Youth culture | Potse Youth Center must continue to fight

This is what it looked like in the old Potse premises. The collective has not had a permanent home since 2021 Photo: Potse “The last days of Potse!” is the title of the deep red flyer that is currently being passed around at demos and events. After the self-managed youth center had to move out of its premises on Potsdamer Straße in Schöneberg in 2021, it was able to temporarily move into a building at the former Tempelhof Airport - the so-called customs garage. But the place is not a safe home. The rental agreement ends on September 16th, with no prospect of an extension so far. In an open letter, neighboring tenants and the youth center demand that the Potse can “remain in the customs garage” until replacement rooms are found.

Paul was 18 years old when he discovered the youth center and began making music with other young people there. He currently remains part of the collective. “We have already received signals from people in the administration that the room is not planned straight away,” says Paul “nd”. "But the problem is: We don't know exactly who makes the decisions." You can't negotiate with Projekt Tempelhof GmbH alone, since Potse is financially dependent on the district office's commitments. What we know: Projekt Tempelhof GmbH generally does not do long-term rentals because renovation work is pending in the building. “But this renovation work is far from being done in our part of the building,” criticizes Paul.

When asked by nd, Projekt Tempelhof GmbH explained that there had initially only been a verbal request for an extension. The written request for a contract extension “from Potse has only been available to us since last Friday.” An “immediate withdrawal from Potse is currently not necessary,” said a spokeswoman.

“The Potse is a place where young people can go who can’t find another place because of queerness or because they offend.”

So is it all just a misunderstanding? The Potse spokesman doesn't see it that way. The district promised months ago that it would look into extending the contract and then did not do so. “The youth welfare office also said: ‘You don’t have to leave there on the 16th.’ But we can’t count on that,” he says. When moving into the customs garage, Potse had to sign a declaration of eviction submission. This means: If the collective were to simply remain in the room beyond the contract - i.e. a continuation of use - then an eviction would no longer have to be decided by a court but could happen immediately. In addition, the board of the sponsoring association would be personally liable - the high costs and a spontaneous eviction could mean the end of the project.

The Potse is a self-managed youth center. There are no employed educators or social workers. The youth and young adults themselves take on the organization on a voluntary basis. “This ranges from event organization to tax returns,” says Paul. “In the last seven or eight years, the Potse has increasingly become a place where young people come who cannot find another place because of queerness or because they offend.” In the Potse they could be creative and feel safe. Since concerts are not allowed to be held in the customs garage, the youth center has focused more on theater and circus performances or political information events in recent years.

A spokesman for the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing said "nd" that the Senate Department had no knowledge of the matter and referred the matter to the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district office. The person responsible there could not be reached at the time of going to press.

The fact is that the Potse is a thorn in the side of at least conservative politicians. “Garden city instead of punk rock,” is what the poster says in the election campaign of CDU MP Frank Luhmann in Tempelhof. And in the subline: “No Potse and Drugstore location on Werner-Voß-Damm.” A new building is currently being built at this address, in which the two youth centers Potse and Drugstore will also permanently move in by 2030. “All procedures have been completed,” says Paul. »The house is being built.«

So the current fight is only about the next four to five years. But the Potse will only be able to live in the new home if it can be maintained until then. "It's a scandal that there are only half-baked promises so close to the end of the rental agreement, while the young people have to fear for the existence of their youth center," says Paul.

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