Paul Scraton explores trendy Neukölln’s old heart...
It is a grey day in Berlin, which makes Sonnenallee feel all the more gloomy. I am meeting my friend and Neukölln resident Julia at her apartment so she can show me the way to Rixdorf, an old village that still—just about—exists within the confines of the S-Bahn ring despite being swallowed by the city over a hundred years ago.
As we walk south, away from Hermannplatz, there is not much in our surroundings that suggests village life. This section of the city is one of traffic and noise, takeaways and shisha cafes, electronic stores offering up second-hand gadgets and spätis selling their colourful wares.
People often comment that Berlin, for the most part, does not have the feel of such a big city. It’s quite spread out, with plenty of green spaces. Its fractured nature means there is no real centre, and people tend to orientate themselves around their neighbourhoods. It never really feels as hectic as London, New York or Paris.
Still, there are places, such as Müllerstraße in Wedding, or Potsdamer Straße in Tiergarten, where you get that big city feeling, and Sonnenallee has it too. Which makes the contrast all the more striking when you turn down the Richardstraße and find yourself walking amongst half-timbered farmhouses, old stables that have been renovated but still betray signs of their original function, and cobbled alleyways that are lit, on this gloomy day, by what appear to be gas lamps.
The heart of old Rixdorf is Richardplatz, one of those city squares for which the terms &#…