Strassenfeger

Strassenfeger is a Berlin-based street newspaper and the non-profit association Strassenfeger e.V. that produces it. The association was founded in 1994 (originally as mob – obdachlose machen mobil e.V.) and has supported people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in Berlin ever since. The newspaper itself first appeared in October 1995 under the name Strassenfeger, sold on the street by homeless and formerly homeless vendors who keep the proceeds. It was one of three street papers in Berlin, alongside motz and Streem, and was a member of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP). The paper temporarily ceased publication in June 2018, but the association continued and expanded its direct social services. In 2020 the editorial project was revived as strassenfegerMAG (sf MAG), published every two months and again sold by people affected by homelessness. The association runs a year-round emergency overnight shelter at Storkower Straße 101A in Berlin, a weekly "Sozial Brunch" with warm meals and social counselling, a Sozialmiethaus (social rental housing project), and ongoing social counselling. According to its own figures, it provides 931 social counselling sessions, 21,900 meals and 10,950 overnight stays per year. Strassenfeger e.V. describes itself as independent, non-partisan and non-profit, with human dignity at the centre of its work. It is based in Berlin and focuses on Berlin and Brandenburg. The organisation is not a commercial company but a registered association (e.V.) funded through donations, social projects and newspaper sales.

The Strassenfeger emerged from Berlin's early 1990s street newspaper scene. In March 1994 two independent papers appeared: the mob-Magazin, founded by the Berliner Initiative Nichtseßhaftenhilfe e.V. (BIN), and Hunnis Allgemeine Zeitung (HAZ). On 1 August 1994 the association mob – obdachlose machen mobil e.V. was founded to continue the mob-Magazin independently; its founding members included vendors, journalists and socially engaged citizens. In May 1995 the mob-Magazin and HAZ merged to form motz (the name combining Mob + Ha(t)z). Because a separate association was created for motz, mob e.V. was left without a task. The Strassenfeger itself was founded in October 1995 as a GbR (civil-law partnership) with premises at Kopernikusstraße 2. Because a GbR could not issue donation receipts, contacts between Strassenfeger and mob e.V. began in 1996. From the start until 2000, Karsten Krampitz was an author and responsible editorial director. His editorial philosophy was to develop street newspapers into a "left-wing boulevard paper", combining articles about the socially caused hardships of homeless people with interviews of celebrities (e.g. Harald Juhnke, Harry Rowohlt, Inge Meysel) asked from the perspective of poor people, and political campaigns such as "Crashkurs Obdachlosigkeit" and the 1998 "Betteldiplom". He worked closely with cartoonist Andreas Prüstel and authors of Das Blättchen. In 1999 homeless people and Strassenfeger vendors symbolically occupied the Hotel Adlon, and in 2000 the Hotel Kempinski, under the motto "Es sind noch Betten frei!" (There are still beds free!), protesting the closure of emergency shelters at the end of the 1999/2000 cold-weather relief. A cooperation with Looser, a nationwide street paper based in the Odenwald, first produced joint issues (Looser/Strassenfeger) and later renamed to Die Straßenzeitung, an attempt to build a nationwide street newspaper as a common organ for regional self-help projects. After the original street paper had to be temporarily discontinued in 2018, the association's operational work underwent restructuring, with direct aid services expanded. In June 2021 a weekly "Sozial Brunch" was initiated on Oderberger Straße in Prenzlauer Berg, offering warm meals and professional social counselling. Media work resumed in 2020 with the successor magazine strassenfegerMAG (sf MAG), giving affected people a means of self-determined earned income. The association's operational leadership from February 2017 was initially a newly formed board; in subsequent years Samyr Bouallagui was the personnel constant in the frequently changing board, continuously accompanying the social offerings as board member and social worker. Since spring 2020 the strassenfegerMAG appears as the official successor of the street newspaper, developed and distributed by the same association (since 2018: Strassenfeger e.V., formerly mob e.V.). The team consists of former staff of the Strassenfeger street newspaper and new authors and artists. The strassenfegerMAG is an official member of INSP, continues to address the precarious situation of homeless and housing-insecure people with a focus on Berlin-Brandenburg, but also opens up to new social topics. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected street paper vendors worldwide, the magazine initially appeared irregularly and now appears every two months.

• mob-Magazin and Hunnis Allgemeine Zeitung (HAZ) appear independently in Berlin.

• Association mob – obdachlose machen mobil e.V. founded to continue mob-Magazin.

• mob-Magazin and HAZ merge to form motz.

• Strassenfeger street newspaper founded as a GbR.

• First contacts between Strassenfeger and mob e.V. regarding donation receipts.

• Campaign "Betteldiplom" initiated; paper temporarily named Looser/Straßenfeger.

• Symbolic occupation of Hotel Adlon by homeless people and Strassenfeger vendors.

• Symbolic occupation of Hotel Kempinski under the motto "Es sind noch Betten frei!"; paper briefly renamed Straßenzeitung (Straz).

• Newly formed board takes over operational leadership of the association.

• Original Strassenfeger street newspaper temporarily discontinued.

• Association renamed from mob e.V. to Strassenfeger e.V.

• strassenfegerMAG (sf MAG) launched as successor magazine.

• Weekly "Sozial Brunch" initiated on Oderberger Straße, Prenzlauer Berg.

Non-profit, non-partisan Berlin association and street newspaper giving homeless people a voice and direct support.

• strassenfegerMAG (sf MAG)

  Bimonthly street magazine sold by homeless and formerly homeless vendors; successor to the original Strassenfeger newspaper.

• Notübernachtung (emergency overnight shelter)

  Year-round overnight shelter at Storkower Str. 101A, Berlin.

• Sozial Brunch

  Weekly brunch with warm meals and social counselling for homeless people.

• Sozialmiethaus

  Social rental housing project run by the association.

• Soziale Beratung

  Social counselling services; 931 sessions per year according to the association.

1. 1Strassenfeger e.V. official websitestrassenfeger.org
2. 2Über uns – Strassenfeger e.V.strassenfeger.org
3. 3Strassenfeger (Straßenzeitung) – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
4. 4Strassenfeger – Wikidatawikidata.org