Action alliance against housing shortage and urban destruction, Newsletter 162
Fighting poverty instead of the poor
Instead of tackling the causes of the AfD’s emergence and successes, we are seeing a government whose chancellor has himself photographed on the front page of SPIEGEL with the idiotic slogan “We must deport on a grand scale”. Historian Patrice G. Poutrus pointed out in an interview in DIE ZEIT on 20.10.2023 that the hysterical defence against refugees ultimately also de-legitimizes the presence of those people with a history of migration who are already here: “These are the very best conditions for racism to flourish.” The chancellor’s efforts to overtake the AfD on the right only makes these reactionaries all the stronger.
Patrice G. Poutrus: “Of course, migration challenges a society and the municipalities have borne and continue to bear the greatest burden in taking in refugees. But the reason why local authorities are at the edge of their resources has little to do with the issue of asylum. Cities and municipalities have been the losers in Germany’s financial system for decades. It is high time to finally tackle a reform of municipal finances that would provide real relief.” https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2023-10/asylpolitik-geschichte-asylkompromiss-patrice-poutrus
In her book “Freiwillig zu Diensten. Über die Ausbeutung von Ehrenamt und Gratisarbeit” in 2013, Claudia Pinl explains why the cities became impoverished: “With the abolition of the wealth tax in 1997, from which they received shares, and the tissue capital tax in 1998, German municipalities lost reliable sources of income.”
The planned cuts to social services at state and federal level show just how grotesque this continues to be today. Uli Kreikebaum in the Stadt-Anzeiger: “The draft budget, for example, plans to cut migration counseling by 30 percent and asylum procedure counseling by 60 percent. Counselling services for traumatized refugees are among those affected. In Cologne alone, this would result in the loss of twelve to 15 counseling centers. The federal government also wants to spend significantly less money on areas such as child and youth welfare and debt counseling.”
The League of Welfare Associations is calling on people to come to Theo-Burauen-Platz at City Hall on Wednesday, November 8 at 4 pm to protest against these cuts to the social budget. Be there.
We invite you to the monthly meeting of “Recht auf Stadt” on November 6, 2023 at 7 pm in the Bürgerzentrum Alte Feuerwache. Through further protests against vacancies, our demand for all homeless people to be housed in lockable single rooms must be given a greater voice in urban society. https://www.rechtaufstadt.koeln/kurzmitteilung/
Not confiscating is not a solution either
The city is finally planning to make the houses of the Russian Federation in Cologne-Lindenthal habitable again.
In the past, however, there have also been several voices expressing the opinion that the city of Cologne should be brave and simply confiscate the “Russian houses”.
https://www.ksta.de/koeln/lindenthal/lindenthal-veedel/koeln-lindenthal-stadt-hat-plan-fuer-russisches-geisterhaus-672619
Video addendum: The rich are looking for a home
On the homepage of the Pappnasen rotschwarz: https://www.pappnasen-rotschwarz.de/
On the total number of homeless people in Germany
Invitation to the press conference of the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe (BAG W)
Topic: Projection of the BAG W on the total number of homeless people in Germany:
Date: Tuesday, November 7, 2023, 10:00 a.m.
Conference center in the House of the Federal Press Conference, Room 3
Schiffbauerdamm 40 / corner of Reinhardtstr. 55, 10117 Berlin
Dear ladies and gentlemen,
We hereby invite you to the BAG W press conference.
On the occasion of the Federal Conference of the BAG Wohnungslosenhilfe, which will take place in Berlin from November 8 to 10, 2023 with almost 1,000 participants and contributors, we will present our current projection of the total number of homeless people in Germany.
Since 2022, the Federal Statistical Office has officially recorded the number of homeless people housed each year on January 31. This is an important survey that BAG W and other social associations have been calling for for decades. An extrapolation by BAG W is still necessary despite the federal statistics, as the Federal Statistical Office only records the homeless people housed in institutions as of January 31, 2023. The large number of homeless people who find temporary accommodation with friends and acquaintances, who have to enter into precarious shared accommodation arrangements and also those who live homeless on the streets without any accommodation at all are not included in the Federal Statistical Office’s reporting date figure. This leads to an incomplete representation of the extent of homelessness in Germany and to a distortion of the socio-structural characteristics of the people affected by homelessness.
The following people will be available to talk to you at the press conference:
Werena Rosenke, Managing Director of BAG W
Paul Neupert, Documentation and Statistics Officer, Housing at BAG W
Moderation: Sabine Bösing, Deputy Managing Director of BAG W
Please register for the press conference or national conference by 6.11.2023 to beritpohns at bagw.de.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe (BAG W)
https://www.bagw.de/de/
Broadcasts, reports, news
René Benko is a school dropout who has risen to the highest echelons of Austrian society. Now his empire is shaking – and the former real estate king is likely to resign.
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/unternehmen/rene-benko-der-tiefe-fall-des-wunderkinds-und-immobilienkoenigs-19288717.html
Exhibition in Deutz –
Former homeless and homeless people in Cologne show the city from their perspective
https://www.ksta.de/koeln/koelner-innenstadt/deutz/ausstellung-in-koeln-deutz-ehemalige-wohnungslose-fotografieren-die-stadt-675817
Bernd Imgrund: 1211 apartments – how Chorweiler was saved from the locusts
https://www.report-k.de/buchtipp-chorweiler-kann-beim-sozialen-wohnungsbau-als-vorbild-dienen/
Rich and poor in court
https://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/dokus/videos/arm-und-reich-vor-gericht-video-100.html
Vision against homelessness?
The German government wants to end homelessness by 2030. But the national action plan is a long time coming.
https://taz.de/US-Ansatz-Housing-First/!5964134/
Party conference of the Cologne SPD
https://www.rundschau-online.de/koeln/parteitag-im-guerzenich-spd-fordert-wohnungsbauoffensive-fuer-koeln-673058
Housing shortage and housing crisis: debate in Cologne gains momentum
https://www.report-k.de/wohnungsnot-und-wohnungsbaukrise-debatte-in-koeln-gewinnt-an-dynamik/
Homeless man dies after knife attack – three youths arrested
https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article248228600/NRW-Obdachloser-stirbt-nach-Messerangriff-Drei-Jugendliche-festgenommen.html
Occupied monastery in Aachen will not be evacuated for the time being
https://www.aachener-zeitung.de/lokales/aachen/streit-um-besetztes-kloster-in-aachen-der-aktuelle-stand_aid-100100137
Citizens defend themselves against GAG rent increase
https://www.ksta.de/koeln/koeln-buerger-wehren-sich-gegen-mieterhoehung-der-gag-671859
Housing shortage in the USA
https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/461927.wohnungsnot-in-den-usa-aus-der-traum-vom-eigenheim.html
Winter aid Cologne
https://www.express.de/koeln/koeln-so-will-die-stadt-wohnungslosen-menschen-im-winter-helfen-670289
Dates
04.11.2023, 12:30 – 17:00, “How can the heating transition in housing be designed socially?” Bürgerschaftshaus Bocklemünd, Görlinger-Zentrum 11-15, 50829 Cologne
04.11.2023,15:30 Protest rally against GAG’s rent increases. Kalker Post
04.11.2023, 7 p.m. The traffic lights in the KÜRZUNGSWAHN. How the government is jeopardizing jobs, social welfare & climate goals. Ehrenfel community center, Venloer Straße 429
06.11, 2023, 7 p.m., Right to the city, open meeting at the Alte Feuerwache community center
https://www.rechtaufstadt.koeln/kurzmitteilung/
08.11.2023, 4 pm, League of Welfare Associations calls for a rally against social cuts: Theo-Burauen-Platz
16.11.2023, 3:30 pm, Social Committee
05.12.2023, 7 p.m., Werner Rügemer: Who owns my living space. Peace Education Center
07.12.2023, 2 p.m. Cologne City Council.
For a city without homelessness
For a city without forced evictions
For a city without drug-related deaths
For a city without violence against women and children
For a city without deportations
For a city without poverty
November 4, 2023
Klaus Jünschke and Rainer Kippe
https://wohnungsnot.koeln
PS
Appeal for donations
We need money to further improve our public relations work:
Donation account MachMit! e.V. IBAN: DE53370501981011342704
Purpose: Action alliance
Translated with DeepL
