Between luxury and misery: The hard life of the river people of Berlin

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Title: The hard life of the river people of Berlin Subtitles: Housing and drug addiction on the Landwehr Canal Berlin, the pulsating capital, is known for its numerous waterways. The Spree, lakes and channels pull through the million metropolis and give it a living flair. But behind the masses of tourists and celebrations there is an increasing problem: more and more tents can be discovered in the bushes along the Landwehr Canal between Neukölln and Kreuzberg. Here the river people of Berlin find their dwellings. The contrast could not be greater: the tourists and Berliners sit in the luxury shops at the front and enjoy life to the fullest, while in the back in ...
Title: The hard life of the river people of Berlin Subtitles: Housing and drug addiction on the Landwehr Canal Berlin, the pulsating capital, is known for its numerous waterways. The Spree, lakes and channels pull through the million metropolis and give it a living flair. But behind the masses of tourists and celebrations there is an increasing problem: more and more tents can be discovered in the bushes along the Landwehr Canal between Neukölln and Kreuzberg. Here the river people of Berlin find their dwellings. The contrast could not be greater: the tourists and Berliners sit in the luxury shops at the front and enjoy life to the fullest, while in the back in ... (Symbolbild/MB)

Title: The hard life of the river people of Berlin

subtitle: homelessness and drug addiction to the Landwehr Canal

Berlin, the pulsating capital, is known for its numerous waterways. The Spree, lakes and channels pull through the million metropolis and give it a living flair. But behind the masses of tourists and celebrations there is an increasing problem: more and more tents can be discovered in the bushes along the Landwehr Canal between Neukölln and Kreuzberg. Here the river people of Berlin find their dwellings.

The contrast could not be greater: the tourists and Berliners sit in the luxury shops in the front and enjoy life to the fullest, while in the back in the bush a red tent marks the shelter of the homeless. Due to the extremely increased rental prices, these people can no longer keep up with the development and live under the most miserable conditions on the banks of the canal. Collection of the deposit is their only source of income to finance their destructive drug use and daily survival.

Wisie, a 54-year-old man who lives under a terrace on the canal, tells of his hard everyday life. "The dance of the rats and the vermin comes in the evening. The rats eat through every bag in which a small piece of food is hidden," he reports. Wisie came onto the street because of his drug addiction, procurement crime and detention. Homeless accommodation was not a solution for him. By collecting deposit bottles, he earns around 20 euros a day to eat enough for a ball of heroin and something. But Wisie also draws attention to the increasing number of homeless people. He appreciates about 13 people around the bridge and this number is alarming.

A few meters further lives Rafal, a 47-year-old pole, in a tent. In order to finance his heroin addiction, he steals goods worth 140 to 180 euros daily, which he then sells on the street for a fraction of the value. With the proceeds, he buys a ball of heroin, from which he needs four to five a day. The hard everyday life and the hopeless situation often make Rafal cry. He emphasizes that the homeless do not receive any help from the state because they fear that even more junkies would come to Berlin. But he makes it clear: "We are not just junkies, we are people."

Another story tells of Reza, a 42-year-old man from Iran who stranded through his drug addiction on the canal. Through addiction, he lost contact with his family and two little sons. Reza has only one tolerance and has not been allowed to work for eleven years. He longs for an apartment and the opportunity to see his family again. Homelessness and the associated uncertainty strain it.

The hard life on the channel made some of the homeless people inventive. Some have built small dwellings in the bushes, others live in the boxes of pipes that lead over the canal. But these provisional accommodations offer little protection against the adversities of everyday life on the Landwehr Canal.

Neukölln's social councilor Hannes Rehfeld from the CDU emphasizes that the slow housing construction in Berlin is a major problem. It is difficult to say how many homeless people are in the city, but the numbers are increasing, since more and more retreats are eliminated for them. Rehfeld calls for increased housing construction as a solution for the weakest of the weak in society. However, many districts are currently forced to save extremely due to household holes. There is a lack of financial resources for homeless help.

The hard life of the river people of Berlin poses major challenges. The political discussions and possible solutions are complex, but for those who live on the banks of the Landwehr Canal under miserable conditions, the future remains uncertain. Life outdoors, shaped by drugs, deprivation and uncertainty, drew it and adapted to the rough life.

Photo: Til Biermann