The Montessori children’s home at Naunynstraße 69 in Kreuzberg has to close. The parents’ daycare contracts were terminated on July 31. In a letter, they ask politicians for help in maintaining the children’s home.
63 day care places are “gone without replacement” as a result of the closure, it reads. It also says: “It is not just a functioning and fully equipped daycare center, but much more a basic social institution for future families.” The daycare center has existed at the site for more than 30 years.
The parents received the news of the termination a month ago. Originally, the daycare contracts would have run until 2024. The reasons given to the parents by the provider, the Unionhilfswerk, were “operational reasons” and “high rental costs”.
The Unionhilfswerk regrets the closure, after all, the daycare center has been part of it since 1989. It is located in the side wing and transept of a renovated former factory building. “The current daycare center funding from the State of Berlin is not geared towards obtaining rental properties with constantly increasing commercial rents or a high need for renovation,” says the spokeswoman for the Berlin social organization, Gina Schmelter. Regarding the rent increase, she says: There are “noticeable increases, as with other commercial rents in the region”. In the end, it’s about politics. The Unionhilfswerk would like to exchange ideas with those responsible and hopes that giving up the 63 places will remain an isolated case.
The parents criticize that this exchange did not take place before the lease was terminated. This was terminated without consultation. They see the “arbitrary, unagreed cancellation of the rooms by the Unionhilfswerk” as a big mistake.
The parents are already in contact with various district politicians. According to Katrin Friedmann from the parents’ representative, family and youth councilor Regine Sommer-Wetter (left) is now in the process of talking to the landlord about whether another provider could take over the daycare center.
Two alternative locations in Neukölln
All children and employees of the daycare center on Naunynstraße were offered two alternative locations in the neighboring district of Neukölln by the Unionhilfswerk: on Böhmische Straße or on Weserstraße. The day care center on Weserstraße is currently being renovated and is scheduled to open in the second quarter. “A total of 123 new places will be created in this neighboring region, which, in contrast to the neighborhood in Naunynstraße, has no space reserves given the increasing need for daycare places,” says Schmelter. Some parents, for whom a move to Neukölln would not be an option, have already found a new place in northern Luisenstadt.
The parents describe the situation somewhat differently: Both alternative proposals would not be an option for most of them. One is still in the construction phase and the other location on Böhmische Strasse is too far away for the families living in Kreuzberg. In addition, 123 new day-care places would not be created for Berlin, “but then only 60, since those in Naunynstrasse will be eliminated”.
“It is very important to us to maintain the daycare center at the Naunynstraße location,” the letter says. It is unacceptable that parents are left alone and children are “torn from their familiar surroundings”.
From Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Nele Jensch and Corinna von Bodisco also report on the following topics this week:
- Re-election: breakdowns in Lichtenberg and in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
- After the repeat election: Theoretically, the CDU is entitled to city council positions
- Weberwiese: 500 apartments could be sold
- Persistent annoyance uncleared cycle paths: District sees no need for action – the BSR does
- More appointments, less waiting time: Citizens’ Registration Office Yorckstraße tests digital check-in function
- Tree Planting in Xhain: Climate Resilient Urban Planning with Obstacles
- Traffic turnaround: Zossener Straße pop-up cycle path will be made permanent, parking in Wrangelkiez and Krautstraße will be subject to a fee
- Funding for local engagement in Friedrichshain
- Mayor-Herz elementary school gets a new canteen
- Win tickets to Shayfer James
- New stumbling blocks in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
To home page
