Berlin is a city of tenants that is becoming increasingly tenant-unfriendly. The average rent has doubled in the last ten years and there is a shortage of 130.000 social housing units. The initiative “Deutsche Wohnen & Co enteignen” achieved nationwide fame with its successful referendum in 2021. People were invited to vote on the expropriation of private property companies owning over 3000 flats in Berlin and their transfer to public ownership. The campaign was initiated among others by tenants living in the Otto-Suhr-Siedlung. In 2017 protests formed here against the Deutsche Wohnen company and its practice of increasing rents through energy modernisation. As the Berlin Senate remained inactive despite the ‘Yes!’ to the referendum, the next vote is in preparation. This time, a concrete bill is being prepared.
This necklace was produced in 2023 for the “Deutsche Wohnen & Co enteignen” campaign. It can be seen in the exhibition “Profitopolis or the Condition of the City”. The exhibition runs until the end of March 2025.
