Berlin is the place that led to the founding of querstadtein e.V. in 2013. The high rate of homelessness is clearly visible but often ignored, as Clemens Poldrack explains. The organization aims to open a dialogue with people who have experienced homelessness through city tours, allowing them to make their experiences visible.
These are city tours of a different kind. They do not tell the story of the city, but rather the story of a person from that city. Individuals with experiences of homelessness, displacement, or migration show the city from their perspective, highlighting structural problems along the way.
Homelessness has many faces. It is not just about individual fates, but issues that affect everyone: expensive housing, a lack of available apartments, poorly maintained or unrenovated living spaces, insufficient support, and much more. These problems are well-known, but often not seen from the perspective of those affected.
Even in 2024, the number of homeless people, according to the Berlin Senate, was still over 55,000. The individual city tours by querstadtein aim to increase the tolerance of fellow citizens and encourage them to take action.
The organization, its staff, and the city guides are doing important political education work, Poldrack explains. The educational gap on topics such as homelessness and refugee experiences is still too large.
In addition to educational work in the urban landscape, querstadtein also offers workshops. Here, children and teenagers from school classes or other educational institutions prepare the tour and evaluate it afterward. For adults, the organization conducts workshops on homelessness and housing issues.
Although the organization has existed for many years, financial resources are still scarce. Therefore, Clemens Poldrack wishes for a financially secure future for the organization that is not solely dependent on grants. Another wish is for more people to engage with the complex issue of housing and homelessness, rather than looking past those affected.
