Since 16th of October 2018, there haven’t been any events at Quälgeist. Despite all efforts to find a solution, there is still no breakthrough: We focused on discussions and meetings with members of the city politics and municipal authorities during the past weeks. There are further meetings planned for the next days.
Our main problem is still the development plan for the area where we are located, at Lankwitzer Straße 42/43. The Quälgeist is classified as a so called “place of entertainment” by the district authority of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. According to the development plan, such establishments can not be operated in this area.
In order to avert us falling in the prohibited category, we also consider and check whether we can restructure our location into a clubhouse. Any events would be for members only but this approach seems not to be promising at the moment.
According to press reports, the district authorities focus on other locations that are part of the queer scene as well. For example: There has been raid at the sex club “Ajpnia” that is also located at the district of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. Like they argued at Quälgeist and Böse Buben, that fire protection has to be handled strictly since the devastating fire in a gay sauna in 2017.
Please rest assured, that all persons responsible at Quälgeist pay particular attention on the safety of our guests. By the time we opened our new rooms in spring, we took the necessary precautions, which were explicit acclaimed during an official on-site inspection in April 2018. If there is a chance to open again, we will, of course, do what is necessary to comply with official requirements concerning fire safety to ensure your safety at Quälgeist.
We are looking for a way for the survival of Quälgeist Berlin e.V. with all our strength since October now. Many thanks to all persons involved, who give up their free time to prepare and conduct meetings, reorganise our planning or create construction drawings.
We are aware that we will not be able to endure this situation for an unlimited time. We still have to pay rent and incidental costs. This amount can not be borne by the membership fees. With every month without the event income, our account balance is decreasing. Therefore we are trying to take a definitive decision regarding our future at Lankwitzer Straße as soon as practicable.
Please keep in touch for updates on the further development of the current situation.
Press reports on this topic:
The views expressed in the linked articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of Quälgeist Berlin e.V.
