State protection determined: “Russian house” in Cologne occupied
Activists briefly occupied a Russian Federation house in Cologne. They demanded “Down with the guns, give me the keys” – and suggested that refugees from Ukraine could find space in the building.
In Cologne, one of the so-called “Russian houses” on Friedrich-Engels-Strasse was occupied on Saturday morning. Activists put up banners. On one stand: “Abolish vacancies! Housing for everyone!” On another: “Down with the guns, give me the keys” and “F*ck Ptn”. Putin should be expropriated, it said in tweets.
Photos of the occupation were distributed online, the police confirmed to t-online that the house was being used: “The police accompanied an occupant,” said a spokeswoman in the morning. The police later announced that the 34-year-old had been taken to the station to identify the people. State security has started an investigation.
According to the police and squatters, the building belongs to the Trade Mission of the Russian Federation and has been empty for years. It is part of a complex known in Cologne as the “Russian Houses”.
Two of Cologne’s “Russian houses” have been empty for more than 20 years
The three prefabricated buildings were erected by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and later taken over by the Russian Federation. The sales agency used offices and conference rooms there, but then moved out. One of the houses housed homeless people until 2018. The other two have been unused since 2000.
Again and again there are attempts to use the buildings, which also contain several apartments, again. In 2021 there was already an occupation.
War refugees from the Ukraine in Cologne: At the city’s first port of call on Breslauer Platz, they are looked after by the fire brigade, the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund and many volunteers. (Source: Future Image/imago images)
Supporters of the campaign: Cologne could let refugees move in
According to supporters and left-wing politician Kalle Gerigk, a total of 20 people were involved in Saturday’s action. He told the “Express”: “It cannot be that 80 residential units are empty here. Nothing has happened there for years.”
According to Gerigk, the activists did not want to live in the temporarily occupied house, but wanted to draw attention to the housing deficit. In addition, that is also living space that the city of Cologne could make available to refugees from the Ukraine.