Intervention Balkonien is a humorous, interactive “free-walking tour” through the Karolinenviertel
in Hamburg. Guided by an actor, a group of 20 people visited various locations throughout the
neighborhood where music performances and group activities were waiting for them. Using
ironic exaggeration, this project addresses the touristification of the area, the drastic rise in the
rental price in the recent years, as well as the impossibility of experiencing privacy on balconies
(particularly in the Karolinenpassage, which actually has to endure groups of tourists strolling
through their residential area). The main subject of the intervention was addressed through the
artistic design of a tourist attraction of the last “un-touristic” street of the suburb. This element
was labelled Balkonia and has attached itself to the wider discourse on gentrification through
the phrase “First there was Airbnb, now there is Starebnb” (stare like when looking at someone
steadily and intently). The special characteristic about Balkonia is that it is a very quiet and
harmonious place in the middle of a chaotic city. This intervention of approximately 45 minutes
was created in conjunction with neighbors from the Karolinenviertel and it was presented twice
on a warm and sunny Saturday within the frame of StimmeX, a series of events that support
experimental musical theater in the city of Hamburg.