Berlin, September 27th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – In a city like Berlin, in which 100,000 additional apartments are badly needed right now, and which has been in an affordable housing crisis neither left-wingers nor conservatives have been able to resolve, empty apartment buildings are an outrage. One more prominent case is the “Flora” building in Berlin’s Friedenau neighborhood. Inhabitants in the area call it “haunted house”.
The “Flora” has been empty for almost 20 years now. According to the RBB radio and TV network, the owner is an elderly lady. She refuses to renovate the now partially decayed building. Windows are missing, the staircase is broken, the roof is leaking and beams might be rotten. It’s a real pity, because people could live here. Located at the intersection of the tiny streets Odenwaldstrasse and Stubenrauchstrasse, the “Flora” is one of the most beautiful residential buildings in the south-western part of Berlin. This is another reason why letting it fall apart is not a good idea.
In theory, the owner of a building can decide to do with it whatever he or she wants. But not in Berlin. Since 2014, a vacancy without permission is illegal, because of the housing crisis. A neighborhood initiative in Friedenau has demanded a renovation for years, while the district does not approve of the situation either.
First Steps
Earlier this week, the district authority of Tempelhof-Schöneberg released a statement according to which it received funds for an initial assessment of the building. Berlin’s Senate Administration of Finance provided the money.
On Friday, the RBB quoted district councilwoman Eva Majewski Sparacino (CDU): “We can now get started on the first steps toward the renovation”, she stated. “After clearing one procedural hurdle after another, we can now assess the condition of the building and move into concrete planning and implementation of the necessary measures.”
One of those measures is the assignment of a trustee who deals with all the paperwork and makes sure action is taken, step by step. The district first wants to find out whether the building is stable. Then, an estimated price for a renovation needs to be established. If the owner continues to ignore dispositions and the law, the district might take action on its own. But it might take years until people can live in the “Flora” again, also because of all the legal proceedings that might become necessary.
Rhyming Slogan
At this stage, fences are protecting passers-by from debris which could fall from the building. The neighborhood initiative put up banners with a slogan that rhymes: “Eigentum verpflichtet. Hier wird es vernichtet.” If we want to keep the rhyme, an appropriate translation would be “Property demands care. Here, it’s left to despair.”
So, how long will it actually take until people can move in again? Who knows? Maybe until the year 3000.
