indian res-taurant, Amrit. “This mushroom-ing of Indian cafes and restaurants took place in the last couple of years. I remember it was not like this 10 years ago. Watching Bol-lywood films on your home TV screen has changed many things and trends in the city. Demand of Indian food and Indian culture has increased.”

Young and energetic Chris with a golden French beard has strong ties in India. His circle of friends includes many Bollywood stars and celeberties. He opened five restaurants with his friend and Bollywood actor Dino Morea in different cities throughout India, including Mumbai and Bengalore. Chris says, “Indian actor Shahrukh Khan knows this trend well, and that’s why he makes sure to be in Berlin with his fans and create hype.”Berliners go mad for SRK: Bolly-wood star Shahrukh Khan, who is known as SRK among his fans, is a screen idol for many young Ger-man girls. (See box) His die-hard fans travel hundreds of kilom-eters just to see a glimpse of their

screen idol. “Movie fans were out in hordes this weekend at the Berlin In-ternational Film Festival, 2008 to greet two of the film world’s hottest actors: Penelope Cruz and Shahrukh Khan” reportred the German magazine Spiegel.

On 2nd Nov 2010, Shahrukh Khan celebrated his 45th birth-day in Berlin. His fans traveled hundreds of kilometers and gath-

ered outside the Novotel hotel in the city center to greet him. Khan stayed in Ber-lin for almost 2 months for the shooting of his film Don 2. He got the attention

of the German press which was also amazed to see Khan’s grow-ing fan club in Germany.

In 2010, SRK’s film “My name is Khan,” or “MNIK” premiered at the Berlin film festival. The tick-ets were sold out on the Internet within 10 seconds and were later sold on eBay for 1,000 euros each.

“Bollywood is no more a niche choice, it is becoming mainstream and MNIK marks the beginning of the conquest of world popular cinema by Bollywood” says Han-ns-Georg Rodek, the film editor at Die Welt, a German daily.

Now Bollywood films are reg-ularly shown in the two main cin-emas in Berlin, Cinemax and UCI. Bollywood films are available in video stores, especially in the area of Kreuzberg and Neukölln.

20 chat rooms about Bollywood in German; 300

Indian restaurants only in Berlin

is a weekday and the manager of the restaurant Rashid Javed 29 is completely busy serving food. “You won’t find a table without a reservation on the weekend here,” says friendly Rashid.

There is a big black and white wall-size portrait of the Bollywood actress of yesteryear, Meena Ku-mari, on the front wall. The res-taurant in the capital is a tribute to her, Rashid informs us. The restaurant also has a Bollywood dance club. Walk along Oranian Street in Kreuzberg and you can find five Indian restaurants in a row attracting the Berliners with lunch packages. Amrit is one of

W hat does a humbolt Uni-versity PhD student have

to do with India? If you want to know, meet Fritzi Titzmann, 28, from Berlin. ”i saw my first Bollywood film, when i was 19. My father bought a Vhs of “lagaan.” that’s how it started and then never stopped. it’s fun to watch films with lots of color, dance and music. For me, it is like a party to watch a movie mainly because it’s not intellectual. it’s more enjoyable, and you can eat and watch a film at the same time. it’s relaxing, and you know what’s going to happen, you are not nervous. i like these films mainly

because of the language. i can im-prove my hindi. i always try to find something special.i am very interested in dance and some of the Bollywood music is re-ally cool. it is energetic and pure fun. i joined Bollywood dance classes in Berlin in my mid-twenties. it is enter-taining form of sport for me. Bolly-wood dance is a mix of aerobics, bel-ly dancing and few steps of Kathak. My trainer was German. she learned it from an indian. there were 12 girls in our group. surprisingly, i was the youngest. others were mainly housewives and from more simple backgrounds – not south Asian ex-perts or academics.

the dance group met regularly ,watching movies together and cooked indian food. All of us dressed up in indian clothes and wore indian jewellery. we bought sarees and indian jewellery on eBay and spent 100-150 euros somtimes to buy indian things. they improved their english to understand subtitles.they would probably never travel to india. Bol-lywood is exotic for them, which they can bring home.i studied hindi in the University for three years and now i am doing my phd, in indian matrimonial web-sites at the south Asia department of the humbolt University. since 2002, i have been traveling regu-larly to india and over the course of time, india has become part of my identity and i love this.”

“Not so intellectual” A young German woman about her love for India kitsch

Poster girl: German-born Fritzi worked as model in an Indian advertise-ment. It is common in India to cast Europeans in promotional campaigns.

shopping delight in Germany: An Indian

grocery store

also sells Bollywood

inspired costumes

and jewellery.

pho

to: F

ritz

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Credits / Impressum: produced by international Media studies in collaboration with iiJ /Giz and deutsche welle. editorial team: Anna Appelrath, Volha danishevich, sonya Angelica diehn, Atif tauqeer, Gemechu Bekele, theresa locker, Christine rohrer, Myles tweedie, Qurratulain zaman. trainers: Andrea tapper, olaf herling. Berlin, May 2011