Arriving in Germany is not the end of the line for refugees. There is still no certainty about the outcome of her asylum application. And they face the challenges of a foreign language and culture, but also the opportunities of new relationships and personal development. An intermediate stopover such as the temporary home in the accommodation centre becomes a place in which to make decisions on what lies ahead.
The idea of the residential container ‘village’ was reflected not only in the architecture, but also in the social structure and the manner of social interactions. The operating team was front and centre: in addition to their roles – management, administration, caretaking, social work and, since 2016, volunteer coordination – the people who worked here automatically built bridges to the host society. The security staff, who were present around the clock, frequently became important points of reference as well. Mutual respect, trust and cordiality overcame language barriers and fears, enabling the residents to take their first steps in the new phase of their lives.
However, the well-being and opportunities for personal fulfilment of each and every individual depended to a large extent on contact and interaction with a much larger environment. The many volunteer helpers organised additional services and provided guidance and security to assist the residents. The neighbourhood with its social facilities and supply points fostered feelings of solidarity and self-assertion. They were all part of the village.
Starting over
„I associate wonderful feelings with the fact that everything began for me right here. I started learning the German language and working here. I got to know a lot of people. Unfortunately, there were also sad times when you had nothing to do and were not allowed to do anything. At the beginning you weren’t allowed to work, go to school or anything like that without clear authorisation from the immigration authorities. But everything was fine afterwards.“ (Abdul, resident, 2015-2019)
„I found myself here. Someone made everything possible for me here. I was weak, I was finished. Someone reached out their arm and held me. That’s why Germany is my home country.“ (Haitham, resident, 2017-2019; child and youth carer 2021-2023; Garden of Hope 2021-2025)
„I was like… veering off track or lost. And I found everything here. Before that, I was no longer human. No one, no luck, nothing. Zero. But step by step everything has got better now.“ (Sumood, resident, 2017-2020)
„The time here in my personal life was really… dark. I was really desperate. My history had been wiped away and I needed to start from scratch. I was less than zero here. I think I was reborn here.“ (Abbas, resident, 2019-2020)
Table tennis also helps you arrive. Everyone plays in the tournaments: Residents, the operator’s staff and the security service.
Photo: Karolin Sander
Life stages
„We never told our children: ‘no, you’re not allowed to do that’. Or: ‘you have to do it differently.’ We continued to integrate properly into society and always tried to use the opportunities that were available.“ (Haitham, resident, 2017-2019; child and youth carer 2021-2023; Garden of Hope 2021-2025)
„So many memories: it started at the hospital. I worked there for a long time, at Köpenick Red Cross (DRK). And I was sad that the NP supermarket was no longer there, it’s now Edeka. I lived here for three years, back then there was also an office for me as a volunteer paramedic. Yes, you can’t describe it, but you tend to well up all of a sudden because so many memories come flooding back.“ (Mohammed, resident)
„I lived here for about two years. I got married here and gave birth to my first son. That was very nice.“ (Midia, resident)
„We all pulled together and that made all the difference, including with the residents.“ (Valeria Tosi, Internationaler Bund, social worker and Deputy Accommodation Director, 2016-2021)
A social worker and residents sit together at an event in the garden of the accommodation centre. Photo: Gabriele Senft
Neighbourhood
„The neighbourhood has calmed down. But often it was more of a coexistence than a togetherness. That is also part of the truth.“ (Peter Hermanns, Internationaler Bund, Accommodation Director, 2014-2021)
„Actually, contact with the people from the neighbourhood was not particularly close. But when I was shopping, there was a supermarket next door, and sometimes I didn’t feel comfortable. There were people there who gave me funny looks. But in general it was fine.“ (Rinas, resident)
„You could tell the families where people spoke negatively about us. But the children still learned to get along.“ (Anke Carus, Würfel children’s and youth leisure centre, educator, since 2011)
„I met a really nice person, a shop assistant at Edeka. I was so thrilled. She always greeted me with a smile and I loved going shopping and now I know her personally. We stay in contact. It is still an important part of my life. And that’s why I’ve developed such a great love for Edeka. My dream is to do an apprenticeship at Edeka.“ (Liza, resident, 2024-2025)
Challenges
“The biggest problems we encountered were to do with our residence permits, because we didn’t know whether they would be extended. Then we had to run from one office to the next, find the right places. We gave one organisation all the documents and they sent them to the Senate. Thank God, the Senate Administration decided that we would all be allowed to remain. But it was a lot of stress. You run here and there, always afraid. That was the worst thing. Apart from that, there were occasional disputes with other people, which happen everywhere of course. But that was all over in an instant and we would greet each other again the next day.“ (Naim and Merita, resident couple, 2015-2020)
„It’s very stressful. Many people who come have a history, for example families from regions where there is now war. I understand if they don’t want to go out because they have a lot of stress or depression and are worried and concerned about their families. Sometimes learning German is too difficult when your head is not clear because of these stories. But no matter what’s going on in your mind, you have to keep trying. This is your life. We only live once. We have to live well.“ (Ramzan Kagirov, City Mission, social counsellor, 2024)
„We can’t give them a home, but we can somehow make them feel safe and secure.“ (Marianne, volunteer, clothes shop, social café, women’s meeting place and Garden of Hope, since 2015)
„My class teacher didn’t like foreigners. She often talked about racism. But she would embarrass foreigners in class. We had an Arab child in our class. And whenever he said something right, she always said: ‘Even a broken clock is right twice a day.‘ We all thought it was really nasty of her. So we didn’t like her at all. We didn’t tell the headmistress because we thought it might be normal. But it didn’t happen with other teachers. That’s why we were confused: why did she say that?“ (anonymous, resident)
The children found it particularly easy to make friends. Unfortunately, moving out into your own flat or away from Germany often means the end of budding friendships. Photo: Gabriele Senft
A new life in 7 years. Like 7 seconds.
Boxing practice in the accommodation’s garden. Photo: unknown
„I submitted my asylum application in Hamburg on 4 December 2018. The computer said I had to go to Berlin. I came to Tempelhof on 6 December 2018 and was there for two to three weeks. Then Spandau, then Lichtenberg, always for two to three weeks. And then here, the first fixed address after a series of camps. I was very sad. In Iran, I had my own company with two lorries. I had lost everything. I had nothing left. My situation was difficult: I was all alone, had not been to university and had left everything behind. The only thing I could do was learn, learn, learn. Learning German, studying for my driving licence. And doing a lot of exercise was important for my well-being. When I lost something, sport helped me. No religion, I don’t have one. I hope my heart is my God. I try to think positively, behave well, do good things. I don’t need a Koran or a Bible for that, I can think positively myself. Now I’ve bought my first own lorry in Germany.“ (Abbas, resident, 2019-2020)
Integration is action – „The volunteers got it done.“
People who volunteered often achieved immeasurable things where the state, the market and the personal environment reached their limits. For the refugees, it was primarily about acute needs that required linguistic and cultural orientation: official forms, appointments at government offices, language tandems, tutoring, but also more general matters such as searching for a flat or a job. A lot happened on an individual level. For other activities, groups were organised with varying degrees of professionalisation.
In general: volunteering did not end with the completion of a task, but also had a psychological and social significance. At the political level, integration began with a declaration of intent and was ultimately put into practice through joint action. Practical, direct and personal. The individual programmes were as varied as the people involved. There is only space at this point to mention a few examples of the many initiatives and projects.
“First of all, you have to say that this whole integration, welcoming people, would not have worked at all without the volunteers.“ (Linda Massino, Internationaler Bund, Volunteer Coordinator, 2016-2020)
Berlin Develops New Neighbourhoods (BENN)
- Initiative: Idea from the Senate Chancellery, concept developed in the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing. An application for European funding failed, followed by financing from state funds.
- Idea: A programme such as ‘neighbourhood management’, especially in the vicinity of refugee accommodation. In essence, it is about promoting the potential of the neighbourhoods for the arrival of new people. The programmes are aimed at both long-established and newly arrived groups.
- Success: Borough authorities, refugee accommodation operators, local social institutions and the neighbourhoods have given positive feedback. This was followed in 2025 by the award of the ‘Bewährt vor Ort’ (Proven on the Ground) mark for innovative municipal policy. Numerous locations, also in the Allende neighbourhood, are now in the second phase of funding. New ones have been added elsewhere and there are requests for further BENN areas. Conflict situations from the early days of individual locations, which arose from a feeling of competition in neighbourhood or voluntary work, usually resolved themselves successfully over time and with mutual understanding.
- „I think it’s absolutely positive that there are welcome initiatives, that people are getting involved and helping to integrate refugees into the neighbourhood. After a while, the initiatives also perceive BENN as good support.“ (Ute Krüger, Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing, Programme Manager BENN – Berlin Develops New Neighbourhoods, since 2016)
- „What BENN has done is what the Senate should have done from day one.“ (Dirk, volunteer, Allende 2 hilft e.V., 2014-2023)
Pablo Mask project
When there were hardly any masks to buy at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the women from the accommodation’s sewing project decided to make their own ones. Production began after several sewing machines and materials were borrowed or donated, providing for the people in the accommodation, the surrounding facilities and the neighbourhood. Some of the seamstresses and the BENN team set off on the Pablo cargo bike on several occasions to distribute the masks.
„There was a room on the ground floor with lots of sewing machines. But the women have children and therefore no time, except at night. That’s why it was best for us in our room. So each woman took a machine to their room and was able to sew when she had time. There was no prescribed time and it was up to us to decide when we wanted to sew. We didn’t sleep at night, we sewed. When I needed a thread or rubber band, I went to my neighbours and asked. We collected the finished masks, when there were ten or 15, and handed them in at the office.“ (Sumood, resident, 2017-2020)
„And then we approached BENN to organise the walks to hand them out in the neighbourhood. This gave the project some resonance in the neighbourhood and the people living round about joined in as well. Or the volunteers who came to us regularly. There was also a real sense of togetherness despite the difficult circumstances.“ (Valeria Tosi, Internationaler Bund, social worker and Deputy Accommodation Director, 2016-2021)
Allende 2 hilft
The Allende Festival was one of the biggest projects of the „Allende 2 hilft“ initiative. Photo: Gabriele Senft
The ideas for the initiative’s most important projects emerged at the first volunteers‘ meeting in 2014, while others were added later: clothes shop, open stage for music, German courses, childcare, assistance on official errands, bicycle repair shop. The social café and the Garden of Hope were also part of he festival, but continued independently later on.
„The residents don’t go out, the neighbours don’t come in. So we came up with the idea of the Allende Festival. The first, in 2015, was organised by our initiative with the help of the accommodation and the retirement home. Afterwards, there was a sense of expectation, as if the festival had always existed.“ (Dirk, volunteer, Allende 2 hilft e.V., 2014-2023)
„There had been no neighbourhood festival before. But over time, the Allende Festival became a permanent event that was completely independent of the accommodation. It really is a success story.“ (Oliver Igel, Borough Mayor of Treptow-Köpenick, since 2011)
Türöffner e.V.
- Initiative: private citizens, Internationaler Bund, Business Committee 1. FC Union e.V., Joachim Gericke Baugesellschaft mbH, St Josef Parish Treptow-Köpenick
- Idea: Placing refugees in internships, apprenticeships or regular employment. Both the applicants and the companies receive support in all legal, organisational and preparatory matters.
- Success: The broad network from the areas of business, culture, sport and civil society is growing steadily and has led to numerous successful placements. Winner of the 2022 startsocial competition for outstanding social engagement.
Small apiary
A project by Türöffner, funded by the LSK programme – activating social and employment potential. A beekeeper and residents set up and looked after three beehives and harvested 30 kg of honey.
Networking like bees – this was the underlying idea of Türöffner e.V. Photo: Gabriele Senft
„Where would we be without bees?“ (Yazan, resident, 2015-2018)
Welcome to football
- Initiative: borough-wide alliance of FC Union, Internationaler Bund and Askania Köpenick; initially sponsored by the German Children and Youth Foundation, later by 1. FC Union Berlin
- Idea: Providing young refugees with low-threshold access to amateur and professional football. Professional clubs and players act as role models, while local clubs become places of solidarity that transcend linguistic, social and cultural boundaries.
- Success: Cultural, educational, qualification and networking activities now add to the core programme of open training sessions and regular football tournaments. New focal points include training for voluntary work in sports clubs, career guidance and the promotion of sports programmes for refugee girls and women.
„Someone from the Garden of Hope asked us if we wanted to take part in the Wuhlegarten. Then I became a member there at the same time as I joined football. Peter had told me that I could play for Union because I had previously played in a high league in my home country. Football, a parallel gardening project and regular social cafés – this mix worked really well.“ (Haitham, resident, 2017-2019; child and youth carer 2021-2023; Garden of Hope 2021-2025)
The coach encourages his team during the half-time break, saying: „If not us, then who?“ Photo: Gabriele Senft
„We played on this football pitch with everyone else. There are different people from Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Germany – everywhere. We also played table tennis here three or two times a week for almost three years. I really enjoyed it.“ (Maksym, resident, 2022-2024)
Language cafés
Volunteers became German teachers. The refugees were given fun ways to practise and improve their German skills through exercises and conversations. An important addition was the language café with additional voluntary childcare to enable women with children to take part.
„My parents can speak Armenian better than me and I can speak German better than them. So it’s kind of fair.“ (Meri, resident, 2018-2022)
„Learning the language – a necessity. But what comes next? Communication.“ (Haitham, resident, 2017-2019; child and youth carer 2021-2023; Garden of Hope 2021-2025)
Social café
First a volunteer café, then a Friday café and finally a social café. One of the very first projects that was established and remained open until the accommodation was closed. Volunteers invited residents and interested parties to have a coffee and get to know each other. For eleven years, the coffee machine ran either every Friday or every other Friday, creating a framework for socialising and friendships.
„There was so much sugar in the coffee… which was god for the nerves, they said. So people consumed sugar, huge amounts. And we just kept our ears pricked.“ (Gerd, volunteer, clothes shop and social café, since 2015)
„People dropped by, drank coffee and ate biscuits with us. It means a lot for us if you sit down, eat and talk with someone. This translates into respect and humanity in our culture.“ (Haitham, resident, 2017-2019; child and youth carer 2021-2023; Garden of Hope 2021-2025)
„Eleven years later – and even the coffee machine is the same one we obtained back then. I think I bought it at Saturn, but never mind…“ (Randolf, volunteer, social café, 2014-2020)
„I got to know people. And that makes me grateful. I learnt a lot from them about how they live, which I didn’t know before and I found that very important and enjoyable in my life. And with the people who weren’t doing so well – I just kept my ears open and just listened. Even if I couldn’t understand them, I sensed what they were lacking or that they wanted to get something off their chest. As people, we need to listen much more to others.“ (Marianne, volunteer, clothes shop, social café, women’s meeting place and Garden of Hope, since 2015)
Garden of Hope
Volunteers joined with residents to design a garden for the outdoor areas of the accommodation and then gradually put it into practice: raised beds with benches as well as a garden with edible plants and flowers. The children queued up at the tap to fill their watering cans and learnt their first words such as ‘radish’, ‘pea’ and ‘potato’.
„The name says it all – we wanted to cultivate hope in the empty spaces between the containers. Together with the people who moved in there. Gardening as a means of bringing people together.“ (Petra, volunteer, Garden of Hope, 2015-2022)
„Gardening to encourage integration – I discovered this purpose for myself as a volunteer.“ (Yvonne, volunteer, Garden of Hope, 2015-2016)
„This is a rattan tray that I made especially for the teacups in the women’s room. The material is easy to work with and was brought along by the workshop leader from the Schutzhülle association. We were a mixed group of residents and external people who met once a week for a while to weave.“ (Gitti (Fatima), volunteer, Garden of Hope and women’s meeting place, 2015-2020)
A new bed is created. Photo: unknown