Leopoldplatz is the central idea. A long public square, divided into three parts by two churches and a street. It was planned in the 19th century around the only church that was there at the time, making this one now the OLD Church of Nazareth, and the other one the NEW Church of Nazareth (although people often get confused due to the historicism of the late 19th century).
At that time the surrounding areas were the outskirts of the city, the lands in farmers' hands. The urban planners of the new modernity were faced with other needs: the City of Berlin has a long history of housing crises, dating back to the beginning of industrialization of the city. You still see chimneys now and then reaching out of residential areas marking one of many former factories placed in the midst of the dwellings of its workers.
This part of Wedding was planned around Leopoldplatz as a residential area for the working class. From early on - following the ups and downs of the economy - lichtscheues Gesindel as it was called back then, the light-shy rabble would crawl out of the surrounding Kieze (as blocks are referred to in Berlin) and meet at the Leopoldplatz.

All these Kieze later became the stronghold of the KPD. The communist party of germany managed to haunt the german capitalist class for ages - surviving even the terror of fascist Germany - until they were finally defeated in post-war West-Germany. It took the Marshall Plan of the USA, followed by a Wirtschaftswunder and the all-surrounding propaganda of the cold war to manage that. No one should ever wonder what good will and patience can accomplish where sheer violence fails to prevail.

But back in the 1920s the Pharussäle in Müllerstraße 143 were bustling with Genossinnen and Genossen meeting for a beer and an informal party meeting. The Pharussäle were the extended party headquarters of the KPD. And the Leopoldplatz was a symbolic demarcation line, often hosting street fights of the rivaling parties, gangs and police.

Now Coffee Star is located in the shadows of the Weddinger town hall. 50 meters south of the long lost Pharussäle the locals gather to have their morning coffee in the eye-side of the Leopoldplatz. Sitting in their midst I like to think of myself as a local, but so far, they haven’t had their last word on that. A shy hello is whispered with a hunger of another sort. Occupying my mind.

Nevermind, though.

The conversations differ like the weather. My favorite ones are about money and property. It gives me a sense of belonging. The guy with the great haircut just bought a house in Turkey. A summer house. Prices are great right now, cheap as hell, if you bring your €uros. He made a good deal. Being born in Germany to Turkish parents and quickly learning that the summers here for sure won’t make up for the usual racism. He just came back from the trip, telling the other locals about his new house at the sea. He is proud. Of course he is. I’m proud that despite my lean social welfare payments I’m still able to get my daily coffee at Coffee Star. Everyone is proud about their good deals.

The western part of the Leopoldplatz was planned as a marketplace and functions as that 4 times a week. The rest of the time it’s a vast place, people hasting over it to get the undergrounds. Always late, running, looking terrorized. The angry and negative ratings on google maps are the unheard proof of that.

The second part of the square is a more chaotic element. Some beaten tracks, a shelter which has the shape of an L. This Area is located between the Old Nazareth Church, a playground and the Street. Cramped between the holy trinity of German morality: The police, worried parents, and the church.
It’s a curious spot, overshadowed by what? Overcrowded for sure. It’s the busiest part of Leopoldplatz. Maybe even the most profitable in day-to-day business. If you treat it as a comparable business. A market of some sorts.
The shelter is squatted by junkies. “The hungry eyes” as my mother would call them, which sounded rather threatening to me as a kid. Nowadays the threat is not even an abstract one anymore. It was replaced by caring feelings and irrational rage against the cuts to public drug prevention that happened in the shadows of the last big betrayal of the Social Democratic Party. A constant reminder of the ongoing cuts of social welfare, the liquidation of state assets and the helplessness of the left in the face of all this. A Memorial of some sorts.
The starving ones keep their eyes on the ground. A life spent searching. Occupying the mind.

Right here - in the shadow of the ruins of yet another disaster of state-subsidized private entrepreneurship - the vacant building of the former Karstadt - right here where 4 Kieze push against the Leopoldplatz, building up pressure against the obvious - you can take a public shit on three different public toilets, look up into the white light of this stall and pray to the so-called good intentions.

Wenn nicht jetzt, wo dann?