‘SEZ for All!’ Protest in front of SEZ on September 1, 2024
Your motion fights to preserve the SEZ, a sports and recreation center that the Berlin Senate plans to demolish. What kind of facility is this?
The sports and recreation center was built in 1981 in Friedrichshain, eastern Berlin, and was the largest sports and leisure facility in East Germany. It had a large swimming pool with many swimming pools, a sauna area, an ice rink, a sports hall, a bowling alley, tennis courts, a fitness studio, and a variety of restaurants. The SEZ was very popular, and there were always long lines, especially because of the very reasonable prices. The building complex is conveniently located on Landsberger Allee, on the edge of Volkspark Friedrichshain.
What happened after the end of East Germany?
After 1990, the center continued to operate, but on a reduced scale. Maintenance of the complex was rudimentary. The Senate closed the SEZ at the end of 2002 because the costs were too high. The complex was then sold for 1 euro to a so-called investor from Leipzig. From our perspective, we can probably guess that he bought the property. The condition was that the swimming pool should be reopened, but that never happened. Under pressure from the citizens, the Senate filed a lawsuit and eventually won in all cases, so that the SEZ is now transferred back to the Senate.
The Senate currently wants to build about 500 apartments, a school, businesses and retail stores on the site, which it says is dilapidated and should be demolished.
Yes, many people write like that. The building is a ruin, rotten, and old, but that is not right. The building is not that old and is structurally sound. As a civil engineer, I can only say that the structural material is very sound. Of course, like any other building that has had little work done in 25 years, there is a lot of maintenance that needs to be done. The pool and the electrical system need to be maintained. But the complex can be improved again. It will take money that has not been invested for years.
What does your initiative require?
The planned demolition is an insult and a slap in the face to the people here. We ask the Senate to reopen the SEZ as a sports and recreation center for the entire eastern part of Berlin. We want to swim and skate here. And of course the center should be open to the public again. The failed privatization experiment should not be repeated by another lucky soldier. This is also a public issue. The SEZ is part of the social infrastructure.
With obesity and depression rates rising, especially among children and adolescents, and a three-year pandemic behind us, there is an urgent need for community recreation facilities. Until now, access to these bathhouses has meant driving far into the surrounding areas.
But doesn’t Berlin also need apartments and schools?
Of course, we need affordable housing. But we can’t get it through new construction anyway. Only about 10% of newly built apartments are affordable. And here’s the thing, you have to demolish huge buildings first, which costs a lot of money. I’m also against different areas of public services competing with each other. In fact, it’s mainly construction companies and banks that are interested in and funding the ongoing demolition and reconstruction.
They also point out the architectural value of SEZs.
It is a building and an icon that creates the identity of the East. In Germany, that has never happened again. Many people have fond memories. We are collecting signatures against the demolition through the petition “Save the SEZ”. However, there is still a small scandal that the building should actually be listed. However, in 2021, the responsibility has changed. The monument protection office now reports to Christian Gaebler, the senator who plans the demolition.
