Detroit-Berlin Connection hits Germany for idea exchange

BERLIN, GERMANY — Berlin entrepreneur Dimitri Hegemann made news in late 2014 when he revealed he was eyeing Detroit’s abandoned Fisher Body Plant 21 as a potential complex to follow in the footsteps of Kraftwerk, a repurposed German power plant-turned-multipurpose event and cultural center famous for housing the landmark techno club Tresor.

Hegemann’s idea is part of a much grander vision called the Detroit-Berlin Connection, a Transatlantic cultural exchange program between Detroit and Berlin with teams in both cities. Since the program’s announcement in late 2014, the Berliners have hosted several Detroit-based lectures: there was a November presentation at Trinosophes and a May conference at MOCAD, for example.

Just more than a week ago, the Detroit team — as well as Detroit city council members, architects, investors, and developers, plus Packard Plant owner Fernando Palazuelo — made their way to Berlin to observe how the city transformed itself from a post-war zone to one of Europe’s top cultural epicenters. The idea is to bring some of the concepts back to the Motor City.

Over the course of four days, the delegation embarked on an extensive program which featured meetings with Berlin city officials, customized tours of repurposed industrial sites such as Kraftwerk and Holzmarkt (a riverside cultural complex), club culture previews, and networking dinners at culinary staples. In total, there were about 30 people involved — 20 from Detroit, five from Germany and five from other countries.

A visit to the restaurant White Trash was anything but ordinary, with flames shooting into the sky above an open-air dining area decorated in American pop culture memorabilia. The repurposed complex that shelters it resembles an assortment of wooden shacks stacked next to one another, as do many similar places in Berlin. To the right is a tattoo parlor, and further down is Club der Visionare, an electronic music venue.

Pilocka Krach, a Berlin-based musician and native, remembers when the area surrounding White Trash had nothing. “There were no restaurants, no galleries, and no clubs,” she said. “Even the houses were empty.”

Today, it’s a thriving commercial strip full of life — and profit.

“Berlin has been able to "rebuild an entire city by turning blighted structures into creative developments,” Detroit city council member Mary Sheffield said. “Detroit has that unique opportunity as well because there are [many] vacant properties.”

While Sheffield was inspired by what she saw in Berlin, major cultural differences — such as Berlin's lack of a curfew — pose difficulty in replicating these strategies. She notes that modifications would be key if any are implemented in the near future.

“I’m excited about some of the concepts I’ve seen, but Detroit is still different from Berlin,” she continued. “For example, their 24-hour culture may not be possible, so it’s a matter of figuring out how we can change these ideas to fit Detroit.”