Work

Romani Berlin: ‘Gypsy’ Presence, the Culture of the Horse Market and the Shaping of Urban Space 1890–1933

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: This article explores the Romani contribution to the construction of urban space(s), focusing on the city of Berlin between about 1890 and 1933, with a particular emphasis on the period between the turn of the century and the First World War. Drawing on press reports, it offers evidence for public awareness of a new Romani presence in and around the city, and proposes that media representations of ‘Gypsies’ in the new suburbs reflected the heightened sensitivity to setting boundaries between urban and rural, civilized and uncivilized, that informed Berlin's ‘urban imaginary’ at a time of expansion and modernization. In a second step, the agency of Romani Berliners in defining the city as a multi-ethnic metropolis and shaping spaces within it is considered. The account focuses on productive interactions between Romani and non-Romani actors in the horse markets which drew Sinti and Roma to settle in Berlin and on the lives of horse-dealing families in the city at large, including the tendential emergence of ‘Gypsy’ neighbourhoods.

Source: European History Quarterly

DOI: 10.1177/02656914221097599

Author: Eve Rosenhaft

Institution: University of Liverpool

Language: English

Topic: Romani and Gypsy Studies

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,250