The Berlin football club Hansa 07 has around 1,700 members and 81 teams. For children and young people in particular, the club is more than just a place for training and league games. But the infrastructure is no longer keeping pace with growth. The sports field is in poor condition; changing rooms, showers and toilets are inadequate. A fundamental renovation has been a long time coming.
Because the renovation was not making progress, the club members wanted to take matters into their own hands. Three years ago, a project team developed its own design for a new clubhouse and looked into financing and funding. The idea initially met with approval, but then fizzled out, reports the club's deputy chairwoman Katharina Janke-Wagner. "We've been biting our teeth for several years and are stuck between the authorities."
Lots of people in charge - little movement
The problem: The district sports office is responsible for football. The property belongs to the State of Berlin, the buildings fall under the responsibility of the Senate Administration, and the property is managed by Berliner Immobilienmanagement GmbH, or BIM for short.
Several white shower and toilet containers on the club premises show how impractical solutions sometimes turn out to be. They were set up at the request of the sports department to alleviate the lack of space. However, water and electricity connections were missing. According to the club, it also took around a year before Hansa 07 even got a key. The containers are therefore not used as showers to this day, but are sometimes used as storage space; The club converted one into a small sales stand.
“It rarely fails because of people’s commitment, but rather because of external circumstances,” says Janke-Wagner. Written inquiries, conversations with BIM and the city council, emails, phone calls and appointments with authorities - the association tried a lot. A considerable part of the voluntary work now goes into dealing with the administration instead of into football.
From the hospital association to alternative care
Almost 100 kilometers further northwest, Sandra Braun also knows this feeling. The retired nurse worked for 40 years in the Havelberg hospital in Saxony-Anhalt. The clinic was closed in 2020. Braun and other employees protested, and the “Pro Hospital Havelberg” association was later formed. The members have been fighting for better medical care for years - with demonstrations, collecting signatures and talking to politicians.
An "intersectoral health center" initiated by the state initially gave hope - a facility with outpatient treatment, short-term monitoring and overnight accommodation. To put it simply: a kind of "hospital light" - not a replacement for the old clinic, but a contact point for minor cases and primary medical care.
However, according to the initiative, the project was continually reduced and has not yet been implemented to the intended extent. Over the years, new obstacles have been mentioned: initially a lack of doctors, later a lack of premises.
The initiative itself is now trying to initiate a new care solution: it is examining funding options for an outpatient health center and is looking for a possible sponsor. Braun actually sees the state as having a duty here: "We're really just a small club and we can't handle things like that. That's what the state is there for."
The fact that after six years the club now has to look for solutions itself has left its mark on Braun. She says politicians have always shown interest, especially before elections. "At least that's what I learned about how politics works. They always come when they want something from the citizens."
Ariane Berger, managing director of the Saxony-Anhalt district council, describes what such experiences can mean for trust in democracy. Democracy thrives on citizens learning that their actions have an impact. If, on the other hand, they feel powerless and the feeling that they can no longer change anything, “disruption” occurs.
A mayor who feels powerless
Jörg Neumann shows that this feeling can affect even elected politicians. He is the non-party mayor of Dabel in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Neumann says he initially found out about plans for refugee accommodation in a former barracks through rumors. When he asked the district, he was told that nothing had been decided yet and that the community would be informed in good time.
It later emerged that contracts for craftsmanship work had already been awarded. The community rejected the project in this form. She preferred to develop the barracks area as an industrial area. For refugees, she suggested smaller accommodation elsewhere in town, which, according to Neumann, would have accommodated around 60 to 80 people. The community was unable to prevail.
Neumann does not hide the fact that there were also people in Dabel who fundamentally rejected refugees. However, he himself wasn't interested in keeping them away. He particularly criticized the size, location and conditions of the accommodation - as well as the way the decision was made and communicated.
This creates a special dilemma for Neumann: As mayor, he is supposed to explain decisions on site and create trust, even though he himself has the feeling that he has little influence on important issues. “People always talk about democracy and local self-government,” says Neumann. "And then you suddenly realize how powerless you are."
When commitment turns into distrust
At first glance, Hansa 07, Havelberg and Dabel have little to do with each other. What all those involved have in common, however, is that they don't withdraw. They develop their own solutions, seek discussions, found initiatives or take on political responsibility - and yet they always come up against the limits of their influence. The result is “mistrust,” says Neumann.
This question is particularly important before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6th and in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin on September 20th. For Alicja Orlow from "RAA - Democracy and Education Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania", it is no longer enough for many people to cast their vote every four or five years. Other forms of participation and communication are needed, she says, "so that people experience themselves as part of the political system."
