Strassenfeger (street newspaper)

Der Strassenfeger ( proper spelling : strassenfeger ) was a Berlin street newspaper . It first appeared in October 1995 and was discontinued in June 2018.

Along with motz and Streem, it was one of three street papers published in Berlin. The newspaper saw itself as a “social project” because homeless people do not depend on “soups and socks”, but can freely decide how to use the money they have earned. The newspaper was a member of the International Network of Street Newspapers (INSP).

history

The street sweeper first appeared in October 1995.

prehistory

Forerunners were the mob magazine and the HAZ (Hunnis Allgemeine Zeitung), which both appeared simultaneously and independently of each other in March 1994. The mob magazine was founded by the Berliner Initiative Non-settled Aid e. V. (BIN). The association mob - homeless people make mobile e. V. was founded on August 1, 1994 to continue the mob magazine on its own. Founding members were sellers of the mob magazine , journalists and socially interested citizens. In May 1995 the mob magazine and the HAZ merged to form motz . The name also reflects this idea of fusion: Mob + Ha (t) z = Motz . Since a separate association was founded for the motz , the association was mob - homeless people make mobile e. V. now without a task. Another street newspaper in Berlin that was founded in the meantime was the plate .

Foundation and development

The Strassenfeger was founded in October 1995. The legal form was that of a GbR , project space was rented at Kopernikusstraße 2. Since the GbR could not issue donation receipts, there were initial contacts between the street sweeper and the association mob e. V. in the course of 1996.

In the early days up to 2000 Karsten Krampitz was an author and editor-in-chief at Strassenfeger (which was temporarily called Looser / Strassefeger in 1998 and 1999 and briefly renamed itself in 2000 to the street newspaper, or Straz for short ).

Krampitz 'editorial philosophy was to develop street papers into a "left tabloid". This includes, on the one hand, articles that repeatedly point out the difficult and socially induced living conditions of homeless people, and on the other hand, interviews with celebrities (for example: Harald Juhnke , Harry Rowohlt , Inge Meysel ), who were asked questions from the perspective of poor people and which had the function of creating mass awareness for the street papers. The political campaigns that Krampitz initiated or supported, such as the “crash course homelessness ” or in 1998 the “begging diploma” , had a similar function .

When creating editions for the street sweeper , Krampitz worked closely with the caricaturist Andreas Prüstel and the authors of Das Blättchen Wolfgang Sabath , Peter Murakami and others.

In 2000, homeless people and street sweepers occupied the Berlin Hotel Kempinski in a symbolic action under the motto “There are still beds available!” They protested against the closure before emergency overnight stays at the end of the cold relief in 1999/2000. The Berlin Hotel Adlon was occupied the year before .

The cooperation with the Looser , a street newspaper that had its headquarters in the Odenwald and acted nationwide, was an attempt to build a nationwide street newspaper. At first joint editions were produced (Looser / Strassenfeger) , later the name was changed to The Street Newspaper . The idea behind it was that a nationwide newspaper could be a common organ for a large number of different regional self-help projects and thus develop a stronger political force, while almost all other street newspapers in Germany were only regionally oriented. At times, print runs of 75,000 copies per month were reached. The project failed due to logistical problems and editorial difficulties in integrating rural and metropolitan perspectives. The actor on the side of the looser was Hans Klunkelfuß, who appeared with the Berber letters as early as the late 1980s.

In the 2006 performance of the Threepenny Opera, staged by Klaus Maria Brandauer in the Admiralspalast , with Campino von den Toten Hosen as Macheath ("Mackie Messer") in one of the leading roles, the Strassenfeger media partner and the Strassenfeger edition from August 2006 formed the program.

In 2011, the street sweeper was supported by a four-digit donation from the operator of the browser game Pennergame . The street sweeper defended the makers against criticism of the game. The donation was used to buy hoodies for the sellers.

Circulation, price and street sales

The newspaper currently appears every three weeks with a volume of 32 pages with a sold circulation of 8000–9000 copies. The Strassenfeger was published every 14 days until summer 2015. In 2013, the number of copies sold was given as an average of 15,000 copies.

The seller keeps 90 cents of the purchase price of 1.50 euros, the remaining 60 cents remain with the publisher for the production of the magazine. The newspaper offers sellers help to help themselves. Homeless and poor people can thus independently earn a living. The sellers are free to decide where, when and how to sell the street sweeper. The sale takes place in front of shopping malls, supermarkets, train stations, in underground and suburban trains and at public events.

The newspaper is distributed to the sellers in Jebensstrasse at Bahnhof Zoo , and in Koppenstrasse at Ostbahnhof as well as at the club's headquarters in the meeting point Kaffee Bankrott in Storkower Strasse 139d in Prenzlauer Berg .

Ostbahnhof and caravans at Bahnhof Zoo are used as issuing points. In August 2014, the caravan, which serves as the Strassenfeger's issuing point at the Ostbahnhof, burned out completely. Apart from one person who was hospitalized on suspicion of smoke inhalation, there was no personal injury.

The only requirement for the sale of the newspaper is the signature of the seller's commitment. The rules set up by the association are thus accepted.

The commitment is available in several languages, including Polish and Romanian . According to the association, around 1700 salespeople are registered with the Strassenfeger , of which around 250 are active.

editorial staff

The editorial meetings are public. Each issue has a title topic that is determined by the volunteer editorial team. In each issue there are also pages for socially critical issues and an advice page on Hartz IV . The magazine's salespeople have space in every issue to report on their work and problems. You can also submit your reports orally and the editorial staff will write them down. There is also the permanent section art strassenfeger , in which the authors report on artists, projects, exhibitions, etc.

The photographer Peter Woelck worked temporarily for the street sweeper and was a permanent photographer there from 2000 to 2002 as part of a funded measure.

Special editions

The street sweeper produces special editions in loose succession, regularly on the title topic “homelessness”. In October 2012, Strassenfeger and the National Poverty Conference produced the shadow report of the National Poverty Conference (“You can't see those in the shadow”). There was also a special edition on the subject of "fashion". For this purpose, a clothing room provided discarded clothing for a photo shoot with the homeless. Another special edition was the stadium booklet for the benefit event “balled against poverty” in 2014, a soccer tournament in favor of sepia e. V., carried out by GEBEWO, the International Federation and GANGWAY street social work in the HOWOGE arena "Hans Zoschke". For the 20th birthday of the sponsoring association mob - homeless people make mobil e. V. a special edition about the association appeared at the end of September 2014.

The advertising agency Scholz & Friends produced the comic strip “Superpenner” for Strassenfeger . It was released in January 2014.

Publishing association and other projects

Memorial plaque on the house, Oderberger Straße 12 in the Prenzlauer Berg district

The street sweeper has been part of the association mob - homeless people make mobile e. V. published. Before that, the street sweeper was operated in the legal form of a GbR . The non-profit association is registered under the number VR 15386 B in the register of associations of the Charlottenburg District Court and has been a member of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband , Landesverband Berlin, since 1998 .

The association has been based in Storkower Strasse 139d since February 1, 2014. There he runs the social meeting place Kaffee Bankrott , the social goods department store Trödelpoint , the social counseling for Hartz IV and maintains his association office. The association is a member of the Pfefferwerk Verbund .

Kaffee Bankrott is also the name of a nearly one-hour music and talk show on Alex Offener Kanal Berlin , which started on May 10, 2013. The trailer makes it clear that the program is related to the content of the street sweeper.

Emergency overnight stay

The operation of an emergency overnight stay ceased on January 31, 2014 after the association was given notice. A new location has not yet been found. Nevertheless, the association continues to call for donations for accommodation for the homeless. On October 20, 2015, the club's emergency overnight accommodation with 20 places was reopened in the Rupert-Neudeck-Haus in Storkower Straße 139c in the immediate vicinity of the club rooms. The Rupert-Neudeck-Haus is a dormitory for refugees operated by the European Youth and Welfare Association (EJF). Since 2017, the emergency overnight stay in Storkower Straße has offered up to 31 beds for people who are homeless and homeless.

Residential building

The association owns a residential building (front building and transverse building) on a long-term lease in Oderberger Strasse . After extensive repair and modernization work in the years 1999-2003, 18 residential units and two non-profit commercial units were built there, which are rented out by the association. The construction work was financed by the “Housing Policy Self-Help” program and some of it was carried out in-house.

In 2014 the association received a donation of 25,000 euros from star tenor Rolando Villazón , which he had made on the ARD show One will win .

Others

The street sweeper is mentioned in the song Schwarz zu blau by Peter Fox . There it says in a line of text: "Pierced girls who want me to read street sweepers". Also in the song you're shit out of Sido is Straßenfeger mentioned disparagingly: "Do you want me rather than to annoy, not rather do something else? We'd be with the street sweeper . You can talk garbage there, then you can take your words and put them in the garbage right away! "