Housing issues in Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg
Housing is a human right – as specified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from 1948. The Declaration demands sufficient availability of housing, protection from interference here and access to housing free of discrimination. Housing was not only to be affordable, but also fit for human beings to live in.
The reality is often a different one. In Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, in particular, available housing is not a thing to be taken for granted. The urban space is the subject of fierce competition. A number of initiatives have been set up in the past years campaigning against rent increases, evictions, luxury refurbishment and displacement.
Housing is also one of the most important social issues discussed in Berlin politics. The housing issue, however, did not only arise in recent years: it has been an integral aspect of the district’s development since the 19thcentury. It is not just about housing protests, but also about living conditions, forms of living and residential visions, all of which have been negotiated in different ways in the district’s history. The fragmentary way the exhibition topics are presented sheds light on both historical ruptures and continuities, as well as stimulating different and yet often interlinked questions.
Sponsored by "Bezirkskulturfonds Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg" with support by "Verein zur Erforschung und Darstellung der Geschichte Kreuzbergs e.V."