Similar to it s brother on the North, Friedrichshain, the neighbourhood of Kreuzberg has emerged due to industrialisation and was established as an industrial area until the WWII when the bombings destroyed most of it. After the war, Kreuzberg has become part of the "West" of Berlin, politically, although physically it was still in the East. Cheap rents attracted a lot of immigrants here when Germany has invited guest workers, many of them from Turkey, to come here. Since then, Kreuzberg has always been considered "multi-cultural". As of 2006, more than 30 % of the local inhabitants are not of German origin.
Kreuzberg is also home to underground, alternative punk movement. Even today, the old SO36 club remains one of the main influencers on the Berlin music scene. The alternative music scene and affordable rents attracted a lot of young people in this area, and it remains so until today when Kreuzberg has one of the youngest populations of all European city neigbourhoods. Over the last 20 years, the young population of the area has been replaced by new generations at least twice, so it is constantly attracting new young creative minds.