This entry is bilingual.
Bu yazi hem Ingilizce, hem Turkce'dir. Turkce metin icin asagi satirlara bakiniz.
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The German High School of Istanbul (Deutsche Schule Istanbul) lies in a very central location, around the Tunel-Galata neighbourhoods of Beyoglu District. This area (referred to as 'Pera' in the Ottoman times) is full of history as it has been the 'modern' central district of Istanbul, being homes to many Jewish, Armenian and other non-Muslim communities, whereas the historical peninsula, consisting of Eminonu and Fatih regions are the 'traditional' central districts. Beyoglu district hosts many churches, most of which are Christian Orthodox but a few Catholic ones can also be found, as well as other historical institutional landmarks and some of the prettiest architectural sites. The German influence in the area is much less compared to that of the Armenian, Greek, Jewish, or the more contemporary French influences. However, apart from the German High School, there are two other landmarks that I have been curious about in the last few years. Today I found out about 2 stories, that are to do with the names of these 2 places: Altona Bufe, and Hamburg Kiraathanesi (also called "Hamburg Cafe").
When you walk towards the Galata Tower from the Tunel Square, on the left is the Altona Bufe, a small shop that sells chicken doner for 1 Turkish Lira (equivalent of 0.5 Euros) and some rice to go with it. It was initially a 'pilavci' (a rice-shop) and was turned into a full-catering doner-pilav shop over the last few years. When I approached the guy behind the doner to enquire about where the name comes from, he gave me the following answer:
- There is this guy, that comes and eats from us once in a while. 2 years ago, he told me he is from Hamburg Altona. You know, it's a place name. In Altona, he has a 'pilavci' (rice shop) just like mine, and he is also from Sivas, just like me. He doesn't speak Turkish anymore but he told me 'why don't you have a name for your shop? why don't you call it Altona?'. That's where the name comes from.
This was rather different than what I expected. I was expecting at least to hear some crazy story about the owner of the shop being from Altona and missing the Turkish community in that Hamburg neighbourhood, or a story in which the shopkeeper was a fan of Fatih Akin (who is also from Altona) or has met him there (that would actually be my story if I opened a shop and called it Altona)... In fact, this was rather a dull story which I had to walk away with.
However, the second story is a bit more interesting:
When you walk up towards Tunel from Tophane along the famous Kumbaraci Yokusu, on your left-hand side you will notice a well-preserved, remarkable church. It is the Crimea Memorial Church (see the link for a nice image). When you walk into the street where the church is, you will come to the "Hamburg Kiraathanesi" (also named Hamburg Cafe, recently for foreign visitors) at the end of the street. Over the last few years the dilapidated looking 'kiraathane' tried to transform itself into something more appealing. Now it has a wooden exterior that fits better into a countryside concept, but what mattered to me was where the name "Hamburg Kiraathanesi" came from. I found out today:
As I took a picture of the 'kiraathane', the teaman of the kiraathane walked out. I thought "oh, OK, he'll tell me to leave, I'm busted". He actually looked quite cute, a small, chubby Turkish teaman. So I approached him and asked him:
-Hello, can I ask you why this place is called Hamburg Cafe?
His reply was a bit surprising to my liking. He giggled and smiled whilst saying:
- Hehe.. You know.. There is this place called Hamburg... down the road.. (pointing towards the sea). We would not be allowed there we were young (he's about mid 30's to 40's looking). So, we named this place with regards to that. Now we have our own Hamburg, hehe!
This statement, this confession, this admission was so sweet, just like the guy himself, I just could not do anything but smile to my ears.
Of course, down the road, where he pointed towards the sea... are the famous brothels of Karakoy, and god knows who have made their way in through Hamburg of Istanbul...
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Alman Lisesi, Beyoglu'nda, Tunel ile Galata mahalleleri arasinda, merkezi bir yerde konuslanmistir. Tarihle dolu Istanbul'un bu 'modern' merkezi eskiden Yahudi, Ermeni, ve diger gayri-Muslimlere ev sahipligi yaparken, sehrin 'geleneksel' merkezi ise tarihi yarimadada, Eminonu ve Fatih ilcelerini kapsayan bolgedeydi. Beyoglu'nda, cogunlugu Ortodoks, az bir kismi da Katolik olan kiliseler disinda, baska tarihsel binalar ve sehrin guzel mimari ornekleri gorebilecegimiz binalar bulunmaktadir. Bolgedeki Ermeni, Rum, Yahudi ve daha modern donemlerdeki Fransiz etkisine oranla bakarsak, Alman etkisi cok dusuk bir seviyededir. Fakat bolgede Alman Lisesi disinda, benim dikkatimi son yillarda ceken ve isimlerinin hikayelerini merak ettigim 2 yer daha vardi: Altona Bufe ve Hamburg Kiraathanesi ('Hamburg Cafe' de deniyor).
Tunel Meydani'ndan Galata Kulesi'ne yururken, solunuzda Altona Bufe'yi goreceksiniz. Eskiden sadece pilavci olan mekan son bir kac yildir 1 TL'ye tavuk doner de satmakta. Donerciye, bufenin isminin nereden geldigini sormak icin yaklastigimda, bana su cevabi verdi:
- Bir adam vardi, gelip boyle bizden yiyordu bir suredir. 2 yil once falan koyduk ismi. Bana Altona'dan oldugunu soyledi, oyle bir yer var. Altona'da onun da bir pilavci dukkani varmis, zaten o da benim gibi Sivasli'ymis. Turkcesi de pek iyi degil artik, dedi ki bu bir gun 'neden isim koymuyorsun dukkana? Altona yapsana ismini?'. Isim buradan geldi iste.
Bu, bekledigimden daha farkli bir cevapti. En azindan daha cilgin bir hikaye taharrur etmistim ismin arkasinda. Mesela dukkan sahibi Altonali olup 'memleket'ini ozlemis olabilirdi, ya da dukkan sahibi bir gun Altona'ya gidip Fatih Akin'la (o da Altonali) falan tanismis olabilirdi (gerci bu daha cok bana uygun bir hikaye olurdu)... Esasen, bekledigimden daha soluk bir hikayeyle uzaklastim oradan.
Fakat, ikinci yerin hikayesi biraz daha ilginc:
Tophane'den Tunel'e dogru, Kumbaraci Yokusu'ndan cikarken, solda iyi korunmus, etkileyici bir kilise goreceksiniz: "Kirim Kilisesi" (resim icin link'e tiklayin). Kilisenin oldugu sokaga girerseniz, sokagin sonunda, sag tarafta Hamburg Kiraathanesi'ne varabilirsiniz (ayni zamanda "Hamburg Cafe" ismi de eklenmis buraya). Son birkac yilda, dokuntu bir kulube seklinde gorunen kiraathaneyi, daha alimli bir goruntuye sahip olmasi icin yenilemisler. Gerci simdi de, ahsap cephesi yuzunden kirsal mekanlara daha uygun bir gorunume sahip olmus. Her neyse, benim derdim ismin nereden geldigi idi:
Kiraathanenin fotografini ceker cekmez, kiraathanenin caycisi disari cikti. "hah tamam simdi bana dellencek" diye dusunuyordum ki, adamin tifil, tombul, cok seker bir tipik Turk caycisi oldugunu farkettim. Yaklasip sordum kendisine:
- Merhaba, bu Hamburg isminin nereden geldigini sorabilir miyim?
Cevabi biraz sasirticiydi. Kikirdadi ve cevabi yapistirdi:
- Hehe.. Biliyorsun... Hamburg diye bir yer var... asagida... (denize dogru olan yonu gosteriyor). Gencken oraya almazlardi bizi (kendisi de 30 sonlari, 40li yaslarda belki). Biz de onun acisini cikarmak icin buraya bu adi verdik. Simdi kendi Hamburgumuz var!
Bu aciklama, bu itiraf o kadar tatliydi ki, ayni adam gibi, yuzumun esneyebildigi kadar, agzimin kulaklarima vardigi derecede gulumsedim.
Tabii ki, o 'asagida', denizi gosterdigi yerde... o unlu Karakoy kerhaneleri vardi, ve kim bilir kimler tutmustu Istanbul'daki Hamburg'un yolunu...
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