Neighborhood is falling apart | Berlin's pubs are dying: What's going on?!

Thousands upon thousands of small Post-its, blue, yellow, and pink, have been stuck to the glass surfaces of the cultural pub "Watt" in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg district since last weekend. The stationery items are stamped with quirky birds, reading beer glasses, and cigarette butts; some have even been individually painted. They flutter around the pub like colorful scales. After around ten years of concerts, readings, film screenings, theater, beer, and wine, "Watt" is now forced to close. Since January, an initiative of regulars had been trying to get the landlord to extend the lease of the thriving pub, which is very popular in the neighborhood – but nothing could be done.

The "Watt" became a topic of conversation: in the press, on the radio, and on television. Fifty nationally renowned artists signed an open letter calling for the pub's preservation. Former Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer tried to mediate. But the owners of the building, a children's and non-fiction author and a cultural entrepreneur who claims to promote "grassroots culture" online, refused to budge and were unwilling to talk to their real-life neighbors. Apparently, a delicatessen will soon move into the pub's premises. So, fine food for high earners instead of conversation, art, and friendship.

Drinking brings people together , and at the "Watt" you could do that in a very nice way. More than 11,000 people signed the petition to save the pub within just a few months. As a thank you for this extraordinary support, pub owner Sindy Kliche and her supporters transformed these petition signatures into the colorful scale armor, which still holds up remarkably well.