When you think of squatters, you often picture a group of lowly individuals who don’t have a choice. You imagine the homeless, addicts, the people who don’t belong, living in squalor without a penny to their name. However, squatting in Berlin has represented something of a different ilk since the 1970s in both the East and West, and even when the wall fell and reunited the two zones.
The squatting movement in Berlin is known as the ‘Hausbesetzerbewegung’ and can be traced back to the late 1960s. But the movement really took shape in the late 70s when West-Berliners occupied apartments in response to the housing crisis in the area. These squatters mostly took root in the districts of Kreuzberg and Schöneberg.
The second major wave of the movement was brought about by the fall of the iron curtain in 1989. As a power-vacuum manifested in government, East-Berliners saw this as their opportunity to take a stand. In 1990 more than 130 buildings were occupied in the former communist zone.
But why was squatting so important to the citizens of Germany’s capital?
There’s absolutely no questioning the fact that whether squatting became a financial necessity or not, squatters saw their actions as a political stance. The nature of East Germany’s communist government meant that the authorities were in control of the construction and maintenance of housing, as well as the allocation of housing.
However, for East-Berliners there was more dereliction than development as far as housing was concerned. To begin with, standards were relatively poor with only 30% of residences containing a toilet and 22% a bath in the 1950s. And by the 70s over 600,000 citizens remained on waiting lists for housing, and they had to wait for up to 8 years for housing to come through.
Although Honecker attempted a building programme during his time in power, this was largely unsuccessful. Further problems were caused by the fact that the government simply couldn’t meet the payments involved in construction and renovation. This meant that many properties were left ruined and empty. A secret report commissioned by the political party in charge of East Germany, the SED, found that there were as many as 235,000 empty properties across the country, found in major cities such as Berlin especially.
Historian Udo Grashoff has described the illegal occupation of buildings in this environment as ‘Schwarzwohnen’ (illegal living). Grashoff has also described the situation as something that was in no way small-scale movement, having involved thousands of East Germans in the 70s and 80s, and above all a phenomenon that was unique to the GDR. This is because although squatting remained illegal, it took pressure of the GDR government as citizens came off the housing waiting lists and partially redeveloped properties themselves.
Essentially, East German residents were taking control for themselves in a bid to meet their basic needs; thus taking some of the power away from government. This is what made the squatting movement an act of protest and resistance. The squatters or ‘Instandbesetzer’ best explain it themselves. In an underground magazine a group of squatters based in Prenzlauer Berg explained in 1988 that they had “occupied the house in order to overcome the contradiction between, on the one hand, the many vacant and decaying houses [in Berlin], and on the other, a growing number of people in search of housing.”
This post was created by Global Guardians, providing London with live-in property guardians for their residences.
Source: openDemocracy; Image: SPDP
The squatting movement in Berlin is known as the ‘Hausbesetzerbewegung’ and can be traced back to the late 1960s. But the movement really took shape in the late 70s when West-Berliners occupied apartments in response to the housing crisis in the area. These squatters mostly took root in the districts of Kreuzberg and Schöneberg.
The second major wave of the movement was brought about by the fall of the iron curtain in 1989. As a power-vacuum manifested in government, East-Berliners saw this as their opportunity to take a stand. In 1990 more than 130 buildings were occupied in the former communist zone.
But why was squatting so important to the citizens of Germany’s capital?
There’s absolutely no questioning the fact that whether squatting became a financial necessity or not, squatters saw their actions as a political stance. The nature of East Germany’s communist government meant that the authorities were in control of the construction and maintenance of housing, as well as the allocation of housing.
However, for East-Berliners there was more dereliction than development as far as housing was concerned. To begin with, standards were relatively poor with only 30% of residences containing a toilet and 22% a bath in the 1950s. And by the 70s over 600,000 citizens remained on waiting lists for housing, and they had to wait for up to 8 years for housing to come through.
Although Honecker attempted a building programme during his time in power, this was largely unsuccessful. Further problems were caused by the fact that the government simply couldn’t meet the payments involved in construction and renovation. This meant that many properties were left ruined and empty. A secret report commissioned by the political party in charge of East Germany, the SED, found that there were as many as 235,000 empty properties across the country, found in major cities such as Berlin especially.
Historian Udo Grashoff has described the illegal occupation of buildings in this environment as ‘Schwarzwohnen’ (illegal living). Grashoff has also described the situation as something that was in no way small-scale movement, having involved thousands of East Germans in the 70s and 80s, and above all a phenomenon that was unique to the GDR. This is because although squatting remained illegal, it took pressure of the GDR government as citizens came off the housing waiting lists and partially redeveloped properties themselves.
Essentially, East German residents were taking control for themselves in a bid to meet their basic needs; thus taking some of the power away from government. This is what made the squatting movement an act of protest and resistance. The squatters or ‘Instandbesetzer’ best explain it themselves. In an underground magazine a group of squatters based in Prenzlauer Berg explained in 1988 that they had “occupied the house in order to overcome the contradiction between, on the one hand, the many vacant and decaying houses [in Berlin], and on the other, a growing number of people in search of housing.”
This post was created by Global Guardians, providing London with live-in property guardians for their residences.
Source: openDemocracy; Image: SPDP