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Berlin government district: On Ludwig-Erhard-Ufer, people without shelter spend the winter in tents, just a few hundred meters from the Reichstag and the Federal Chancellery.
The dwellings have already been cleared several times, but time and again people with their tents settle in the sheltered bays of the concrete wall.
For her photo project »No Space - Encounters with People Without Shelter« Debora Ruppert portrayed homeless people on the streets of Berlin in black and white during the lockdown.
She seeks to meet them and then brings her developed portrait over to them as a gift.
These are their stories.
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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2/13
Guido:
»I now live in a nursing home, but it's boring there.
That's why I always sit here on the street.
I meet people here. "
Möllendorfstrasse, Lichtenberg, in November 2020, during the 2nd shutdown.
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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Elli, 62 years old:
"I don't give a shit about the corona virus," says Elli.
She has been living on the street for several years.
“I have to take care of my own life.
I'm looking for an apartment."
Soup kitchen Franziskanerkloster, Pankow, in April 2020 - during the 1st shutdown.
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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4/13
Samed:
»I only know Corona from inside - from prison.
That was bad there.
Because of Corona, there were only a few staff.
We were always locked in.
I've lived on the street since 2012, and in between I was repeatedly in jail for driving illegally.
I can't take this much longer.
No apartment, no home.
I am a trained scaffold builder and roofer, but due to Corona there is only sometimes work at the moment.
There weren't any today and probably not tomorrow either.
If I had one wish, I would wish that I could go back to my parents.
I've been stressed with my father for years.
I can't go home. "
Emergency overnight stay, container station, Friedrichshain, in November 2020, during the 2nd shutdown.
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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5/13
Only those who have one can stay at home.
In Germany, the number of homeless people has increased dramatically in recent years.
According to estimates by homeless assistance, around 1.2 million people in Germany are currently homeless.
S-Bahn station Frankfurter Allee, Friedrichshain, in November 2020 - during the 2nd shutdown.
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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Marlis, homeless since 2015:
»I was once the beauty queen of Hohenschönhausen.
In 1972 I won 2nd place with Miss Hohenschönhausen in a restaurant.
I don't look like I used to.
When you get ugly, you feel ashamed.
I won't get a man anymore, no, I won't get a man anymore.
Or?
Or are men more interested in inner values in old age? «
Day meeting, Berlin - Lichtenberg,
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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7/13
In order to generate warmth in the tent, stones are placed on grave candles.
The stones heat up on the metal lid of the grave candles and then slowly give off the heat again for hours.
Ludwig-Erhard-Ufer, Tiergarten.
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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Thomas, 30 years old
: »The problem is that I can't take a shower anywhere anymore.
The White Cross at the Ostbahnhof is closed and I can't get any clean clothes anymore.
I am never as filthy as I am now.
I feel very uncomfortable.
I get on the train, people go to the back. ”Thomas is sitting in front of the branch of a Deutsche Bank in Prenzlauer Berg.
His scrounging income has halved.
“But the kiosk owner over there is super cool.
I can buy food that he'll warm me up.
He also lends me money if necessary and writes me drinks. "
Schönhauser Allee, Prenzlauer Berg in
April 2020 - during the 1st shutdown.
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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Sabrina, 28 years old.
Sabrina's dogs are called Sky and Susie.
Since many day care centers have closed, she often doesn't know where to go.
She mostly spent the colder days in the subway station.
“We have to be outside.
Everyone else can stay in their own apartment. "Sometimes she sleeps on the emergency night at the container terminal," but we have to get out of here in the morning.
I would like to stay here too. "
Air dome, Am Containerbahnhof, Friedrichshain in
April 2020 - during the 1st shutdown.
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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10/13
Homeless people are at a particularly high risk during the corona pandemic.
The already fragile social contacts often dwindle for fear of infection, and illnesses intensify in many people on the record, both physical and mental.
Within a few days, five homeless people died on the streets of Hamburg.
In addition to the health effects, the pandemic also has economic consequences, incomes are falling and livelihoods are at risk.
The reality on the street shows that it can hit anyone - the Covid-19 pandemic is making this situation even worse.
Frankfurter Allee, Friedrichshain, in April 2020 - during the 1st shutdown.
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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Maxx, 65 years old, trained toolmaker.
Maxx has lived on the street for about five years.
He has a small radio that he uses to find out about Corona, and sometimes he also takes a newspaper out of the trash.
Most of all, he lacks the hygiene stations.
Many are closed.
"You don't know where to relieve yourself." Maxx currently spends a lot of time in the cemetery.
Many homeless people were hiding there, he says.
"Because you can sit there in peace for a moment."
Soup kitchen Franziskanerkloster, Pankow, in
April 2020 - during the 1st shutdown.
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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12/13
Monika, 53 years old, homeless for a year
»I used to live in an apartment on Rummelsburger Bucht.
Now I sleep here and there at night - often on the S-Bahn, sometimes with my uncle.
My parents have always slept - in the cemetery. "
Weitlingstrasse, Lichtenberg train station, on October
31, 2020, shortly before the 2nd shutdown.
Photo:
Debora Ruppert
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Jens
(right) with his buddy
Frank
(left) and his dog Benny on the Oberbaum Bridge.
Jens has been living on the street with interruptions for more than ten years.
“I had a place in assisted living, but got kicked out again because of a fight.
I was addicted to heroin, but got over the withdrawal. ”Instead he began to drink.
"My dealer's name is Netto." A few weeks later he said that he had found a place in assisted living again.
He was there for three to four days, the rest of the time he lived in his tent under the bridge.
“No, no, I'll keep my tent in case I get out of there again.
Otherwise I have no place to sleep. "
Oberbaum Bridge, Friedrichshain.
Photo: Debora Ruppert
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