Ton, Steine, Erben – What Remains of Squatted Buildings in Berlin? (GER)

Squatting is an extensively researched topic, especially in the social sciences. Studies often focus on the squatters, their political milieu, and the social aspects of the sometimes very different communities. Rarely, however, has the focus been on the squatted buildings as material heritage and carriers of attributed meaning and memories. We address this gap in our research project on squats in Berlin, “What remains? Squatted houses as (im)material heritage and case studies for processual design”. In additional to asking about the processes of appropriation in terms of design, we also enquire into the transmission potential of squatting. 

We would like to present and discuss the initial results of our research project and the associated seminar in the form of case studies. The focus will be on squats such as the Kunsthaus Tacheles, currently being renovated in accordance with its status as a historical monument following its eviction in 2012. The street art, graffiti and other traces of its history of use, which is based on the occupation by the artists group “Tacheles”, will be conserved while the building is used as a private museum. Whose heritage preserved here, and for whom? Does the Tacheles still serve as a place of identification or is it only a fragment of former free spaces? Another question is raised by the Georg-von-Rauch-Haus, one of the early and best-known squats in Berlin in the former nurses’ residence of the Bethanien Hospital complex. This building has been used continuously as an alternative youth-housing project since its occupation in the early 1970s. In 2016, a renovation was carried out in accordance with its legal status as a listed building. Was the history of the occupation taken into account and were the current users included here? The situation in Mainzer Straße, which became well-known after a violent eviction in 1990, is a different one. Today, there are hardly any traces of these events on the site, but a sub-group of former squatters is campaigning for a memorial or for them to be remembered. How can these needs be met appropriately?

In these examples, the question of identity construction plays a role in several ways: as a matter of identification of the former squatters and today’s users of the buildings, or as a matter of identity of the city of Berlin for which squatted buildings have so far been considered as image-forming.