But in 2007 the house was sold
to a private investor by Berlin’s
senate without any protection for
the tenants. After rent control
dropped in 2014 the investor sent
a plan for modernisation. They
also announced a rent increase of
up to 80% - unaffordable to most
pensioners who faced the loss of
their homes despite having been
assured in writing that their homes
were safe, even if the house would
be sold privately!
Younger tenants, who had moved
in after the sale, terminated their
lease within a couple of weeks: no
one wanted to live on a building
site for two years and have to pay
more rent afterwards. Around 30
pensioners aged between 73 and
98 did not want to move out as the
community was very important to
them: game nights, excursions, the
house choir, birthday celebrations
together...
At first they tried talking to the
investor, but without success.
The city expressed their regret
at the sale of the house without
protecting the rights of the elderly,
but also said that these now have
to “live with it”.
The seniors did not see it that way
and wanted to make the situation
public. In June 2014 they designed
their own webpage and opened
an online petition on change.org.
They were totally overwhelmed
by huge public attention, not only
in Berlin and nationwide, but also
internationally! “Buy back the
house” was their demand to the
Berlin senate.
Today the petition has more than
104,000 signatures and the seniors
have many new supporters around
the world via mail, Facebook and
Twitter. There are, for example,
students from Barcelona who
interviewed the ‘Trümmerfrauen’
and wrote their final thesis about
their experiences.
The seniors have learned one
thing: the internet and social
networks are powerful tools for
information sharing, contacts and
participation.
�9