One of Berlin’s last strongholds of queer alternative culture, Tuntenhaus, is in trouble! Tuntenhaus was one of my very first stops in Berlin. The concept of an alternative queer housing project (close enough to a “squat” in my head) was absolutely bonkers and very cool in my little queer punk mind when I arrived in Berlin in 2009.
There it was, in the back of Kastanienallee 86, marked by the words “Kapitalismus normiert, zerstört, tötet” (“capitalism norms, destroys, kills”) on the façade facing the busy Prenzlauer Berg side street. The parties, the overnight stays and the general debauchery I got up to there in my first years in Berlin, the people I met through there – Tuntenhaus was (and still is) emblematic of what Berlin has to offer in terms of subculture.
In March, however, and to the surprise of even its inhabitants, it was announced that the building is to be sold. Almost everyone I spoke with was in shock about the idea of losing Tuntenhaus. “Our house project represents a Berlin that has become rare: a Berlin that made subculture, open space and collective housing communities possible through affordable housing,” said part of the statement released by Tuntenhaus in the wake of the news.
Tuntenhaus was (and still is) emblematic of what Berlin has to offer in terms of subculture.
Tuntenhaus has been an institution of queer Berlin for over 30 years – and not just in Prenzlauer Berg. The first Tuntenhaus was at Bülowstraße 55 in Schöneberg from 1981 to 1983. The second Tuntenhaus – Tuntenhaus Forellenhof in Friedrichshain – recently garnered a bit more notoriety owing to an excellent exhibition at the Schwules Museum in 2022 as well as Juliet Bashore’s short documentaries Battle of Tuntenhaus parts I and II, available to watch on YouTube.
It was after their one fabulous summer in 1990 that some went on to the Tuntenhaus we have today. For 30 years, the house has been a community meeting point for alternative queer Berliners, from their organised Hoffeste, to their Küfa (“Küche für alle” or “Kitchen for everyone”) or simply providing space for projects or initiatives people find important.
While the building sale may have come as a shock, the house’s immediate steps to action were not. Tuntenhaus has never been an institution to take threats lying down. The 36-head collective is pushing the Pankow district government hard to exercise Vorkaufsrecht (right of first refusal), which would block the sale and open up other possibilities for saving the house. They’ve already started organising weekend programmes for people to come out and show their support.
It’s institutions like Tuntenhaus that have made Berlin the alternative Mecca many of us came here for. Can we even imagine Berlin without it? I don’t know if I want to.
- Keep up to date with Tuntenhaus’ support programmes on X @savetuntenhaus and on Instagram @tuntenhausbleibt
