Lychener Str. 50

Lychener 50

Our home is under threat. Neighbors are under threat, and some have already been forced out.
Since the social housing restrictions expired, there have already been five so-called “personal use” evictions at Lychener Str. 50. The reasons are always flimsy, and in one case, the apartment has been vacant since the involuntary move-out and is currently up for sale again—two official proceedings for misuse are already underway.

We won’t stand for this!

We are organizing ourselves and have a support group at the tenants’ union (MGB)!

Informationen zum bezirksweiten Auslaufen der Sozialbindungen

    • Lychener50@posteo.de

    The house community meets regularly, and the support group of the MGB meets as needed.

    About the Lychener 50

    Even before the social commitment expired, there was a wave of resales. We supported each other as neighbors and launched the W/Mut exchange at the beginning of 2023.

    Based on the motto: Personal use? we have every first Sunday of the month to the W/Mut exchange in front of our front door. We shared displacement cakes, homemade lard rolls, or a cup of rent madness coffee with other neighborhood residents and house communities on the street and struck up conversations. You can read more about this in our press release.

    We have also received support from Kieztreffen Pankow, E3K, and, of course, MGB, and are engaged in lively dialogue.

    Some of us co-founded 2023 Pankow gegen Verdrängung (Pankow Against Displacement) and extended our support to neighbors beyond our building. We are now in close contact with over 40 other buildings and are working together to fight this development.

    Because Prenzlauer Berg is set to become a district where only a select few can afford to live. After the various waves of displacement in the 1990s and 2000s, the last remnants of social diversity are now set to disappear—and we are fighting back!

    This is where our lives take place, where we have our children and families, networks, schools, daycare centers, workplaces, doctors, nursing care, social institutions, leisure activities, neighbors, and relationships.

    The viewings and sales continue, but we are fighting back and are very well organized!

    press

    Press releases

    Print

    Film & Radio

    Until now

    We had known for several years that the end of the protection period for Lychener Str. 50 was approaching, and as a community of residents, we got together one year before it expired. We held initial meetings, discussed things together, and made arrangements.

    Even before the lease expired, there were increasing numbers of viewings. Neighbors support each other on such occasions. Meanwhile, the walls of our apartments are becoming transparent. Complete strangers strut into our bedrooms. Real estate agents promise us the moon. And then comes the first, the second notice of termination for so-called personal use.

    We have experienced displacement waves in the district; most of our apartments are temporary housing. We have already moved once, or several times involuntarily due to waves of redevelopment and displacement.

    Now we are supposed to lose our home again because some people have decided to buy an apartment here. Some pretend they want to move in, but later the apartment stands empty forever and is resold, rented out on a temporary basis, or even used as a second home because their grandchildren live in Berlin?!?

    Some are still spared, others are affected immediately. It feels a bit like war (one could say, if it weren’t somewhat trivializing). The building has been neglected for several years. We’ve had Legionella bacteria since 2019, pigeons are nesting on balconies, and the trash cans are overflowing. Depending on the owner, tenants’ concerns are either addressed or ignored.

    The streets of Prenzlauer Berg have been unrecognizable for a while now. Vacation apartments, furnished living and vacant properties, construction sites and luxury rents. This has an impact on neighborhoods. Organization is growing!

    Story

    The project Aufbruch Herbst 89 (Autumn 89 Awakening) provides a fascinating insight into the history of the district and Lychener 50 is part of it.

    Network

    Pankow crisis summit – expiring social ties (Pankow initiative against displacement)
    Records from the BVV meeting on March 15, 2024, in the BVV hall in Berlin Pankow

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