Two years ago, Claudius built his houseboat with friends. It bears the name ‘Conquering the improbable’. The photographer uses the boat as a studio and workspace.
Gregor
“Last summer, I cycled from festival to festival and worked there. I spent the winter in Berlin, but only ever found short-term flats. From April onwards, I was homeless and slept at friends’ houses and worked in clubs every two weeks. A friend then allowed me to spend the night on one of his boats whenever I was in Berlin. There’s a sense of transience in the air. It feels like Rio Reiser’s ‘The dream is over’. The dream is over and yet we fight to keep believing in it and living it.”
Israeli investors Benjamin Kahn and Nir Dror are planning to build the Aquapark, a large aquarium. The area around the bay, where most of the ships are moored, is to be redesigned.
Ronny is moored with his boat at the ‘Lummerland’ boat collective. “I bought my boat on 27 April 2018, the day before my birthday. I’ve lived there almost from the start. But rather unconsciously. I’ve completely arrived here. It’s actually less safe on the water in storms and rain. But if you know your boat and how it works, you feel safer than on land. The rent can’t just be raised, you can’t be burgled or you can’t even register your own needs.”
Ronyor lives in his tent in the area around ‘Rummelsburger Bucht’ without having a permanent address. He compares the bay with ‘Bikini Bottom’, the weird underwater world of ‘Sponge Bob’, beneath the radioactive Bikini Atoll.
Harry with his dog on the culture ship Freibeuter, where he runs his workshop. He designs furniture from old shopping trolleys. Since the culture ship was evacuated, he no longer has a workshop.
Ali: “After a stressful skate tour, I slept on my best friend Ronny’s boat for the first time. I felt such a sense of calm there, which I don’t have on land, that I thought: I need a boat too! I bought my first boat on 1 October 2019. I’ve been living here for a month now and I’ve sublet my flat until December. Then I’ll probably go back for the winter, because it’s already getting really cold on the boat.” When Ali is not on his boat, he runs a skate centre in Lichtenberg with friends and gives skate workshops at schools.
‘Kulturschiff Freibeuter’
The old cargo ship was used by various cultural initiatives and artists as a meeting and working space. The ship had been occupied since October 2018 to protest against its planned destruction. In spring 2019, the ship was evacuated and towed out of the bay.
“When you go on the water, leave time on land”
Marius is the inventor of ‘Wunstkunst’, old cigarette packets filled with small works of art. These can be purchased from disused cigarette vending machines, which can be found in Berlin clubs or at Hackescher Markt. He has lived on a boat in the bay for 4 years. The Lucky Star is his second boat after his first one burnt down in a fire on ‘Lummerland’. He financed it through a Facebook fundraising appeal among friends. It took him less than 2 months to buy a new boat.
Zoltan lives with his two dogs and 8 puppies on his houseboat “Villa Kunterbunt”, which is moored on the shore where the Aquapark park will end. He is the initiator of Kälte-Nothilfe Berlin. “Win! I hit the nail on the head. In the meantime, there was an unsuccessful attempt by the Bundestag to introduce a ban on anchoring because the highest shipping authority said it would be too dangerous. It almost gives me goosebumps that the succinct statement ‘maritime law beats gentrification’ has already come true a year later.”
Interviews & text: Masha Slawinski & Saskia Uppenkamp