Christian Specht is running for the BVV: “People have to speak in simple language”

taz: Christian, you are running for the district council meeting (BVV) Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in a fairly secure place on the Green Party list. How do you like that?

Christian Specht: I was already in the BVV because I replaced someone last year who had moved away. And I was there before too.

Specht: I became politically active through a woman from the PDS who was in the BVV. She once asked me whether I wanted to be a citizen representative on the school committee. But I didn't like that so much, I also didn't get along so well with some people from the PDS. Then I withdrew and was a bit disappointed. Then they asked me later whether I wanted to become a citizen's representative in the advisory board for the disabled.

Christian Specht, born in 1969, has been politically active for decades and, among other things, Member of the Advisory Board for the Disabled in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and of the board of Lebenshilfe. Since November 2025 he has been a replacement member of the Green parliamentary group in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district council. He has an office in the taz and draws; his pictures are published in the taz if he allows it. His Specht of the Week column appears almost regularly. As early as 1996, the documentary ���Oh Midnight, Oh Sunshine!” was released about him. to the cinema.

Specht: Well, there was one person who supported me. There were others who had support or assistance, but sometimes that still causes problems. Some people don't have that much time to take part because the transport service picks them up and then they wait. That's stupid for people if they can't take part for that long. But now the BVV is still different.

Specht: Sometimes it's about things that I don't understand at all. Then I think I have to change that too. I'm in favor of people speaking in plain language. Sometimes they don't speak in easy language, and if you don't tell them, things are difficult to understand.

If the Greens in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg do about as well as they did in the last election, Christian Specht would have to come into the BVV with 20th place on the list. In the current legislative period, the Greens were represented by 21 representatives. If you include the two city councilors who were replaced by someone from the list after their election, 23 Greens from the current list were included.

Taina Gärtner, also a district councilor, is optimistic that Specht will get in – and is looking forward to it. We had good experiences with him as a replacement last year. “I hope that we can become more inclusive and learn from Christian,” she told the taz.

Specht: Yes, Julia also translates for me and asks: Did you understand that? But it's still difficult - including the device for voting, with a button. Things were different back then. Back then, people had voting cards like that. These devices exist today. You have to press a button and you can vote.

taz: But when the assistant translates for you, do you understand things?

Specht: Yes, sometimes I understand it. What I like is that she always draws me pieces of paper with pictures on them. Then I can see what topics it is about.

taz: What were the topics in the last BVV that were important to you?

Specht: Once it was about the fence around the Görli. I also painted a picture and made a request and asked: What will it be like when the fence is locked? What about people who are in wheelchairs or with strollers, do they have a way to get out, are there exits for them?

Specht: Yes, I have. There are exits, they paid attention to them.

taz: What would you like to do in the next BVV?

Specht: I've thought about not going on so many committees anymore. When I go into one, I want to go into culture. The other committees are all really difficult.

Specht: Talk about culture, what's going on in the district, events and so on.

taz: You're joining the BVV for the Greens.

taz: But you think it's good, right?

Specht: Well, I got into it because a few Greens advocated for it. If the PDS had asked me, the Left or even the SPD...

taz: Would you have done that with them too?

Specht: Yes. But the SPD doesn't do that, I think.

taz: Taking a person with a disability with you to the BVV?

Specht: Yes, they also have someone in there who sits in a wheelchair. But there is a problem at the town hall in Kreuzberg with the elevator. Two elevators are now broken and no longer in use. This is stupid for those on the left.

Specht: I also need an elevator, I'll have a panic attack on the stairs. But there is another elevator, so you have to go out and go into the other entrance. The elevator is so small, the other person's wheelchair won't go in there.

taz: So the town hall is not handicapped accessible?

Specht: No, but I once heard that they want to change that.