The search for new ways of urban strategies to encounter local problems, the development of active citizenship and the creation of a new identity has begun in Duisburg-Marxloh several years ago.
A report by Urban Rhizome
___ Duisburg-Marxloh - Then and Now
The city district in the north of Duisburg, Germany, is just recovering from its stigmata of being the dangerous „no-go-area“ in North Rhine-Westphalia and was simply called „Little Istanbul“.
Marxloh experienced a population boom in the early 20th century along with an increasing industrialization along the Ruhr River. In the 1920s Marxloh was no longer a village, but consisted of about 35,000 inhabitants.
As a result of de-industrialization Marxloh´s population dropped down to 17,500 until today. Between 1980 and 1994, 11.000 people lost their jobs in the coalmines and steel factories.
Now 34% of the population are recipients of social benefits, the vacancy rate is at 12%. The average education level is low, the unemployment rate is at 23%. Up to 70% of Marxloh´s inhabitants are residents with a migration background from Turkey.
Through a regional, national and European 130 million Euro funding, aiming at the restructuring of the down-going district, starting in 1985, Marxloh is since then continuously improving its image.
Of course - the approaches of refurbishing facades, squares and parks have also been criticized due to a minimum-integration of community proposals.
___ “Gangster’s Paradise” becoming “Germany´s Most Romantic Street”
In spite of all the quarrels - this is an example of an extraordinary successful collaboration between the citizens of Marxloh and the Municipality:
In 2008, Germany´s biggest Mosque proudly opened its doors in Marxloh.
Funded by the local Turkish/Moslem and German/Christian community together with the authorities at local, regional, national and European level, it impressively showed and still shows, that a positive collaboration between communities and governments is possible by all means.
Until today, about 300,000 visitors from all over Europe have visited the Mosque in Marxloh and were very impressed by its integrated status into the community.
But not only the House of Allah attracts believers and tourists from near-by countries. The international flair of the former “bad neighborhood” and its transition to “good citizenship between friends” becomes even more obvious and intensive on the “Weseler Straße”.
Within the last years, Turkish salesmen and retailers seized their chances in the abandoned shops on Marxloh´s Main Street and opened one bridal store next to the other.
Nowadays Marxloh hosts the most vivid Turkish bridal fashion district outside Turkey with more than 50 shops and attracts customers and shoppers from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Luxembourg.
___ A down-going neighborhood is becoming a role model
It was due to the ideas of the young, local and creative collective of the “Medien-Bunker Marxloh” – a conglomerate of filmmakers, photographers, musicians, webdesigners and locally active citizens, that bridged the new image of Marxloh into the media.
During the opening of the Mosque, the “Medien-Bunker” spread out yellow street-signs with the slogan “Made in Marxloh” and “Welcome to Marxloh” to a bunch of kids. They posed in front of the Mosque, while German-wide media took pictures and filmed the scene. The next day the images filled the newspapers around the globe! From Frankfurt to Texas, from Jakarta to Amsterdam, the yellow signs were on title pages everywhere – and nobody really understood the dimension of this guerilla-marketing joke.
The ingraining of the local for their Marxloh had begun without an expensive top-down strategy – and found its way outside the district, city and even federal borders, before anyone realized what just had started.
There was no stopping then: In preparation for the “European Capital of Culture Ruhr.2010” the collective of the “Medien-Bunker” effectively promoted their neighborhood: The Main Street with all the wedding shops was renamed in “Germany´s Most Romantic Street”.
Postcards with everyday-motifs of Marxloh and its citizens were printed. A film - or rather a “declaration of love” - about the district was produced. The image-campaign “Made in Marxloh” was extended – the yellow signs reached “cult status”.
The “Medien-Bunker” advised the directors of the “European Capital of Culture Ruhr.2010” in questions of intercultural issues, urban creativity and quarter management.
Again “Made in Marxloh” was present in international media with the campaign “100 brides for Marxloh” during the ‘Still Life’ Ruhr.2010 European Capital of Culture festivities on a “Closed Down Highway-Event” in the area.
With the donation of 100 wedding dresses, Marxloh´s retailers supported the new image of Marxloh that said: “This is no dark, dangerous ghetto! This is a light, romantic place where wedding dreams come true!”
The entrepreneurs of Marxloh have learned: the impact of supporting a joint idea and using the influence of standing together for their district, despite their business competition, creates value, understanding, good neighborhood and – after all - a shared quality of live for all.
The immediate response was an increasing customers’ flow on the “Weseler Straße”, because everyone had seen the “100 brides” holding a yellow “Made in Marxloh” sign in the media and wanted to be on this overwhelmingly romantic spot!
The “European Capital of Culture Ruhr.2010” officially awarded Marxloh as a “Creative.Quarter” with a high innovative and aspiring future and initiated several artistic projects, like “Een maand Marxloh” (One month Marxloh), an artist in residency program between Marxloh and the Netherlands, or the transnational art exhibition “.nl.de.tr/turkishconnections“by the dutch photographer Otto Snoek, initiated by Kosmopolis Rotterdam.
The result was a process of awakening self-confidence and awareness of Marxloh´s citizens and entrepreneurs due to the new recognition and presence of “European Capital of Culture” visitors, local and international media, politicians and artists, that were guided through the district in organized tours by the “Medien-Bunker”.
All of a sudden Marxloh was no longer the “ghetto” but of interest for intercultural, economical and innovative reasons – citizens stopped being ashamed of their neighborhood and experts started naming the district a “role model”.
Local citizens and entrepreneurs started taking over joint responsibility for their own good. Together they are engaged to find solutions for social, economic or image problems. This necessarily leads to a deeper ingraining into the local community and therefore to a stronger identification with the district.
___ Duisburg-Marxloh - Quo Vadis?
In spite of the “romance” of this success-story, Marxloh still faces social problems and is far to be a problem-free, or a “hip-neighborhood”, full of artists, designers and young founders of new creative businesses.
That´s why Urban Rhizome chose to found the agency right in the heart of Marxloh: to establish and foster sustainable strategies and to reactivate unused public structures.
»> Go to our project: Education for Free Accommodation
»> If you want to visit Marxloh and explore the district, please feel welcome to book our Guided City Tour
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